Last Day of SSDM and on to Kyoto
I gave my talk at SSDM on Friday, and it was fine. For whatever reason, I speak most smoothly when I have to give a talk for real, in front of a real audience, whereas when practicing alone it is always really awkward. Of course, I'm not complaining that it's not the other way around, but it means that I am usually stressed out ahead of time. After the morning session ended, I ventured out of the conference center to get lunch in a nearby mall. I got some ramen, which was actually more to my taste than the ramen I had at the Ramen Museum. It was in a restaurant that did not have an English menu, and the woman at the counter where I ordered did not speak English, so this was a more adventurous effort. In the end, though, the picture menu, and gesturing for the additional details worked okay. After lunch, I took a ride on the "Cosmo Clock 21", which is the world's largest ferris wheel. Indeed, it was really freaking high (something that makes me rather uncomfortable, but not enough to skip out), and I took a few pictures:
Then I grabbed my remaining bag from the hotel and headed to the train station to go to Kyoto. I got to Shin-Yokohama station, and got onto the Shinkansen train for Kyoto. This was my first time on a shinkansen (the so-called "bullet trains"), and aside from it running faster than trains in the U.S. (and running precisely on-time), the experience is much the same as riding Amtrak passenger trains. There is more leg-room though. While on the train I worked on my pictures from Kamakura, and have revises the original post to be more meaningful to look at, so go check that out below.
When I got to Kyoto I took a taxi to Hotel Matsui, the ryokan (tradtional japanese inn) hotel when I am staying. I could have tried navigating the subway system and walking, but with my backpack and garment bag, it didn't seem worth it. The hotel is nice, and pretty much exactly as I pictured it. Ryokan hotels have a modern lobby and modern hallways, but the rooms themselves are tatami mat rooms with traditional japanese interior design. Here are a couple pictures of my room, and of me weaking a yukata:
The staff is very nice, and everyone speaks enough English that we can communicate. The gentleman running the front desk speaks excellent English, and in a pinch, I imagine he can mediate any major difficulties that might arise. I was really tired, but I needed to head out for dinner, and so after consulting my guide books and picking out a place near by, I set out. Right from the start, I got a feel for how lively Kyoto is in the evening (particularly a Friday night). The streets are a great mix of traditional and modern facades (with most of the restaurants and ryokans having the traditional style, and the shops have the modern.) My hotel, it turned out, is right near one of the two major shopping districts in the city, and the restaurant I picked out was right in the middle of it. Even at 6:30 pm, most of the shops were open and the streets were packed with people. The energy made just walking to the restaurant fun.
The restaurant I picked out (Mishima-Tei) specializes in sukiyaki and shabu-shabu, both involving meat and vegetables cooked in a light broth. The latter is done at one's table, usually by oneself. At this restaurant, even the sukiyaki is also cooked at one's table. In fact, the preparation is done by the waitress, but I'll get to that in a moment. First, the restaurant facade was very traditional. I walked past hanging cloth strips with kanji on them, and had to remove my shoes as I entered. Then I walked to the second floor where I sat in a dining room at the floor at a low table outfitted with an electric heater in the center. The waitress brought me an english menu (the existence of which was noted in my guide book and played a large role in my choice), and my eyes widened a little at the price. The options for the sukiyaki meal ranged from 6500 to 9500 yen (about 55 to 85 dollars). Then I shrugged and got the 9500 yen version which had the highest quality beef (the oft touted Kobe beef). If I'm going to have something, it might as well be the best, right? (All told the meal cost me roughly $100. I certainly won't be doing that again if I can help it.) The waitress then cake to my table with a place of raw materials (beef and various vegetables), a bowl of broth, and a small bowl into which she dumped a raw egg. That's one of the keys to sukiyaki: you dip the cooked food into the raw egg before eating it. The meat was delicious (as well it should be for what I was paying) and the vegies were good too. I was a little stressed half way through the meal, though, when it occured to me that the restaurant might not take credit cards (as not all of them do), and I had exactly 12,000 yen on me. In any case, the point was moot since the total bill came in (just) under my cash limit.
I hit the sack early, as breakfast was coming at 7 am in preparation for a full day of sightseeing in Kyoto. The futon was thin and hard (not nearly as comfortable as futons I've slept on in the U.S.), and the pillows quite hard. I didn't get the greatest night sleep on it, but I've also slept on worse. And anyway, I'm specifically trying to have the Japanese experience.
Then I grabbed my remaining bag from the hotel and headed to the train station to go to Kyoto. I got to Shin-Yokohama station, and got onto the Shinkansen train for Kyoto. This was my first time on a shinkansen (the so-called "bullet trains"), and aside from it running faster than trains in the U.S. (and running precisely on-time), the experience is much the same as riding Amtrak passenger trains. There is more leg-room though. While on the train I worked on my pictures from Kamakura, and have revises the original post to be more meaningful to look at, so go check that out below.
When I got to Kyoto I took a taxi to Hotel Matsui, the ryokan (tradtional japanese inn) hotel when I am staying. I could have tried navigating the subway system and walking, but with my backpack and garment bag, it didn't seem worth it. The hotel is nice, and pretty much exactly as I pictured it. Ryokan hotels have a modern lobby and modern hallways, but the rooms themselves are tatami mat rooms with traditional japanese interior design. Here are a couple pictures of my room, and of me weaking a yukata:
The staff is very nice, and everyone speaks enough English that we can communicate. The gentleman running the front desk speaks excellent English, and in a pinch, I imagine he can mediate any major difficulties that might arise. I was really tired, but I needed to head out for dinner, and so after consulting my guide books and picking out a place near by, I set out. Right from the start, I got a feel for how lively Kyoto is in the evening (particularly a Friday night). The streets are a great mix of traditional and modern facades (with most of the restaurants and ryokans having the traditional style, and the shops have the modern.) My hotel, it turned out, is right near one of the two major shopping districts in the city, and the restaurant I picked out was right in the middle of it. Even at 6:30 pm, most of the shops were open and the streets were packed with people. The energy made just walking to the restaurant fun.
The restaurant I picked out (Mishima-Tei) specializes in sukiyaki and shabu-shabu, both involving meat and vegetables cooked in a light broth. The latter is done at one's table, usually by oneself. At this restaurant, even the sukiyaki is also cooked at one's table. In fact, the preparation is done by the waitress, but I'll get to that in a moment. First, the restaurant facade was very traditional. I walked past hanging cloth strips with kanji on them, and had to remove my shoes as I entered. Then I walked to the second floor where I sat in a dining room at the floor at a low table outfitted with an electric heater in the center. The waitress brought me an english menu (the existence of which was noted in my guide book and played a large role in my choice), and my eyes widened a little at the price. The options for the sukiyaki meal ranged from 6500 to 9500 yen (about 55 to 85 dollars). Then I shrugged and got the 9500 yen version which had the highest quality beef (the oft touted Kobe beef). If I'm going to have something, it might as well be the best, right? (All told the meal cost me roughly $100. I certainly won't be doing that again if I can help it.) The waitress then cake to my table with a place of raw materials (beef and various vegetables), a bowl of broth, and a small bowl into which she dumped a raw egg. That's one of the keys to sukiyaki: you dip the cooked food into the raw egg before eating it. The meat was delicious (as well it should be for what I was paying) and the vegies were good too. I was a little stressed half way through the meal, though, when it occured to me that the restaurant might not take credit cards (as not all of them do), and I had exactly 12,000 yen on me. In any case, the point was moot since the total bill came in (just) under my cash limit.
I hit the sack early, as breakfast was coming at 7 am in preparation for a full day of sightseeing in Kyoto. The futon was thin and hard (not nearly as comfortable as futons I've slept on in the U.S.), and the pillows quite hard. I didn't get the greatest night sleep on it, but I've also slept on worse. And anyway, I'm specifically trying to have the Japanese experience.
posted by Conor at 6:44 AM
1 Comments:
hey just wanted to let you know you made me crave ramen. so i had some shitty american ramen. i also mentioned your blog in my blog. if you get tired of blogging yourself you can read the entry that mentions you.
http://bobbyren.net
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