April 19

Of all the things we were doing in Japan, the thing that Erik was looking forward to the most was seeing wild monkeys. There is a mountain in the outskirts of Kyoto that is full of these monkeys, so that's the first place we went Monday morning. It was really neat. There were wild monkeys everywhere, and you could get very close to them:





At the top of the mountain there was a wooden building where you could purchase food to feed to the monkeys. The monkeys can't come inside the building, and the food can't come outside the building. The monkeys come up to the chain link window and put their arms inside when they want something to eat, like so:


It's a really smart system, because the monkeys learn that if they want treats, this is the way to get them - not by attacking human visitors outside of the building. Also, it's sure a lot of fun to feed them.


April is part of the birthing season for the monkeys so there were lots of babies about. One of them was just learning how to use the fence system.


He was a very picky eater. He would only eat the soft part of the apples and then throw away the skin. He couldn't figure out what to do with peanuts. You see that peanut he's holding? He's about to throw that one down on the dirt too. He made this really cute noise.. we pretty much wanted to feed all of our treats to him, but you know, you've got to be fair and all.

One guy held his bag of treats a little too close to the chain link, and a monkey snatched it and ran off. Ha ha! (a la The Simpsons).

More babies please:




There was a really neat view at the top, but no one seemed to want to use the binoculars. I wonder why.



After thoroughly cleaning our hands, we journeyed to the other side of Kyoto for a cooking class - possibly the thing that I was looking forward to the most in Japan. The class was run by Emi Hirayama, a Kyoto native, and the class takes place in her own home. The students consisted of me and a German couple: Helen & Sebastian. We made many delicious things, and my love affair with Japanese beef was further ignited. I also have a new favorite Kyoto food: baby bamboo shoots simmered in dashi... yummm...

Anyway, I was ditzy and didn't bring my camera and Helen has not yet sent me the pictures she took, so for now, check out Emi's website! There's a picture of us on her 4/11/2010 entry... also, I might just need to learn how to cook everything on her website... because they all kinda look amazingly delicious.

One thing I love about Japanese home cooking is that it is so seasonal. It's something I'd love to incorporate into my own cooking, because produce is always best when it's right in season! Also, I found another invention that NEEDS to make it's way to the United States. (Are you listening GE?) Emi's oven had a tiny little drawer with a grill in it. It basically grills the fish from the top and bottom at the same time. It's really important for an oven to have this in Japan, because they eat grilled fish on such a regular basis (Emi eats it every night). It's a tiny drawer - only big enough to fit about two tuna steaks I'd say - but it cooks fish very quickly and deliciously. Oh, and if any of you thinks that I am wrong, and they DO sell these in the United States? Please buy me one. Thank you.