Japan 2016 - Kyoto Day 4

la reverie

2016/07/09

First Stop: Kinkakuji

For a fun filled day in Kyoto, today we are visiting some of the famous temples, shrines, and castles!

Our first stop is 金閣寺 Kinkakuji Temple, the official name is actually Rokuonji but it is more known under the name Kinkakuji because the structure itself is covered in gold leaf, (kin means gold in Japanese).

The entrance ticket, different from most, is a good luck charm? Which was pretty cool.

Although we arrived quite early in the day, there was already quite a crowd. You could not imagine how hard it was to take that picture up there haha.

5 things to remember...

Here's a closer view of this grand temple. On the tip of the roof is a golden bronze? phoenix.

The temple itself is only a small part among this vast garden.

The weather wasn't the best when we visited, sunny but a little on the cloudy side. They say you can see a different side of the temple in accordance to the season, most notably in the fall and winter time!

our cheeky little selfie :)

we had to line up for this picture lol

Just like most shrine/temples, they sell fortunes. But this was the first time I've seen sold through a vending machine? And there are also options for fortunes in English, Chinese, and Korean. I opted for the Japanese one because I think it would be more accurate seeing were in a Japanese temple haha.

Coming out of the temple park, there is a rest area with vendors and vending machines...

Probably not the clearest due, but hey! it's a cup noodle vending machine lol. A great choice for a quick lunch! amirite? ;)

It was a good idea not to get any snacks inside the Kinkakuji park because there are plenty other places to choose from just a few minutes away.

Syamoji is a small Japanese sweets shop specialising in puddings. It looked appealing so we decided to try it out.

There are many flavours such as green tea, black sesame, kinako (soybean flour), mango, pumpkin, coconut, cookies & cream, chocolate, milk, and sweet potato. We don't know if it was good pudding or not so we only bought one flavour to share.

I picked black sesame since it's a flavour more suited to traditional Japanese confection and also I just really like black sesame.

It was really good, a strong taste of the black sesame, and a creamy texture, we should have bought more!

At a different location also right outside Kinkakuji and the bus station there were a couple of shops.

This place offers ice cream sprinkled with gold foil ♥

And I just have to order one, because why not? we're at Kinkakuji after all.

Also at the same place, something interesting caught my eye...

This is an okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake) on a stick LOL, so much easier to eat on the go!

P.S. remember these guys? haha

I love these. They're EVERYWHERE

Second Stop: Kitano Tenmangu

After our seemingly light lunch? at Kinkakuji, we headed over to another shrine, 北野天満宮Kitano Tenmangu Shrine.

There are way too many temples and shrines in Kyoto, so there was no way we could visit them all over this short period of time. So this was one of the choices we went for in the end.

Around the time we visited it was Tanabata, similar to an Asian version of Valentine's Day. It is a tradition to write your wishes on long coloured paper and tie it on a bamboo. So there was many sights of these colourful trees throughout the shrine.

In contrast to Kinkakuji, Tenmangu has far less of a crowd visiting. Giving us more time and space to just wander around.

They say a shrine looks the prettiest on a rainy day, although it wasn't rainy, but the gloomy cloudy weather really gives a cool tone atmosphere to these structures.

so nice right?!

And the omikuji fortune corner again. I really love how instead of only one type of animal, they have a collection of the twelve zodiacs. All of them are adorable I want to bring them all home.. :l

☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺

We're having rather good luck on this trip, we both got 大吉! Which is the second best fortune :D

some mini torii and places to hang ema.

found a bunch of Tanabata bamboo trees!

Outside on the opposite street I spotted a giant Daruma, turns out it was the police station LOL

quick take a picture and leave, kids going to Kendo class were staring at me HAHA /noregret.

Third Stop: Nijojo

Inside this lovely "gate" is the 二条城 Nijo Castle was the residence for the Tokugawa Shogunate in Kyoto. Unlike other shrines, temples we have visited so far, tourists are allowed to tour the inside of the building.

I love the detail on the ceiling of the Karamon. Illustrations of cranes, flowers, and gold details were stunning.

Here is an overview of the layout of the castle, each room inside was grand and lavishly decorated. I really loved seeing different styles of architecture from the past, unfortunately, photography is not allowed in side the building, so I really recommend checking this place out, it is really worth it!

After the tour inside, we walked around the garden. It was quite big, I didn't expect to spend that much time here at Nijo Castle lol.

on top of the central keep (tenshu)

a view of the moat outside the castle walls

Before we left, at the souvenir store there was a purikura machine, and I just had to go haha.

with mommy ♥

After our trip to the Nijo Castle, we were famished and hopped in the restaurant とんかつたづむら, a place specialising in tonkatsu.

To be honest it wasn't as good as 和幸 Wako, but there was a wider variety on the menu and nonetheless, still 10 times better than any tonkatsu I've had in Canada because Japan.

Here's a cup of tea they gave us at the end of our meal. It is to cleanse our mouths to balance out from the oily foods we just ate. How thoughtful!

Fourth Stop: Lotteria

Lotteria is a popular fast food chain in Asia that originated in Japan, we passed by this store on our way back to airbnb so we decided to try out some of the seasonal specials for a light midnight snack hahaha.

This was one of the feature burgers that was available during the time we visited, the shrimp burger with tartar sauce and chopped cabbage.

You guys know me I love trying new things soo..

エビバーガ

The tartar sauce was an excellent choice of sauce and the cabbage really balances the flavour.

In an Asian fast food chain, it is a must to order at least one rice burger! This one is with vegetable tempura.

Last but not least, fries!! This was from the special menu only during Tanabata. Summer festival shake fries. There were 5 seasoning flavours to choose from all really unique flavours such as takoyaki, grilled corn, sour cream & onion, butter, and beef curry. Now that I look back why didn't I choose the other more unusual flavours?

In the end, I chose the sour cream & onion, and honestly I felt like I was eating the ruffles sour cream & onion chips lol. Is that a good thing?

Obviously there are still so much more things to try from Lotteria, but for a midnight snack, I think this is enough to satisfy us.