Day 9: A guest post from Graham the Dinosaur

Hello everyone! My name is Graham and I'm a dinosaur from the 100yen store in Kyoto station!

I can't tell you how happy I am to be out of the plastic wrapping. It was getting a little bit humid in there. Today you will get to see a bit of Kyoto from a dinosaur's perspective. Trust me, it's better than from a human's.

Last night I slept in a flower pot outside Masa's house. It's no Jurassic Park but it was definitely better than spending another night in the brightly lit 100yen store. This morning when the humans went to put on their shoes, they discovered  this frog thing! Did Masa also own figures that could come to life?

Nijo castle was on our itinerary for today so we took a little hike over to the subway to get our tickets. I had to run to keep up with the humans.

Riding the subway

Easy ride up the escalator

Nijo castle was built in 1603 for Tokugawa leyasu, the first Shogun of the Edo period. This place is massive! To protect the people inside, the floors of the castle were built in a way that every step would make the nails in the floorboards rub against a jacket or a clamp, producing a chirp, kind of like a nightingale's call. Thus the floors are nicknamed the nightingale floors. Isn't that just absolutely splendid!

Posing with the Shogun

Will the Botanist tried to tiptoe along the corridor but made a racket. If the Shogun and his men were still around, he would've been slayed right on the spot. I, however, had no trouble slipping past unnoticed.

 

Spotted: a branch sticking out of a well-groomed shrub. Damn Japan, you slackin'!

After Nijojo, we were off to Nishiki market. But first.... let me take a selfie!

Nishiki is a narrow supermarket selling all things food-related. It spans 5 blocks long and is lined with more than a hundred shops and restaurants! We bought little things here and there and tried all the samples for lunch.

Chocolate croquette

The Kyoto Imperial Palace requires an advanced booking to get in but we didn't think to do so. So we just bummed around the castle grounds.

Dinosaur photobombs.

After a long day of walking, my dinosaur feet were getting tired so I hitched a ride on Will the Botanist.

Praying for my family back at the 100yen store

Sitting on a turtle-shaped rock in Kamo River with Fiona the Animalogist!

Masa messaged us to say that his mom was preparing dinner for us. I overheard him saying something about saba (mackerel) last night but had no idea that he was telling her what our favourite fish was!! Will the Botanist and Fiona the Animalogist were ecstatic. She prepared saba sushi, fried rice, pasta salad, raw scallops and prawns, and this steamed egg broth. The meal was unbelievable!

For dessert, we had Yokan, a thick jelly thing traditionally made with red bean paste, sugar and agar. The one we had was made with white bean paste with matcha powder mixed in. Yum!

Followed by matcha and raspberry kit kats!



I had a couple of drinks as well.

And studied some useful Japanese phrases.

After watching crazy Japanese shows on TV, we retreated to Masa's dimly-lit room. We opened a couple more beers, turned up the music, and then I smoked until I was high above the clouds.

Goodnight, world. It was a pleasure being a special guest for your entertainment.