Back in London, for now

Good to be back in London, the weather's been really nice for the past few days, and I managed to meet a few old friends. This summer I hope to go to America to visit relatives, and also I want to trek across Norway and Sweden if possible (and if I have enough money!).  The tragedy in Japan is upsetting, but I have confidence in the Japanese people to pull through. Ganbare Nippon! Ouen shite masu!

Zemi konpa

I had a really good day yesterday, the kind of day you only get once every few years. The weather was perfect, sunny, blue skies and warm but not too hot. Perfect weather to cycle around Kyoto. I stumbled upon Ninanji, a UNESCO World Heritage site.



After that I went around Arashiyama to look at the beautiful trees there. Then, I was invited to a tea ceremony in Horikawa Street. Finally, I went to a posh Japanese restaurant down in Sanjo to have dinner with my sensei and other zemi students. A 'zemi' is a corruption of the English word 'seminar'; it's a group of undergraduate students signed up to a class. A 'konpa' comes from the English word 'company' but it means a party.



The restaurant was called Ganko. The food was mainly sushi and tempura. I forgot how tasty Japanese food can be. More than that, it was nice to meet up with my sensei and fellow students. I'll certainly miss them. There was a beautiful Japanese garden attached to the restaurant. After we finished eating, we out there for a stroll and to take pictures, before heading off to Sanjo for karaoke.

Inside an old Japanese house

Ritsumeikan University & Kitano Tenmangu Shrine

A good friend of mine used to study International Relations at Ritsumeikan University, in the north-west part of Kyoto.　I lost contact with her a few months back but I still wanted to check out the campus before I head back to London.

The good thing about Kyoto is that it's small enough for you to go anywhere you want by bike. It took about 20 minutes to get there. Another good thing about Kyoto, and Japan in general, is that the people are usually very polite and helpful. It helps if you can speak Japanese.




Ritsumeikan has a much more laid-back atmosphere than Kyoto University. It feels a little more American. I stayed in the library for a bit, and then I got hungry. I was going to settle for some Japanese food at the cafeteria, when I noticed a Subway restaurant. Ritsumeikan has its own Subway!





I asked the lady who worked there how long the restaurant's been operating; she said just 2 years.

On the way back I stopped by Kitano Tenmangu shrine. It's probably one of the best shrines/temples in Kyoto.

Breakfast is served

Cheese on toasted French bread.

Temple food

I used to teach English to a group of retirees. This was taken when we visited a famous temple in Kyoto. One of our group used to work as a guide so she had contacts with the temple staff, and they very kindly served us some green tea and sweets made from azuki beans. The tea was really nice maccha green tea, a bit creamy and slightly bitter, but it went well with the sweets. I took this picture after I accidentally spilled about half of the tea onto the carpet. The staff were really nice about it, saying that it was no problem and everything, but I still felt bad.

My favourite restaurant in Kyoto

Kerala, an Indian restaurant in central Kyoto. When I can afford to, I come here to order this meal, Veg Lunch, which costs 1150 yen(around 8 pounds but it feels more like 5 pounds). You get 1 samosa, 1 poppadom, 1 naan, 2 vegetable curries, 1 portion of rice, salad and 1 bowl of yogurt to cool yourself off with afterwards. You also get 1 cup of chai. I like Japanese food, but it's too healthy. Sometimes, when I'm homesick I want to eat food that I know, for me that means Indian food. Indian food is very popular with the Japanese, but they don't like really spicy food so restaurants tend to tone down the spices a bit.