day 18 - 2 and a half down, 2 and a half to go

21/06/07 22:29
my last day in kyoto is over. the city is great and a definitive must-see on everyone`s japan trip. this at the same time concludes the first half of my journey. it`s hard to believe that i`ve already been here for 2 and a half weeks and that i`m approaching the day of my return now. but more on this in a special post. today there was more sightseeing. this is all i ever seem to do, but it -is- fun! first we (that`s me and the parents) met the yanagi husband and wife who were over for dinner on the day that i arrived here. we ate at an indian restaurant. today was another hot day, but thanks to the clouds it was not as unbearable as yestersay. we visited two museums, one on kyoto`s history and a traditional arts and crafts museum with impressive exhibits. then we walked to a traditional market, with all kinds of fish and vegetables for sale (a lot of stuff you`ll never see at a european fish market, too, i guess). on our way back we passed through a shopping mall and a small sign advertising a record store caught my eye: "AMERICAN HARDCORE! NYHC! EMO PUNK OI! POSTROCK SLUDGE DOOM! SECOND FLOOR". the shop was tiny and really well hidden, but it was awesome. for those who don`t know, i don`t listen to hardcore or punk, but a shop with postrock or sludge cds is really rare! and the selection was great. lots of bands i didn`t know, but also more famous stuff. prices at 1500 Y/cd (10 euros), normally you`d pay double. ended up buying cds from isis (not listened to yet), pelican (awesome) and jesu (awesome!). then we drove to the heianjinbu temple, a great and old temple with a nice park around it. for dinner th eldest son came over with his pregnant wife and we had pizza and sushi (strange combination). i`ll be sad to leave the family. 11469.