Japan Journal 3, August 2014

We spent our free morning at Shibuya. We took the train, which came on time; it was fast and efficient. We didn’t have an agenda; we just wanted to give Jason a feel of busy Tokyo. We went to the famous crossing, Tokyo’s equivalent of the Times Square in New York or the Piccadilly Circus in London. No surprise to me, we ended up shopping, mainly at Uniqlo and Under Armour.

We went back to Shinagawa before lunch. Rhodora and Tatay secured seats for us at the Miyako Restaurant while Jason and I picked up our luggage at the Prince Hotel. For the record, Miyako was the only lousy restaurant we dined in during the entire trip. Everywhere else was superb.   

      

At 2:05PM, our bullet train, the famous shinkansen, arrived; it left Shinagawa at 2:07. As promised. We arrived at Kyoto, two hours and 15 minutes later. As promised. Gotta love Japan’s efficiency. We’re a hundred years away in Manila. (It is the 50^th Anniversary of the bullet train. Rhodora and I are never big trip planners, but luck has always been on our side. We’ve been in many places where, as it happened, some anniversary or another was being celebrated, i.e. Bastille Day, the Hunchback of Notre Dame’s 170^th year, Don Giovanni’s 200^th anniversary premiere in Prague, Mozart’s 250^th birth anniversary, Hans Christian Andersen’s 200^th birthday, etc.)

Rice fields and forests –

Fleeting view from train window.

Calls up nostalgia.

The Kyoto station was biggest, grandest train station I’ve ever seen! And I thought the renovated King’s Cross Station in London was something. (I had similar feelings when I visited the Forbidden City in Beijing. I was screaming to myself, “Louis XIV, you think you knew opulence? Well, you didn’t!” If Europeans and Americans travelled to Asia more, they’d suffer less from egomania.) It’s not only a train station; it’s an entire hotel and mall complex. It has an 11-storey Isetann mall, a host of department stores, and a fast food center. Our lodging, Hotel Granvia Kyoto, was right here. It was really cool.

How lucky can we get? Our room is 888. By Chinese and Japanese numerology, we couldn’t have asked for a better number. Almost as soon as we’ve put down our luggage, we explored the Station, starting with Isetann. We went all the way up to the Sky Garden, amazed at the concert stadium just below the view deck. We kept saying, “Wow, unbelievable.” We went down, floor by floor, to get a feel of what they sell. Then we headed to the Portal, a basement mall and fast food center. Rhodora stopped by Muji and did some quick shopping. For dinner, we ate at the Japanese Bowl Cafe. The line was long, but the food was good. On the way out, we posed for pictures with the Kyoto Tower on the background.

Finest silk I've touched,

this must be how Royals feel –

Kimonos for sale.

It must be a practice here. Two or three women sales clerks alternately walk around their merchandise to greet passersby. I presumed they were inviting everyone to take a look and buy. Nobody paid attention, except perhaps, for Tatay and myself, who observed the same thing in Shibuya this morning. The act was quite mechanical, almost robotic. It must be tiresome for these women to walk back and forth and flash their friendly, albeit, wasted smiles.

We saw a few women wearing kimonos. Tatay asked what’s up with the pillows on their backs. I looked it up: they’re not pillows; they’re pads meant to maintain the form of the decorative ribbons tied on their backs. I quite enjoy seeing “locals” wear their national costumes. Too bad we didn’t have the chance to watch a Noh play or a kabuki dance drama. I read the costumes are elaborate. I’m reminded of an Indian friend who invited us to a dance recital of his daughter. She had years of training and was brilliant that evening and, oh, her costume was grand! She filled the whole stage. After the show, we all lined up to congratulate her. I was so surprised at how petite she was.

Girl in a costume -

How imposing when dancing!

How tiny when still!

Read about our tour in a castle, two shrines, and two temples in my Japan Journal 4.