Sunday, I went out with Arina and Mauru. They wanted to check out the biggest vegan market in Japan (which turned out to be somewhat disappointing, they say), I wanted to sleep. So we met in front of Keihan Line Marutamachi station around 12.30.
I didn't know where the station was, so I went to the information desk at the central station to ask (conversation was entirely in Japanese). The good clerk at the desk spread out the map and circled a station. The streets in Kyoto run for kilometres, both horizontally and vertically. Marutamachi is one that runs vertically through the entire city. Where he was sending me was at the centre, I needed to be at the very East. I'm so pleased I've learnt a thing or to about navigation here. Because I repeated that I needed the train station and not the underground station. Then he circled the train station on the map with his big red marker and said "Ga arimasen", which means "does not exist". Of all the things, I should keep that map as a souvenir. Actually I should have had him write "ga arimasen" just next to the station he circled.
Pazar gunu, Arina ve Mauru ile ciktik. Onlar Japonya'nin en buyuk Vegan pazarini gezmek istediler (ki o da hayalkirikligi olmus), ben de uyumak istedim. Bu nedenle Keihan hattinin Marutamachi istasyonunda bulusalim dedik, 12 bucuk gibi.
Ben bu istasyonu bilmem, o yuzden bir bilene sorayim diye merkez istasyonun bilgi edinme noktasina gittim. Konusma tamamen Japonca idi. Muhterem gorevli bir harita serdi onumuze ve bir istasyon isaretleyiverdi. Kyoto caddeleri enine ve boyuna kilometrelerce uzar gider. Marutamachi Kyoto'nun bir ucundan bir ucuna enine gidenlerden. Amca beni merkezine yollamaya kalkti; ben biliyorum Dogu'ya gitmem gerek. Sukur ki az bucuk ogrendim sagimi solumu. Tekrarladim amcaya, benim tren istasyonuna gitmem lazim, metroya degil diye. Bu defa tren istasyonunu buldu; koca, kirmizi kalemiyle cemberledi ve "Ga arimasen' , yani "Yok (boyle bir sey)" dedi. Benim burdan andac olarak bu haritayi saklamam lazim aslinda. Keske bir de "Ga arimasen" yazdirsaydim isaretledigi istasyonun yanina.
We met and took the train to Fushimi. This is a small town outside Kyoto (actually a ward of Kyoto), famous with its sake breweries. The place was generally ugly with industrial compounds bang in the centre, among houses. We had lunch with Kazu-san (Arina's boyfriend), who had to work in Fushimi on Sunday. Then we strolled around, looked into shops, visited the sake museum, did some sake tasting, had a sake ice-cream, which was not particularly delicious. However, the water in the town was delicious. People come with bottles or large jugs to fill up for the week. It's considered to be one of the top 10 springs in entire Japan. Sake brewing industry is not there for nothing.
I sat inside a barrel to pose.
Bulusup bindik trene ve Fushimi'ye gittik. Fushimi, Kyoto yakininda (daha cok Kyoto'nun banliyosu gibi), sakesiylemeshur bir kasaba. Cok icacici bir yer degildi maalesef. Endustri binalari evlerin arasinda, tam merkezde. Arina'nin sevgilisi Kazu-san ile bir ogle yemegi yedik. Ondansonra da gezindik, dukkanlara baktik, sake muzesini gezdik, sake tattik, sakeli dondurma yedik. Sake dondurmasi pekleziz degildi ama kasabanin suyu cok lezizdi. Millet siseleri, damacanalari kapip gelmis; haftalik ihtiyaclarinidolduruyorlardi. Burasi Japonya'nin en iyi 10 su kaynagindanbiri sayilirmis. Sake endustrisi bosuna burda gelismemis yani. Ben de girdim varile poz verdim.
We popped on another train to Uji. This is a lovely town cut by a large river. The Japanese 10 cent coin features the buddhist temple (Byōdō-in ) of Uji. We didn't get to see the inside, but again the gardens and the museum was worth it.
Arina had two matcha (green tea) ice-creams and Mauru bought medicine (was feeling ill). After an entire day of walking on gravel I took a rest at the riverbed and soaked my feet in the cold river.
Ordan yine atladik bir trene, Uji'ye gittik. Burasi da bir nehrinikiye boldugu guzel bir kasaba. Japon 10 kurusununarkasinda da bu sehirdeki budist tapinagi (Byōdō-in) var. Tapinagin icini goremedik ama yine bahceleri, muzesi yetti.
Arina iki tane matcha (yesil cay) dondurmasi yedi, Mauru da gitti ilac aldi (biraz usutmus). Ben de butun gun cakillarda yurudukten sonra nehir yatagina indim ve ayaklarimi buz gibi nehre soktum.
Mauru left us later on and returned to Kyoto. Kazu-san came and picked us up from Uji and took us to a Sentō (bath house) near Fushimi, called Nenenoyu. For the first time in 5 weeks I found myself seriously considering living here. It was just so good.
It's no-clothes in sento and onsen in Japan. It is gender-split at least (unlike Finland). Still, it took me a little while to get used to the environment, since Arina and I were the only foreigners in the place, so we were checked out more often. That was about 2 minutes, though. I've seen that Japanese ladies a) do not deform even after 3 children, b) majority has sizable breasts (not real large, but not as small as the stereotype dictates) c)keep a full bush. Naturally, I can't prove any of this, you'll just have to take my word for it.
Mauru bizden ayrilip Kyoto'ya dondu, Kazu-san da gelip ikimizi aldi ve Fushimi yakininda Nenenoyu adinda bir sentoya (hamam) goturdu. 5 haftadir ilk defa Japonya'ya yerlessem fena da olmaz dedim. Oyle guzel geldi.
Japon hamamlarina (sento ve onsen) anadan dogma giriliyor. En azindan kadin-erkek bir arada degil (Finlandiya gibi). Yinede cevreye alismam birazcik zaman aldi. Bunda Arina vebenim tek yabanci olmamiz ve dikkat cekmemiz de etkili oldu tabii. Iki dakika surdu topu topu. Japon hanimlar a) 3 cocuktan sonra bile deforme olmuyorlarmis, b) memeleri oyle sanildigi gibi kucuk filan degilmis (inek gibisi yoktu ama) c) Guney kisimlarinda doga ne verdiyse duruyor. Haliyle bunlari fotografla ispatlayamayacagim, dedigime inanin artik.
We had dinner and a lot of tea in the restaurant area after our bath. The smoking section had the most advanced filtration system I've ever seen.
All in all, that night's sleep was well deserved.
Yunduktan sonra restoran kismina gecip yemegimizi yedik, bol bol da cay ictik. Sigara icme bolumunde de simdiye kadar gordugum en japon harikasi havalandirma sistemi kuruluydu.
O gece yattigim yeri pek begendim dogrusu.
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