Colin Gallagher's Blog, page 2

A Walk Between 5 Temples in Kyoto, Japan

2020 and 2021 (most likely) will probably be the only time to see a lot of Kyoto’s temples and shrines without the throngs of tourists. We are trying to take this opportunity to visit ALL THE SHRINES! We won’t. There are over 1600 temples in Kyoto (17 of them are UNESCO World Heritage sites).

Here are 5 that we walked between in a one day itinerary. As with all temples in Kyoto (and perhaps around the world), you take in each one for what they are. If you don’t dig the vibes in one; that’s fine. The beauty of temple-hopping is finding the one that you can see yourself chilling out in and connecting with the history.

Ginkakuji (Higashiyama Jisho-ji) 東山慈照寺

Be confused at the two names this temple complex is named by; then head towards the Higashimaya area and the northern end of the Philosopher’s Walk. Head up the small street full of (mostly unopened in the midst of the epidemic) and you’re there.

It’s a peaceful complex with nice greenery and pond. Founded around 1482 as a retirement villa of sorts for a shogun who wanted to see out his days in peace and quiet.

 

A path leads up hill for a bit to give you some elevation over the grounds and the Silver Pavilion

As you head back down you get some good angles over the Kinkyo-chi pond. You may be there at the same time as a stork or heron.

The thing about visiting gardens and temples in Kyoto is that you will get different scenes with the time of year you are in. For us, the red leaves of Autumn were still lingering but if you go between Feb-March you will see more of the pink cherry blossoms.

Eikan-do Zenrin-ji 禅林寺（永観堂）

With its founding as a training hall for priests in 853, Eikando Zenrin-Ji is pretty old. Like a lot of temples around Japan, it looks a lot different today due to wars over the ages.
All the buildings in the complex is in a no-photography zone so you’re stuck with taking shots in the grounds and nice  but understated Hojo Pond. All the buildings inside are joined by wooden walkways and stairs so you are stripped of your shoes at the entrance. I still have a bruised toenail from one of the stairs. Nice.

The end of the walk (then you have to walk back and re-trace your steps) is the famous Buddha (Amida) looking over their shoulder. It’s weird to see a Buddha in such a pose when you’re used to seeing them standing, sitting, or lounging in temples around the world. It is quite small though. Interesting enough. No photos allowed of it. Naturally.

Near the south side of the grounds is a nice little waterfall up against the grounds of the local kindergarten. I could think of worse kindergarten backdrops.

In here is the statue of the Looking-back Amida. Legend has it Eikan, an abbott, was praying and Amida came from their pedestal walked away, and looking back beckoned for Eikan to follow. So a statue was made with this distinctive po(i)se.

Tenju-an Temple 天授庵

A nice little serene and calm garden. There are no buildings to go into of sorts so you just follow a little path around the garden and it’s nice. Nobody was there. Wouldn’t like it if it was crowded it must be said.
Originally founded in 1339, it fell on hard times and was reconstructed in 1602.

Kōdaiji Temple 高台寺

Established in 1605 by a noble woman in memory of her husband. Fire in 1789 was the reason for this particular temple to not survive in its original state but some of the buildings are still surviving. It’s quite a spacious complex and includes a steep little walk up to two old tea houses and as you’re coming down you walk through a nice little bamboo forest.

 

Kiyomizu-dera 清水寺

The heavyweight of the five-some. Famous and stuff. Founded in 778 but with the presently standing buildings constructed in 1633.

The entrance is quite impressive. This time it was quite empty. When we visited back in 2016 it was quite quite busy. My advise is once Japan opens up again, hop on the first flight before the tour groups get themselves organized.

You can get some great views of Kyoto centre and Tower from the complex.

It is said there are no nails used in the whole complex. Not something you want to think about as you stand under the main structure.

This is just a small chip of the Kyoto temple experience but if you wanted a concrete walkable day of temple hopping, this particular route kinda works.

Here they are all together on a map.

Christmas Day Dinner in Kyoto, Japan

Yes, I’m writing this in February.
If you’re stuck in Kyoto around Christmas in the year 20?? (I’m guessing blogs won’t exist come 2100) then you can’t do wrong with waddling up to Hyatt Regency in Kyoto for some tasty and surprisingly affordable Christmas Day fodder to snuffle into to.

As we were in Kyoto during the Mexican beer scenario, external tourists in Japan were zero and the Japanese, in general, don’t celebrate Christmas the way us weirdo other-landers do usually. So we were happy that the Hyatt had a menu available (and a vegetarian one too!) for our Christmas day needs.

It was a set meal affair with shared meat plates for the normies but due to my weird semi life trying to cut out red meat and Mrs. Horizons being all out veg(an)etarian I sent them an email with our stupid needs. And it was all good; no beef option for me and full on vegetarian menu was a-okayed.

As you can see, the Cobb Salad was added to our set menu as a little compensation (our friends didn’t have the Cobb as they went all out MEAT!) for not getting the beef plate and this was much appreciated. Well it was until we barely could waddle out of the place after the gorge-fest.

Truffled Mushroom Bisque was nice with a smooth balance between the mushroom and truffles. Appropriate size to start things off with.

The Cobb was very tasty and quite filling. We both agreed we could have had it for our main and be happy with our existence. I had some chicken in mine whilst the other one on our table did not. Naturally.

My main course was a lot of food. Veggies with some potatoes (I could have done with more potatoes ala the way mum makes them usually) accompanied the chicken cuts with a not-thick gravy. Again, I’m a thick gravy fan usually. Anyway, it was during eating this I realized I hadn’t eaten this much since a Christmas Day dinner back in Ireland many years ago. Probably. I could feel the weight of the food with each mouthful.

Mrs. Horizons had to endure a lot of heavy gnocchi and cheese. From already being full from the Cobb, it was a hard slog. A wine helped wash it down in places.

I was too polite to say no to the “festive” desserts. Then I had to eat Mrs. Horizons as well, sadly. I really enjoyed the strawberry one, but the chocolate one I could have done without. Well, I could have done without the dessert at all, let’s face it.

All in all, highly enjoyable for a mere 3800 yen for a LOT of food. We walked most of the way home, to ensure our arteries were not clogging up at record pace. If we are stuck in Kyoto again next Christmas we will definitely pay a visit. After fasting for two days to prepare.

Sapporo’s No Good Misspelt Beer Ordeal

It might reverse-surprise some of you that English is not particularly focused on as a main form of communication in Japan. Speaking as a mono-language western white idiot, I can’t criticize this too much. Alas, I can’t help my primal monkey-brain feeling all high and mighty when I see grammatical errors from Japanese companies who try and sneak in a little English here and there to add a little extra foreign oomph to their products or services.

For example, this uplifting and potential spirit arousing fight-against-the-global-pandemic poster that has been plastered around Kyoto:

One could be forgiven in thinking that we all had to be saved from the mortal danger and peril that Kyoto presents to the world at large. Perhaps those mutant 100 metre koi fish are being unleashed from their underground algae infested ponds as we speak. These posters have since been taken down city-wide. And burned.

And this from one of our local supermarkets:

I go here everyday because I always wanted to be dandy. And dapper. And be named Dan. I would hope if I was ever in a gladiatorial fight to the death then the good staff at Daily Qanat Izumiya on Shimohorikawa-cho, would cheer for my life with great aplomb. And dandy.

Anyway on to Sapporo. But you get the point; English is not the main focus of communication in Japan and the time spent on Google Translate in marketing departments nation wide is the about the height of the time spent in translating….stuff…from Japanese. So stuff slips through from time to time.

Sapporo, like any other beer company in Japan, were all set to release a limited edition beer (サッポロ 開拓使麦酒仕立て) for the start of 202, intended as a homage to the brewing techniques (three-time boiling method I’ll have you know) undertaken in their Kaitakushi Brewery, Japan’s first beer factory, which opened in 1876. The beer was brewed, the cans were designed and made, and the release date was set of Jan 12th. And then someone in quality control who may have had a few beers in their time and knew what a can of beer looks like spotted something on the can that should not be…

Can you tell what it is yet? Yes, unless you were writing Born Slippy by Underworld back in 1996 then you most likely know that lager in English is spelled how I just spelt it. Not lagar.

So Sapporo suspended sales and apologized to the world. Then beer lovers in Japan cried “Who cares?! Just sell the beer! We’re dying over here!” So Sapporo they looked at their bank balance and said “Yeah, whatever” and set the new release date of Feb 2nd in Family Marts nationwide. So I took my dictionary along to my nearest Walmart, compared the spelling of lager to make sure I bought the right wrong one, and bought two. One to drink and one to sell on eBay in 5 years time to finance my early retirement.

So was it worth waiting for? At 6% it’s a little whallopy with the alcohol content. Give me 5.5% any night of the week (except Sun-Thurs). But it has a really nice overall lagar taste and a strong character which harked me back to more European lagar fare compared to Japanese offerings. Then again, I hadn’t had a beer in about three weeks before tasting this so I enjoyed it with beer colored spectacles. I will nip back in to Familymart this week to hoover up the rest that they have to offer.

 

Nibble Size Review: KitKat Ume Plum (梅味)

KitKat are pretty busy in Japan all year around. No other country releases such a wide variety of flavours than KitKat Japan. I, for one, applaud their efforts. Along with all the dentists and fitness coaches.

To mark the season of Plum tree blossoms, they have release the limited Ume Plum flavoured KitKats just before the Sakura (Cherry Blossom) season shoves it out of the way.

I really like the taste of this one, probably my favourite seasonal KitKat I’ve tasted so far. It starts out quite sweet but then you quickly get a tart and tangy kick which makes the overall taste more enjoyable. As with the majority of these types of KitKat it is based around a white chocolate shell so if you can’t dig that you’re out of luck. I like the fact that they are as milk chocolate would overpower most of these flavour profiles.

These KitKats are currently on sale in Don Quixote and Rakuten online.

Nibble Size Review – Karaage Fried Chicken (唐揚げ) Pringles

If you wanted to pile on the calories and didn’t want to go ahead and eat real Japanese fried chicken you can (for a limited time naturally) buy some Karaage (fried chicken) Pringles. In Japan. Naturally. No fried chicken Pringles for the rest of the world, oh no.

Once you pop, you are hit instantly with that fried chicken flavour that turns on all your carnivore instinct buttons on that make you want to eat any prior flying grain eating creature.

Actually nibbling on a few, they do indeed remind me of fried chicken with a few  little additional tastes that I wouldn’t identify as KFC-like which is most likely the onion and garlic seasoning each Pringle is coated in.

Sadly, if you’re not in Japan you will have to pay $500 on Ebay or something to get your hands on one of the cans. So, enjoy, I guess?

Quick Sip Review – Calpis Soda Shifuku no Jikan

Japan companies like to launch special once off products (mostly food and drink) so that we can rush to the local Life or Familymart salivating and throwing old people out of the way until we reach the aisle of our longing.

And so Calpis have released this week Calpis Soda Shifuku no Jikan (which is just a new product in their line up and not a once off, I think) or otherwise known as “Blissful Time” lemon drink. Thing. Calpis is an old Japanese beverage company founded in 1919 and they are known for their milky flavored soft drinks. I’ve drank Calpis Soda a lot which is a carbonated and milky drink.

So what’s the deal with this special Calpis Soda Shifuku no Jikan?

Calpis are marketing it as such “You can spend a blissful time as you can enjoy the mellow milky carbonic acid and the refreshing aroma and sourness of lemon.”

Well I drank it today and I didn’t quite reach blissful levels, it is a very nice drink and I like it a lot more than the original Calpis Soda. It has got a desserty vibe to it with the lemon and milk flavours swishing around with each swig. But it’s not a heavy drink, it’s quite light and quite refreshing. But I’m a sucker for citrus.

It’s going for ¥140 (Before Tax) and I got it in a Life branch.

Enjoy. I’ll be downing a few of these over the foreseeable future.

Bars of Jätkäsaari, Helsinki

Jätkäsaari (literally translating to “Dude Island”) is a peninsula sitting in the south-west of the Helsinki. It’s a developing and reclaimed area of Helsinki with big swathes of construction popping up apartment blocks ala Game of Thrones intro style. Word is that by 2030 all apartment blocks will be completed along with schools, stores, and saunas. Naturally. Projected final population of “Dude Island”? 21,000 Dudes. And Dudettes. In contrast to a 2,318 population in 2005.

With the increase of people the need for an increase in bars is of utmost importance. Right now, in May 2019, there are 5 bars of note. So I visited them all.

Uusi Sauna

If you’re not put off by semi-naked humans wandering around you as you sup your drinks wide-eyed then Uusi Sauna is not a bad little bar. Situated in a quiet courtyard off of Välimerenkatu, Uusi Sauna has a wide range of craft beers and bar food on offer. They also have two huge dogs if you’re lucky enough for them to be around when you drop in.

Its decor is bare concrete walls with metal and wood fittings; a sort of hipster doofus paint by numbers interior. Does the sauna/bar concept work? Being more of a beer connoisseur than a sauna connoisseur, the comings and goings of the sauna dwellers with only a thin towel situated between me and their saunified bits, is a bit different and humorous but it’s cool in a Finnish way.

The vibe is different because people are mainly there to sauna. There are no TVs or other entertainment options; it’s sauna time baby. And sauna-ing is serious business. The staff are friendly without being overly so. The dogs will allow you to scratch them forever. Fyi they are closed on Mondays. My draught pint (Belgian style blonde) cost €9 with a stingy glass of house red wine at €5.

Urbine

Urbine is one of the newest bars in the area, taking over the vacant lot of a dodgy looking bar (even the empty lot looked dodgy) in its place. Urbine is far from dodgy with a casual yet trendy interior. It is your last port of call before heading to the ferry terminal to Tallinn. And you could do worse by popping in and having a drink or bite to eat.

On the evening in question that we visited there was one guy running the front of house efficiently and friendly; he didn’t have a problem dealing with us non-Finnish speaking morons. Lapin Kulta was the draft beer of choice with a house red. Two pasta dishes were delicious; the avocado one and the chicken one. We’ve been craving the dishes since.

Malaga Bar

Another bar hidden in a back alley of apartments even more-so than Uusi Sauna. This bar gives more of an eatery type vibe than come-here-to-drink vibe. It’s bright and airy and has lots of photos of horses on the wall. The front of house dude was welcoming and friendly and offered us up a Jacobsen brown beer on draft and a house red at typical Finnish prices.

A little too small and with tightly packed seating to be regarded as homey or comfy, Malaga Bar can still be seen as a go-to joint for a swift bite to eat accompanied by a drink of your choice.

Sky Room (Clarion Hotel)

Alright we tried two times at different times of the day to get a drink at the Sky Room on the 16th floor of the Clarion Hotel. Both times we were greeted by amazing views but with equally amazing 15 deep queues at the bar to get served. The third time we tried was on Vappu-eve of all times and it was quite quiet. Finally.

The views are amazing, it has to be said, in a city of very little high view points.

Prices were along the same lines of the other bars in the area. Lapin Kulta is the Finnish beer on draft.

Huutokonttori

Rumour has it that many yard sales and flea markets resulted in the decor of Huutokonttori. It’s a mish-mash of sofas, chairs, tables, curios, and drapes. And stuffed badgers. And it’s quite homely in a sense; if the home in question is owned by a crazy old cat lady. The bar is a boat. Which is quite fitting due to the port-side neighbourhood.

Karhu 5,3 and a BIGGG house red at €10 each is reasonable value (especially as the wine was served in a bucket). Service was friendly and welcoming. The clientele were spread out amiably around the living room and the music was at a pleasant background level. A nice bar and one we need to visit more often. And to stick our tongues up at the Sky Bar across the road. In nicer weather they have a decent sized outdoor patio to enjoy the fleeting sun. There’s a library upstairs if you want to pick up the entire back catalogue of Jackie Collins on the way out.

As the neighbourhood develops I’m sure there will be additions to the list and I’ll be sure to investigate!

Magritte Exhibition at Amos Rex, Helsinki

I got into Magritte in my teenage years; his weird manipulation of everyday objects in juxtaposition with their surroundings rebelliously scratched an itch that Impressionism was bestowing upon me. I still love Impressionism but Magritte’s Surrealist styles are always a nice weird distraction. I also feel that Magritte is a more accessible entry into Surrealism than Dali and Ernst.

The Amos Rex is a compact and relatively new gallery (August 2018 opening) in the very centre of Helsinki. Visitors to the city can enjoy the Amos Rex without even going inside the building as its undulating roof is now a tourist attraction in itself with children and adults alike clambering around it. There have been large lines going around the corner in its opening few months but as I wandered in on a Monday at 4pm there was only a short line. General admission €18, reduced rate €12.

The organization of the Magritte exhibition actually makes a lot of sense. Based on his own Life Line lecture, given in Antwerp in 1938, the exhibition goes through the different artistic periods of his life. Which, if you think you know Magritte, gives an insight into some of his lesser known works of art from his lesser known periods. Interesting stuff.

Abstract and pre-Surrealist works (-1925)

A pretty “meh” period for Magritte; trying to find his foothold in his craft and just going with the flow of the times which happened to be Futurist. He, himself, would readily admit his natural disconnection to the Futurist movement and destroyed a lot of his work from this period. The work on show at this exhibition, Nocturne (1923), reflects this noncommittal approach to Futurism and is quite forgettable.

Early Surrealist works (1926-1930)

A period of early exploration into his Surrealist motif of disorientation. His paintings here are inspired primarily by Giorgio de Chirico. You will find a lot of landscapes and interior scenes of random objects in this time period ala de Chirico. An important part of Magritte’s life.

Words and Images (1927-1930)

In conjunction with exploring his Surrealist style, Magritte developed his famous word paintings. His most stand-out piece of this time being The Treachery of Images painting of a pipe with the words “Ceci N’est Pas Une Pipe“. This Is Not A Pipe. Included in this exhibition is a rough sketch of this work.

Effective Infinities (1930-1940)

Some might suggest the best time period for Magritte’s work. His exploration of items co-existing, co-mingling and intertwined with other items in weird unnatural ways came to a creative head in this decade. Most of the works you know from Magritte come from this time frame. The most important piece included in this exhibition is La Lampe Philosophique which presents a unsettling depiction of a man smoking…his own face…!…whilst a candle wraps itself around a pedestal. Meaning behind it? Probably. But the visceral almost shocking reaction to the main point of focus is what I take away from it. A Magritte move of the highest order.

Renoir Period (1943-1947)

A period that totally surprised me and one I either didn’t know of or forgot about. Colorful? Yes. Appealing? Not so much. This was a reaction to the dark days of World War II with Magritte choosing a bright and vibrant palette. It’s almost as if his eagerness to recreate Renoir’s style over-rode the surrealist concepts that Magritte had been building on. Having said that, this period can also be seen as Magritte not giving a shit and it’s a thumbing of his nose at the art world and the world in general crumbling around him. Exploring this style made more sense for him at the time.

Vache Period (1948)

Another time where Magritte took a side road off his main artistic journey stylistically. A Fauvist inspired period where you might be forgiven for thinking you are looking at a Matisse or a Derain. If the Renoir period was a accidental nose thumbing then the Vache period was a full on in your face nose thumbing as an act of defiance and liberation of the Parisian critics. Mic drop.

The Art of Likeness (1948-1967)

With Magritte’s final major style period he found international fame whilst going back to his roots and exploring everyday objects and their peculiar “being”. The bowler hat men raining down from above? From this period. The bowler hat man with the apple in front of his face? From this period. It was a time of intense exploration and bizarre thought-provoking compositions. Bowler hats were seen by Magritte to be “not original. The man with the bowler is just middle-class man in his anonymity.” Which is exactly why he puts them in reality altering and mind-bending situations.

So, all in all, a nice little summation of Magritte’s work. Obviously without any hugely important works but works that give you a general impression of what each time period of his life produced.

Bill Burr Live in Helsinki – May 2019

Back in 2014 I skipped out on seeing Bill Burr for some crappy work-related gathering. Gods I was an idiot. Over the years since then, Bill Burr has become my favourite comedian eerily in sync with my inner most rage against the machine. With him announcing a date in Helsinki in my first year here it just felt like the shitty stars aligned. It looked like the Finns felt the same way with his first show selling out quickly and with the hastily added second show later on in the night following suit. From my initial impressions of the Finns I figured Burr’s sense of humor would fit right in.

Bill Burr is at the top of his game. He strolls out, eyes on the floor, and with a laid-back swagger he finds the microphone and never lets go (albeit with a million fidgets of the mic stand with his other hand). Starting off with an impromptu commentary on Finnish sauna competitiveness, over the next hour he would cajole, berate, rage, question, and simply ask “Why?” over a range of subjects areas; Finland, Michael Jackson’s “alleged” playdates, disabled people, women, Iceland’s zoo, men, liberals, nerds, the military, hippies, “mouth-breathers”, conservatives, millennials, Trump, Nazis, Hitler, free climbers, marriage, relationships, and himself. “I hate all of ’em. I just like to annoy people”. You and me both, Bill. You and me both.

I found the Finnish crowd to be 99.99% on board and ready to head down the rapids with Burr but I was surprised at the amount of people who just wanted to be part of the act. From the “mouth-breather” behind me shouting “You’re bald” after Burr started talking about Finland’s involvement in WWII (“I know I’m bald, I shave my head. Whadya want?”) to a number of negative (and passive aggressive) shouts during the set. They weren’t necessarily against Burr but kind of negatively affirming his content. It was weird. It didn’t go un-noticed. “Man, you’re so aggressive here”.

The uniqueness of Burr is both his story-telling and his points of view. His story-telling puts us in a world where red-necks, women, millennials, and dumbasses (among others) have voice. His voice. His hilarious voice. He knows what these people say and how they say it and he turns the dial up to 11 to make it funny. His points of view are a personal and pointed revolt against mass movements of idiocy that are prevalent today. Hate Trump? Fine. Don’t hate his hotels, they’re amazing. And so on. He peels away the very thin layer of surface-level society to reach in to the stinking bowels of what makes people tick. Is it likely to offend some? Hell yeah. Is his material controversial to some? Yes, indeed. Good. Whatever Bill Burr says, we need it. Maybe when the veneer is stripped away from societal norms via comedy then people will begin to see we are all just eating the same shit sandwich here.

A word on the venue. The Kulttuuritalo makes you check your coat for 3 Euro. So after spending a nice relaxing and fun evening at whatever you’re seeing there you then need to line up with the huddled masses in a smelly scrum to get it returned. Not fun. No good. Lesson learned. Never bring a coat to the Kulttuuritalo.

Things To Do On Vappu in Helsinki

Vappu is a public holiday celebration here in Finland. It celebrates workers and freedom. And vaping.  Just kidding, it’s mainly gives Finnish students a massive excuse to have a massive piss up.

The word “vappu” somehow evolved from St. Walpurgis – the patron saint against purging. Just kidding, it’s rabies.

Anyway, here’s some things to do for Vappu to fit in with the locals.

Drink Sima

Sima is a mead type drink made with mainly sugar, yeast, water and usually other bits like lemon rinds. You can buy it from stores in a soda drink for all the family to enjoy or a very low alcohol sparkling variety. For all the family to enjoy. The two varieties we got tasted mainly of brown sugar and raisins. Which was weird as there weren’t raisins in the ingredients.

Eat Tippaleipä

A funnel cake variation where dough is dripped out of a funnel into boiling oil. Literally, the word Tippaleipä means “drop bread”. I was expecting a soft bite but it was crunchy. Mine might have ben stale.

Eat Munkki

A donut. Sometimes cardamom is added for added flavour. Literally, the word Munkki means “monk”. I don’t know. The big ones we tried had berry jam/jelly inside and the smaller ones were just dough. Noice.

Watch A Statue Get Washed and Get a Graduation Cap

Head to the end of Esplanadi Park in Helsinki for a slight distraction from the constant alcoholic binging to watch the f-innish-amous Havis Amanda statue get a soapy wash and a graduation cap plonked on her head. Elaborate? Yes. Ridiculous? Yes. Fun? Sure, why not?

It’s worth noting that the Finnish graduation cap is a sailor’s cap which is a little strange to the outsider’s eye. They mean a lot to the Finnish people with the cap being kept through their lives. It was interesting seeing the older people around with aging, discoloured caps.

When the cap was finally plonked on it was very New Year’s Eve around us; champagne was popped and kisses were had.

Statue with cap. Time to move on.

Picnic at Kaivopuisto

The day after the night before the parks of Helsinki are full of picnic havers where bubbly, potato salad, and herring are among the traditional staples. People get drunk again. Some people make do with a blanket but some people bring their dining table and chairs with them.

Watch Drunk People

Mostly evident on the eve of May 1st where students are boozing throughout the day in various areas of the city. If you’ve been to St. Patrick’s Day in America or Karneval in Germany then you know what to expect. Yung ‘uns who can’t handle their liquor get up to all sorts of mischief; it’s a universal trait.

It’s an interesting few days in Helsinki during Vappu with some unique celebrations.