Pirates in Kyoto

On a trip to Kyoto last month we noticed that Pirates of the Caribbean 4 was playing at the movie theatres in the city. We made a mental note to plan another trip down to the city for the sole purpose of seeing the movie. Last weekend we got around to making the trek. We woke up bright and early, drove a couple of hours to a town called Sonobe where we could leave the car and take a cheaper local train into Kyoto. We arrived in time to see the 10am show (which was fantastic since it's a long movie, and left us some time to do some other shopping).


We lined up to buy our tickets, picked our seats (yep, Japan does assigned seats at movie theatres) and grabbed some popcorn before taking our tickets to the guy guarding the corridor of theatres. He took the tickets Bryn offered, looked at them, and handed them back saying that you could only enter the theatre 10-15 minutes before show time. As he said this I glanced to my left, where there was a large clock on the wall.

It was 9:44.

The movie started at 10:00.

You have got to be joking!!! Bryn and I looked at each other and laughed. We patiently waited for about 30 seconds, at which time dude made the announcement that ticket holders for the 10am showing of Pirates of the Caribbean could now enter the theatre. It was a major Meet the Parents moment...you know the one...when Ben Stiller wants to get on the airplane, but the flight attendant refuses to let him board until they call his row number...which she does 30 seconds later.

Once we got into the theatre we found our seats and waited for the lights to go down. The seats immediately around us started to fill up. By the time it started, there were maybe 10-15 people in the theatre, all sitting in their assigned seats RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER!!! The lady who sold up the ticket showed us 3 sets of 2 seats together that she claimed were still available, so we figured it would be quite full...now why they had to sit everyone together in a nearly empty theatre I will never understand (it has happened in each of the 4 times I have been to the movies in Japan.)

Oh, Japan...I think I might miss your unbelievable quirkiness...

The movie was good - I recommend it if you liked the other Pirates of the Caribbean movies. I was a little hesitant since Keira Knightly and Orlando Bloom were not in it, but I enjoyed it even without them! Now I am patiently awaiting the final installment of Harry Potter...can't wait!!!

After the movie, (make sure you stay through the end credits!!!) we had a quick bite at Starbucks, then headed back towards the station for our usual foreign food shopping. We decided to cut through some of the covered arcade shopping to avoid crowds and shorten the walk. We took a little street that we had been down only one other time called Nishiki Street. It is a narrow little shopping street lined with food stalls selling all sorts of crazy things from pickles to fish heads. Unfortunately none of it looked terribly appetizing to me!!! I definitely recommend it if you ever find yourself in Kyoto wanting a real Japanese experience!

Nishiki Street, Kyoto

Yumm! Eyeballs, bones, and all!!! Would you believe me if I told you this was a typical school lunch item?? (Now you understand why I don't eat school lunch anymore!) The things around it are tiny little fish that are sprinkled on rice, mix in salads or used in other cooking.

Baby octopus on a stick anyone?

Vegetable pickled in salt, sake lees (lees = what is leftover after making sake...yeah, I didn't know that!!)

Assorted pickles...(these I like)

Splayed, dried fish...

Sake tasting

Lately we have been exploring the little "off the beaten path" streets of Kyoto looking for some real Japanese arty stuff to take with us when we leave...that's right...we will be leaving Japan in August. Bryn has been offered and accepted a teaching position at the United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain, UAE. We are both super-excited for the move, and will keep y'all up to date as it comes closer. For the time being though, we are looking forward to summer BBQs and beer gardens during our last few weeks in Tango!