Japan – Page 3 – David Beall Photography

Kyoto Night Walk

The Shinkansen got me back to Kyoto, from Osaka, in 14 minutes. So nice.

I decided to have tonkatsu again for dinner, this time at another KYK Tonkatsu location in the Kintetsu Mall Miyakomichi that was located in the south side of Kyoto Station. This location was “fancier” than the one in Porta. The menu had different cuts of meat and sauces were different. However, it was still delicious!

After eating, I went to Aeon Mall behind Kyoto Station to pick up a couple things. I hit the Baby’s “R” Us for my daughter, Muji for my wife and myself( I bought a great business card case!) and then the supermarket to buy some food for the morning. I went back to the room to drop off my purchases and some camera gear then raced back down to get the rest of the night moving. By now, it was definitely looking like rain and as a result, the humidity was very high. I was a sweat machine again!

The night’s plan was to head over to the Pontocho and Gion areas and slowly wander around to see if anything fun was happening. I wasn’t out to chase Geisha and harass them for photographs or anything like that, rather just to soak in the atmosphere of the night. I decided to take a cab to save time in getting there since it was now about 9:30pm. The cab ride was a quiet one aside from the basic pleasantries exchanged with the cab driver. Continue reading “Kyoto Night Walk”

Osaka for the day (part 2)

After leaving the signage store, I continued walking north into the shotengai, but stopped when I reached a wide open intersection. The smaller street I was on opened up into a large area that then forked off in two other directions. Directly to my left, there was a bookstore and I decided to take a break and head in and look at the photography section. The store was large and it took me a minute to find the section on the floor map. The second floor was my destination and up the escalator I went. What was I going to find? Well, the reality was, unless I found something that was just amazing or small enough to fit in my bag, I wasn’t going to be buying anything as I didn’t want to have to carry it. So after flipping through books for 20 minutes, there really wasn’t anything that I hadn’t already seen before at the bookstore next to Kyoto Station (that I wandered through on my first night there), so, I decided to leave.

It was so much fun wandering through the shotengai, passing all the restaurants, souvenir shops, DVD shops, Billiken statues, pachinko parlors, karaoke clubs… it seemed just totally endless.

Continue reading “Osaka for the day (part 2)”

Osaka for the day (part 1)

Sorry for the long interruption. Things have been quite hectic since my last post, but, I am back to finish the rest of the tale of my recent trip! This new post picks up the next morning, after the events of the last blog post. I am still in Kyoto. Thanks!

Another morning has begun, and I’m still in Kyoto for one more full day. Surprisingly, after yesterday’s trek through the mountains of Kurama, in northern Kyoto, I managed to wake up on my own, just a little bit before my alarm went off. Upon opening the curtains and looking out the window, I saw right away that it was threatening rain again. However, that made me happy as I do enjoy photographing the hoards of umbrellas that appear in a good downpour. At the same time, I knew it was going to be another very humid day. Oh well, first things first- time for more yogurt and Frosties. And a little morning news as well. Continue reading “Osaka for the day (part 1)”

Northern Kyoto: Kurama and Kibune (part 2)

So, I finally made it to Kibune and was it ever worth it. My “hiking buddy” was still with me, about 10 feet ahead, as we finally came to the end of the trail. All I could think about was finding a vending machine and pouring huge amounts of liquid into my body. I was so soaked in sweat- it was just stupid. I’ve been living away from such a humid climate for so long that I’m just not used to it anymore. In an attempt to cool down on the hike, I had taken off my light weight oxford shirt that I had been wearing, but it didn’t really help as my undershirt was just wet. I had so much sweat pouring down my face that I felt like I was never going to cool down. Sorry to make such a huge deal about this, but I have never been this overtaken by perspiration in my life.

So, as I came down the path that winds down the hill, I emerged out of the forest, and onto a road, Kibune Street. You then cross that to reach the stone stairs that lead up to Kifune Shrine. The beautiful staircase is adorned with red lanterns on both sides that start at the bottom and end at the wooden gate at the top. There is also the lovely metal railing running the length of the stairs- nice touch. Continue reading “Northern Kyoto: Kurama and Kibune (part 2)”