Soya's Sojourns

Reflections on travel. Life is a journey.

[soyasojourns]

初春 - Day 1

I woke up at 5:30AM and started to prepare for my journey to Kyoto. I was the only human awake at that time in the house. Meanwhile, Tempura-san was roused from her sleep since she sensed my movements. After making sure that I had everything, I bid “Minna no Ie” goodbye and set myself out the door. Tempura-san managed to squeeze herself through the gap and was suddenly on the street ahead of me. I managed to run after her while carrying all my luggage, made a stop sign for the driver of an incoming car moving towards our direction, bowed to apologize, and scooped her in my arms. I placed her back inside and made sure to close the door fast enough so she will not be able to go out.

I have to admit that I am not the most spatially gifted person. Even with a map, I can still make mistakes in treading from one place to another. Thankfully, as I was navigating my way to Nagoya Station, I passed by an elderly man who was sweeping. I asked him whether I was in the right direction. He confirmed that I was and headed on. When I saw an intersection, I asked the policeman there if I was in the correct way. He said that I was and that the station was already quite near. Both of them counted the “shigunaru” and I realized that they referred to the traffic light. That was a very nifty way to help foreigners navigate - by giving the number of shigunarus to a destination (for walkable ones). In these small exchanges, I actually felt thrilled to be able to put into practice a language I studied before. Even though I conversed in broken Japanese, pulling from memory vocabulary related to asking directions like “doko… desu ka” – where… is, “eki” – train station, “noriba” –bus stop,“hidari” and “migi” - left and right, “massugu” – straight ahead, and numbers made it possible to communicate with each other.

I arrived at the waiting area in Nagoya Station for Go!! bus (highway bus) and bought a few snacks to take with me on the almost 2.5 hour journey. I messaged my friend C-san who I will be meeting in Kyoto Station that I was already waiting for the bus. C-san helped me with the planning of my trip, especially for the Kyoto leg wherein we were able to spend 2 days together. She also helped me secure my bus tickets for Nagoya to Kyoto, Kyoto to Tokyo, and Tokyo to Nagoya and entrance ticket to Studio Ghibli.

We left at exactly 7:10 am and was supposed to arrive at 9:44 am. However, there was more traffic than usual and the arrival was delayed for an hour. My friend was already very worried since she said it was unusual for the buses to have delays with no advice or notification.

When then proceeded to have our luggage taken to the inn that we were about to stay. It was a first time for me to know that there are services like that to take care of luggage so travelers can already proceed to their destinations. We then bought a 2-day bus pass and boarded the bus headed for Fushimi Inari Taisha.

It was a beautiful sunny day and not too cold. The weather cooperated with my foreigner inappropriate weather clothing. There were a lot of people so we did not stay too long, just maybe around 15-20 minutes to take photos and look around. We also got our omikuji, a kind of Japanese fortune telling were you get a number and an equivalent paper strip containing fortune for the year that will be given to you. Mine was not really good, but not really bad either. It said something about needing to stay where I am and to choose to face the challenges. Boy, I did stay with my job for that year. I must listen to the Shinto gods for my future. Hahaha! C-san also taught me how to do the purification ritual for cleansing before entering a shrine and how to pray for blessing using the bell.

We bought takoyaki (my first authentic Japanese dish!) and ate it while we waited for the bus to take us to Kinkakuji, the Temple of Golden Pavilion. Now I am not so sure whether we actually took the bus or a train. I think we took the train since we waited for quite a time on the queue and there was no bus in sight. I remember riding a Kintetsu train.

There is an adage about the Japanese that they are born Shinto, wed Christians, and die Buddhists. From Fushimi Inari, a Shinto shrine, we then came to Kinkakuji, a Buddhist temple. Again, there where a lot of people but we managed to squeeze in and take selfies. We also ate mitarashi dango, dango glazed with sweet soy sauce. It was my first time to try it and I liked it.

I first heard about Kinkakuji as title of one of the books of Yukio Mishima which I have been meaning to read. This book of Mishima is also one of Utada Hikaru’s favorite books.

Our last stop for the day was Arashiyama, location of the famed Bamboo Forest. We took photos and leisurely strolled around the paths and little shops.

Togetsu-kyo bridge.

Bamboo forest. Makes me remember about the Japanese bamboo cutter folk tale I read in 4th grade.

When we got tired, we rested at a cafe called Yojiya. I had my green tea fix with matcha coffee latte and some desserts.

The mountain weather was quite unpredictable and erratic. It rained twice or thrice, then it was dry; very characteristic of a typical end of winter coming of spring kind of weather. Since we were not sure if the rain would let out, we were forced to buy a 1000 yen umbrella from one of the souvenir shops. Darkness also crept faster so we were sent on our way to the bus at around 5PM.

Apart from us, the bus on our way back was empty but mid-way, a few passengers were taken in.

As we walked the streets to find a place to eat, my body felt the icy coldness seep in. Maybe the rain played a certain role, but I was sure that I needed to buy clothing to mitigate the cold.

Walking the streets at 7:30 PM and felt like singing, it’s that daaaamn cooooold night. Trying to figure ouuuut thiiiis life. *chanelling inner Avril Lavigne*

C-san found an okonomiyaki and yakisoba place for dinner. I was really happy to be finally inside a warm space. It  was my first time to eat okonomiyaki and I instantly fell in love with it.

I connected okonomiyaki with Ukiyo from Ranma 1/2. Okonomiyaki is often called a “Japanese pizza” but I think it is a cross between pancake and pizza, a bit similar to Korean pajeon. Nonetheless, it is called okonomiyaki and not by any other name.

After dinner, we finally settled at Kingyo-ya, a Japanese-style inn. It was my first time to try a tatami style bedroom. C-san asked if I would like to go to an onsen nearby. I still had reservations with onsen bathing so I said no. Only in recent years did I know that there are different kinds of onsen - private and public, and not everything is the one people usually picture based on popular culture. I should have asked what type of onsen it was so I could have tried it already.

Thank you for the first day Kyoto! See the map below for reference on how the day went, starting from A. Kyoto Station -> B. Fushimi Inari Shrine -> C. Kinkakuji -> D. Arashiyama -> Kingyoya Inn.

Day 0 of the trip can be found here. This trip was done in 2015.

[soyasojourns]

Museum Walking Tour

I finally found the time to explore the Palawan Heritage Center and the Palawan Special Battalion World War II Memorial Museum which I meant to visit from when I learned about their existence a couple of months ago.

I started with the Palawan Heritage Center which was located in the Legislative Building of the Provincial Capitol. I learned about it when I went to Baragatan, a local festival, back in June. I stayed for an hour or two in the Center for a guided tour and chat with two of the museum's artist-guides. The Center had different sections dedicated to introduce Palawan heritage and culture.

In this visit, my favorite part was the painting area with contemporary paintings done by local artists. There was an on-going art competition hosted by a Korean organization and it was the day of the deadline. Even though I was not submitting anything, I felt excited seeing canvases and artists arrive one by one to submit their artworks. It felt good to be in a room surrounded by the energy of hope, creation, and beauty.

As much as I admire the contemporary, I likewise love the secrets of the ancient world. I learned how the Tagbanua's were amazing wood carvers - that even weapons and everyday use tools were intricately made. We still have our caveman to this very day, the Tau't Bato, who choose to be undisturbed by the lowlander's civilization, and continue to live in the peaks of Mt. Matalingahan as they did hundreds of years ago. I felt nostalgia, even though I was not born in any of the time periods depicted, for the old maps and photos of Taytay, of Cuyo - were majority of lowland Palaweños came from, and the old Puerto Princesa City.

See how intricate these wood carvings are! I can die beautifully.

The next time I come to Taytay Fort or the Fuerza de Sta. Isabel, I'll make sure to take a photo from this angle.

I wanted to go to Ima's for lunch, a vegetarian place I last visited pre-pandemic. It was no longer in the location where it used to be. I walked along Rizal Avenue to go to my second option, Itoy's Coffee House. Maybe it was the heat of the sun or maybe I was too hungry. After walking by two times, I was not even able to locate it. Mind you, it's in a very easy to spot location. From that corner, I decided to go to SM since I could not find any shops to eat along the path. Luckily, I saw a cafe called Calm Cafe just a little past my favorite Korean grocery, Woori. I entered and saw that there were only two customers inside - yes, a perfect introvert find for the introvert. Their menu consisted of drinks and light snacks. I chose Vietnamese coffee and a Korean garlic bread.

I entered the right cafe.

Mindlessly, I opened my email (ugh!) even though I promised myself not to do so since today was my Artist Date*. But I was glad that I did because I saw that I won the essay competition I entered for two weeks ago. It seems my 4AM writing routine aka Haruki Murakami writing challenge did pay off. I tried to cry out of happiness but I could not. It has been quite a while that my soul felt genuinely happy from writing. The last time I won anything from writing was when I was still an elementary student. Memories of my first paper from my English 1 class in University even flashed back. I was graded a 3.0, with comments in red that read "fragments", "run-ons", etc scattered across the pages. Wait, have I saved that paper? Or have I thrown it away?

Okay, let us now go back to the museums of the world and out of the museum of my mind. We can have the inner mind tour again when the essay has been published.

After I finished my meal and shared the news to my friends, I continued on to the next museum. From my location, I rode a tricycle since it was still quite hot. I was also not sure with the location since my spatially challenged brain thought that it was in the direction of Plaza Cuartel when it was actually the opposite.

I arrived in the museum and there was no one there. The lights were even turned off. After calling around and getting barked at by dogs for a while, a caretaker came in to see me. He apologized and said since there were not many tourists, there was no guided tour and no tour guide either. He said that earlier, there was just one Japanese tourist who came before me. Lucky! I have the whole museum to myself - no waiting and no haste needed! Even in the heritage center earlier, I was the only guest that's why I was able to talk with the guides for quite a long time.

I have to be honest, I didn't like the energy in this museum. Or maybe it's just me, that I really don't like wars or anything that deals with destruction and destroying. But this here is primarily to honor the 1,000 Palawaños, and the special battalion they formed to defend and free our land. I think the section or objects that I didn't like the most were the bombs, the guns, and the bayonets. It reminded me the evils and ugliness of war, and that nobody actually "wins" in any war.

What I liked best in the museum is the "humane face" - the listing of all names of Palaweños who participated in the battalion. Upon reading the surnames, I found majority of these to be surnames I was familiar with. This past is indeed a very recent past. It was the lived realities of our grandparents. My grandmother was around 8 or 9 years old living in Cuyo when the war erupted. She told me there was someone who would ring a bell when the Japanese came and all the girls and women would hide. If by any chance they were seen, they pretended and acted that they had malaria. The Japanese soldiers were very afraid of malaria and did not touch them. I actually saw in the paraphernalia that they had some sort of anti-malaria object that they carried with them.

I hope more Palawaños can visit this museum. I'm grateful for the family and the supporters who set-up and maintained this space as a visual memory of a history which should never be repeated ever again.

On a lighter note, there is a Freedom Wall for visitors to write something. As I read the notes, there were quite a number of funny ones, most probably from elementary students.

Yes dear, your ancestors will hear you. I really went from えーかわいい！ to かわいそう in a second. I feel bad for kids who are pressured to do things they don't want to do. Zooming in the photo, I also saw things like "Super ganda, sana grades ko din" etc.

I felt a range of emotions in this museum.

I rode a tricycle back to the Provincial Capitol. I then saw where Ima's relocated but it was closed.

Additional Spots

I continued to walk to Rizal Avenue and saw a shop selling Japanese houseware products.

I'll come back and buy a ceramic pot to brew tea and a tea cup.

Beside it was a quaint cafe called Vinyl Cafe. I later saw in their IG that they played their vinyl records and they had held several events around it. I'll definitely request to play Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence when I come back to dine.

Initial Plan:

Palawan Heritage Center -> City Library (get a library card) -> Palawan Special Battalion World War II Memorial Museum -> Plaza Cuartel -> Immaculate Conception Cathedral

Actual Trip:

Palawan Heritage Center -> Calm Cafe (since I could not find Ima's Vegetarian or Itoy's Coffee House) -> Palawan Special Battalion World War II Memorial Museum -> Wabi-Sabi Japan Housewares -> Vinyl Cafe

To my next walking tour~

*Artist Date - time block I dedicate to myself to get inspiration.

[soyasojourns]

みんなの家 (Everybody’s Home)

We have finally landed at Chubu Airport in Nagoya. My traveling group and I temporarily separated ways for our own respective destinations. From the airport, I took the airport train to Nagoya Station to transfer and reach the local subways. I reached Nagoya Station past 10:30 PM. There were no more staff manning the ticket booths and the coin operated ones were all in Kanji. There was also no wifi in the area. I approached a security staff but we could not communicate well. I waited for the people who were in line at the coin-operated ticket booth until there was only one person left. I then kindly asked the lady to teach me how to use it. She asked were I was going and I said that I was off to Kamejima Station. I thanked her and bowed to her after I secured my ticket.

I reached Kamejima Station and followed the instructions sent by my airbnb host, M-san. There was a part which I did not understand quite well in the instructions and forgot to clarify beforehand. M-san described the house as “having a white driftwood in front of the house”. I walked along the  supposed street, missing the house as I passed by several times. I located all the other landmarks except for the "white driftwood" which I could not seem to find.

I cannot remember if I even felt cold at that time. It was the end of winter, beginning of spring. Perhaps I did not feel the cold since I was lugging all my luggage with me, having an unplanned workout in the middle of the night.

It was past 11 PM. There was not a human in sight. I gathered all my courage and Japanese vocabulary that I knew at that time to speak with whoever dear savior stranger would pass by. After a bit of waiting and staring at the empty parking space across, someone finally passed by. I said my “sumimasen (excuse me)” and asked the lady where the location of the house I was looking for could possibly be. I gave her the Japanese address and she also cannot seem to recognize it. She asked me for the number of M-san and she called him for me. They talked while we walked and looked for the house. We finally reached the front door of a house that I passed by several times. I felt like a child in kindergarten being dropped off for her first day in school by her mother. I thanked the dear stranger, bowed, and apologized for disturbing her. As I was returning upright from my bow, I saw the “white driftwood in front of the house”, at the level where my feet were. In my mind, I thought, this is a marker that is not the easiest to spot at eye level at night.  The driftwood was on the floor. Perhaps during day time, it can be spotted more easily.

M-san, my host, guided me to my room. I was the sole guest occupant of the third floor. M-san’s cat, Tempura-san emerged from the door and greeted me as well. He said that I should just close my door if I do not want Tempura-san in my room. He usually leaves his door open so Tempura-san could go in and out as she pleases. He then left me to rest and that if I needed anything, he will just be in the room across.

Tempura-san, the unexpected roommate. 

After being left alone, I plugged in my phone and connected to the wifi to inform my officemates, my parents, and my Japanese friend who I will be meeting the next day in Kyoto that I have already arrived safely. 

The room was tatami style. The heater was electric type and I could see that Tempura-san wishes to hog it for herself. I slid the glass door open to see the beautiful bright moon. I breathed in the air, it was cold, but it had a lightness that felt good. It was at this moment that I cannot believe that I was indeed finally in Japan. Reminiscent  of the countless anime, manga, and j-drama characters who have done this very act of staring at the moon and into the darkness, I also basked in this tranquil luxury while passively absorbing the serenity of the night. Having my fix of emulating this late night staring game into nothingness, I checked my phone to see the time. It was already past midnight. I still needed to change my clothes, wash my face, and brush my teeth.

Tatami style room with futon. Sliding glass door to the balcony.

Purrfect bonus.

I went downstairs and noticed that a little corner was arranged to give tribute to all the travelers who must have sought shelter here before. It was only later that I found out that this place was called みんなの家 (Minna no Ie) or Everyone’s House. I like it better translated as Everybody’s Home.

A hippie’s lair

After changing my clothes and freshening up a bit in the bathroom downstairs, I came across another traveler. He said that he was a monk. If it were only that I was not leaving at 7 AM, that is, in a few hours, I would have wanted to converse with him longer (because in other news, and included in the never-ending list of things that interest me are Buddhism and Shintoism). We were only able to chat for a bit. He said that too bad I was already leaving the next day (technically in a few hours) and that he hoped I would enjoy the rest of my trip in Japan. I also bid him well in his journey and retired for the night.

I was roused in my sleep a couple of times since Tempura-san kept on pushing me out of the pillow and competed for warmth. Despite this competition, I had a good, deep rest. Perhaps this was a foreshadowing of elements which repeated and occurred for the rest of my trip: chasing last trains, time sensitivity/consciousness, and pleasant conversations with random Japanese strangers. I was aware more than ever that I am spatially challenged. But for now, as long as I reach a destination, it does not matter how I get there. I will still get lost and take time anyway. That is life.  

Purrfect competition

P.S.

This trip was made when I was still a wandering 24 year old thirsty to explore the world at large. We can forget about details as time pass by, but we can never forget how someone or something made us feel. 

Trip made in 2015. Originally written in 2019. Edited in 2022.

Day 1 can be found here.