Kyoto Days 3 & 4

Because of the first day hassle of trying to find the school from the train station (streets in Japan off main roads are narrow, twisted mazes), we left extra early. But as we approached the train station, I spied a large sign blocking the wickets. My heart sank, as I knew it likely meant the train line was closed (which was a first in all my years of living/visiting). But because I couldn't read much of the sign (my speaking/reading level is roughly preschool-level), I asked a station employee what it said. All I could pick up was that it was an issue related to the typhoon. It was raining pretty hard, and a tad windy, but nothing worrisome by any stretch. So after consulting my new best friend, Google Maps, I announced to my mom and Ryan that we were going to try and make a run for it to school (as it was only 1.2 miles away from our hotel). A taxi wasn't a viable option, as they're not only among the costliest in the world, but our train station was tiny, and there were zero cabs lined up outside.

Because we were starting closer to 1.5 miles from the school, we had to move at a pretty good clip in the rain. Our wimpy, compact travel umbrellas were not faring very well, and I had to be extra cautious to not get Ryan's phone (our one remaining, working phone) wet. It seemed to be taking longer than I'd anticipated, but I chalked it up to faulty GPS. However, once we arrived at our destination, I was utterly confused...because the building was definitely not school! We quickly figured out that I had navigated us to another of schools's campuses, which had a similar sounding kanji in both addresses (Nishioji vs. Nishikyogoku). Needless to say, I was now livid for a second day in a row!

To recap:

Day 1: Got lost in wind/rain due to wet maps, phone conked out
Day 2: Train line shut down, rushed by foot to school in wind/rain, arrived at wrong campus, late again, to a shut down campus.

A kind teacher in the office informed us that all school campuses had been cancelled due to flash flood warnings for the area. (I *had* heard our phones pinging with an alert while we were racing to school, but couldn't read them.) And because the weather didn't seem like anything more than some moderate rain and wind (far from a storm, even), I hadn't thought to worry about the alerts. Thankfully, the same kind teacher offered to give us a ride back to our station, which I gratefully accepted, as I would have felt beyond awful for dragging my mom and Ryan through the wind and rain a second time.

Once we were dropped off back at our station, we figured we'd warm up/dry off with some hot ramen, fried rice and gyoza at a restaurant our host had recommended near our apartment. Because the train lines were closed, I didn't want to risk taking everyone into town by cab, only to get there and/or find most business were closed. So instead, after our leisurely and delicious lunch (grandma paid even though I tried to insist it was on us for dragging her through a flood zone), we went to the only real store nearby...which was Uniqlo (think of it as the Asian Gap- simple clothes for smaller frames...but less expensive). I've been in a Uniqlo a few times before, and was never impressed. But with a storm starting to rage outside and nothing else to do for the next ten hours, I was now suddenly VERY interested in every item they had.

The only upside of our rather frustrating second day in Japan, was that my phone had seemingly restored itself back to 100% functionality by mid-day. I suspect that it got too wet on day one's rainy journey to school, and as it dried out overnight, functionality slowly returned. I was in disbelief, thrilled and relieved. I was still a tad cautious that it wouldn't last, but the theory made sense (to this day, my phone has been fine). :-)

Ryan thought it was odd and hysterical that I wanted to take a picture of these mesmerizing socks at Uniqlo. It just goes to show that he did inherit my Jo-C-D! Too bad for him. This is beauty in such a simple form!

The next day was Saturday, so we took a private train line (Hankyu) that was open and could take us back to town, where we would be sheltered from the continued wind/rain.  It was now our fourth day of rain Japan, and I was starting to get more than a little worried that my mother would never see blue skies on her short trip.

We exited the Hankyu Karasuma line near Daimaru, a large department store we love, which also happens to be where the boy's grandfather's dental clinic is. So it's their stomping grounds, and where I used to hang out for two hours, every Friday night for years with their mom and grandpa. In fact, were it not for those meetings, they'd never have been born. ;-)

We caught the elevator up from the station level...and spied a cute senior seat in the elevator, so we made sure Grandma had to rest in it before her escort helped her. ;-)

Even though he's long given up playing Pokemon, he's still a sucker for a cute one! I had to beg him not to get another stuffed animal from Daimaru's Pokemon Center with his money, as he has dozens and never touches them! I didn't have to beg too hard though, as these were $25 each! Still, how cute are they? They're dressed up in kimono, sitting on a zabuton for Hina Matsuri!

While Grandma cruised the art section, we amused ourselves by having Ryan write a wish to hang on a faux bamboo tree for the Tanabata Matsui.

His wish? "I want to learn Japanese!" I should add that this latest interest in Japanese, is totally driven by him. We encouraged him when he was younger to learn, but other than a 2-3 dozen half-hearted, forced, online lessons, he really had no desire to do the work necessary to learn. But when asked if he wanted to go to school, he jumped at the opportunity! And since then...it's sparked a true interest in him, and he made me promise that once we returned, he could get a tutor (which he now has).

The rest of the day we cruised the Nishiki area, which was a favorite shopping district of mine back in the day.

Sparrow, anyone? Anyone? Anyone?

We fell in love with this dessert! We watched them make it by hand. It's like a flat senbei that they filled with peanuts, soy nuts or peas...oishikatta (it was delicious)!

If you passed on the sparrow...perhaps you'd love a little baby octopus with a quail egg on top? Ah, yes...much more alluring than sparrow, right?

Believe it or not, those are chestnuts! Looks more like a spiny sea urchin.

Our second new discovery of the day (most things are similar, decade after decade...konyaku soap! At $14.50 they were a tad pricey, but we couldn't resist and got one for each of them. Ryan got the cherry blossom, and my mom got yuzu (citrus). Both soaps are soft, squishy and slippery, and probably more fun than anything else. :-)

I've never been a fan of tiny, dried fish...ever. And I still am not. I've eaten them by accident a few times (they're tiny!), so I can't say they have a strong taste...but you can see their eyeballs. That...is not cool. 

Kyoto is known for their yatsuhashi and tsukemono (picked vegetables). Because my mom had pre-paid for both a hefty luggage allowance, and we upgraded her on the way home too (which gave her an even bigger luggage allowance), I felt entitled to buy a ton of heavy pickled veggies for Ryan's karate instructors that she offered to haul back for us.

These are the veggies fermenting in large barrels.

I have taken each of them to this famous shop before on separate occasions, but neither seemed to remember it. All of their offerings are made from soy/tofu...so they're sampling tofu ice cream and tofu donuts! Don't knock it till you've tried it, you can barely taste the soy, and they're delicious!

Once we were done with retail therapy, we hit up the tiny temples/shrines still preserved for centuries in the covered Teramachi/Shinkyogoku shopping tunnels... I have always loved the juxtaposition of old and new architecture coexisting, side by side.

While we were shopping, Joey texted me from Seattle and had me download the Skype app on my pocket wifi so that he could call my mom and Ryan to say hi. Even though I'm far from tech savvy and was using my newly restored cell phone...success! I even managed to...screen shot the call! *gasp* What next? Build a spaceship?! Lead Space Force?! I believe I can fly...I believe I can touch the sky!!! 

The best surprise of the day for us, despite being stuck indoors- was encountering this art gallery. It was showcasing carved fruit and soap!

I was thrilled to have a day of not getting lost or drowning a cell phone. However, the one bummer of the day is that we failed our in mission to find Ryan a new yukata.

We had bought Ryan his first yukata from Kyoto-shi nearly five years earlier, and we were determined to buy him another from the city (which would be his third). However, despite visiting about 2-3 department stores, a dozen souvenir stores and 3-4 yukata stores, we were surprised to learn that young boys can easily buy a yukata, as well as men. But young men who are Ryan's size (up until about teenagers) will find it nearly impossible to find a yukata! This is because most boys/young men tend to outgrow the 'dress' style, and gravitate to the more popular jinbei (shorts/top) style. 

This was very disappointing, but I assured Ryan we were not going to give up. I promised him I'd go on a few runs in town once school resumed, and canvas every yukata store in a one-mile radius of town (and these stores spring up everywhere for Gion Matsuri). I promised him I would hunt around until I found the huge shop we bought his first yukata from.

So although I was bummed about the fourth straight day of rain and not finding a yukata, we still had a successful day...as you can tell from the retail damage my mother did in a single day! (And yes, this is perfectly normal for her.)<3 5-6="" 80="" about="" be="" but="" cooler="" d="" days="" degree="" disappointed="" enough="" first="" for="" i="" largely="" missing="" mom="" my="" only="" p="" pretty="" so="" soon="" temps="" that="" the="" two="" typhoon="" us="" was="" we="" weather="" were="" with="">