Street food and good friends

There has been some protests from readers that I’ve been on radio silence, which just suggests to me that I’ve been spoiling you all with far too frequent blog posts! On Friday I travelled down from Kanazawa to Osaka to catch up with a good friend Cindy, and spend the weekend with her on Awaji Island. We met first in Osaka, as Cindy had a special place she wanted to take me for dinner.

We were heading out for street food and I was warned to dress warmly. Cindy has been going to Izakaya Toyo for more than 20 years and is good friends with the Master Toyoji Chikumoto, check out more on the Izakaya here, it’s well worth the read. Master Toyo started his Izakaya in 1992 on a spot that used to be a parking lot. Master really does put on a show, and the general comedy of a chef wielding a $1200 knife, wa in his hands through fire and stopping for selfies with customers is probably the best show I have been to for a while!

Cindy’s friendship with Master meant that we didn’t have to wait and we didn’t have to order, food just arrived for us! It was delightful! Check out this link to YouTube to see some footage of the master at work.

Master Toyo, myself and Cindy

Master is up at 3am to get to the fish markets for tuna this fresh!

So much sashimi, SO GOOD!

The rest of the weekend was spent on Awaji Island at Cindy’s holiday house. We went walking, had coffee with friends and spent a lot of time generally eating, drinking and being merry! The weather was freezing, ie it was still snowing on Awaji, which meant, being as jolly as possible was a great idea!

Good friends on Awaji Island

By Monday it was time to let Cindy get back to work and my travels resumed! I bussed back up to Kobe from Awaji and then caught a Shinkansen to Kyoto. I’ve visited Kyoto before, but there was a few extra places I wanted to see this time. However I have been in a snowy bubble for the last two weeks and it feels like I have missed the maddening crowds. That changed the minute I started to head to Kyoto’s sites.

First on my list was Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, along with every other tourist in Kyoto! It was a rude shock to my sheltered system. However, while I was staying at Cindys, her house is surrounded on two sides by a massive bamboo grove, and I just loved standing there listening to the bamboo clatter in the wind, so the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove was a bit like that. Also there were loads of Japanese girls in traditional costume walking through the grove, which made it look all the more sweeter. Apparently it is a thing for Japanese to dress in traditional wear and see the sites of Kyoto….. each to their own!

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove

A well timed selfie!

From here I headed to the Nijo-jo Castle, world heritage listed site. Constructed in 1601, Nijo-jo was the Imperial Court of Japan until 1867. With art, buildings and gardens hailing from the Edo period, there is over 400 years of history within the site. Again, you try to cast your minds eye back to how it would have been in those days. I just wish that we’d been able to see the kitchens of Nijo-jo Castle…. I think that would have really told the story!