"So blog, what has Paul been up to?" you ask. And blog replies: "Paul was in Montreal for a conference for a week, then flew back to Tokyo only to get on a bullet train for Kyoto 2 days later, with trips to Nara and Osaka thrown in there, and even a sumo tournament!" Phew...allow me to elaborate.
I'm going to skip over the Montreal part, because that's not very exotic. Just muchos traveling and a whirlwind week with a conference and a paper presentation and some awesome friends to remind me of what I'm missing, followed by muchos traveling.
Once back in the land full of Japanese people, I had to quickly sort out my travel plans for the coming weekend. Luckily my travel buddy had already done most of the planning. Friday morning we hopped on a bullet train that looked something like this:
These things are nuts, and put VIA to shame (sorry pops). They run EVERY 10 MINUTES all day, 16 cars every time. They're fast as hell, a very smooth ride, quiet, and have an incredible record for being on time. Awesome. We spent Friday "shrempling" as my Canadian friend in Kyoto calls it. Pretty much visiting temples and shrines. It's nice and all, and the crowds were light, but once you've seen one or two of these things, you've seen them all. So to save you the airfare, I bring you some shremples:
Did I mention that I instantly fell in love with Kyoto? Because I did. What a city. It's much smaller than Tokyo, a mere 1.5 million people, and just feels much more laid back. The crowds are less unbearable and the vibe is more relaxed. We met up with some other students who are part of the same program and living in this region and hit the town Friday night. Kyoto has several rivers running through it, as seen here:
These are a gathering spot for locals on nice nights, so that's where we began our evening's shenanigans.
Day 2 was spent visiting Nara, an old capital of Japan with...wait for it...have you guessed yet?...shrines and temples SURPRISE! But also deer.
At night, it was back to Kyoto for some nighttime wanderings. We saw real live Geisha in a tea house! We didn't actually go in or anything, but we did peak in like the silly tourists we are. So that was cool. Did I mention I love Kyoto?
Day 3 was spent exploring Osaka, a mere 30 minutes from Kyoto by commuter train. It's crazy how Kobe/Osaka/Kyoto are really considered just one big metropolitan area. Anywho, upon arrival the first thing we checked out was this super modern building with an observation deck. It's 35 stories up by elevator, followed by a ridiculous escalator ride BETWEEN the twin towers (like seriously, the order from top to bottom is escalator, 35 stories of nothing, pavement) and finally the observation deck. The view of city in all directions from up there is seriously beyond description. So here are some pictures. Check out the crazy escalators!
The rest of the day was spent exploring some of the more famous areas of Osaka. I also really liked the feel of this place, although it was pretty big and busy. Good times were had though. You know what this post needs? More pictures. Here's one of a MONSTROUS shopping street that had its own roof. It was seriously several kilometers long. The second one is the famous Dotonbori river.
Our final day was spent in Nagoya at a sumo tournament. No wait, let me try that again: Our final day was spent in Nagoya at a sumo tournament!!!! Much better. I have to say that I was pretty excited for this, but even still my expectations were wildly exceeded. Sumo wrestling is awesome. Each match is really short, with a whole lot of very specific showmanship rituals beforehand. You quickly realize that there is a decent amount of strategy involved, and that the fattest does not always win. To prove this point, we saw the fattest sumo in the world (over 550lbs!) lose a match to someone he could've eaten. The smaller guy used the fatty's momentum and lack of agility against him. The crowd was really into it too, with many of the wrestlers having celebrity status. When one of the big champions lost his match, the crowd got really rowdy and started throwing their seat cushions at the ring! Hilarious. All in all a fantastic experience. Here are some pictures, starting with a couple of coy sumos enjoying the afternoon sun.
Finally, bikes are everywhere in this country and this necessitates good bike parking lot systems. Japan seems to be constantly at the forefront of technology, and bike parking lots are no exception. Without further ado...I bring you...the bike parking lot of the future...TODAY!
No comments:
Post a Comment