Plus Eight One, Part II

More trip report:

• 10/2 evening: went out with some Couchsurfers. First: Donguri for dinner: okonomiyaki with octopus and wasabi, and salt and sesame seed. Then to Monte Bello a few drinks, and to World for dancing.
• 10/3: a tofu set lunch at Tosuiro. An incredibly rich and creamy sesame tofu with a touch of wasabi on top; tempura, not only the usual veggies but also an excellent tofu tempura; tofu skin served with grated ginger and tiny purple bean sprouts, dipped in a soy-based sauce; a tofu soup; tofu served in a wooden electrical appliance that cooked the dish right at the table; rice with Chinese yam and quail egg, pickled vegetables, and miso soup; and soy-milk pear ice cream for dessert. All for the spectacularly low price of something like $25; I ordered the lunch set, but it seems that they threw in most of the courses from the full dinner set. Barring a miracle, this will probably be the best value of any meal on the trip.
• 10/3: The "Philosopher's Path," including the Konchi-in, Nanzen-ji, and Kotoku-an temples. Sadly I didn't make it to Ginkaku-ji until after closing time, so I had to admire it this one from outside.
• 10/3: Dinner at Ponto-Cho Uan, recommended by the Lonely Planet. An elaborate, eight-or-so course kaiseki meal. Tasty but not mindblowingly so.
• 10/3: Live music and DJs at Metro.
• 10/4: Lunch at Kisoka-An Kawamichi-Ya: homemade cold soba in the usual dipping sauce, served with excellent tempura, and a side order of nishin (poached herring).
• 10/4: More temples: first Kinkaku-ji, a garish gold-plated temple on a lake. I was underwhelmed by the scenery, and overwhelmed by the huge throngs of Chinese tour groups. On to Ryoan-ji (currently under renovation). which has a very famous rock garden that allegedly looks like "a tiger crossing the sea with her cubs," which is something I was not aware that tigers frequently did. In any case, no amount of squinting transformed the garden's 15 rocks into anything resembling tiger cubs. Perhaps rock gardens, like humor, do not translate across culture.

Tonight: dinner, and probably a quiet night in (my first so far). Tomorrow to Ohara, a little town north of Kyoto where there is not much to do except stare at the mountains.