Keith and I splurged on each of our own special things in Kyoto one of the days. Keith had been wanting very badly to try Kobe beef, but instead he ended up going to a really fancy and private Japanese steakhouse (where we were the only ones there!) and ordered Omhi Beef. This is supposed to be even better than Kobe beef…possibly the best beef in the world! They have a special diet for the cow, where it gets special food, it is raised a certain way, etc. so the meat is like none you can get anywhere else! The chef made the meal right in front of us, which was neat to see his special ways to cook everything. The beef was eaten long ago by the Syogun, the boss of the Samurai 300 years ago. Keith spent $130 on his 5 course meal, which included a Omhi Beef salad, another type of salad, pumpkin soup, the Omhi Beef along with potatoes, vegetables and dipping sauce, and then apple serbet icecream for dessert with coffee. He was very pleased with his meal and overexcited to be able to try this meat (probably the only time in his life he will do this)!
My splurge was on dressing up like a geisha. In the Gion quarter of Kyoto, you can see young girls called maiko. These apprentice geishas (between 17-25 yrs old), will graduate to full geisha status, and then they will probably marry a rich patron. Geishas are hired, often in pairs, to entertain parties of men after dinner at a restaurant or a tea house. They are considered and treated like celebrities. We actually saw one coming around a corner down a busy restaurant street in the Gion quarter. Right when people saw her the cameras went off like paparazzi and she hurried off to another building (maybe a restaurant?) nearby. I tried to take a picture as well but only got her back. It was funny to me how someone in a costume could be treated like a big star.
Well, in the Gion quarter they have some hidden shops in Kyoto where Japanese woman (usually young/ in their 20s or so) go to dress up and get the hair and makeup done as a real geisha. They then have professional photos taken. For only $70 US I was able to experience watching them do the hair and makeup of other women, and was also able to get it done myself, wear the clothing, have 3 professional photos taken, and then have Keith take some photos in a fun photo room. They first had me go into a locker room where I put on a small and somewhat see-through gown and then I headed upstairs where I sat in this makeup/dressing room for about 15 or so minutes watching the geishas getting ready in front of the mirrors with their makeup/hair artists. From where I was sitting, I could see a TV camera which showed Keith sitting in the waiting room downstairs. What a wonderful husband….sitting so patiently while I get all of this done!
Well, once it was my turn to become a geisha, the makeup artist put white paint all over my face, dark red lipstick, eyeliner, mascara, eye-shadow, etc. It was heavy-duty makeup! As I looked in the mirror, I didn’t recognize myself at all! I looked more scary than beautiful I thought and could have been compared to a mime. Well, next they took me over to choose my Geisha outfit. I choose a pretty red kimono (the name of the traditional clothing) with white cranes all over it, since the white crane is the animal symbol of Japan. It was strange because they didn’t just put the kimono on me, but they also wrapped my mid-waist with many layers of towels and cloth. They put all this clothing on very tightly and I no longer had my lovely curves, instead I was a flat board…not the style I would normally go for. The last part of the geisha outfit was the hair. They had so many different types of black wigs with pretty decorations on the top. After measuring with her hands my head, my artist found the perfect-sized wig for me. I think they must have foreigners every once in a while (although I was the only foreigner there at that time), because they had to go into a different cabinet on a different level for my wig because of my narrow face.
Well, after dressing all up, I did look like a geisha, and although I still think I looked a little scary and Keith agrees , I looked elegant in some sort of way. It was posing for the photographer with different props, such as a fan, and it was also fun going into the photo room with Keith and taking some fun shots. The pictures all turned out great and it was a great experience of dressing up like a geisha!
All-in-all, Kyoto was filled with many beautiful gardens (including Zen gardens which are rock and sand gardens designed to promote meditation among the Zen monks), scenic views of the mountains and cute little towns. We ate tons of delicious sushi, green tea, green tea ice-cream, soba and udo noodes (wheat and buckwheat noodles), and Tofu (since it was originally originated from Kyoto). Sometimes we had the sushi in a lunchbox as they would call it. This is where you choose your selection of sushi and they package it in a plastic (but it looks wooden) box, which is like carry-out but it made for those who are taking a train or bus and would like to eat on the go. An O-bento are everyday lunchboxes prepared at home or bought in local shops, while Eki-ben are lunchboxes specially for train trips.
In Kyoto, we also visited numerous temples, shrines and Torri gates. We were also lucky with the weather because in general it was always sunny (hot during the beginning of the trip, and then it cooled down by the end). The only days that it rained, we were headed out of the city onto our next destination so it was perfect timing for us.
Also, one night we went to the Gion Kobu Kaburenjo Theatre where we saw a performance. The performance included:
-a traditional green tea ceremony (which Keith was chosen as a participant!)
-a puppet show (three men wore black clothing and controlled the beautiful geisha puppet)
-a humorous play about 2 servants stealing Saki/ Japanese alcohol from their master (in Japanese but we were given the play in English to read)
-traditional geisha dancing
-traditional tree planting
Great show! It had many interesting Japanese traditions and good entertainment and only cost only about $30 for the hour show. Plus it was nice that Keith was able to be in it and try the traditional home-made green tea. He said it was excellent!
Some things we saw while in Kyoto:
First Day:
-Katsura Imperial Villa (a.k.a. Monkey Park)
-Koryuji Temple
-Ninnaji Temple
-Ryoanji Temple
-Kinkakuji temple (The Temple of the Golden Pavilion)
-Gion region (where the Geisha are, theatre, Gion Centre, old and traditional area)
-Kenninji Temple
2nd Day:
-Gion Kobu Kaburenjo Theatre
-Sanjusangendo Temple
-Kiyomizudera Temple
-Yasaka Shrine
-Nanzenji Temple
-Eikando (Zenrinji) Temple
-Hakusas-sonseo Garden
-Ginkakuji Temple
-The Philospher Trail
-Keith ate Om
3rd Day:
-Geisha photo shop (dressed up like a geisha)
-Fushimi Inari Shrine (tons of Torri gates that you walk through in a national park/forest preserve area.
My favorite places:
-Monkey Park :a park filled with real monkeys…but you first have to climb up very high in the forest until you reach the top. There you can go inside a small building and feed the monkeys peanuts. The monkeys are all roaming around freely outside. At the top of the mountain, you can also see a beautiful view of Kyoto city as well as the big forest park and mountains off in the distance.
-Kinkakuji temple (The Temple of the Golden Pavilion): This temple was absolutely gorgeous! You first had to walk through a green moss forest and then all of a sudden an area opens up and there is a huge, 3-floor Golden temple shining in the sun, right in a lake, surrounded by trees and beautiful plants and flowers. There is a reflection of the golden temple in the lake which adds an extra effect to the image.
-Fushimi Inari Shrine (tons of Torri gates that you walk through in a national park/forest preserve area) It was a nice 2 or so hour walk in the forest, walking between hundreds of huge red or orange Torri gates. It was peaceful and had a beautiful view of the city from the top. There were many resting points which had restaurants where you could get food or drinks and just relax in the midst of the religious sites and nature. Keith was sweet too, in that he carried my heavy backpack (along with his) during the hike up. He’s a warrior!
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