Yakitori Yakitori Yaitori

We got another late start on Saturday, since there wasn’t much that we were going to be able to do before we had to catch the train down to Kyoto shortly after noon. We had enough time to catch a quick bite to eat, but after that we had to pack up the room and head to the train station. Packing up for me isn’t usually a big deal, as I tend to just live out of my suitcase. I’ll have dirty clothes, books, and the like scattered around, but the bulk of my stuff is usually still in my suitcase, and it doesn’t take too long to pack up (this is of course ignoring the fact that I’m very lazy). Mom and Grandma on the other hand unpacked when they first got to the hotel; clothes in drawers, toiletries in the bathroom, that kind of thing. Because of that it took them a little while to pack up (not to mention all the rearranging needed to accommodate all of the new stuff we had bought). We ran into a bit of a hitch shortly before we left. Mom and Grandma had run low on cash in the few days that we had spent in Tokyo, and needed to get some out of an ATM. The concierge told us that we could get money out of the ATM at the am/pm (a Japanese convenience store, though I’m not sure if it’s actually Japanese or a foreign company). I walked over with Mom, but unfortunately, neither her nor Grandma’s cards worked. In the end I ended up withdrawing 100,000 yen (about $1000). After we sorted out the money situation and checked out of our hotel we caught a cab to the Tokyo station and caught the Nozomi Shinkansen down to Kyoto.
The ride down to Kyoto from Tokyo only takes a couple of hours, and it’s really a pleasant ride. Not only are the trains comfortable, as most Shinkansen are (they have enough legroom that the person in front of you can fully recline their seat without crowding you in any noticeable way), but the view is pretty spectacular as well. Once we got to Kyoto we began the arduous task of finding our hotel. We were to stay at a ryokan, a traditional style Japanese inn. We had a map of the area, and it seemed that our hotel was close to the station, so we decided to walk. As it turned out, our map made almost no sense, as the geography that it was attempting to portray had changed since the map had been made. The result was about 45 minutes of wandering around small streets and alleys in the area around the train station with five large suitcases trying to find our hotel. In the end we did find it, but not before Mom stuck her head in the door of someone’s house thinking it was our hotel (fortunately no one was home, and Mom made it out of the situation without scaring some poor Japanese person). We checked in and Grandma began her process of exploring the room. The hotel itself was small, and had the feel of a bread-and-breakfast in the sense that it was small, cozy, and run by an elderly couple. It was actually two small buildings that were held together by a courtyard with a small decorative bridge and a garden (as well as the world’s smallest beer vending machine). Our room was small, but still large enough for the three of us. The floor was tatami mats (woven bamboo placed on the floor in large tiles), which gave the room a pleasant smell. Our bedding consisted of three futons that you would fold up at during the day to make room, a pillow, and the softest down comforter I have ever used. It was like sleeping with a cloud on you, and not the real kind of cloud, but the kind of cloud you imagine exists when you are a kid. There was a table and some cushions to sit on, as well as a TV that got maybe six channels, but that was about it. It was comfortable though, and I enjoyed staying there. We didn’t check in until around five, and after that we took about an hour to figure out what we wanted to do and get unpacked. As we were unpacking Mom realized that she had forgotten her camera on the train, so we headed back to the station to try to figure out if someone had found it. We had to ask someone at the information desk where the lost and found office was since we couldn’t find it on any of the station maps, and the guy I talked to ended up drawing us one. In order to get to the Kyoto Station lost and found office you first have to leave the station via the main entrance and take a right. You keep the station building on your right and go until you reach an alley. You follow the alley for a couple of turns and you will see a sign saying “lost and found” above a door that you wouldn’t have noticed had it not been for the sign. The Kyoto Station lost and found office itself is a room no more than 8 by 8, if not smaller. In that room, which is painted a sickening white, are two Japanese men with large folders, telephones, and absolutely zero proficiency with the English language. After about 30 minutes of phone calls and me speaking in broken Japanese with one of the men manning the office, we managed to figure out that Mom’s camera was at the lost and found office two cities away, and we scheduled to pick it up on Monday. After that, we decided to head downtown and take a look at a food market, even though we weren’t sure if it would be open. We caught a train and got off after about ten minutes, and made our way to the market. In the end it was closed, but there was a shopping arcade attached to the market, and we looked around there for a bit before catching a cab in search of something to eat.
Mom wanted yakitori (grilled meat) since I had recommended it earlier and I was able to ask the taxi driver what his favorite yakitori place was. One of the staples of Japan is very nice taxi drivers, and this guy was certainly one of them. Not only did he take us to his favorite yakitori place (conveniently located within walking distance of our hotel), but he also came in with us and talked to the cooks, telling them he had recommended the place, and where our hotel was so they could help us find our way back if we needed help. We thanked him, and after he left we had a fantastic meal of grilled meat, everything from chicken to gizzard. After dinner we headed back to our hotel, making it back without any trouble, and called it a night.