Meet the Parents
T’was a long, long, long weekend. If you didn’t hear my parents came to Kyoto last week Friday. At first I just thought of it as my parents coming but the days just prior to their arrival I started to feel… nervous. It’s the first time that my parents were coming to my house. I‘ve been away for over a year and I bet that they were really curious to see how me and Krystal have been living our lives. I know that Krystal was pretty nervous because she knows my mom and she also knows that she would be under constant monitoring. Most of last week was spent cleaning the place and making it look presentable. I knew that once my mom came over she would be looking in the corners and crack of the apartment to find dust bunnies and areas of negligence. So I guess I was relieved when she came and said, “This place looks like a doll house.” I guess she was referring to everything being small and compact size since Japan is not a place with open spaces. The comment wasn’t negative so I believe that we passed the test.
On Friday I waited for them downstairs because I was afraid that I didn’t give them all the information to get upstairs to my apartment. Eventually they came, about 20 minutes ahead of schedule and was reunited with my family again. It hasn’t been too long since I last saw them nevertheless it was good to see them. We dropped off their bags and headed straight for dinner. Of course it was Denshichi. The best sushi place in Kyoto! How could we not go there on the first day? I had lots of funny watching my dad drop his potato over and over again saying how the sushi tasted different because everything was fresh. He also got pissed drunk after 3 “Nama Biiru-s”. Which is three mugs of beer. Actually I got pretty buzzed myself and knew that the weekend was going to be fun.
On Saturday Krystal cooked everyone breakfast and we headed for Kinkakuji. I’ve only been there once before but Krystal has been there about 4 times now taking all guests up there. But she was a trooper and made the trip again. The leaves were just starting to turn red but not really. Then after that we went to Nijo Castle. We got to go into another part of the castle grounds that we usually bypass. I think the first time we went there the area was blocked off so when we went back again we just skipped that part. Anyway it wasn’t that great just another nice garden with a high turret looking plateau that gave a nice view of the west side of the castle. After the castle we took my mom on her first ever subway ride. She called it the Choo Choo train. But it was only two stops and I think she was a little disappointed because the ride was so short. Then we took them on a walking tour of downtown Kyoto. We went south on Teramachi and watched my dad drop his potatoes again because of all the small little shops in the covered market. Up until now all the shops we ducked into were mostly for my mom and sister so we decided to take my dad someplace special. We took him down the Nishiki Market which is like a giant covered walkway of seafood, produce, and small novelty shops. Where he again, dropped his potato. He even got yelled at by a vendor because he took a sample of tsukemono without using the tongs. The place was like his dream. Ever since I was little I watched him watch those shows like Soko Ga Shiritai on KIKU and now he was finally living his dream. And just by chance there was a show being taped as we were walking through the market place. For lunch we took them to KatsuKura which was a big hit with Denyse. After lunch we headed to Shikyogoku and walked north taking in all the shops and stuff. Then we walked back south down Kawaramachi where we even stopped to take a family purikura. Then we went to Gion where we were fortunate enough to see some Maiko. (apprentice geishas) Actually there were a ton of them running around the side streets of Gion. I guess the night shift just started because we saw about 20 or so that day. But the day did have to come to an end so we caught the train back home. We had a two hour pit stop and went to Kushihachi for some yakitori and sticks. Denyse couldn’t handle and totally passed out at the restaurant not even eating one bite. The girls went home early because Dad wanted to try pachinko. We had some trouble starting but was able to get some help. I ended up losing around 50 dollars and my dad about 20. He actually hit the jackpot once but played it all away. What’s a Japan experience without going to a pachinko parlor? We were all pretty pooped when we came home and it was a real slumber symphony.
Sunday was a slower day where we all got up a little later and took our time to get ready. We stopped by the local mall to get some good udon for lunch and some minor sightseeing. We planned to go to Fushimi-Inari shrine but were side tracked by Latone, our friendly relaxation center. Krystal and I got regular shoulder and neck work but we got my mom a full body massage. And in an hour everyone was feeling good. Then it was off to the shrine. When we got there it started to rain so we bought those 100 yen umbrellas for 200 each and went up the shrine. It was pretty quiet and peaceful but before we reached the lookout my mom couldn’t handle the steps so we ended up going back down. The main part of that shrine was all the gates and they got to see that so the trip wasn’t a total loss. Well since we were in Fushimi we ended up going to Kappa Country which is where they brew some of Kyoto’s original beer and sake. We had dinner in their restaurant and sampled the beer and sake. Luckily my dad was able to make it back home on his own accord.
The weekend was pretty packed and I had lots of fun hanging out with my family. But since they came I did realize one thing… that my parents are pretty dorky. At least I know now where I get it from.
Break it down
On Friday I waited for them downstairs because I was afraid that I didn’t give them all the information to get upstairs to my apartment. Eventually they came, about 20 minutes ahead of schedule and was reunited with my family again. It hasn’t been too long since I last saw them nevertheless it was good to see them. We dropped off their bags and headed straight for dinner. Of course it was Denshichi. The best sushi place in Kyoto! How could we not go there on the first day? I had lots of funny watching my dad drop his potato over and over again saying how the sushi tasted different because everything was fresh. He also got pissed drunk after 3 “Nama Biiru-s”. Which is three mugs of beer. Actually I got pretty buzzed myself and knew that the weekend was going to be fun.
On Saturday Krystal cooked everyone breakfast and we headed for Kinkakuji. I’ve only been there once before but Krystal has been there about 4 times now taking all guests up there. But she was a trooper and made the trip again. The leaves were just starting to turn red but not really. Then after that we went to Nijo Castle. We got to go into another part of the castle grounds that we usually bypass. I think the first time we went there the area was blocked off so when we went back again we just skipped that part. Anyway it wasn’t that great just another nice garden with a high turret looking plateau that gave a nice view of the west side of the castle. After the castle we took my mom on her first ever subway ride. She called it the Choo Choo train. But it was only two stops and I think she was a little disappointed because the ride was so short. Then we took them on a walking tour of downtown Kyoto. We went south on Teramachi and watched my dad drop his potatoes again because of all the small little shops in the covered market. Up until now all the shops we ducked into were mostly for my mom and sister so we decided to take my dad someplace special. We took him down the Nishiki Market which is like a giant covered walkway of seafood, produce, and small novelty shops. Where he again, dropped his potato. He even got yelled at by a vendor because he took a sample of tsukemono without using the tongs. The place was like his dream. Ever since I was little I watched him watch those shows like Soko Ga Shiritai on KIKU and now he was finally living his dream. And just by chance there was a show being taped as we were walking through the market place. For lunch we took them to KatsuKura which was a big hit with Denyse. After lunch we headed to Shikyogoku and walked north taking in all the shops and stuff. Then we walked back south down Kawaramachi where we even stopped to take a family purikura. Then we went to Gion where we were fortunate enough to see some Maiko. (apprentice geishas) Actually there were a ton of them running around the side streets of Gion. I guess the night shift just started because we saw about 20 or so that day. But the day did have to come to an end so we caught the train back home. We had a two hour pit stop and went to Kushihachi for some yakitori and sticks. Denyse couldn’t handle and totally passed out at the restaurant not even eating one bite. The girls went home early because Dad wanted to try pachinko. We had some trouble starting but was able to get some help. I ended up losing around 50 dollars and my dad about 20. He actually hit the jackpot once but played it all away. What’s a Japan experience without going to a pachinko parlor? We were all pretty pooped when we came home and it was a real slumber symphony.
Sunday was a slower day where we all got up a little later and took our time to get ready. We stopped by the local mall to get some good udon for lunch and some minor sightseeing. We planned to go to Fushimi-Inari shrine but were side tracked by Latone, our friendly relaxation center. Krystal and I got regular shoulder and neck work but we got my mom a full body massage. And in an hour everyone was feeling good. Then it was off to the shrine. When we got there it started to rain so we bought those 100 yen umbrellas for 200 each and went up the shrine. It was pretty quiet and peaceful but before we reached the lookout my mom couldn’t handle the steps so we ended up going back down. The main part of that shrine was all the gates and they got to see that so the trip wasn’t a total loss. Well since we were in Fushimi we ended up going to Kappa Country which is where they brew some of Kyoto’s original beer and sake. We had dinner in their restaurant and sampled the beer and sake. Luckily my dad was able to make it back home on his own accord.
The weekend was pretty packed and I had lots of fun hanging out with my family. But since they came I did realize one thing… that my parents are pretty dorky. At least I know now where I get it from.
Break it down
posted by Chris at 11:38 PM
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