Farewell to Kanazawa and Giggles in the Book Shop

(For April 27)

When I emerged from my much-needed sleep this morning, I heard strange voices in the house.  The Hyakuman’s son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren (aged 3 and 6) had come for a visit.  They very kindly gave me a souvenir from Kyoto – an nice fabric iPhone case and a souvenir face washer.  Everyone has been so good to me!

I watched a bit of ‘Tomasu’ (as in 'the Tank Engine'), read a book about different coloured hats which belonged to different animals, and watched the 6 year old producing some origami objects.  I also gave a demonstration of the noise a koala makes.  They were all quite surprised that such a noise could emerge from such a cute creature.

The Hyakumans took me to the station and we said our farewells at the gate.  It was sad to part from them as they have made me very welcome and have been so helpful to me during my stay.

I met up with Ulla on the platform and we boarded the train heading for Osaka.  I left at Kyoto to spend one night there before heading off to Hamamatsu in the morning.  As my time in Kyoto was so short, I deposited my bags in a locker at the Kyoto Station so I could go sightseeing straight away.  Well, almost straight away.  Firstly I went to the nearby shopping area to find lunch.  With so many things to choose from, it was hard to make up my mind, but I eventuall settled on takoyaki (octopus balls) with onion and a tasty sauce.  I had 8 of them, which was a little excessive as they make them big here!

Lunch in progress

...and the finished product!

 

Who's missing??

With a tummy full of octopus, I found my way to the bus stop and took the bus out to the Philosopher’s Path.  This is a very  pleasant walk along the side of a small river, with many temples and shrines along the way.  During cherry blossom season, it is said to be even more beautiful, but I enjoyed a lovely stroll on a lovely day despite the lack of blossoms.

 

 

 

 

 

Along the Philosophers' Path

 

Ladies in kimono along the Philosophers' Path

I took the bus back to the station, then lugged my bags to the hotel.  It was nice to be back in my ‘haven’ of a Toyoko Hotel room.

Petrol station with no bowsers.  The hoses are suspended
above and pulled down when in use

After a Skype call to John, I set off to find the Book Off store which was within a reasonable walking distance from the hotel.  I was looking to add more Doraemon books to my collection and went in armed with my list.  I showed the list to the young man at the counter and asked where I would find these books.  They were located upstairs, and as the shop guy’s workmate came along to look at the list too, the first guy gave him a good smack in the face as he gestured that they were upstairs  We all had a good laugh and I had to try to stop giggling as I made my way up the stairs.  As Book Off is a second-hand book store, I don’t ever expect to get exactly what I want, but this time I was in luck.  There was only one Doraemon book in the store, and it happened to be the one that I had marked with an asterisk as my ‘most wanted’.  The shop assistant was most apologetic that there was only one, but I was very happy with my purchase.

Having made a special effort to remember that I needed to turn left as I left the shop, I managed to make my way back to the hotel without getting lost – even despite the fact that there were two Lawsons kombinis, two other Toyoko Hotels and a bit of a sleazy guy to confuse me along the way.  I bought a light dinner and some breakfast for tomorrow at one of the kombinis along the way, so I’m all set for my very early start tomorrow to catch the train for Hamamatsu at 7.06am.