May 4th. Old Friends; Lost and Found

 Today was my alone day. Well sort of. I was meeting my best friend who lives in Japan. He came to Korea with us in the Peace Corps and settled in Kyoto Japan never leaving ( well maybe for short stints). 

Simple instructions. Take the 93 bus to Heien Shrine and he will be between the gates. Find the 93 bus stop. Simple. Follow the small stream which has to lead to the river and the bus.  1/2 hour later, 90 degrees, no shade, I walk along the railroad tracks, take the wrong crossover but finally get to the next station down the line to see the train pull away. 

Buy tickets and finally get to sit. No wait, train is crowded and umbrella doesn’t substitute for  a cane. Two stops later, “This is the last stop for this train”. I am still far from Bob. Taxi time. 

Did I mention that they are having a feast type event at Heien Shrine. So I have to meet him in this carnival. Back and forth, phone calls back and forth, and I finally “find him”. Strange saying since I has the one totally lost in a place I knew fairly well. 

Too hot to take the hike we had planned, so we wait and talk in the shade of the entrance as the Chinese tourists pour in and out. And we decide to go back to Bob’s apartment and have some beer. Beer and chips it is. And talk as only friends of over 50 years can have. Would not make sense to anyone who is listening. 

Temple outside Bob’s balcony.

Then off to our favorite watering hole in all of Kyoto, Okariba’s. 

Temple on the way to Okariba’s

Inside Okariba’s with the owner cooking. Yes Sake Bar

The menu. 

Our meal this time. 

Roasted wild boar and pig. 

Had to have a side of the grasshoppers too

Luckily for me, the 93 bus stops just across the street. Quick ride home. But no I get off at the wrong station way too early. Wait 1/2 hour for the next 93 and guess what. I get off too late. Call to Jessica to come get me since she knows the area better than me. 

First rule of being lost. “ Stay where you are” and where I am is stunning. 

My phone is down to 16% and Jessica’s too. She can not find me at the bridge I am lost at. I brake Rule#1 and walk towards some lite place to discover that somehow I am on the wrong side of the river. Stupid buses.  Jessica finds me and we walk home. 

Once home with everybody asleep, I eat 2 of the 3 ice cream cones I just bought.  

Good night