We woke up with no set plan for the day other than making it to Tokyo via Shinkansen (bullet train) at some point during the day. We packed our things up (mostly Martin because I was still upset about losing the bag yesterday), went back to the breakfast buffet for the last time, and headed to Nishiki Market.
Within walking distance of Ryoko's apartment, Nishiki Market is a narrow, five-block long shopping street with many restaurants, food stands, and shops. The picturesque market makes for a pleasant stroll in theory, but the smells from various sweets, pickles, and dried seafood made me feel very sick, so we left.
Back in fresh air, we started walking in the direction of Kyoto's one-room Kaleidoscope Museum. Along the way we bought some beautiful printed postcards to frame when we get back to NYC and also spotted a Tintin store, which we planned to return to after the Kaleidoscope Museum. Once we arrived at the cash-only Kaleidoscope Museum, however, we realized that Martin was out of yen and that I had left my cash in the apartment. The woman at the museum told us we could exchange money at the bank a few blocks away.
The bank in Kyoto was among one of the most interesting experiences of the trip thus far. We were led to the upstairs, which consisted of an open office where something like ten people worked silently and swiftly to a loud but peaceful background music. It looked like something out of a dystopian future, like 1984, with no one speaking louder than a whisper and moving in almost choreographed movements.
We left the bank and passed through an open-air shopping complex, finding a few gifts to replace the ones we lost.
I kept asking how close we were to Gion, not-so-subtly asking if we could spend some time looking for the lost bag. Martin kept answering that we were close but not that close.
The Kaleidoscope Museum was amazing. We walked in in the middle of a presentation in Japanese about how kaleidoscopes worked given by an elderly employee of the museum, presumably Mr. Yoda, the creator of most of the kaleidoscopes. The presentation consisted of projections of kaleidoscopes on the walls and an explanation of how there are three ways to make kaleidoscopes, using isosceles triangles, equilateral triangles, or squares. Once his lecture was over, the room emptied out except for us, and Mr. Yoda showed us about twenty different kaleidoscopes, each more incredible than the next. One kaleidoscope was inside a glass-tiled geisha. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed.
After a brief stop at the Tintin Store, we continued walking along Sanjo Dori, which is a famous covered street lined with shops. Along the way we found a giant, moving crab fixture on the side of a building.
Once we had purchased a few more gifts, Martin decided we were close enough to the subway station where we realized we'd lost the bag the day before that we could go in and ask about it. We went down into the station and essentially played an extensive game of pictionary with the station agent, who spent a good 20 minutes calling other stations to see if they had found our bag. No luck.
The amount of effort he had put into looking, though, made us suspect that we hadn't lost the bag in the subway. We had some extra time and felt up to retracing our steps from yesterday to see if we could find it.
At first, we planned on skipping the shrine in our search because we both specifically remembered that we almost left my backpack behind because it blended into the grey rocks around the shrine. At the last moment we decided to be thorough and stop by the mammoth shrine again. Once we arrived, we asked the elderly man at the ticket counter if he had found a bag. He gave us a disdainful/confused look, but we continued with our pantomime until he got up and walked to the back of his office. When he returned he was holding...OUR BAG!
If we hadn't been separated by glass I would have hugged him. I decided to crawl back through the hole in the shrine with a new intention, almost certain that the shrine was good luck and that I should probably become Shinto.
Feeling elated, we decided to splurge on a second cab, which moved too slowly, so we got out almost immediately. We bought sushi and chicken in the basement of Daimaru, a huge department store (the basements of department stores in Japan are massive food courts without seating areas) and went back to Ryoko's apartment.
We said goodbye and took a picture with Ryoko, packed the last of our things, and bought tickets for the Shinkansen, or bullet train. After a brief sprint upon realizing that only the first three cars were for non-reserved ticket holders, we enjoyed a 2 hour train ride through lush green mountains and small towns. Martin was upset that we didn't see Mt. Fuji from the train, likely because of the fog.
We got to our apartment in Tokyo, which is above a Turkish restaurant and underwhelming. I was pleased to find that the ceiling in the shower is too low and that I can't stand up when showering. Too tired to complain, we passed out around 9.
Breakfast for the last time
Back in fresh air, we started walking in the direction of Kyoto's one-room Kaleidoscope Museum. Along the way we bought some beautiful printed postcards to frame when we get back to NYC and also spotted a Tintin store, which we planned to return to after the Kaleidoscope Museum. Once we arrived at the cash-only Kaleidoscope Museum, however, we realized that Martin was out of yen and that I had left my cash in the apartment. The woman at the museum told us we could exchange money at the bank a few blocks away.
The bank in Kyoto was among one of the most interesting experiences of the trip thus far. We were led to the upstairs, which consisted of an open office where something like ten people worked silently and swiftly to a loud but peaceful background music. It looked like something out of a dystopian future, like 1984, with no one speaking louder than a whisper and moving in almost choreographed movements.
We left the bank and passed through an open-air shopping complex, finding a few gifts to replace the ones we lost.
Open-air shopping
Interesting things for sale
I kept asking how close we were to Gion, not-so-subtly asking if we could spend some time looking for the lost bag. Martin kept answering that we were close but not that close.
The Kaleidoscope Museum was amazing. We walked in in the middle of a presentation in Japanese about how kaleidoscopes worked given by an elderly employee of the museum, presumably Mr. Yoda, the creator of most of the kaleidoscopes. The presentation consisted of projections of kaleidoscopes on the walls and an explanation of how there are three ways to make kaleidoscopes, using isosceles triangles, equilateral triangles, or squares. Once his lecture was over, the room emptied out except for us, and Mr. Yoda showed us about twenty different kaleidoscopes, each more incredible than the next. One kaleidoscope was inside a glass-tiled geisha. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed.
After a brief stop at the Tintin Store, we continued walking along Sanjo Dori, which is a famous covered street lined with shops. Along the way we found a giant, moving crab fixture on the side of a building.
Giant crab
Sanjo Dori
Once we had purchased a few more gifts, Martin decided we were close enough to the subway station where we realized we'd lost the bag the day before that we could go in and ask about it. We went down into the station and essentially played an extensive game of pictionary with the station agent, who spent a good 20 minutes calling other stations to see if they had found our bag. No luck.
The amount of effort he had put into looking, though, made us suspect that we hadn't lost the bag in the subway. We had some extra time and felt up to retracing our steps from yesterday to see if we could find it.
At first, we planned on skipping the shrine in our search because we both specifically remembered that we almost left my backpack behind because it blended into the grey rocks around the shrine. At the last moment we decided to be thorough and stop by the mammoth shrine again. Once we arrived, we asked the elderly man at the ticket counter if he had found a bag. He gave us a disdainful/confused look, but we continued with our pantomime until he got up and walked to the back of his office. When he returned he was holding...OUR BAG!
If we hadn't been separated by glass I would have hugged him. I decided to crawl back through the hole in the shrine with a new intention, almost certain that the shrine was good luck and that I should probably become Shinto.
Through the shrine again!
Saying goodbye to Ryoko
We got to our apartment in Tokyo, which is above a Turkish restaurant and underwhelming. I was pleased to find that the ceiling in the shower is too low and that I can't stand up when showering. Too tired to complain, we passed out around 9.
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