Kyoto, Day 8 - The Sun Is Out and the Blossoms Are Blooming

It was significantly warmer than it was in Seoul (high 50's) and the sun was shining.

From my internet research, I had made a list of potential markets to visit, so we started the day with some market hopping. The first market we hit was within walking distance at the Toko Kuni Shrine. Being accustomed to the massive markets of Thailand, Cambodia, and Seoul, this one was very, very small.

Like, this small. But very pretty.

The next market we hit was at Bishamon-do, just behind the Kennin-ji Temple, and it also turned out to be very small. But sometimes size doesn't matter. I found a beautiful pale pink pin of a woman in traditional Japanese clothing, and another charm with a green floral pattern, both made of cloth. I plan on wearing the pin with scarves and putting the charm on a bracelet or thin belt. By chance, the vendor threw in a hair clip I'd been eyeing for free. Love when that happens.

My souvenir appetite satiated, we walked through Gion and boarded the subway to get to the Daigo-ji Temple. From my internet research pre-trip, I thought that the temple would be right next to the subway, but just a warning, it's a bit of a trek.

Since we visited Kyoto during the cherry blossom bloom, there were special festivals going on. Daigo-ji was holding an annual reenactment of a cherry blossom processional in the 17th century, where the rich were literally carried through the temple grounds.

We couldn't see very well. We foolishly hadn't anticipated so many spectators and, like a parade, you had to get there early to have a good view. We did see some parasols and a few people being carried.

After flowing the with crowd back down the hill, we ate on the third floor of the plaza that houses the subway at a restaurant named Katsu-ya. It had the most people waiting out of the floor of restaurants, so we figured it was a safe bet. We both had panko crusted pork.

Hubs - covered with an interesting sauce

Mine - served with fried sweet potato, asparagus, and cauliflower

2 meals = 2289 Y.

As would be reiterated during our trip, Japan knows how to do their fried food. Always crisp and crunchy, never greasy. They put the U.S. to shame. 

Plates clean, we took the subway back to Gion and walked to the Maruyama-Koen Park. People had been picnicking all the day in the cherry blossom filled park. Almost every inch of ground was covered with blue tarp.

It looked fun, a great family and friend activity. Besides cherry blossom trees, the park also has food stands serving almost anything you can imagine. We noted it as a great dinner option for later in our trip. We weren't hungry, but we still ate green tea ice cream.

On the way back to our guest house for a rest, we stopped at 7-11 and bought milk, cereal, and some snacks.

Unless you have a peanut allergy, you should be eating these.

We had a community fridge, bowls, and mugs at our guest house. Eating breakfast there every morning was perfect. We saved money, time, and sanity, as we didn't have to wander around hungry every morning trying to find an open restaurant. 

After relaxing for a bit, we headed back near the Kennin-ji Temple to a restaurant we had passed during our market hunting that looked good. Our host in Korea had told us multiple times that we had to try okonomiyaki. This restaurant advertised serving it and was cute in it's tininess, only three tables. Unfortunately, all the tables were full when we got there, so we waited.

The young owner/chef ran the restaurant by himself. It was reminiscent of a great restaurant we dined at in Paris, L'Auberge des Deux Ponts. Okonomiyaki is a thin crepe-y crust, covered with various toppings, and cooked over a flat grill on our table. A sort of Japanese pizza that has not one component that is similar to pizza, flavor-wise. This okonomiyaki had green onions, calamari, an egg, and a bunch of other umami tasting things. We liked it.

We also had beautiful ponzu assorted mushrooms.

And fried noodles with cabbage, beef, pork, and squid. I hadn't meant to order this, but the loss in translation ended up being to my benefit because these noodles were better than whatever I had intended on ordering.

It's fun to watch your food cook in front of you. Add two large Asahi drafts and the bill was 3500 Y.

Near the restaurant, we walked down a touristy, restaurant-lined street on our way to Pontocho. Right in front of us, a maiko (apprentice geisha, we assumed she was a maiko because she looked young) hopped out of a cab, waved goodbye to the man in the cab, and disappeared inside a door.

The magical appearance of geisha can occur at any moment in the night streets.

Thrilled from our maiko siting, we walked down busy Pontocho, browsing in all the restaurants and admiring the beautiful cherry blossoms dancing in the street lights. There were a lot of people, and the street had a wonderful electric energy at night.

We took the subway, in attempt to see the Nijo Castle at night. Unfortunately, we arrived after the closing time of 9:30 pm and all the lights were off. Since we were in a new part of town, we walked the dark, quiet Kyoto streets, removed from the tourists of Gion, to the next subway stop over before calling it a night and heading back to Tanaka-ya.

*The subway in Kyoto was 210-280 Y one way, depending on how many stops you were travelling.