Eating in Eskisehir

Eskisehir, Turkey is not a tourist destination and it was a bit random how I ended up there. Of course, as usual, I was couchsurfing while in Turkey. For most of the places that I went I didn't have too much trouble finding a place to stay, but I had originally intended to go to Bursa, the 4th largest city in Turkey after Istanbul. I tried for two weeks to find a couch to sleep on, but everyone seemed to be too busy to host me. So, I looked at a map and decided to just pick a city in between Istanbul and Ankara, which was my third stop. The city that popped up was Eskisehir and I just sent out some couchsurfing requests without doing much research besides a quick wikitravel check. I immediately got back about four replies, all yes, and then I had the awkward job I am not used to having, which was to actually turn down some people. I just chose the first person that said yes, which was a cute university age girl and her boyfriend who lived right in the center of the city. And since I came on a weekend, they were totally free to show me around and hang out with me and become my travel buddies.

The great thing about these couchsurfers was that they were just as obsessed with eating as I am. And not just obsessed with eating, but finding all the local specialties in little neighborhood restaurants that a tourist like me would never have thought to enter. Our first night, they gave me the grand tour of the little college city.

This is boza. It's a drink (drink-ish... I ate it with a spoon...) made from chickpeas and I don't know what else. Apparently, most foreigners hate the stuff, but they have to bring everyone by to try it since this little shop is famous in town. I actually found the drink to be quite nice if you add cinnamon, which most people were doing. And quite a bit of cinnamon. Without the cinnamon, well, it was like drinking plain chickpeas, which isn't quite so appealing... but the thing with chickpeas is that they taste so nice with other spices. Why else would hummus taste so good?

This is a wrap made with cig kofte. As I now look on the internet it seems cig means raw and kofte is a kind of meatball, and cig kofte is kind of a spicy raw meatball but the spices "cook" the meat and keep it from spoiling...but the particular variety that we ate was actually vegetarian.

For breakfast the next morning, they took me out for another local treat: gözleme. This is a flat pastry filled with a layer of fillings. There were lots of options for the filling like meat, veggies or cheese, but they convinced me to get the supreme, a little bit of everything. While there is many ways to enjoy this thing, I did the easiest thing was to just roll up the big flat pastry and eat it like a burrito. It was absolutly lovely and a perfect amount of food. Oh, and all those vegetables on the table were "service" as they say in Korea. Aka, free. 

After our brunch we headed out for another tour of the town. They took me up to the highest point in town to get a nice view of the mountains and the city below. And they took me through the old town, Odunpazarı, full of old 19th century Ottoman style homes. Fans of my blog will know I have a weakness for old places... 

 My last morning, before hopping on the train to Ankara, we stopped in another local joint for some çiğ börek for breakfast. This fried pastry along with some ayran, the Turkish yogurt drink, was the perfect last memory of Eskisehir.

Wednesday and Thursday in Kyoto

First stop on Wednesday was Sanjusangendo. Sanjusangendo literally means hall with 33 rooms, but it is most famous for it's 1001 statues of Kannon. Unfortunately, there are no photos allowed in the sanctuary so I can't show you what it looked like inside, but if you're curious, it seems many other people broke that rule. Sanjusangendo was probably the most expencive temple I visited, at 600 Yen, but it's easy to guess why the price is so high when you have to figure in the maitanance of over a 1000 historic statues.

I hopped on the bus for about two stops before getting out and walking up the hill to Kiyomizu-dera. I opted not to pay to go in the sanctuary here, but I'm fine with that decision. You're free to walk around the outside without paying and it's quite spectacular. This pagoda was really something else.

I walked away from the main tourist area down a little side path in Kiyomizu-dera and found this lovely bunch of stone statues. I think they are called dosojin (if you have any details about these things, please post them here! I really want to know what the deal is with these guys). There were no tourists at all down here so I spent a while photographing them from different angles.

I walked along some of the side streets unknowingly finding myself on a well beaten tourist path lined with cute little botiques and restaurants.

I was happy to find a Miyazaki store and spent a little time wandering around in there but too reluctant to buy anything because it's all so expencive!

I passed by Krozen Kwannon Temple. Though I didn't stop here, there was a great view of the giant Kannon from the outside.

Next I found myself at Kodaiji Temple and I entered. I got a 100 yen discount here on the entrance with my subway pass.

Here was another zen garden and some rather lovely old temple buildings.

Here is the cemetery at what I believe is Higashi Otani Mausoleum. This place was quite nice because there were very few tourist around. I'm not sure why that is, since it was on the main path, but anyway, I always love visiting cemeteries for some reason. They always look really beautiful to me. When I arrived here, though, I realized that I had lost my map and kind of freaked out because I had written all the bus numbers that I needed on there and didn't really know where I was. I was really frustrated so I just walked out of the temple area (I was coming to the end anyway) and wandered into town looking for a subway that would take me to Kyoto station where I knew there was a tourist information center with free maps.

As I was leaving the temple area, though, I stumbled across one last shrine; Yasaka-jinja shrine. Here, they were starting to get ready for the new years celebrations. There were closed stalls set up everywhere that I wished would open up because they looked really interesting.

Then I wondered around town for a while looking for food and a subway. I found the Gion Post Office. I thought it looked cool.

Here is the Kamo-Gawa River which goes through the center of Kyoto.

I stumbled into this shopping area and finally found myself some reasonably priced udon for lunch. I continued wandering until I found the right subway to get to Kyoto station. I got there, wondered all around forever looking for the tourist info place. Found it, and got directions to the Funaoka Public Bath since I heard it was famous.

I noticed that on the way to the public bath was the Nijojo castle. I think that I had read somewhere that it was closed for the holiday, but maybe in my rather frustrated mind after having lost my map and wandered around lost for a long time trying to get to Kyoto station and feeling as though I had rather wasted my time I decided I would stop there and hope that I could get there before closing time. I hopped off the bus, walked 15 minutes from the bus station (it looked much closer on the map) only to find out it was closed for the holiday. I walked dejectedly back to the bus stop and headed back to find the public bath.

Being a "tourist destination" I expected it to be on a main street, maybe really big and impressive. I was not expecting the unassuming location on a small side street that didn't even have a sidewalk. After  a bit of reading later, after the fact, I learned that the bath was built in 1923 and is one of the few public baths that have not been updated or changed much over the years. Coming from Korea, it's hard to scoff at it's simplicity compared to even the simplest Korean jjimjilbang. But, I think here, it's more about the historic nature of the location more than the amenities.

As you go in, you'll see these shoe lockers. Those who have spent time in Korea will recognise these easily, but the key is wooden. I wouldn't be surprised if they dated back to the foundation of the bath house. The fee to use the bath is incredibly low. I don't remember how much but it was less than 500 yen. I didn't have a towel, but they gave me one for free and let me buy soap for 30 yen or something like that. I only wished I had planned ahead and had brought my shampoo...

From there you can go into the changing room, get naked and head into the baths. Just like Korea, shower off before getting into the baths. There were a total of 7 or 8 baths. One was blood red, I wish I knew what it was, but I sat in there for a while. Others were nice, one was an extra hot one, another had massage jets, another pine. My favorite was the outdoor bath. It wasn't really outdoor-outdoor where people could see you, but it was built with an open roof. It was also a useful place to splash cold water on myself every time I went into the (only) sauna which was very hot and made me feel lightheaded every time I went in for more than 2 minutes. But, after the baths and the one sauna.. that was it. I was a little sad since I'm used to more luxury from Korean public baths, but I tried to appreciate it for what it was. After that I headed back to the couch surfer's house for a feast for dinner and sleep early to leave for Kobe in the morning.

Before getting on the subway the next morning I stopped by Heian-Jingu Shrine which was only 10 minutes walk from the couchsurfer's house. It was early in the morning and there was no one around.

It was not huge, but it was quite beautiful and photogenic with so few people around. From here I caught the train to Kobe and that will be the last segement of my Japan story. Stay tuned!

Couchsurfing in Japan

After a week of traveling in Japan, I'm home and ready to start my last month at Songpa SLP. This trip to Japan was rather special for me, as it was my first time traveling alone. I wasn't sure how it was all going to go, but it all came together in the end. I finally got to try CouchSurfing from the traveler's end of the spectrum. Since starting to host couchsurfers in September, I've really gotten a whole new travel bug to get out and meet people and see new places.

The lovely thing about couchsurfing is that you can meet the locals, or at least the local expats. They can take you to the good restaurants, treat you to some home cooking and introduce you to some cultural aspects that you would have completely overlooked as a tourist passing through for a few days or weeks. And, while I don't believe couchsurfing is about saving money, it is definitely one highlight of it. Especially in a country like Japan where the worst hostel will put you back around $30 per night per person. That adds up quickly on one's budget.

The first place I stayed was with a woman from Osaka living in a small one room apartment. It reminded me of Korea in many ways (except for the lack of floor heating). On the first night she took me out for some drinks and yakidori (grilled chicken). It was a great meal, but it also was a bit of a sticker shock when I realized that between the two of us we owed 6,000 yen (83,000 won) for not all that much food. So, again, one needs to watch the wallet when eating in Japan. But, I try to enjoy as well. It's about balance. Maybe learn to sacrifice on lunch and splurge on dinner.... or something to that effect.

Both mornings I stayed with her, we ate a breakfast of tea, rice (slightly different from the Korean variety... much drier, eaten with chopsticks and often eaten just plain) and natto. And oh I love natto... one of the world's most amazing foods (and too expensive in Korea!) I brought home 10 boxes of it back to Seoul.

The downside to couchsurfing sometimes is that you often need to leave when the host leaves the house. In my case, about 8 am. So, I had all day to explore Osaka.... but on a day when most museums were closed (Monday + New Year's holiday) so there wasn't much left to do. I started my day with Osaka Castle and then later I met my friend Asami from my Korean class to explore some other areas and get dinner. At least I had some company for some of the day!

Tuesday it was on to Kyoto. I carried my backpack all day until I met my host, but it was worth it, because she brought me to her traditional style, 100 year old home in downtown Kyoto. It's hard to find old homes in Japan since so many were destroyed in the war, not to mention that I'm sure many others have been demolished in order to make way for modernity much like other countries in the world. Our first night, she brought me to the Gion district, famous for Geishas (but we didn't catch any walking around),  to eat some dinner in one affordable restaurant she knows of. Again, nothing like hanging around the locals to find the good places. On Wednesday night, she cooked me a feast for dinner (see above) full of all sorts of treats.

Her cat seemed to take a liking to me and slept with me both nights.

Finally, on to Kobe. I met my friend from college, Nori, at the subway station and he took me for the grand tour of Kobe.

We finished the day with a grand meal of Kobe beef with his friend and friend's mom. They all wanted to get a chance to practice English with a native speaker. In Korea, this would bother me a lot since I need all the Korean practice I can get... but here, where my Japanese is limited to about 10-15 words (on a good day) I welcomed all the English I could get.

Here is Nori's house. It survived the earthquake, unlike many other homes in Kobe. It was a full fledged house, something that I've yet to experience in Seoul (maybe only in the suburbs). They gave me my own bedroom and filled me up with a grand breakfast in the morning.

I was actually supposed to stay here for two nights, but because of the holiday they couldn't host me for the last night, so they surprised me with a hotel for my last night. It wasn't quite like staying in someone's home, but I must say it was my best night's sleep on my week long trip.

I hope you all make a couchsurfing account now that you've read this (if you haven't already) and take full advantage of this website to meet new friends in your hometown and when you're traveling. If you don't know what couchsurfing is, it is basically a site to bring together people from all around the world who can offer a free "couch", meaning a place to sleep, or some guide service with people who are traveling around the world. Staying at a hotel, or even a hostel, doesn't give you the same cultural experience as staying in someone's home or going out with the locals. Whether you're young, old, single,  a couple, have a family or whatever, there's sure to be someone on this website for you to meet and share cultures with.

Couchsurfers, grilled meat and donuts

In our house with the Filipina couchsurfers

Last week was a busy week in our home. Monday and Tuesday we hosted two Filipina women who were visiting Korea for the week. Then Wednesday night, the same French couchsurfers who came in September came back until Sunday morning before they flew out of Korea.

Since Saturday was their last day in Seoul, they wanted to eat some galbi as their last real meal before leaving. So, we met my friend and her boyfriend and walked around Sincheon until we found a decent looking place. Note to self, most galbi restaurants aren't open in the afternoon. Finally, we found a place and wound up ordering a 40,000 plate of various cuts of meat, including samgyupsal, galbi along with other unidentified tasty things and an overwhelming amount of mushrooms. Split between 5 people, the price was quite reasonable!

Meat and Mushrooms

 

 

Feasting

After our feast of grilled pork, we got on the discussion of dessert. And how in France (I was the only one at the table who wasn't either French or had not lived in France) people always eat dessert after meals. We toyed with the idea of going to that pie place in Itaewon, but eventually we settled with going to Krispy Kream since they had never seen one before, and because Itaewon is not exactly close from Sinchon.

Ben, Gaelle and cheesecake donuts

While I'm not a fan of donuts in general, and specifically those from Krispy Kreme (me + that much sugar = stomachache) , our guests seemed quite happy with their donuts.

But the part we got the most excited for was the "Doughnut Theater" in the back. When the donuts started flowing, we all stood around watching for quite some time examining the process. We got sad when two donuts got stuck together and got put in the trash. And we pondered how the donut shape was formed. Was it one long piece of dough stuck together at the ends? Was it one round piece of dough with the middle carved out? But, they had a mirror in place so that you could only see the frying and glazing part of the process. Boo.

Anyway, from there is when the Halloween adventures of the last post began, so if you're interested, check out my last post.

CouchSurfing

As I mentioned before, this week was my first experience couchsurfing. It rather unfortunately coinsided with a visit from my university friend from Japan who also stayed at my house, and so the two guests back to back made for a rather exhausting week. But, that being said, it was definetely the most interesting week I've had in a long time. As I mentioned in my blog last week I was feeling as though I just had nothing to talk about here. But, all these international guests got us doing some more interesting things this week! Basically, every night was staying up late, drinking and eating and chatting about all sorts of things.

Our Couchsurfing guests were a couple from France. I was so inspired by their story. They traveled to New Zealand, where they cycled and did WWOOFing for 5 months. Then they flew to Bangkok where they continued to bike from Bangkok to Laos to Vietnam. Then they continued to travel for another month, sans bike, and from there made their way to Korea where they will be staying until the end of November, then traveling around Europe a little before heading back to France.

It was great hosting, though, now that I've had someone comment (and after updating my profile as suggested by our surfers) I've already gotten two more couch requests. They were both for the week of Chuseok, so I had to decline since I will be in Jeju. I think couch surfing is fun, but I don't think I want to do it all the time. One surfer per two months might be fun for a change of pace, but doing it several times a month I think would be quite stressful.

I highly recommend using couchsurfing while you're home, or while you're traveling. To learn more, check out www.couchsurfing.org.

Have you tried couchsurfing? How was your experience?

Busy week

This week is a busy one at our home. My friend from Japan had planned to come and stay at our house while he's in Korea for 4 days. Then on Saturday I received a CouchSurfing request from a French couple who are doing some world travel. Of course we couldn't have guests overlapping, so I told them they could stay until the day my friend arrives. So, the couchsurfers arrived Monday night and they will go to my friend's home on Thursday morning. Then Thursday evening I'll meet my friend and bring him home until Sunday afternoon.

The one good thing about all these guests is that it makes us be much cleaner people! We scoured our house top to bottom before they arrived, and now that they are here, we wash our dishes after meals and pick up trash and laundry around the house rather than leaving it til later. If only we could be like this when we don't have guests!

ps. if you're wondering what CouchSurfing is, it's only the coolest idea ever. Check it out now!