Changing of the Seasons in Kyoto

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

We were still dealing with jet lag so we both woke up early again.  Since we still had another hour or so until breakfast, I hopped back into our private onsen and had another relaxing soak.  I think I would take a lot more baths at home if we had a hot tub of water at the ready whenever I wanted to get in.  Despite my urgings, The Girl refused to get in the water and instead watched Friends episodes on Netflix.

Our room attendant promptly gave us a call at the previously agreed upon time and entered with our bountiful breakfast.  I wonder if she went home at all during the night or if she slept at the ryokan.  The breakfast was delicious and plentiful.

Rice pot and soup pot

Our elaborate breakfast spread

After stuffing ourselves silly, we packed up and bade a reluctant good bye to Yama no Chaya and caught the bus back to Hakone-Yumoto station.  We rode the train to Odawara station where we transferred to a shinkansen bound for Kyoto.  This bullet train, is a high speed railway system that connects many large cities in Japan.  It can reach a maximum speed of 200 mph so far.  While we were waiting, another shinkansen was passing through.  I tried to film it but by the time I had my camera ready, I was only able to catch the tail end of the train.  The train ride to Kyoto took about two hours and it was one of the smoothest rides I've ever had.

Why can't they sell these in the US?!

The only good picture I got with the shinkansen

Even the public bathrooms had "smart toilets"

In case you don't know what to do

After disembarking at Kyoto station, we hailed a taxi to our next hotel...a modern ryokan called Matsui Honkan located a block away from the Nishiki market.  I really do enjoy the ryokan experience, so I wanted one more night in a city known for them.  Matsui Honkan offers western rooms and traditional Japanese rooms.  We of course chose the traditional Japanese rooms that allowed us to sleep on futons and sit on tatami mats.  Each room had its own bathroom, a luxury not all ryokans offer.  The property also offered two single sex communal onsens.

Matsui Honkan

Our traditional Japanese room

We were still too early to check in, so we dropped our luggage off and walked to Nishiki market.  Known as Kyoto's Kitchen, it is a five block-long covered street teeming with food stalls, kitchen ware stores, and souvenir shops.  I had planned on walking down Nishiki and eating from the various stalls as our lunch.  But, we were still so full from breakfast that we only nibbled on a couple of different foods.  We walked around a few of the other covered shopping streets around the Nishiki market and bought another larger umbrella, just in case.

Nishiki market

It is considered impolite to eat and walk at the same time

Various pickles

Jumbo shrimp

Beef sushi

Fish skewers

Snoopy-shaped mochi.  Why are the Japanese obsessed with him?

Tofu ice cream, it's actually really good

The covered walkway of Nishiki market

Takoyaki (octopus balls)

Squid

Various types of tofu and soy products

More pickles

Once we were done walking and shopping, the time was still early.  I decided that we'd walk a few blocks over to the Gion district, a historic area that is still mainly comprised of traditional Japanese houses.  The geisha houses along with many traditional tea houses and entertainment houses are located there.  A geisha sighting is a goal of many a tourist.

As soon as we crossed the bridge into the Gion district, the sky darkened, thunder cracked, and lightening flashed.  The Girl got nervous and wanted to turn back.  I reassured her that we'd had the threat of rain our whole trip so far and we've only experienced a drizzle in Hakone.  This would likely turn out to be nothing also.

Five minutes after our conversation, the sky opened up and a deluge poured down on us.  Good thing we had recently procured another umbrella!  Again The Girl wanted to turn back.  I told her that we really didn't have much time set aside for the Gion district again so we'll just walk a few blocks to observe the historic architecture and circle our way back to our ryokan.  The Girl was agreeable and we pressed on.  However, her mood soured as the rain continued on and we got more and more wet.  She was wearing sneakers that day and after a while her shoes were completely soaked and she was squishing around in them.  She walked faster and faster trying to get back to the ryokan.  Now keep in mind that she has no idea which way to go.  So I'm 15 feet or so behind her yelling at her to turn whichever way is appropriate.  Since my cute snoopy umbrella is much smaller than hers, I was completely drenched from the shoulders down.  We finally circled our way back to the ryokan and checked in.  I don't think The Girl remembers anything from our walk except the rain and her misery.

The Girl's practically running back to the ryokan

The deserted streets of Gion during a thunderstorm

Since it was only mid-afternoon and we were one of the earliest guests to check in, I convinced The Girl to check out the communal onsen with me.  I made a deal with her that if there were other people there and she didn't want to stay, then she could go back to our room.  Thank goodness the hour was still early, there was no one else in the onsen.  The Girl and I had another relaxing soak which washed away the cold and misery from walking in pouring rain.

We again had an elaborate kaiseiki dinner and our attendant set out our futons for the night for a restful sleep.

Selection of appetizers

Seasonal sashimi

Stewed fish, vegetables, and tofu

Grilled seasonal fish

Fried food course

White miso pot with fish and vegetables

Seasonal dessert with mochi balls

Futon

Sheets

Blanket

Wednesday, July 24, 2019


Since ryokans are expensive (personal attendant, multi-course dinner, elaborate breakfast), I couldn't justify staying another night in one.  So after our big breakfast, we packed up and moved to our next hotel, Hotel Granvia Kyoto.

Tofu and vegetable soup

Assortment of breakfast foods

Eggs and pickles

Pickles and dessert

I had planned on taking a taxi to the hotel, but despite using the Japan Taxi app and hailing on the street corner, I could not get one.  So we were stuck navigating the subway system with our luggage.  The Kyoto underground system is not as well developed as the Tokyo one.  Many parts of Kyoto are not covered by the underground system, and there is a long walk transferring from one subway to another.  After walking what felt like five blocks, we finally got on the right subway and rode to Kyoto station.  Hotel Gravia Kyoto is located right above Kyoto station--the precise reason I decided on this hotel.  We were planning on using the subways and trains a lot more over the next few days and I didn't want to have to walk many blocks just to get on the subway.  We dropped off our luggage and got back on the subway to return to our starting place.  We would be meeting the host of our next endeavor.

The Husband and I have used Airbnb many times in the past few years on our various journeys for lodging.  On researching for this trip, I discovered that Airbnb has an "experience" option.  These are various classes and workshops offered by individuals and businesses in the area, ranging from cooking, arts and crafts, guided walks, cultural classes, to ninja classes.  I had signed The Girl and I up for a class this day to make miniature food replicas.  Japan is famous for these.  Each restaurant and food stall has realistic representations of their menu items on display.  So one can order food by just pointing at a replica instead of trying to use Google translate on a Japanese menu.  We were meeting with a woman named Mayuka who runs this workshop.

After getting off the subway, we found that there were crowds of people lined up on either side of the street.  It turns out we had stumbled on Gion Matsuri Floats Parade, which is a small procession at the tail end of Kyoto's Gion Matsuri.  This is the reason we couldn't find a taxi?!  The Gion Matsuri is Kyoto's biggest annual festival.  It is a multi-day event that is part religious observance and part raucous street festival.  Normally when my family travels, we don't seek out festivals because that would mean crowds.  So I hadn't even paid attention to the dates of the Japanese festivals, I just knew that some festivals were being celebrating around the times we'd be there.

After walking a couple of blocks observing the parade, we reached our meeting point with Mayuka.  She had contacted me earlier that she'd be wearing a pink hat and standing at a street corner.  There were plenty of people wearing hats of various colors.  With the parade going on, there were A Lot of people in general.  How in the world am I going to find her?!  At this point a woman walked by and we both just paused and looked at each other and asked for each other's names.  This was Mayuka, although she was wearing more of a peach colored hat rather than a pink hat.  Somehow we both just had a feeling and paused at the same time.  Someone's watching over me!

Mayuka took us on a quick tour of the back streets of Gion.  I really should have paid more attention to all the description of the class, we could've saved ourselves from our drowned rat condition of the day before.  She explained some of the traditional customs of Kyoto and Japan.  We walked by a geisha house, and she showed us how one can identify them.  We walked by a maiko, an apprentice geisha, school with its monthly class schedule.  Unfortunately we did not get to see any geisha's or maiko's.

A geisha house

Names of the geiko and maiko that live there

July schedule for the maiko school

Hey! That's how I want to live.

Mayuka then took us to a small noodle shop close to her store where we each ordered a bowl of soup.  The shop only had four tables and not a foreigner in sight.  The noodles were delicious.  I am glad Mayuka was around to introduce us to this shop because I know we never would've found it on our own.  We each took pictures of the noodles we ordered, because this is what our replicas would be based off of.  We then walked to Mayuka's shop, Bonchi Kyoto, where we started on our projects.  Using modeling clay and various other materials and techniques that Mayuka showed us, we spent the next couple of hours creating miniature versions of our lunch.  I think we both did a pretty good job.

Cold udon with tofu and egg

Hot soba noodles

Miniature udon with tofu and egg

Miniature soba

After saying goodbye to Mayuka, The Girl and I walked a few blocks to Kiyomizu-dera.  Along the way, we walked up the tiny streets of Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka.  These are two pedestrian-only historic streets lined with traditional tea houses and shops.  This is suppose to be a leisurely and charming stroll--if only the streets weren't crammed full of Chinese tourists dressed up in kimonos.  The day was nice, sunny, and hot with a heat index of 100 degrees.  We were already sweating buckets in our summer wear, I can only imagine how hot they must be feeling in their full kimonos.  On second thought I don't want to imagine it, because it'll only make me hotter.  We stopped in multiple souvenir shops and enjoyed some nice shaved ice in the tea houses.

The historic Sannenzaka

Matcha shaved ice with red bean paste and mochi

Most people traverse these streets from Kiyomizu-dera which makes the route downhill.  But since we started with these streets, we were approaching it climbing uphill.  Kiyomizu-dera, Pure Water Temple, is a Buddhist site with the Otowa waterfall beneath the main hall where three channels of water fall into a pond.  Visitors can use the provided ladle to catch the water and drink it which is believed to have wish granting powers.  Each stream of water is said to have different benefits--longevity, success at school, and fortune in love.  But drinking from all three is considered greedy.

Since neither The Girl nor I are Buddhist, and we don't really have much interest in temples, we made a beeline for this waterfall.  There was a long line waiting to partake of the waters.  The ladles are placed into a UV sterilization light in between each patron.  The three streams are not marked so we had no idea which stream represented which benefit.  Plus we didn't really want to drink from a "natural" water source.  So we just followed the masses and poured a ladle of water from whichever stream of water is available over our hands.  Hey, I'll take any one of those wishes.

Kiyomizu-dera also has a shrine that is dedicated to the deity of love and matchmaking.  There are two stones placed 18 meters apart in front the shrine.  Successfully finding your way from one stone to the other with your eyes closed is suppose to bring you luck in finding love.  Since I've already found my love and The Girl is waaayyy too young to be finding love, we skipped this shrine.

The downhill walk away from Kiyomizu-dera

While we were waiting for Mayuka earlier in the day, we had seen a Disney store.  The Girl insisted on going to check out the store (remember she's only 12).  So we walked a few blocks and hopped on the subway back to downtown Kyoto.  Disney stores in Japan sell the same type of stuff as Disney stores in USA.  Needless to say, no purchases were made.  We then took the subway back to Kyoto station and found a ramen shop in the surrounding shopping arcades for dinner.  This would be our last ramen meal of our trip and unfortunately it would be the worst one.  Granted it's still very good but we've had some better bowls in the previous days.  But the mochi in brown sugar sauce was quite delicious.  The chewiness of the mochi with the crunch of the caramelized brown sugar was just right.

Pork ramen with curry

Pork ramen

Mochi with carmalized brown sugar sauce

We finally checked into our hotel and were reunited with our large suitcase that we'd sent while in Narita airport.  We now had more clothing options and could finally start to do some shopping!

The largest non-ryokan hotel room we would have in Japan

Thursday, July 25, 2019


Breakfast consisted of some drinks and pastries at the nearby Doutour Coffee, a Japanese chain of cafes.

Today we would be going to see Kinkakuji Temple, Golden Pavillion, a zen Buddhist temple where the top two floors are completely covered in gold leaf.  It is one of the most visited temples in Japan.  I had only selected a few iconic temples for The Girl to visit since I know she's not interested in them.  We got there about 30 minutes after the opening, even then the place was already packed with large tour groups.  We pushed our way to the front, took our obligatory pictures, walked the one way road around the garden, and left.  We had another appointment to make.

I love the Japanese kimono.  I used to wish I was Japanese when I was young (sacrilege I know considering the history between Japan and China) because then I would be able to wear kimonos.  One of the beautiful aspects of the kimono is the hair ornaments that are worn along with them.  I found a shop in Kyoto called Oharibako that specializes in these hair ornaments and offers classes on how to make them.

We took a taxi to the store, and it turns out the class would be just the two of us today.  Our instructor really did not speak any English, but we managed just fine by watching her demonstrations of each step.  Maybe the Japanese children don't really participate in these classes because the instructor warned us at the beginning that the class may be too hard for The Girl since one had to pinch the tweezers very firmly.  The Girl was quite offended by being looked down upon and was in a grouchy mood until half way through the class.  But both of our hair ornaments turned out beautifully.

The petals are made from squares of silk.

Formed petals on starch

Our finished products

The hair ornaments for sale in the store are all really gorgeous, and very expensive.  Maybe it's a good thing I'm not Japanese after all because I can't afford all the accessories that goes into wearing the kimono!  Actually most young Japanese women don't own kimonos anymore.  Mayuka had informed me yesterday that most young Japanese women choose to rent kimonos for important events, which was also expensive apparently, rather than buy their own kimonos.  Mayuka herself does not own a kimono.

Kyoto is full of various types of temples and shrines.  One of which is Kitano Tenmangu, a famous Shinto shrine (they all seem to be famous according to travel guides).  The unique thing about Kitano Tenmagu is that on the 25th of each month, a large market is set up on the perimeter of the shrine.  And guess what date it was that we just happen to be in the area? That's right, the 25th.  Of course I couldn't bypass a once a month market!  So we hopped back in a taxi (the heat index was 103 degrees and I really didn't want to wait and figure out the Kyoto bus system) and went to the shrine.

The Girl was once again in the mood for noodles so I found a nearby soba noodle shop that got good reviews according to google map, Kamishichiken Futaba.  There was no English menu, and no one spoke English.  So we just pointed at two pictures that looked interesting and placed our order.  I guess we weren't respecting their soba noodles because half way through our meal, they handed us a sheet of paper with English instructions on the proper way to eat soba noodles.  Either way the noodles were delicious and one of the best meals we had in Japan.

We then walked around the market.  There were all kinds of things for sale including kitchen equipment, paintings, house ware, crap, yukatas, kimonos, etc.  Several stalls offered a "take what you can fit sale" on the yukatas and kimonos.  You pay a certain amount and are given a bag.  You take home however many yukata and/or kimono you can stuff into the bag.  If only I had found this type of thing on our last visit, my house would have several yukatas and kimonos.  But now I'm older and wiser and realize that I would have nowhere to wear them and not enough space to display them.  So I just looked at them wistfully and passed them by.

Take what you can kimonos and yukatas

After walking around in the sun for a little while, I didn't find anything that I wanted to purchase.  Therefore, we hopped on a nearby subway and made our way to Fushimi Inari Shrine, an important Shinto site and another iconic symbol of Kyoto and Japan.  The shrine is famous for its many torii gates that line a 2.5 mile trail up to the top of the mountain.  There is no way we are climbing a 2.5 mile mountain.  But we have to have our Instagram photo!  So we walked up to the beginning of the torii gates, took our pictures, and beat a hasty retreat (did I mention that the heat index was 103?!).  On our way out, we took a quick break with some matcha shaved ice and mochi.  That sure hit the spot.

Matcha shaved ice with matcha ice cream, mochi, and puffed rice

We took the train back to Kyoto station and did some shopping in the various surrounding stores.  The Girl had seen conveyor belt sushi on YouTube, so tonight was the night she was in the mood for it.  We found a conveyor belt sushi chain restaurant located in the Kyoto station, Sushi no Musashi, and ate 15 plates of sushi between the two of us.  Each plate of sushi only had a pair of pieces on it which was perfect to split between the two of us.

Shrimp tempura

Cooked shrimp and fatty tuna

Fish row

Tuna

I don't remember what this was, but it was good.

Raw shrimp

Raw jumbo shrimp

Scallop

Eel

Chefs at work

We ate 15 plates!

Now some people may poo poo staying in chain hotels near the train station because they say most of the nearby eateries are chain restaurants or frequented by tourists rather than locals.  I feel the complete opposite.  Staying near a train station offers easy access to most of the sights.  I don't speak nor read the language, so finding a particular small eatery frequented by locals would be very difficult.  And even the chain restaurants would be better compared to most of the Japanese food we'd find at home.  So what if I don't eat at the most popular restaurant or the most delicious restaurant.  I found a good restaurant by my standards without spending an inordinate amount of time locating it, that's a win in my book.


Friday, July 26, 2019


This would be our last day in Kyoto.  So I shipped our large suitcase to our next destination, Osaka, and was back to using a carry-on suitcase.  We would be tackling the western outskirts of Kyoto today, a part The Husband and I never visited previously.  We were now completely over our jet lag,  so we slept in longer than I had planned.  We grabbed a quick ekiben before boarding the train bound for Arashiyama.

I had originally planned on walking the famous bamboo forest before going to a tray painting class, but we were running out of time.  So we went straight to the course at Sagaraden Nomura instead.  This is a small shop that specializes in Japanese lacquer ware.  The artist would place cut up pieces of abalone shells in lacquer to form beautiful designs.  We started by cutting up pieces of abalone shells and then glued them onto a lacquer tray.  We then painted a design on the tray and gold dust was then placed over the wet paint for the finished product.  Again the instructor expressed concerns whether The Girl could complete the class.  She showed her indignation by proving him wrong.  Maybe only Japanese adults participated in these crafting activities?!  While we were working, our instructor told us that it's now officially the summer season and asked if we'd experienced the last of the raining season a few days before.  I'd say we had first hand knowledge of what the monsoon season is all about in Japan!

The master at work

Abalone shell

The Girl concentrating hard

Adding gold dust

Finished trays

We walked to the nearby bamboo forest which is really just a street lined with many bamboo trees. Along the way, we passed many rickshaws.  Many tourists hop on these man-powered carts and are given a tour around the Arashiyama area.  We weren't interested in a tour.  We just had a couple of sights to hit, so we skipped this ride.  After taking our pictures in the bamboo forest, and getting bitten by mosquitoes, we entered Tenryuji temple through the back door.

Tenryuji is the most important zen Buddhist temple in the Arashiyama area.  We only purchased tickets for the garden and did a quick walk through.  The garden was quite beautiful but with the full midday sun beating down on us, we just couldn't fully appreciate it.  There was a pond by the main hall with some raked rock designs in front that is roped off.  One Chinese girl saw some koi in the pond and wanted a closer look so she climbed over the rope.  The nearby guard promptly blew his whistle and ran over.  I thought it was for the girl's safety so she didn't fall in the water.  Nope, it was because she had disturbed the zen rock designs.  The guard spent a few minutes trying to repair the damage but to no avail.  The zen like atmosphere is forever ruined until the next time the rocks are raked.

The ruined rock garden in front of the pond

I had made a reservation at Shigetsu, the vegetarian restaurant inside the temple, for lunch.  Unfortunately I overestimated our interest in bamboo groves and temples and was ready for lunch an hour before our reservation.  I decided to go to the restaurant to see if they could seat us early.  Following Google map, we walked out the temple and found the back door of the restaurant, which is not allowed as an entrance.  Each ticket to Tenryuji allows for one single entry, no re-entry.  I had to act the dumb tourist and inform the entrance attendant that I got lost trying to find the restaurant and could we please go back in just for food.  She was kind enough to wave us in without making us pay for another ticket.  This time we found prominent signs to the restaurant.  I guess if we had come in through the front entrance rather than the rear, we would've been fine.  The restaurant was almost empty and they were able to seat us right away.  The food consisted of tofu and vegetables and was delicious and refreshing.  The Girl missed her meat.

An attraction that gets mixed reviews is Monkey Park Iwatayama.  A large pack of "wild" monkeys live on top of the mountain and visitors can purchase food to feed them.  This attraction would involve a 20 minute climb to the top of the mountain and with the heat, I just wasn't sure I wanted to see monkeys that badly.  But The Girl was adamant, so we made the trek.  The climb really was not that bad because most of it was shaded by trees.

Our climb up to the top

Once we got to the top, we saw many monkeys meandering about--some resting, some wrestling, some fighting.  Visitors can pay about $1 for a pack of food and feed the monkeys behind a caged building.  The visitors are in the caged building and the monkeys are outside.  The food options are peanuts, apples, and yams.  We found that each monkey had their own preference of food but most of them did not like the peanuts.  We fed them about two packets of food before the guards blew the whistle and hustled everyone outside.  It was general feeding time.  The attendants threw food around the area and all the monkeys came running.  There was one particular monkey who seems very close to the attendants.  It sat right outside the window and when  one attendant offered it an apple, it turned up its nose at it, literally.  It was only when the apple was substituted with a yam did the monkey start eating happily.  The Girl animal lover was having a ball watching these monkeys.

The humans are caged this time

Choice of peanuts, apples, or yams

It took a few tries for this baby to reach the top.

The picky monkey that only wanted yams

The monkeys were ready to snatch the food

We must have stayed about an hour there before I finally managed to drag her away and back down the mountain.  We meandered towards the train station stopping for gelato and other snacks along the way.

I had mentioned to The Girl that 7-11 is much better in Japan than in the US.  This prompted her to challenge us to make a whole dinner from only 7-11 finds.  Challenge accepted!