Lingo in Transit

After my extreme sight seeing and walking day on Day 1, Day 2 called for a more serene day. Starting off by doing the washing in the morning. During the washing cycle, I went to a nearby temple, Higashi Hongan-ji, that I had walked past on my previous trip to Kyoto.

Higashi Hongan-ji is unexpected with the dark wood, something that I would not normally associate with Buddhist temples. The Founder’s Hall is about 70m long and is one of the world’s largest wooden structures. You can enter for free after taking off your shoes (there are plastic bags so you can carry your shoes with you).

After going back to attend to my washing, it was lunch time and I found a place on google maps that looked good. It was located on the 2nd floor of a this corner building with a view over the Kamo River. There was a Japanese style lunch option and a Western style lunch option. Won over by the bread, I went with the Western option. A delicious meal of gratin soup, a small teacup of vegetable soup, mashed potato, salad and a small delicate pudding dessert was served. One thing I particularly love about Japanese cuisine is the aesthetic. The mix and match plating in beautiful ceramics and the small dishes and cups.

After being fed, I walked to Gion. I had previously only see some parts by night the last time I was here so I was interested in a day time visit. I was walking freely and navigating towards the direction I wanted to go in but didn’t have a set path so to speak. This was great because I happen to walk past the Yasaka Koshindo, a Buddhist temple with these colourful balls which had prayers written on them. I haven’t seen any other temple that was so colourful. The temple wasn’t any building you could go into but rather a small courtyard.

If you keep following Ninenzaka and then veer left, there are a few stores and the quiet end of this area. Veer right and you end up on Sannenzaka which will lead you uphill to the Kiyomizu-dera (which I had visited on my previous trip here). There are many tourist type stores here which I popped in and out of but nothing really took my fancy. I headed back for a matcha ice cream and made my way back to the hotel to rest and then had dinner with a friend.

Day 3

I started my day by pottering around in my accommodation. Tired by now from travelling in general, I took it easy in the morning and took my time getting ready. I think this is something that many travellers don’t talk about but after being on the go, hitting up all the tourist sights, sometimes you just need to stop. I was lucky enough to be able to on this trip as I know the feeling of not wanting to stop to waste those precious annual leave days.

Today was Inari Shrine (again). I first came on my previous trip but didn’t hike the whole way up to the peak so I was determined this time to do the whole hike. I had initially planned to do a night hike but was just keen to stay in at night so opted for an afternoon hike. I found a lunch spot near the station for my first udon of the trip. It was not bad but I’ve had better udon in my life. The restaurant was super busy though and there were also many school students inside.

I’m particularly drawn to this shrine. It sparked a curiosity to learn more about Shinto religion. It’s grand, quiet and surrounded by nature and seems to be such a peaceful spot. It was raining again this day when I had come to visit which might have been a blessing in disguise because it would’ve been SO hot otherwise.

Tip: wear insect repellent

It does get less full once you get back the initial gates at the bottom but there are still many people around enjoying the shrine.

There are good signposts and you can’t get lost if you are following the gates around the mountain. The peak is view less so enjoy the journey up. I think I spent about 2 hours in total at the shrine.

The afternoon beckons for dessert so I went to the exact same Fushimi Inari Sando Chaya dessert cafe I went to last time and ordered the exact same baked mochi dessert. It is just SO good. Those strips that come with the dish as I have now found out, is seaweed!

Whilst walking to the train station, I finally came across mitarashi dango. I had not yet tried any dango which seems to turn up in all the Japanese animation films and there’s even an emoji of it on whatsapp so I was keen to finally get to try some. To my disappointment, it wasn’t to my taste. I wasn’t expecting the savoury soy sauce dressing (I thought it was a sweet dessert!) and the balls were not as chewy as mochi but I finished it all regardless.

After speaking to a friend and reading another blog post from a blogger here, I decided to give these refreshing leg patches a go for my tired and sore legs which I picked up at a pharmacy. These stick on patches are cooling and are suppose to ‘revive’ tired legs. Let’s give it a go.

Day 4

Waking up to my last day in Kyoto, those leg patches did not seem to particularly work. But alas, the show must go on. I went to Nijo Castle. I was tossing up between Nijo Castle or the Imperial Palace and after some googling, decided based on popular opinion, to go to Nijo castle instead which was suppose to be more interesting.

The castle was built in 1679 and consists of an outer wall and moat. Aside from the gardens, you can enter the Ninomaru Palace which has rooms lavishly decorated and and interesting inner design in each room with a raised ceiling to signify status. There is a set one way path in the palace and as you walk around, the nightingale floor chirps beneath your feet. There was no sign to say that it was to keep the ninja’s out though.

On my way back to pick up my bags from the hotel, I stopped at a highly rated google maps udon place. It did not disappoint and was way better than the one I had the previous day! Tempura anything is so well done in Japan so I did not hesitate. The udon is handmade here and hit the spot exactly.

With sore legs and now a trusty box of leg patches, my next stop was Osaka.

Have you been to any of these places? What did you think? Have you tried dango?