Day two starts with breakfast at the hotel with Josie and Steve.
Leisurely walk to the Opera House to get tickets to La Bohème. Sandwiches for lunch, sitting outside the Opera Cafe.
Ferry to Mosman. Coffee and chocolate cake at Mosman Rowers.
A walk through the reserve, past Old Cremorne, all the way to Cremorne Wharf. The light keeps changing.
Our apartment building above Cremorne Reserve.
At the tip of the peninsula is Cremorne Point.
Contraband boutonnière.
On the ferry back to Circular Quay, the upper deck is almost empty.
Dinner on the balcony. Takeaway grilled perch from the Italian restaurant and wine from the bottle shop around the back.
.
Life here sure is beautiful! 😍
Labels: Cremorne Point, La Bohème, Mosman ferry, Sydney Opera House
I've forgotten how dramatically the weather here can change. In minutes. Must remember to dress for all four seasons in a day.
Labels: Sydney, the change
1:40 pm. Check in at Cathay.
2:00 pm. A chair is brought in for me for the long wait. A mixup with my booking.
3:09 pm. I am informed that boarding passes will be printed soon. Fuming.
3:21pm. In lounge, seated for lunch. Still annoyed.
4:25 pm On board, seated in Suite 4D. Feeling mollified.
4:30 pm. Sipping glass of Amour de Deutz champagne. Cheering up.
4:37 pm. Back to normal. BAU.
Labels: Cathay Pacific, HKG Airport
We've just missed the festivals marking autumn and the year end illumination of temples starts just as we leave. So we try to catch the remains of autumn in Arashiyama. On the Sagano train through hill tunnels, following the twists and turns of a river, passing rapids and bridges.
Back at the hotel, GM Ken Yokoyama met us at the lobby, offered more good wishes for last week's anniversary. Later at dinner, the half bottle left over from last night was augmented by additional pours with his compliments.
I'm still marveling at how nice this city and its people are. There is an ethos of understatement. An absence of ostentation in manner, in dress, in conversation, in design. An avoidance of bling, a shying away from the shiny and brand new. Witness the use of old wood, reclaimed pieces from old houses, old fabric from treasured kimonos.
Is this the essence of "wabi sabi"? And how does this relate to the Japanese stereotype of the brand-obsessed consumer? The cult of Louis Vuitton? Is the old imperial capital Kyoto immune from this blight?
Labels: festivals, Hyatt Regency, Kyoto, people
Si
nce 1465, HONKE OWARIYA has been serving the venerable noodle at this quaint little restaurant a few minutes' walk from the Imperial Palace
.
Lunch was as much an experience in time travel as it was a delightful meal. The first thing that struck me when I entered the place was how small everything was. Tiny garden, tiny foyer, tiny staircase, tiny doors. It felt like all those films about geishas and warlords I've ever seen. No wonder people here do so much bowing. And whispering. It's what you want to do, instinctively.
The soba was good, the soup was comforting, the tempura was satisfying. And the step back in time was nothing short of delicious!
Afterwards, coffee had to be in a place just as original, just as unique. We walked a long way in search of an only-in-Kyoto vibe.
CAFE INDEPENDANTS is located in a 1928 Art Deco building.
The sign on the pavement is a delicate Art Nouveau style wrought iron confection.
The building used to house a newspaper office. The café is downstairs in an ostentatiously shabby basement with flamboyant mosaic floors. It's so rundown, it's almost chic.
The staff is exclusively millennial. There are flyers and cards stacked up on a table by the door. Adverts for a Metro Countdown to 2014, a bar, a live concert, an art exhibit.
Stuart and I shared a chocolate parfait piled high with ice cream, brownies, berries, thick cream, and crunchy cereal, all drenched in chocolate and strawberry syrup.
It's all very retro, achingly nostalgic. But this is nostalgia for a past that didn't really exist here. Like jazz, this subversive youth vibe is an import. There is no history to support it.
Labels: cafe, Cafe Independants, HONKE OWARIYA, soba
On the Japan Railways Haruka train no. 46 to beautiful Kyoto.
Exit at Central Gate, walk right across to taxi rank, and it's 5 minutes to the Hyatt Regency, next door to SANJUSANGENDO TEMPLE.
Morning breaks into a bright sunny winter's day. A brisk bracing wind feels good on my face, like a lifting facial treatment.
We take a taxi to GINKAKUJI TEMPLE, crossing over to the far side of the river into a lovely tree-lined street. A light drizzle begins to mist the car window. Then a rainbow, bright as a coloring book cutout, arcs across the hills before us.
A slow, meditative stroll along picture pretty PHILOSOPHERS' WALK soon obliterates all memory of the hectic week prior.
I pause by a shrine of stone markers, memorials to the dead. There's a tiny doll nestled in amongst the watery bits and bobs, offerings to lost loved ones.
The air suddenly turns sharply cold and we declare it a Noodle Day. We head for RESTAURANT OMEN just off Philosophers' Walk.
Back at the hotel, at cozy
TRATTORIA SETTE, for coffee and macaroons. We'll be back for dinner.
There's a bottle of champagne in our room,
courtesy of GM Ken Yokoyama, I presume. Nice.
Now to the spa RIRAKU. What better way to ready ourselves for dinner than an hour of shiatsu for me and acupuncture for Stuart?
I could get used to this. 😍
Labels: acupuncture, Hyatt Regency, Kyoto, Riraku, shiatsu, Trattoria Sette
