Where ever I visited today in Kyoto was a historic or spiritual place and so required you to remove your shoes in order to enter the premises. Usually, I'm all gung-ho about this...in fact, I've gotten really good at taking my shoes off backwards and stepping up onto the boards they have for you.
Until I notice the hole.
I think it was at the third place I got to today. And it's not even that I went to many places in total, it was just by the time I noticed it my day was drawing to a close and I had NO IDEA how long that hole had been there for! As soon as it came to my attention, I couldn't stop thinking about it. As I was making my way around this room of Neo-Kyoto exhibits, I couldn't help but keep glancing down at my big toe and trying to tuck it further and further back into my sock so that it wouldn't be as noticeable to onlookers.
Despite my efforts, it still felt like a lighthouse beacon, shining out and alerting all those around me of the its presence.
"Ah...the warm glow of enlightenment. Oh, wait, that's not enlightenment, that's just some girl's toe poking through her sock. Somebody needs a pedicure..."
So I thought I was all lucky that I had found a translator on such short notice to take me through with a Japanese-only tour of this amazing place. Not only that, but in order to have her with me, my tour time was pushed back and so I would have time to exchange some more traveller's cheques before heading to Kyoto. Sweet.
Until the bank took uber-long to give me my money!
I missed my arrive-with-extra-time train and had to wait for the arrive-with-JUST-enough-time train. As soon as the Shinkansen pulled into Kyoto station, I was off like a bolt, tearing for the taxi-stand. I threw myself in and assertively told the driver "Nijo-Jinya" and even had the gaul to correct him when he suggested that I mean the castle, "Nijo-jo." NO. NIJO-JINYA!!!
And of course, I only had ONE small bill on me (the rest being the massive bills I didn't have time to ask them to change at the bank for me) and the fare turned out to be JUST over that denomination. Luckily, when dude pulled up in front of the place, my tour guide happened to be waiting outside for me (foot tapping impatiently) and asked the cabbie to wait for me while we went in together to ask for change. Just inside the door, I managed not to run into anything, but instead stepped on the take-off-your-shoes board and tip it see-saw-style with a hugely embarrassing whump! My tour guide at that point took a moment from her lecture to me about how punctual the tours were to tell me to "just don't come in...wait there" while she got me some change.
Seconds later, the cabbie was paid and her lecture resumed as I re-entered the building of Nijo-Jinya. I was all flustered by the rush of activity and stress about trying to catch up to everyone while they finished paying their admittance fees (which thankfully I'd already done) that my shoe-removing ability went all down the drain and I forgot to step up backwards after taking off one shoe, up onto the boards I had only seconds ago nearly overturned. I was hoping I might get away with it, but my ever-sharp tour-guide noticed and barked at me: "Don't step on the ground with your bare-feet--step up on the board!"
Point taken, I managed to get the other shoe off without further ado and got both feet up on the board...only to have the board BANG back into place under my weight, having been oddly dislodged by that same weight moments ago. I was so afraid that the Japanese tour-guy was going to ask me to leave for fear of my distruption and distruction of the place. However, dispite my ruckus, I managed, and even got to put on a pair of knit booties that oddly reminded me of my neighbour down the street...don't ask me why.
Once the tour got underway, everything else fell into place and my tour was amazingly cool and fascinating (as un-cool a word as fascinating can be, the tour really was both a the same time). My tour-guide was excellent and very reminiscent of Yoshiko from Himeji. Despite the way I just portrayed her above, she was actually really nice, and was only as flustered and rushed as I was to keep up with the tour. Once we both discovered that neither of us were scrutinized for breathlessly bringing up the rear, we had a good time together.
While I realized almost immediately that I had left my camera back with my bag and shoes by the front door, I think it was for the best. One, I didn't see anyone else take a single picture. Two, pictures wouldn't have done the place justice--there were too many dramatic revelations of secret hiding places and trap doors, slanted floors and booby-traps that I wouldn't even have had enough video space (on BOTH of my memory cards) to have captured enough to be able to give an idea of what Nijo-Jinya was like. Besides, all of the security devices built into that house are a secret. They probably would have had to shoot me if I did take any pictures out of there. If you ever have the chance, GO.
The rest of the day was spent out in castle and shrine land and though I have the pictures to prove it, I don't really have much story to go with them. The commentary would be much of just: Shrine. Temple. Castle. Detail of the castle. Detail of the floor in the shrine. Tree. Cool looking pond.
I'll save you the ennui. All the good things I saw, you weren't allowed to take pictures of, hence the long succession of things that are cool but not spectacular. Instead, I will leave you with the things that only I find amusing here in Japan...
Of the all name brands...I think I might pass on this one...
Well, that IS what he called him in the movie, isn't it?
...as opposed to using cursive script?
No throwing up over the side or cracked baby carriages on the escalators.
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