Monday morning we were booked to take three shinkansen from Kyoto to Nagasaki. I woke up feeling very less than average and had been coughing and spluttering all night. I always feel sad about leaving Kyoto, but this time I was feeling so unwell, it was overpowering my impending dread. I got up early and … Continue reading Headed for Kyushu
You can watch a very short video of the amazing garden at Sanzen-in here. On Sunday, Super Sake Boy and I had arranged to meet up with the very lovely Fujimoris, the couple we met at Shu Kura sake bar in Ponto-cho. Our conversation on the evening was very broken English/Japanese and somewhat sake fuelled, … Continue reading An Unexpected Cultural Adventure
Saturday morning we decided to have a bit of a lazy and slow start to the day, as we had arranged to go to Uji with Maki and Senki and Sen-chan had track and field club in the morning. It was a good reason to have some down time. We did a bunch of washing … Continue reading Matcha, Sushi, Fairy Floss and Echoes of Murasaki
On Friday morning we headed out early after a reasonably early night. We had decided on a temple on the other side of town. Daitoku-Ji is a large temple complex, a branch of the Rinzai school of Japanese Zen Buddhism. There are around six buildings of the main temple and then around 22 sub-temples. Established … Continue reading A Day of Excellent Temples and Even More Excellent Sake
On Thursday morning we had decided to go back into Tokyo with Mum and Ted and make sure they got to the right place at the right time. They were flying out early Friday morning and had decided staying at a hotel near the airport would be easier than staying in Tokyo overnight. We also … Continue reading Tokyo Parental Drop…
Wednesday we decided to have a quiet and local day. Mum and Ted were leaving the next day and wanted to see a few things around Kyoto Station and just hang out. So we all, except Finn, jumped on a bus to go explore the station. Finn would join us later for lunch. I have … Continue reading A Kyoto Local Day
Japanese taxi drivers are polite, sweet and very patient (except in traffic). On our way home from Fushimi, I think we had the most patient and sweet taxi driver in all of Kyoto. Lubricated by quite an amount of sake, I jumped in the front seat, to give directions, while Super Sake Boy, Mum and … Continue reading A Short Taxi Tale
Tuesday night we decided to take Mum and Ted to our favourite little brewery and also our favourite yakitori place in Fushimi, a district in Kyoto famous for it's sake. We jumped in a cab and set off for Fujioka, or Bar En. This brewery is so aesthetically amazing, I would visit even if the … Continue reading Revisiting a Couple of Old Favourites in Fushimi
Tuesday morning we had a bit of a lie in and Mum and Ted set off to do some more exploring alone. We took Mya, Abby and Ewan into Teramachi (read shopping heaven) and decided food was our first priority. After being distracted by many things, including a K-Pop shop, we began searching in earnest … Continue reading WOW…. Ramen
A quick little sake extra note... While on Miyajima on Monday we came across a pretty traditional little Japanese eatery. Super Sake Boy let out a small squeal of delight and informed me they had sake vending machines. I was a little confused because there are sake vending machines everywhere in Japan. You can buy … Continue reading Super Sake Boy’s Vending Machine Surprise
