Well, we are still stuck in HK. The "People Against Democracy" party has blockaded the airport at Bangkok, as as such have contributed to a drop in support for what they are trying to achieve. Basically they have just hacked off a lot of people, including me. It is truly amazing that a bunch of people can decide that they don't like the democratically elected government (however corrupt and imperfect). And the army is not doing much to help the situation.
Anyway, we are hoping to get on flights to Bangkok on Sunday. Outside of the localised problem areas (currently the airport!) there doesn't seem to be any real problems. From what we are hearing from people on the ground, the rest of the place is carrying on much as normal.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Well Sonia arrived in HK last night, and the double (!) bed is way, way too small. It has been many years since we last slept in a double. Most recently the bed at the Conrad Hotel in Bangkok, which is a super king (or larger). Just as well she is only here until the middle of next week - earlier if the bed gets too small!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Bike trip
Well here is some more about the bike trip.
First thing, the route: Click Here For Map
We started at 6:30am in Shibuya, and spent the first hour and a half really just getting out of Tokyo. We stopped at a MacDonalds somewhere on the outskirts of the built-up areas, and had coffee and a muffin. Then on to the real riding.
The highlight (?) of the trip out to Takayama was the road 299. If you zoom in far enough on the map you will be able to see how windy it is. Great if you are on a light sporty bike. Unfortunately mine weighed a ton and was built for touring. Throwing it round corners was hard work, and there were many switchbacks along the way.
The scenery was spectacular. Given the time of year, the trees were a great range of reds, yellows, and oranges. As I said the other day I did not take the camera so I will have to get photos off the other guys.
The road gets up to around 2000 metres, so the temperature change was noticeable. At the top there is a lookout from which there is a great 360-degree view. Then going down the other side it was back to the switchbacks and tight turns. Going downhill on a heavy bike is harder than going up.
Around midday we decided that it was taking much longer to get there than planned, and so we choose to get to the motorway and take the jump north. This took about 45 minutes, and gained a lot of distance. Then it was back to smaller roads (but bigger than the 299). At this point the rain started. We were back to climbing up into the mountains towards Takayama. Lots of tunnels, colourful trees, and amazing hillsides and gorges. It would have been better if it was not raining and we could have stopped and looked.
We got to Takayama around 5pm, and then had to find the hotel. We thought it was next to the train station, but it wasn't. However there was a tourist information booth at the station, and they gave us directions for a 5-minute ride outside of time. The hotel was Associa - a great place with an onsen.
We checked in (scruffy in biking gear while a wedding party proceeded through the lobby), unpacked, and then went down to the onsen to warm up.
Dinner was a beef bbq restaurant back in town, which I enjoyed but the other guys thought was too fatty. In Japan, more fat marbled through the meat means better quality. Then back to the hotel by 9:30 ( the rest of the town had already shut down as far as we could see).
The next morning we decided to take it a bit easier, trying to use the motorway to skip the original 1.5 hours in Tokyo. That meant we could have breakfast (western style) at the hotel before leaving. We were back on the road by 8:15, in the rain. We got safely back down the mountains to the motorway, and decided that it would be horrible to try the 299 in the wet. So we agreed to take the motorway all the way back to Tokyo.
Racing down the motorway is much easier, even in the rain. We stopped at one of the motorway services aroun 11:30 for lunch. Tonkatsu with Miso soup. Yum. And an icecream. Then back onto the bikes (I swapped bikes with David, who was riding a Street Triple - 675 cc). We got back into Tokyo around 2pm, much faster than the trip outwards.
It was a bit of a shame that the weather was not great, but the trip itself was great. I just need to get full use of my hands back, after the strain of moving the bike around!
First thing, the route: Click Here For Map
We started at 6:30am in Shibuya, and spent the first hour and a half really just getting out of Tokyo. We stopped at a MacDonalds somewhere on the outskirts of the built-up areas, and had coffee and a muffin. Then on to the real riding.
The highlight (?) of the trip out to Takayama was the road 299. If you zoom in far enough on the map you will be able to see how windy it is. Great if you are on a light sporty bike. Unfortunately mine weighed a ton and was built for touring. Throwing it round corners was hard work, and there were many switchbacks along the way.
The scenery was spectacular. Given the time of year, the trees were a great range of reds, yellows, and oranges. As I said the other day I did not take the camera so I will have to get photos off the other guys.
The road gets up to around 2000 metres, so the temperature change was noticeable. At the top there is a lookout from which there is a great 360-degree view. Then going down the other side it was back to the switchbacks and tight turns. Going downhill on a heavy bike is harder than going up.
Around midday we decided that it was taking much longer to get there than planned, and so we choose to get to the motorway and take the jump north. This took about 45 minutes, and gained a lot of distance. Then it was back to smaller roads (but bigger than the 299). At this point the rain started. We were back to climbing up into the mountains towards Takayama. Lots of tunnels, colourful trees, and amazing hillsides and gorges. It would have been better if it was not raining and we could have stopped and looked.
We got to Takayama around 5pm, and then had to find the hotel. We thought it was next to the train station, but it wasn't. However there was a tourist information booth at the station, and they gave us directions for a 5-minute ride outside of time. The hotel was Associa - a great place with an onsen.
We checked in (scruffy in biking gear while a wedding party proceeded through the lobby), unpacked, and then went down to the onsen to warm up.
Dinner was a beef bbq restaurant back in town, which I enjoyed but the other guys thought was too fatty. In Japan, more fat marbled through the meat means better quality. Then back to the hotel by 9:30 ( the rest of the town had already shut down as far as we could see).
The next morning we decided to take it a bit easier, trying to use the motorway to skip the original 1.5 hours in Tokyo. That meant we could have breakfast (western style) at the hotel before leaving. We were back on the road by 8:15, in the rain. We got safely back down the mountains to the motorway, and decided that it would be horrible to try the 299 in the wet. So we agreed to take the motorway all the way back to Tokyo.
Racing down the motorway is much easier, even in the rain. We stopped at one of the motorway services aroun 11:30 for lunch. Tonkatsu with Miso soup. Yum. And an icecream. Then back onto the bikes (I swapped bikes with David, who was riding a Street Triple - 675 cc). We got back into Tokyo around 2pm, much faster than the trip outwards.
It was a bit of a shame that the weather was not great, but the trip itself was great. I just need to get full use of my hands back, after the strain of moving the bike around!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Japan and Hong Kong
Well, back in Hong Kong again, after spending the weekend in Japan on a bike trip with a couple of friends. We rode to Hida-Takayama (more on this later), which took up all of Saturday and Sunday.
Monday I caught up with people at the office, before flying back to HK yesterday afternoon. Sonia is still working (someone has to!) in Bangkok, but is flying in to HK tomorrow.
This afternoon I am moving us into a serviced apartment that we have rented for a couple of months while I figure out what I will do in the future, and in which country we will base ourselves.
HK temperatures have dropped over the last week. Today is apparently about 22 degrees. I am writing this while sitting outside in my suit (just been to meet a headhunter) and it is still a little on the cool side, so I suspect that we have not reached 22 degrees yet.
Oh well, on to pick up mail from Sonia's office, then to collect my bags from the hotel where I left them this morning. The apartment will be available from 2pm, so I need to get there, leave the bags and then go find some groceries. Not exactly a pressured life!
All going well I will post a more detailed review of the bike trip later today. Unfortunately I only have a couple of photos on the mobile phone (forgot to take the camera with me), but I will display a map of the route. I rented a Triumph 1050c Sprint ST (touring bike), which was a bit different from the types of bikes I have ridden in the past. Anyway, more later.
Monday I caught up with people at the office, before flying back to HK yesterday afternoon. Sonia is still working (someone has to!) in Bangkok, but is flying in to HK tomorrow.
This afternoon I am moving us into a serviced apartment that we have rented for a couple of months while I figure out what I will do in the future, and in which country we will base ourselves.
HK temperatures have dropped over the last week. Today is apparently about 22 degrees. I am writing this while sitting outside in my suit (just been to meet a headhunter) and it is still a little on the cool side, so I suspect that we have not reached 22 degrees yet.
Oh well, on to pick up mail from Sonia's office, then to collect my bags from the hotel where I left them this morning. The apartment will be available from 2pm, so I need to get there, leave the bags and then go find some groceries. Not exactly a pressured life!
All going well I will post a more detailed review of the bike trip later today. Unfortunately I only have a couple of photos on the mobile phone (forgot to take the camera with me), but I will display a map of the route. I rented a Triumph 1050c Sprint ST (touring bike), which was a bit different from the types of bikes I have ridden in the past. Anyway, more later.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Bangkok
I have been here for a couple of days now, living in Sonia's hotel room at the Conrad. Yesterday was very busy (for me), starting with cooked breakfast in the executive lounge. I had to rush this a little bit, as it finishes around 10am. I managed to fit something in though, and then spent time checking emails and reading the news on the computer.
Then off to get fitted for a new suit (Gulati's in Nana). Sam (the owner) has an amazing memory and knew who I was as soon as I walked in. He also knew where I worked, and that Sonia was my wife, and the names of the people I know who are also his customers. To put it in context, it is probably two years since I last walked into his shop. The fitting took about an hour, although we quickly picked out the fabric (dark blue with a pinstripe). The rest of the time was spent waiting for the tailor to come in and then do the measuring. While waiting we were talking about the economy and the market behaviours (Sam spends the downtime during the day investing in stockmarkets online). Sam also pulled out the measurements from the previous time I was in and commented on how much smaller I am now.
Then down the road to Liu's Bootery, recommended to me by a friend from AIG Japan. He has had some shoes made there a few times. Mr Liu will create whatever you want, using most different types of leather. I chose a pair of new black shoes for work (not sure where I will wear these yet), and also asked them to make me a new pair of more casual shoes. For the leather I chose snakeskin. The Crocodile, Ostrich, and something else, all looked a bit too flashy for me :-). I am going in to pick up the shoes on Thursday morning.
Then stopped for lunch at the Food Loft in Chit Lom, which is a food-court type of place. A huge range of types of food, including Japanese (yeah!).
After lunch, back to the hotel and the executive lounge to let lunch settle before going to the gym. The gym was not busy (as you would expect for 3pm on a Monday), and I did the bike, weights, and treadmill.
Then back to the executive lounge to wait for Sonia. The nice people here are going to recognise me quite quickly, I suspect. Sonia and I sat here and had nibbles before leaving for Siam Paragon where we were booked to see the new James Bond movie (thanks to "Tippie" on the concierge desk for her help making the booking). The movie was at the Nokia Ultra lounge - think lazy-boy chairs with pillows, blankets, and waitresses who will bring the popcorn and drinks to you. Of course I will need to explain the plot to Sonia later today...
What does today hold in store? Well it is almost time for lunch, after which I need to go to the gym. Then meeting an ex-colleague for coffee at 4:30, then back to Sam's for a suit fitting, then out to a restaurant for dinner. Such a busy life - it is truly amazing that I managed to find time to write this update.
Then off to get fitted for a new suit (Gulati's in Nana). Sam (the owner) has an amazing memory and knew who I was as soon as I walked in. He also knew where I worked, and that Sonia was my wife, and the names of the people I know who are also his customers. To put it in context, it is probably two years since I last walked into his shop. The fitting took about an hour, although we quickly picked out the fabric (dark blue with a pinstripe). The rest of the time was spent waiting for the tailor to come in and then do the measuring. While waiting we were talking about the economy and the market behaviours (Sam spends the downtime during the day investing in stockmarkets online). Sam also pulled out the measurements from the previous time I was in and commented on how much smaller I am now.
Then down the road to Liu's Bootery, recommended to me by a friend from AIG Japan. He has had some shoes made there a few times. Mr Liu will create whatever you want, using most different types of leather. I chose a pair of new black shoes for work (not sure where I will wear these yet), and also asked them to make me a new pair of more casual shoes. For the leather I chose snakeskin. The Crocodile, Ostrich, and something else, all looked a bit too flashy for me :-). I am going in to pick up the shoes on Thursday morning.
Then stopped for lunch at the Food Loft in Chit Lom, which is a food-court type of place. A huge range of types of food, including Japanese (yeah!).
After lunch, back to the hotel and the executive lounge to let lunch settle before going to the gym. The gym was not busy (as you would expect for 3pm on a Monday), and I did the bike, weights, and treadmill.
Then back to the executive lounge to wait for Sonia. The nice people here are going to recognise me quite quickly, I suspect. Sonia and I sat here and had nibbles before leaving for Siam Paragon where we were booked to see the new James Bond movie (thanks to "Tippie" on the concierge desk for her help making the booking). The movie was at the Nokia Ultra lounge - think lazy-boy chairs with pillows, blankets, and waitresses who will bring the popcorn and drinks to you. Of course I will need to explain the plot to Sonia later today...
What does today hold in store? Well it is almost time for lunch, after which I need to go to the gym. Then meeting an ex-colleague for coffee at 4:30, then back to Sam's for a suit fitting, then out to a restaurant for dinner. Such a busy life - it is truly amazing that I managed to find time to write this update.
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Kyoto again
Well I did promise that I would write more about the trip to Kyoto, and it is now almost 2 weeks since we were there. So I guess I should do so before the memory fades further (seeing as how we are getting pretty old now)...
So breakfast.
Breakfast was a combination of rice, fish, tofu, and millions (or so it seemed) of small pickled vegetables. With orange juice and japanese tea.
The rice had been selected the night before. I thought I would be healthy and chose brown rice. Sonia picked white. She made the right decision, and I got it totally wrong. It turns out that white rice is your basic steamed white rice. Brown rice, however, is gluey porridge - almost. We decided that they probably cook it in a lot of water, and then serve without straining.
The fish on the other hand was quite good. A piece of something that had been marinated in some sort of soy sauce, then grilled. Tasty. The tofu was a couple of small cubes of tofu, served in soy milk in a paper "plate" on top of a burner - the burner was to heat up and cook the tofu. A metal plate underneath the paper took the brunt of the flame and heated the paper.
The orange juice is a strange taste when you put it into the context of a savoury breakfast. And of course we didn't really finish the pickled vegetables. Still, apart from my disastrous rice choice, breakfast was not bad. But quite a different taste to what us westerners are accustomed to.
We spent the first day walking around Kyoto in the drizzle. Sunday was not great weather-wise, but at least it did not pour down too hard. In Japan you can stop at any 7-11 (convenience store, like a dairy in NZ) which are on every corner (you will almost never need to walk more than 5 minutes to find one) to buy a disposable umbrella. Which we did.
We went to the market street first - narrow alleys filled with all sorts of interesting things, both edible and not. Edible includes vegetables (fresh or pickled), fish (dried or fresh), tea, meat (fresh, BBQed, grilled, etc), Japanese junk foods, and lots of ice-cream (of the snowfreeze style).
Lunch was okonomiyaki - a Japanese junk food pancake (sort of) - the sort of thing you might find in a food court except a bit better and much tastier.
Then off to one of the temples to have a look around - called Kiyomizu Dera. It is famous for the views (of trees as it turns out) and it's architecture/construction, which is pretty impressive. Because the weather was gray I didn't get a lot of great photos, but here are a couple.
This first one is one of the fountains at the entrance - to wash your hands (I think).
At another fountain inside the complex, it is considered good luck to drink the water. And lots of people line up to do so. The two ladies (mother and daughter) looked nice in their kimonos.
Then a view from one of the terraces - lots of trees.
More to come later. I have just received a text message from Sonia instructing me to buy some makeup for her from the duty-free shop (I am writing this at the airport). Since this will take about 10 minutes walk back from the gate (my current location), I better get moving.
So breakfast.
Breakfast was a combination of rice, fish, tofu, and millions (or so it seemed) of small pickled vegetables. With orange juice and japanese tea.
The rice had been selected the night before. I thought I would be healthy and chose brown rice. Sonia picked white. She made the right decision, and I got it totally wrong. It turns out that white rice is your basic steamed white rice. Brown rice, however, is gluey porridge - almost. We decided that they probably cook it in a lot of water, and then serve without straining.
The fish on the other hand was quite good. A piece of something that had been marinated in some sort of soy sauce, then grilled. Tasty. The tofu was a couple of small cubes of tofu, served in soy milk in a paper "plate" on top of a burner - the burner was to heat up and cook the tofu. A metal plate underneath the paper took the brunt of the flame and heated the paper.
The orange juice is a strange taste when you put it into the context of a savoury breakfast. And of course we didn't really finish the pickled vegetables. Still, apart from my disastrous rice choice, breakfast was not bad. But quite a different taste to what us westerners are accustomed to.
We spent the first day walking around Kyoto in the drizzle. Sunday was not great weather-wise, but at least it did not pour down too hard. In Japan you can stop at any 7-11 (convenience store, like a dairy in NZ) which are on every corner (you will almost never need to walk more than 5 minutes to find one) to buy a disposable umbrella. Which we did.
We went to the market street first - narrow alleys filled with all sorts of interesting things, both edible and not. Edible includes vegetables (fresh or pickled), fish (dried or fresh), tea, meat (fresh, BBQed, grilled, etc), Japanese junk foods, and lots of ice-cream (of the snowfreeze style).
Lunch was okonomiyaki - a Japanese junk food pancake (sort of) - the sort of thing you might find in a food court except a bit better and much tastier.
Then off to one of the temples to have a look around - called Kiyomizu Dera. It is famous for the views (of trees as it turns out) and it's architecture/construction, which is pretty impressive. Because the weather was gray I didn't get a lot of great photos, but here are a couple.
This first one is one of the fountains at the entrance - to wash your hands (I think).
At another fountain inside the complex, it is considered good luck to drink the water. And lots of people line up to do so. The two ladies (mother and daughter) looked nice in their kimonos.
Then a view from one of the terraces - lots of trees.
More to come later. I have just received a text message from Sonia instructing me to buy some makeup for her from the duty-free shop (I am writing this at the airport). Since this will take about 10 minutes walk back from the gate (my current location), I better get moving.
Friday, November 07, 2008
Quick update
Well this short episode comes to you from Pacific Coffee (Starbucks clone) in Times Square in Hong Kong. I have signed up for a month of wireless internet access (HKD 158), which happens to be available at most of the coffee places. So every day so far this week I have been found sitting with coffee working on the laptop.
I was talking to Sonia about the feeling of being disconnected during the last few days in Tokyo. At that point I was staying in a cheap hotel, which did not provide internet access. And my mobile phone (which had internet access built in) had been given back to the office. What is worse, Tokyo is incredibly bad for free wireless access - everything is charged (and expensive). So suddenly, after spending the last couple of years being able to look things up quickly, check the news, email, etc, I was stuck. A very strange feeling.
Anyway, now in HK, flying tomorrow night to Bangkok. I will spend the first part of the week there, then fly back on Thursday, before catching an airpoints flight first thing on Friday up to Tokyo. Along with a couple of friends, I will be going for a road trip (motorbikes) over the weekend. Then back to HK on Tuesday to continue the job search and get apartments sorted.
I was talking to Sonia about the feeling of being disconnected during the last few days in Tokyo. At that point I was staying in a cheap hotel, which did not provide internet access. And my mobile phone (which had internet access built in) had been given back to the office. What is worse, Tokyo is incredibly bad for free wireless access - everything is charged (and expensive). So suddenly, after spending the last couple of years being able to look things up quickly, check the news, email, etc, I was stuck. A very strange feeling.
Anyway, now in HK, flying tomorrow night to Bangkok. I will spend the first part of the week there, then fly back on Thursday, before catching an airpoints flight first thing on Friday up to Tokyo. Along with a couple of friends, I will be going for a road trip (motorbikes) over the weekend. Then back to HK on Tuesday to continue the job search and get apartments sorted.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Kyoto Part 2
The following was written on the train on the way back from Kyoto. I still have not sorted the photos, but will do so and then put some more up here.
Where to start?
The ryokan was a great experience. It was actually a combination of a ryokan with a restaurant that specialises in Kyoto cuisine - which means Tofu as far as I can tell.
We arrived at the ryokan after a shortish taxi ride, although the driver needed to call the dispatcher to ask how to find the place. This does not happen very often, as they normally have satellite navigation systems. And this despite us providing him with a printed map showing the place clearly. Well I thought it was clear, as the map was all in Japanese.
On arrival, we were shown straight into a bar/lounge area where we were served green tea made the traditional way. This was accompanied by three small sweet balls of goo. Not sure what they were; certainly not familiar to western tastes. The tea was made by rapidly whisking tea powder with a small amount of water until the result is bubbly. Much stronger than either of us are accustomed to.
While drinking the tea and eating the goo balls, we were asked what time we wanted to have dinner and breakfast. Dinner is served in the individual rooms, but breakfast is in a shared breakfast room. For breakfast we had to choose either brown or white rice. All of this in a combination of Japanese and English - more Japanese than English.
Also during this time I took the opportunity to warn Sonia that I was not going to be protecting her food-wise - she had to experience this herself!
Then we were shown to the room.
The room was eight tatami mats in size, with a low black lacquer table in the middle and two cane/bamboo seats with cushions. The seats are basically there to support your back, so you are effectively sitting on the floor. For those of you who are older and have therefore forgotten, cross-legged sitting on the floor is not easy.
Off to one side is a small table with two comfortable chairs for sitting, and to the side of that (tucked away in the back) is a toilet. On the opposite wall is a scroll, which when surrounded by the plain furnishings looks really nice. We actually bought a scroll in the same style when we went to Kawagoe. Our scroll has a picture of Mt Fuji.
Because of the time we arrived, there was no time for a bath/shower before dinner. Instead, we sat down for Shabu-shabu. The menu was somewhere over 8 courses long, with the main course being the shabu-shabu. I'll review the two menus in detail later on once I have convinced someone to help translate them for me (I kept the menus, which are beautifully printed). Suffice it to say that there were multiple unusual flavours, starting with the appetiser. This was small pieces of grilled horse. The remainder of the meal included two more courses of horse (a horse is a horse of course, of course), includind horse sashimi.
After dinner, we were warned that they would be "bed-making", so we took the opportunity to quickly change into our yukata, then down to the communal baths. I had briefed Sonia on the etiquette of Japanese bathing (as I understand it to be), so we were both fairly uncertain about the whole thing. In the end there was no-one in the men's or women's baths.
By the time we got back to the room, the table had been pushed to one side and the beds were made. These are foam mats about 1 inch thick, with a futon mattress on top - 1-2 inches. If you fell off, you might not notice... Then a thick duvet on top. The pillow was half beads and half normal. Needless to say, your head goes on the normal side. This may not sound very promising for a good night's sleep, but it is actually quite comfortable. Unfortunately we don't have any photos of the beds - sorry.
In the next episode, I'll relate our breakfast and the first day (rainy) of wandering around Kyoto.
Where to start?
The ryokan was a great experience. It was actually a combination of a ryokan with a restaurant that specialises in Kyoto cuisine - which means Tofu as far as I can tell.
We arrived at the ryokan after a shortish taxi ride, although the driver needed to call the dispatcher to ask how to find the place. This does not happen very often, as they normally have satellite navigation systems. And this despite us providing him with a printed map showing the place clearly. Well I thought it was clear, as the map was all in Japanese.
On arrival, we were shown straight into a bar/lounge area where we were served green tea made the traditional way. This was accompanied by three small sweet balls of goo. Not sure what they were; certainly not familiar to western tastes. The tea was made by rapidly whisking tea powder with a small amount of water until the result is bubbly. Much stronger than either of us are accustomed to.
While drinking the tea and eating the goo balls, we were asked what time we wanted to have dinner and breakfast. Dinner is served in the individual rooms, but breakfast is in a shared breakfast room. For breakfast we had to choose either brown or white rice. All of this in a combination of Japanese and English - more Japanese than English.
Also during this time I took the opportunity to warn Sonia that I was not going to be protecting her food-wise - she had to experience this herself!
Then we were shown to the room.
The room was eight tatami mats in size, with a low black lacquer table in the middle and two cane/bamboo seats with cushions. The seats are basically there to support your back, so you are effectively sitting on the floor. For those of you who are older and have therefore forgotten, cross-legged sitting on the floor is not easy.
Off to one side is a small table with two comfortable chairs for sitting, and to the side of that (tucked away in the back) is a toilet. On the opposite wall is a scroll, which when surrounded by the plain furnishings looks really nice. We actually bought a scroll in the same style when we went to Kawagoe. Our scroll has a picture of Mt Fuji.
Because of the time we arrived, there was no time for a bath/shower before dinner. Instead, we sat down for Shabu-shabu. The menu was somewhere over 8 courses long, with the main course being the shabu-shabu. I'll review the two menus in detail later on once I have convinced someone to help translate them for me (I kept the menus, which are beautifully printed). Suffice it to say that there were multiple unusual flavours, starting with the appetiser. This was small pieces of grilled horse. The remainder of the meal included two more courses of horse (a horse is a horse of course, of course), includind horse sashimi.
After dinner, we were warned that they would be "bed-making", so we took the opportunity to quickly change into our yukata, then down to the communal baths. I had briefed Sonia on the etiquette of Japanese bathing (as I understand it to be), so we were both fairly uncertain about the whole thing. In the end there was no-one in the men's or women's baths.
By the time we got back to the room, the table had been pushed to one side and the beds were made. These are foam mats about 1 inch thick, with a futon mattress on top - 1-2 inches. If you fell off, you might not notice... Then a thick duvet on top. The pillow was half beads and half normal. Needless to say, your head goes on the normal side. This may not sound very promising for a good night's sleep, but it is actually quite comfortable. Unfortunately we don't have any photos of the beds - sorry.
In the next episode, I'll relate our breakfast and the first day (rainy) of wandering around Kyoto.
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