So, last i wrote i was supposed to go to sumo that evening.
I was in the process of asking Mr. Aki (the Jhoppers owner) which bus to take. "Isnt it at 6?" he asked. No, its at nine, as i showed him my ticket...."This is nine in the morning!"...."Crap!"
Talk about flashbacks. For those of you who havent heard of the story, a few eyars ago i got tickets for No Doubt/Black Eyed Peas...4. I got some other tickets to for another concert too (i cant recall) that were before that concert. In the end, i ended up remembering the days all wrong and missed the concert by a day. Blah.
Luckily, I bought the cheapest tickets. So ended up out 2500 yen for nothing.
On a brighter note, Mr Aki invited me to a nabe style dinner. I guess its basically dinner cooked in a big iron pot. Normally, its pretty expensive to eat this in the restaurants, but pretty cheap when you make it yourself (or have a friend make it for you!).
Also that night, Yoshi (i always thing of the Mario Carts character) came back from Nagasaki and we went to an Izakaya in Gion. He knew the waitress, so we got some free frozen sake (sorta of a new special sake which is kept very cold, and it sort of gelatinizes once it is poured into a decanter). It tasted more or less like regular sake...but i must confess, this is the first sake ive had in japan. We also had edamame, Sashimi, and a fish head. The Sashimi was pretty good. It included Uni which ive tried once in the States and was completely repulsed at the time. However this time, it tasted really good! I think the stuff they get in the states aint so fresh....
The fish head was OK...mostly tasting like Soy.
Afterwards, we headed to our favorite bar (Ing) which was uneventful except that the Owner was wearing a Joy Division (one of my old favorites) shirt. Apparently his wife made it for him (i didnt ask further) and he proceeded to put their Substance (not to be confused with the New Order albumn of the same name) album in. Unfortunately, Yoshi had to take off early to head to Nagoya so we werent there long enough for it to play. However, the owner promised a "Joy Division Party" the next time i go back. Cool.
So in the end, it turned out to be a pretty good night despite losing out entirely on the Sumo.
Today i went out to Kibune and id a litle hike through the mountains to Kurama. Its a pleasant hike through a shirne and Temple area. Its amazing how many of these types of trails there are so close to Kyoto. I finished it off with a jaunt to the Kurama Onsen which was a little expensive at 1100 yen for the outdoor bath which has a pretty good view of more mountains while so soak in the tub. Came back to central Kyoto and got on the wrong bus! Actually, it went to the right destination, but was a different company (how confusing..they have Kyoto City Bus, and the plain Kyoto Bus) so i couldnt use by pre-paid card (I spent a minute trying to get the machine to take my card...i think the driver got a little impatient). Ohwell, it was the same price so no big deal.