Natsukashii Kyoto

I thought I'd do some retroactive posts about Kyoto since I didn't write much about my experience while I was actually there.

では、

This was taken in Kibune 貴船. In the hot summers of Kyoto (every Japanese person inevitably mentions the basin in which Kyoto is located, when you mention Kyoto and summer heat in the same breath.) wealthy people since olden times have found ways to escape the heat. Kibune is one such escape up in the mountains of northern Kyoto. During the summer, restaurants along this stream lay out planks across the small stream, crisscross lights overhead to create a unique alfresco experience. A highly recommended, if a bit pricey, experience.

Guess where I am going!

It was the inspiration behind the setting of Mononoke Hime!


There will be this,and this,
and I will be staying here: All photos courtesy of Kairakuen Minshuku.
楽しみです！

Monet in Japan

Monet is quite popular here, and impressionist artists in general I think. But I didn't realize how popular until I heard about the Monet Gardens. These are gardens that were created to imitate the ones that inspired some of Monet's most well-known paintings, like his water lilies series. Instead of being in Japanese and English, all of the signs and explanations were in Japanese and French. I went the same day I went to the Morning Market.

This is the Water Lily Garden, it was the right season for water lilies but unfortunately not the right time of day. By the time we got there the flowers had mostly closed up.

The effect was quite nice, and I imagine it is quite lovely when the water lilies are all open. I realized that such overflowing greenery is something I miss about home. Japanese gardens tend to be more trimmed down and spare. I suppose any Japanese gardening book could have told you that but I didn't realize it until these gardens. A bit slow on the uptake huh?

And some kittens up for adoption that we found at a rest stop...so so adorable. They were just left outside in a box with a sign. They were mewing and just begging that somebody pick them up. And I did, only to realize the signs instructed us not to do so unless we were taking one with us...I guess that explains why none of the elementary school kids I saw were playing with the kittehs. Oops.

Sunday Farmer's Market

One of my students offered to take me to the morning market in the neighboring prefecture. It's quite famous in these parts and is open pretty much the whole year round on Sundays. In the spring and summer it starts at 5am (they get an extra hour of sleep during the colder months). This is something that I have been wanting to do and I was really happy when they invited me. It also turned out to be a really good day to go, sunny and warm. The market is about 2km long so many pictures were taken.

We started out on the end near the castle.

The area is famous for knives and scissors so there were a few stores that extended their shops a bit and laid their wares out on the sidewalk for the day.

Many flower and plant vendors:


and of course, my favorite, food. Most of the vendors had fresh produce but there were also stalls selling homemade miso and pickles. Added to this were a few stores selling snacks meant to be eaten on the spot, like this one selling tempura.
The line at this stall wound around the side and looped around the back of the neighboring stall.

Mochi! Daifuku with different fillings like Buntan and Yuzu-flavored anko. Freshly made this morning.


Saba-zushi, also freshly made. I can personally attest that this was quite yummy with a strong sesame accent. But I still prefer the vinegary Kansai (Osaka?) battera.

Ke-gani (Hairy Crab). This is usually found in Hokkaido but was caught somewhere locally for reasons I couldn't quite make out from her explanation. Upon hearing that I was a foreigner, she said, "big crab" (in English) and let me pick it up so that I could pose with the local (?) seafood. I didn't see the picture my friend took but based on the way the muscles in my face started twitching and rearranging themselves, it was basically squeamish city girl holds large moving crustacean for the first time. The professional is holding crabby in this picture (she obligingly pulled out the stops for the international tourist)

Finally, the culinary highlight of my day. Tomatoes! Well, actually just tomato. This (that perfect red one in the middle of the tray) was the most delicious tomato I have ever had in my life. If the tomatoes mom tried to force on me as a kid tasted like this, I bet she wouldn't have had to force them on me. These were iced and thoroughly chilled for immediate consumption. I should also mention that they cost 100 yen for one large cherry-tomato-sized morsel or two small bites. If I wasn't with my student-friends I probably would have bought a few more but I was a bit embarrassed so I refrained. Then, a few yards later I encountered 200 yen tomatoes and wondered if it was possible that they tasted twice as good...

Breakfast

Here they apparently don't know that granola ought to be roasted with honey or some kind of syrup to make it hard and crunchy so every time I eat granola here I can really feel that I am eating grains. No wonder people here think cereal is like bird food.

Would like some Bear Naked granola and trader joe's yogurt please.

My childhood

A print from 20x200 by Kevin Cyr that is unfortunately, completely sold out.

Spring!

It's still light out and it's almost 5.



On a side note, I think I am slowly being converted to the eat local and eat seasonal bandwagon. Mixing my metaphors. Environment aside, it just tastes so much better (especially vegetables!) and it's also easy to do here. Japan is very big on seasons and seasonal foods. Right now we're all about the take-no-ko.