Vampire in Japan: Day 3 - Journey from the West

14th May 2007

Shinkansen: Bullet Witch

The morning started with a first-hand rush-experience with the Japanese morning commute. Men-in-black all around us, as we approached the gantry to board the bullet train. Perhaps this was the Japanese conformity so oft-cited as a trait of their society. Men in their late-twenties all the way to men in their fifties were sharply dressed in three-pieces, the only difference being the styling efforts taken by the younger crowd. But even though they had styled long hair, the one thing about these executives were that they didn't have colour, Black never goes out of fashion.

The train station was littered with shops, mostly food-related. Unlike the local MRT, eating IS allowed on Japanese trains (yet they still manage to maintain the standard of cleanliness), and the sheer number of take-out eateries in the train station echo their on-the-go lifestyle.

The 9.30a.m. Shinkansen (Bullet Train) took us on a 15-minute ride from Osaka to Kyoto. The Shinkansen had a oddly-shaped witch's nose, probably a result of some engineering jargon about air resistance and speed. Speaking of which, I had NO idea what the exact speed of the Shinkansen was, but if judging by the speed of the buildings whizzing by us, and the speed at which we bypassed an oncoming NORMAL (snail) train, I would say its REALLY fast.

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Kyoto: The City of the Ancients

They love their Towers as much as their Desserts

Kyoto is often heralded as a city with strong Japanese cultural heritage. But we were welcomed into said culture with a 1.5 hour shopping spree in Isetan to hunt for lunch. The entourage mostly bought Bento sets from the station while I opted for a warmer lunch, fit for a man of my stature. The one thing that I learnt was that the Japanese love their desserts, so much so that they almost dedicate one entire basement floor to all manner of delectable delicacies and delightful desserts. But lunch was decided to be a medley of Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake), Yakitori sticks and a cup of Godiva Dark Chocolate Ice Cream to satisfy the sweet-tooth (Yes, they have THAT there).

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Kyo Bridge: Connecting People

The first piece of hereditary scenery that we encountered for the day was a little bridge by a mountain side, Kyo Bridge. I was a little pre-occupied with my feast in the bus to take heed to what Chin-chin was actually saying about the place. But well, the scenery was nice enough to attract ducks, and the visual flood of Japanese schoolgirls didn't hurt either.

Mountains and Rivers soothe the Dark Soul

Bridging Distances

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Nishijin Textiles Centre: Remnants of the Geisha

A lazy, sunny afternoon ushered as into the much-appreciated air-conditioned textile centre. Shopping was a chore for me, as I OBVIOUSLY did not have enough metrosexuality to consider wearing a kimono or anything like. What I did have, however, was an appreciative eye for the ladies (especially towards one of them), during the Kimono show. The little trivia that I picked up about Kimonos is that apparently, you need some sorta license to actually help people put on a Kimono, think I should get one too, for *ahem* good reason. Anyway, the kinky thoughts which started to formulate when I saw the first model, ran right into a wall from the second model onwards... oh well... at least the Kimonos were undeniably beautiful.

My Favourite Model

My Favourite Kimono

Thorns and Roses

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Kiyomizu Shrine: Amazing but Unlikely

The Zen-esque climax of the day had to be our last sight-seeing stop for the day, the Kiyomizu Shrine. A short hike through streets crowded with school children took us to the shrine, built of Cypress wood, no screws or nails used.. I could have sworn I was destroying this VERY shrine in Otogi. Upon entering, I discovered that the shrine was actually one of the candidates nominated for the new 7 wonders of the world. The view from the protruding platform was ABSOLUTELY breathtaking, one side facing the Kyoto city landscape, and the other side facing a scenic potpourri of lush greens and yellows. Both the China-man and I agreed that the view would probably be astonishing in autumn, when the trees are all red and yellow... pity.

Bird's Eye View

Straight from Otogi

BE-AU-TI-FUL

As with most shrines, temples or sacred places in Japan, there were stone basins near the entrance and throughout the shrine. The purpose of these were for cleansing oneself before entering sacred grounds; and it was customary to wash your left, then right hand, followed by gargling your mouth with the water. I wasn't exactly sold on the gargling part though. Also common place throughout the shrine were wish boards, or whatever they are officially called. These are the boards where lonely Jap kids come and write wishes about getting laid or landing a PS3 or becoming the next hot AV star or things like that, and then hanging them up on the board.

Stands or booths were scattered throughout the shrine, with chics in the cute religious costumes or uniforms, selling various charms. While the China-man was mesmerized by the "Pass Examination" charm, what piqued my interest was the "Find Love" one. But after giving it some thought, I realised that MAYBE, I don't wanna find love, or least not the serious kind of love, and I am not too sure if the charm actually helps you find some hot, casual, lovin'. So I settled on the "For Happiness" charm instead; since I figured if casual flings were my source of happiness, then the "For Happiness" charm would probably serve the purpose more appropriately.

Also of interest were pools, or fountains in which people prayed by donating money (optimally 500 yen), used a desired scoop to wash themselves, clap twice, make a wish, clap twice and bow. Kinda like the way you see them make wishes in anime. Oh, and there was this weird voodoo thing that is like "White Voodoo," where you write what you want the person to do on the piece of paper and soak it in a pail. Makes me wonder if I were to write some of my lusty fantasies on the thing, would they actually come true?

The most interesting thing in the shrine had to be a pair of rocks known as "Lover's Rocks." Apparently, it is said that if you can walk from one rock to another with your eyes closed, then it means you will be able to find love. Well, guess I have to apologise to the poor school boy I bumped into and probably ruined his love career prematurely, can't help being THIS destructive I guess.

The Vampire's Verdict: While I was awe-struck at the beauty of the scenery from the platforms and absorbed the thick essence of the religious culture and heritage from the visit to the shrine (allowing my Zen level to increase), my honest assessment of the shrine as a Wonder of the world is that, it is rather unlikely; especially up against tremendous odds such as the vast splendour of the Great Wall or the amazing architecture of the Pyramids. Still, the fact that the shrine can be nominated as one of the 21 candidates is already a form of recognition of its splendour.

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Nagoya: Rest Stop

A LONG 2.5 hour bus ride allowed my newly acquired Zen to settle into my soul. Dinner presented itself in the heart of Nagoya, a feast of Mackerel and Ebi Prawns, which was quite up the Count's alley (sinful deep fried stuff is almost ALWAYS welcome). Town observations included the essential Tower and a Ferris wheel attached to a shopping centre (now, that is a LITTLE over-the-top).

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Onsen: Vampire in Heat

A perfect finish to a soul-fulfilling day awaited us in the form of a nice, warm (UNDERSTATEMENT) bath in the Onsen (Hot spring), at the Hamanako Lake Side Spa Hotel. After being greeted by some manure-like smell to tickle our senses, and gawking at how big and nice the room was (Tatami area included); the entourage and I slipped into our Yukatas and marched onward towards our initiation into the Onsen experience. I have no idea about the gals, but as far as I knew, the guys all agreed to go "Freebird," so it was a REALLY windy walk from our hotel room to the Onsen, and I think my goofing off by putting my ribbon behind me like what single Jap chics do really caused a little more trouble than expected. The slit was threatening to expose "the package" down the hotel hallways, but a little tight-fisted action kept the slit in place. Keyword: "Ooki" (Japanese for: Big).

A pity that the Onsen was not a mixed one, so much for checking out who had the nicest pair of boobies in our tour group; even though I was told that the harsh reality of it was that I would most probably be staring at Obasans' and Obaasans' saggy, wrinkled boobies, if it were a mixed bath. The Obaasan I saw in the Yukata was already enough to send horrendous images through my imagination and shivers down my undead spine.

The Onsen required us to strip down to our barest, and the normal procedure would be to use a small towel to cover our chin-chins as we entered the public bath. After stepping into the misty, surreally-lit bath, it was etiquette to take a small stool, sit by the shower heads at the side to rinse and shower before entering the bath proper. The bath was HOT, REALLY HOT!!! Maintained at a constant temperature of some 40 degrees, I could feel the skin on my corpse stretch as I entered the hot bath. Once I gathered enough machismo to submerge my entire body, I tried not to move any part of my body anymore, as it felt like my flesh was tearing as I moved.

But the (im)mortal body is a wondrous thing; apparently the body is extremely adaptive to its surroundings, so much so that in time, I started to get used to the heat and actually started to feel a soothing rush flow through my mind and body. The heat relaxed the bodily muscles and I could actually crack my toes in the water just by bending them. Quite an out-of-body experience, I must say, as I savoured the bodily relaxation.

However, 20 minutes was more than enough to cook most of the entourage into lobsters, as we tapped out to the heat one at a time. The proper way was actually to go in and out of the Onsen a few times, some weird hot-cold-hot-cold procedure. But the drowsiness experienced after standing up was enough to put most of us on the bench for the night. And the thing is that, after showering and drying, we were still dripping wet from sweat.

Back in the room, we decided to do some male-bonding by photo-whoring in the most manly manner possible while waiting for the chics to come back. It took them about an hour, in which we suspected that they might have fainted in the heat or something, but I guess they were just too busy gossiping about who had the nicest breasts to worry about minute details such as the time.

As Manly as it gets in Dresses