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April 16

Miyoho Mountain Hike / Higashiyama Youth Hostel

In the morning I had my first opportunity to talk to Miyoko's husband, Inoue-san, in the 3 times I've visited his place. He usually doesn't appear to talkative (mostly due to the fact that he doesn't speak English too much). So, here I got to practice some of my Japanese. His big hobby is baseball, of which he plays twice on every Sunday. He even has a uniform for the team. Oh yes, and his favorite Japanese team is the Hanshin Tigers.

After a nice home-cooked breakfast, we went with Miyoko on the train to Kokusaikaigan Station, and walked to Takaraga Pond. Of course, being Miyoko, this little walk ends up taking approximately 2 hours, including the climbing of a small mountain called Miyoho Daimonji. It is one of the 5 hills in the Kyoto area where they light fires in the shape of kanji, during certain times of the year. This wasn't one of those time, but it was nonetheless a beautiful hike.

After our hike, we hit a few shops, then returned to Miyoko's for a little hirune (siesta; nap). After the nap, Miyoko took us to visit her grandkids, and then Jen and I had to say good-bye. We couldn't stay at Miyoko's that night because she had to take care of some of her grandkids, so I booked spaces at the Higashiyama Youth Hostel.

We took the local Kyoto subway there, and found out that: 1. they only had dorm style rooms left - meaning Jen and I would be staying with the other boys and girls of the facility. 2. they close the doors and have "lights-out" at 10:30pm promptly - meaning we wouldn't get to visit my friend's bar. Kyoko's brother, Tatsuya, has some friends who own a bar in Kyoto called The Wellers Club (so named after John Weller of The Jam). I've been there once, back in 2000, and I can say they have the dopest vinyl funk collection I've ever seen in Japan, if not ever.

Next door to the youth hostel was a coffee house called Westwood Cafe, where I found out that there is extremely poor service alive and well in Japan. After hanging out in the cafe, we decided to call it a night (not much of a choice, I guess. We checked for alternate ways in to the youth hostel: none).