Check out of the ol’ Airbnb is tomorrow. I guess like most things when given enough time, it’s grown on me. The one thing it has going for it is that it’s in a great location. That I will miss.
I walked the 1.3 miles to ask the other hotel we’re moving to whether they would take our bags early since check in is at 3:00 pm. It’s a quieter, more peaceful area.
(I’m pretty sure I won’t be woken up at 5:20 am (as I was today) by the warbling notes of a karaoke singer not very far away.)
Across the road is a tiny café called Murmur Coffee.
The vibe is very different from the café yesterday. Definitely more of a murmur than the pop-music-playing-younger-crowd-enticing Blue Bottle.
This place was warm and cozy with a lot of older locals popping in for coffee, laughing and chatting, then ambling out again.
One of the little-but-not-so-little things I love about the Japanese culture is the baskets on the floor in which patrons can rest their bags. Most restaurants have them and they are fantastic.
Some places have hooks under the tables for purses / bags to be hung.
It’s such a thoughtful gesture, one I really appreciate because goodness knows – I’d never put my bag / purse on the floor.
Other countries should definitely adopt this!
This evening is my dinner date with the girls from the café. Ayaka reserved a table for us at a restaurant just across the river called Isomatsu.
The food is good. Very, very good!
I honestly don’t know how the Japanese manage to cook fish so it is the least fishy it could be. It truly is remarkable.
Ordinarily, mackerel is quite a fishy fish. This absolutely was not. It was fragrant from the olives with the tiniest hint of fish.
They practiced their English and taught me some cool Japanese words like “yabai” which they explained can mean a host of things. (They really didn’t start me off with the easy stuff!)
At the end of the meal…
Ayaka, who arranged the evening, brought me a gift to remind me of Kyoto – and her.
Four hashioki (chopstick rests) – two autumn leaves because it’s fall, and two shaped like taiyaki (taiyaki is a fish shaped cake filled with sweet bean paste). She also got me washi stationary.
Japanese paper – sigh! 🙂
Such a lovely and thoughtful gesture.
The strange thing is that last Sunday, I walked four miles looking for hashioki and couldn’t find any. And I never told her this.
I did say there was magic in these streets.
Good night…
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So. Lovely. You will remember the day and the girls every time you use the hashioki