Kyoto and Osaka

We stayed in a Hotel in Osaka, but traveled to Kyoto too. We stayed right in the heart of downtown. It was hard to find the hotel because we had a map, but we arrived at night and there were so many people rushing the streets. We were total tourist looking at a map and asking random people where to go. At one point we felt as if we were at a loss. We were guessing to cross the street because it kind of looked right. Finally after waiting for a crosswalk I look up and what do I see….Our tiny Hotel stuck in between buildings. Yay, I was ready to throw our stuff down and get some grub.

Our hotel was in the middle of a busy shopping/restaurant area. So, there we many places to eat, but we were on a mission for Shabu Shabu. We found a restaurant and sat down. The waitress spoke a little English, but there were picture to point to. She brought us our boiling water and said, “60 minutes.” We thought, “huh, 60 mins till the food’s ready or is that when we need to exit the building?” We figured out that was how long we had to eat. All you can cook and eat for 60 minutes. It was like a dream come true for Jayson. We cleared 2 plates of meat, it was delicious.

The next night we found a restaurant that had all you can drink for 2 hours. We said, “score!” and went in. Well, the menu wasn’t in English and they didn’t speak very much English. We know we ordered something pork with something vegetables. All of a sudden a big boiling pot full of veggies and meat comes out. It looked great, but we didn’t know what to do it. We showed the waitress we were confused and she continually came over and stirred the pot and each time she would say, “wait.” She said wait about 10 times. It was funny, but we were happy because we were drinking all we could drink. The mysterious boiling pot was delicious, of course.

In Kyoto we went to Gion which is known as the Geisha district, but we didn’t see any Geishas. We went to Kinkakuji which is a beautiful Golden Pavilion. The area surrounding the temple was so peaceful and beautiful. There are so many places in Japan where you could sit down and find peace and quiet. It was great. We went to Chion-in Temple. This temple is known for its massive gate. There were many stairs to climb up before we reached the temple. This temple is known for the place where Henon fasted to death. We witnessed a Monk ceremony. We had to take our shoes off, sit on our knees and be very quite. It was an interesting ceremony with Monks humming and bowing. Very Cool!

Other than eating delicious food in Osaka, we spent a day at a natural hot spring. It was a trek to get out there, but worth it. We took the subway, bus, and tram to get there, but we traveled up beautiful mountains. We checked in and were given a bathing outfit. This outfit was to walk to and from the different bath houses, but then we split up and went into our gender’s bathroom. From there, take it off and jump in. Well, not really! We were the only white people there, so I felt a little awkward, but after 5 minutes I was in Zen mode. It was very relaxing and I felt so refreshed after. I recommend this experience to anyone visiting Japan. Just do as the locals do!