Kyoto-Nara Rendezvous
...written on 05.11.05, @ 6:58 a.m.
“Get up with the sun, get your laundry done.” I teach that little phrase/concept to all the new recruits we bring in. The weather here, at the foot of the mountains on this leg shaped island, is dynamic. Sunny one minute, stormy the next, so it’s not wise to waste any sunshine.
And what a load of sunshine we get! I awoke at 5 a.m. today to wide shafts of sunlight streaming into my room. I quickly got two loads of laundry washed and then hung outside on the line, ate breakfast, washed the dishes, did some reading, called my two moms, and then collapsed back in my futon for a nap after being in a “go” mode for four hours.
Now my clothes are merrily swaying in a cool, stiff May breeze and I’ve got a pillow mark on the right side of my face. Today is my day off and I plan on doing a lot of things. My broken left nostril is fixed . . . for now, so I am happily decongested. My mother was surprised to hear my normal voice, almost didn’t recognize it as a matter of fact, since when we talk I am usually ailing with some throat or lung issue.
Well, what have I been doing lately. Let’s see . . . Saturday I had classes until 4:30. I suggested that Min take Jesseca and Tracy to Kyoto for some sightseeing that day and that I would meet them there for dinner at our favorite sukiyaki restaurant. Gabe and Kelly and Kelly’s parents were also touring Kyoto, so I gave them directions to Moritya’s so they could join us for dinner.
I packed a little overnight bag with some fresh clothes, a wide brimmed hat and the book I’m currently reading “Loving What Is” by Byron Katie and went to work. After I finished my classes I went straight to the station and hopped on a train to Maibara. I was afraid it might be crowded, but I got a seat to myself next to a window all the way to Maibara which was almost a 40 minute ride. In Maibara, I switched trains to go to Kyoto, which was about an hour away.
I pulled out my book and was reading a bit when I felt my eyes being pulled to the window. I gasped at the scene outside. The sun was piercing the billowy silver sable clouds floating in the sky around the broccoli-tree topped mountains. The mountains, depending on their distance from me, were various shades of blue from navy to cornflower and slanting crisscrossed columns of sunlight reflected in the square pools of newly planted rice fields. I was so mesmerized that I didn’t even retrieve my camera to record the beauty. Soon after we left that stretch of countryside, the plain, boxy buildings of cities began and I returned to my reading.
I got out at a subway stop a couple of minutes away from the restaurant, but I was turned around and didn’t know exactly which way to go. I stopped to ask a parking attendant where the Starbucks by the river was. “Su tah bahk su? Su tah bahk su?” said the man, his brow crinkling with the effort of memory. I then thought to ask about the restaurant itself which proved to evoke more recognition and delight than the name of the foreign coffee shop. He gleefully pointed me in the right direction.
Everyone was at the restaurant when I arrived and we all robustly ate, drank, and told many stories. I knew Min was tired from straining at all the English rapidly firing over his head, but he was a trooper to the end. It was fun.
The next day, Min, Tracy, Jesseca and I took off for Nara Park. Nara Park is the largest city park in Japan. It has 525 hectares (1297 acres) and many semi-wild deer. You can buy little pancake sized crackers to feed them with. If they see you with these, they will come and nuzzle you for them. Tracy was fiddling with a piece of deer food trying to get a good hold on it, when the deer lunged for the banana peel hanging from her camera and ate it.
We then walked to Todai-ji Temple which was built in the Nara period (710-794 AD). According to my entrance ticket, “Todai-ji Temple serves both as a place of prayer and affluence on earth, as well as a center of Buddhist doctrinal research.” Inside the main building of Todai-ji is the Vairocana Buddha. It was cast from bronze and then plated with gold. It has been damaged and repaired several times and is housed in the largest wooden structure in the world. Mind you, the width of the current structure is a third smaller than the original structure that was burned in the fires of war in 1180 and 1567.
Min and I broke off from Jesseca and Tracy and went our own way, lured by a wide open space and Salsa music, we plopped down on the grass and stretched out. At a restaurant in the park, we had zarusoba for lunch, which are cold noodles that you dip in a sauce mixed with green onions and wasabi (I skip the wasabi). Outside at the vendors on the street, we had a foot long frankfurter on a stick and takoyaki (dough balls filled with octopus).
We all met back at the car at 3 pm and then went to Horyuji Temple. Horyuji temple is reportedly the oldest wooden structure in the world, dating back 1,300 years or so. The Horyuji temple houses many ancient artifacts.
After a lot of walking, we got in the car and headed for home. We did make one pit stop of note. Min found a machine that was selling hot chocolate (now that winter is over, most vending machines are devoid of that drink). When I put the money in, a TV screen in the middle of the machine lit up and some schmaltzy, bubbly music began to play as we were treated to a live camera shot of my hot chocolate’s trip through the innards of the machine. Min and I laughed so hard that I was actually fond of that hot chocolate by the time it had finished its arduous journey and I could open the door and claim it as mine.
So it was quite the superlative day, with us encountering the oldest, the widest, the largest, the yummiest and the funniest things in Japan.