Sunday I've got Friday on my mind...

Friday morning found me waking up on Jo and Rob's couch bed and making my way back to my hotel feeling a little worse for wear. Still, a good night was had on Thursday and I actually felt better than I though I would considering the lack of sleep and NO lack of chu hi...

After a brief nap and a long shower, I made my way to Umeda Sky Building to meet with Chie - a Japanese lady I had made acquaintance with through instagram. She took me to the basement of Umeda Sky Building, which is a replica Showa-period Japanese city full of restaurants, where we dined at a Katsudon restaurant. She was such a sweetheart and in true Japanese style, refused to let me pay for my lunch, which was slightly embarrassing, and even presented me with a small gift, leading to further embarrassment on my behalf as it was all very unexpected... but much appreciated. It was a pleasure meeting Chie.

On my return to the hotel, I was contemplating a quiet night in. Whilst I was submerged in my Japanese tub, I got a message from my friend John to say he was on his way up to my room. My soaking session came to an abrupt end and I grabbed the first items of clothing I could find... which were a total mismatch. He had to meet one of his students for a lesson later that evening and had some time to kill so he thought he would come over and take me to see a gallery space nearby and grab a bite to eat. I was actually glad he did as the gallery was worth seeing and the exhibition currently showing was most interesting and somewhat inspiring. It was by a Japanese collage artist - Ooka Ueno.

I was also somewhat entertained by seeing John eat the biggest inari sushi I have ever seen! Unfortunately, I forgot to photograph it.

Anything but boring...

I seem to be writing my blog posts quite late in the evening... And whilst my tired and tardy writing at this hour does not do justice to the events being mentioned, I am just really trying to document my time here, (for my own purposes), on a regular basis so as not to forget anything important.

Yesterday I took another trip to Kyoto - for the purpose of meeting an online acquaintance: Michael Baxter, aka: Kyoto Foodie. Originally from the United States, he has lived in Kyoto for the past 12 years.

It was a brief but enjoyable meeting. Michael took me to Pontocho in Gion where we had lunch at a soba restaurant. I did the old "I'll have what he's having" in order to try something different... and that something, (Michael's favourite), was a cold dish consisting of fresh soba noodles, a light broth, whisked raw egg, shredded nori, tempura prawn and bean, and... homemade nato - the best nato I have ever tasted!

After lunch I paid a brief visit to Yasaka Shrine and took a walk through Chionin Temple and then over to Heian Shrine. It was the warmest day since I arrived here - the afternoon sun was quite severe and the humidity was definitely high. Fortunately, I didn't have time to scorch too much in the solar blare, as I had to get back to Osaka to meet my friend Hide at 6pm.

We then met up with a few others outside Namba Hatch to see The Boredoms. I admit, I had never heard of this band prior to meeting Rob and Jo - (an Australian couple living/teaching over here for the past five years). I also had no idea what to expect. Since the suggestion was made a week or so ago that I come along to see them, I watched a couple of You Tube videos which were not really a great indication.... I guess all I really knew was that they were 'energetic'... and that they were!

Unlike any band I have ever seen before, I have to say it was a great show... they are definitely a 'live' band and definitely a hard band to describe in words. Watching the crowd was almost as enjoyable as watching the band who started off quite mellow in mood ... but as the tempo lifted all of a sudden I was deep in a sea of jumping Japanese pogo dancers - being carried to and fro with the ebb and flow of the crowd.... I had no choice but to join in and grin.

It was certainly an experience.

For the sake of sake...

Today (Wednesday), I took a train with my friend Hide-San to Chushojima to check out the small town known for its production of sake.

We visited Kizakura and Gekkaikan breweries which were interesting, namely for their historical elements, but of course, quite commercial as far as sake went. Still, I never say no to free samples of this tasty beverage so it was an enjoyable way to start our day. The information they provided on the process of making sake was certainly of interest and the architecture of the breweries themselves, (some now restaurants and other retail venues), was quite beautiful.

We enjoyed a lovely lunch at a delightful restaurant inside an old brewery which included the most amazing tofu dumplings, a delicious fresh tofu that was cooked at our table and a tasting flight of 3 different kinds of daiginjo sake.

The highlight of our time in this little town was visiting a sake shop in Otesuji called Aburacho. The owner, Okuda-San presented us with a very extensive list of around 80 different sake choices from which to design our own tasting flight. His suggestions were far more superior to our choices, which we discovered after trying both. All still very enjoyable.

My tastings included, as Okuda-San presented them and wrote them...
Tama-no-hikari yamahai jikomi junmai daiginjo
Tomio tobintori daiginjo gensyu
Eikun junmai daiginjo
Syotoku Nigori-zake

For a bit of fun I also tried a matcha sake, a yuzu sake and a Nigori yuzu sake.

The day ended with a spectacular view from the Hep 5 ferris wheel in Umeda and a very, very tasty bowl of Osaka ramen.

Kansai Time Out

Allison left Osaka today... As for me, I left the Dotonbori Hotel, and made my way to my next location in Osaka.

Currently chilling out, listening to elevator style music on BGM, (that has so far included instrumental versions of Africa by Toto, Every Sha-la-la-la by The Carpenters, Bright Eyes by Art Garfunkel and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John to name a few), drinking chilled sake and looking at this view...

Another day in Paradise...

Yesterday, Allison and I travelled, once again, to the beautiful city of Kyoto.

After visiting the very lovely Kinkakuji - Golden Temple, and the immaculate Zen garden at Ryoanji, we set out to find Sake Bar Yoramu. After getting off the bus far too early and a few wrong turns on foot we eventually found the place. Whilst initially I felt a slight feeling of intimidation and unease in being there, I eventually succeeded in embracing the moment and relaxed into enjoying some of the most amazing sake I have ever tasted. Yoram was extremely professional and passionate, matching sake tasting flights based on what one normally likes to drink, be it wine, spirits or whatever.

After my three had been poured and the tasting had begun, I was quite curious to see what he would pick for Allison, as our tastes are very different. Allison had not planned on consuming any but was also curious to see what had been matched to her palate preferences. Whilst I ended up consuming pretty much all of what was poured, I do believe she was quite pleasantly surprised by some of the choices and we were both introduced to new ways of drinking and enjoying sake.

Interestingly enough, after letting them sit for a bit and as the nose and palate changed, the one I liked least in the beginning ended up being the one I enjoyed the most. It helped once Yoram matched it with cheese, the two were exquisite together.

To finish, I sampled a Nigori style sake which came a close second. They were all incredibly different - somehow delicate yet so complex. I have SO much more to learn about this wonderful beverage, but that's what makes it so much fun!

I hope to get back there again before I head home.

Whether I will ever have the pleasure of sampling any of these again, I do not know, but I of course photographed the bottles and had Yorum write down the names of each one I tried.

Pictured above are:
Akishika Okarakuchi
Mutemuka (my favourite of the evening)
Kidoizumi Hakugyokko

Pictured below are:
Kamiyo Kara No Sake/Sango
Suginishiki Yamahai 2008
Akishika Moto Shibri (Pressed Moto) 2007

The finale, pictured below, was Hana Tomoe Yamahai Usunigori.

It had to happen...

Friday night, caught up with old friend Hide and new found friend Jo for Okonomiyaki and sake before heading to Galaxy Gallery to check out a show by Mexican artist, Uriel Marin.

It was the opening party with a good turnout and a great atmosphere. The space is possibly the best I have seen in Osaka, as far as smaller, non institutional galleries go. Jamie from Headspace was there and managed to introduce me to Colo, the owner/director of Galaxy. Colo mentioned that this was his first time showing an international artist and told me of his plans to do so more often. I showed him some images of my work and we discussed the possibility of me organising something in his space for next year. It would be a great venue for a couple of the joint/group ventures that I have been contemplating. We shall see where this goes...
After bumping into a few of 'the others', and as the party was coming to an end, the mention of karaoke came from nowhere and before we knew it, a small group of us were at a super seedy and fabulous ( all at the same time ) karaoke venue in the back streets of Namba somewhere. It had to happen... After all, is a trip to Japan ever really complete without at least one karaoke session? Voices got husky and tired somewhere around 3am and the night came to a close.

Kansai Culture...

Yesterday Allison and I visited the National Museum of Art, Osaka to check out their 35th annivsary exhibition: the Allure of the Collection.

The building itself (pictured below) is quite a marvelous structural spectacle and the space inside, surprisingly larger than I had expected, possessed walls and walls filled with wonderful and incredibly inspiring works. To mention a few... there were of course the likes of Yoshimoto Nara and Makoto Aida, both already had my admiration, but I was introduced to works by artists Zon Ito, Yasuka Goto, Kumi Machida, Koji Tamada and Miwa Yanagi which were equally impressive. Throw in a collection of some of the Western and better know greats such as Warhol, Twombly, Polke, De Kooning and Dubuffet as well as some fabulous contemporary photography and you have yourself one fabulous exhibition.

We later caught up with new found Canadian friend, living in Osaka, and went to check out a photography exhibition by a Frenchman at the quaintest little French cafe and bar, (slash art and music venue), called Ands Tartines, followed by a visit to Garb for a few drinks, some food and laughs.

Today we visited the Kamigata Ukiyoe Museum, which, all this time, has been right under our noses - about a 5 minute walk from the hotel. I have always been a huge fan of Ukiyoe prints and their collection, albeit quite small, was incredibly lovely and well worth the visit.

a few more photos from Kyoto

English Lessons in Kyoto and Yuzu Appeciation...

I forgot to make mention of a delicious yuzu sho-chu that I managed to come across in a small Kyoto bar. I had already ordered a perilla sho-chu, as it is one I actually really enjoy, when I spotted the label on the bottle next to the Tantakatan, displaying what looked like an illustration of the very tasty Japanese citrus fruit that is 'yuzu'... Upon enquiring, in a mixture of English and Japanese, I was offered a sniff of the lid which was enough to suggest he pour me one. It was almost, ALMOST, as delightful as Umenoyado yuzu sake... Whilst enjoying it, Allison and I were looking endearingly over their drink menu and noticing the adorably innocent spelling mistakes, such as 'lock' instead of on the rocks, and 'puemium molts' instead of... well, that one is fairly obvious. Even more adorable was the fact that it was spelt correctly on their beer tap head but translated in Jap-glish on their menu.

I did not want to sound at all condescending but I could see they were curious enough about our discussion, and the guy who seemed like the owner had already opened the menu document on his computer, ready to make it 'perfect English'. With that, I was given a pen and paper and wrote down the correct English for them to alter their menu. So it was a win-win... I got to discover yuzu sho-chu and they now have a perfectly written and easy to understand English drinks menu.

On the subject of yuzu, it is not just being enjoyed as an infusion to alcoholic beverages, I tried the most delicious yuzu tea the other day here in Osaka, made with fresh rind and juice of the fruit.

My suitcase is too small and custom laws too strict.

Catching up...

Once again it's after 1am in Osaka and I am too tired to contribute a decent written post on here...

Tuesday saw us get on a train to Kyoto, where we stayed overnight. It was nice to get out of Osaka even if for only a night. A visit to one of my favourite temples, Kiyomizu-dera, and its surrounding sights and stalls took up the best part of day one.

Dinner in Gion saw me devour the best tofu I have ever tasted, (and as I was a vegetarian for 17 years, I have eaten a lot of tofu), accompanied by some very lovely sake.

Kyoto is a beautiful city at any time of day or night, however, something quite magical happens when the sun goes down and the streets are lit up with lanterns, and filled with amazing aromas of various forms of Kyoto style cuisine.

I had planned to run along the Kamogawa on Wednesday morning but, I must confess, Tuesday night saw me drink far too much, and despite still waking up early as planned, my body felt in no fit state to run 5kms. I felt a little down on myself but reminded myself that I AM on holidays.

Wednesday saw Allison and I back in Gion, this time to watch the Maiko and Geiko dance performance in Pontocho. I had been once before on a previous visit to Kyoto, and despite knowing roughly what to expect, those lovely ladies still managed to delight me once again.

In the afternoon we visited another of my favourite places from previous trips - Fushimi Inari Shrine. Pictures say far more than words ever could about this place...