2019/11/17
Kimono Rental First ➛ Ninenzaka ➛ Shimogamo Shrine ➛ Cafe Dong ➛ Yazaka Shrine ➛ Hamburger Tokura
Good morning!!
Today is the long awaited kimono rental experience day :DDD
First Kimono
After years of prospecting and researching the many.. and I repeat MANY kimono rental stores in Kyoto, I settled with First Kimono.
I read that most kimono rentals only have one of each pattern available so it is best to arrive early for the best picks. We reserved the earliest booking they offer and happily got dressed by the experienced ladies there.
the design on the right I really liked...
I really liked the kimono they had on display outside their store, but since this was our first time, we opted to try furisode first.
Initially I thought I would be there forever having a hard time choosing the style I wanted, but the selection available at the particular store we chose was quite limited, very disappointed :(
this rack is all of their furisode selection
After getting dressed, you are led to choose your accessories (bag, shoes, hair accessory). They also offer hair arranging service which we opted for, I have no hair styling skills at all... haha
Look at how beautiful it is?!!
For a more in depth review of this place please see here!
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Our itinerary for today is to just stroll around the streets of Ninenzaka, nearby shrines, pretty much taking lots and lots of pictures☺
It is sooo hard to take pictures here... LOL... we tried
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八坂唐申堂 Yasaka Koshindo
Yasaka Koshindo was a small temple tucked away in the streets of Ninenzaka super popular on Instagram. So of course we had to make a visit!
This place is best known for its colourful ball hanging omamori charms called kukurizaru.
are they not the cutest things??
Definitely recommend stepping by if you are around the area!
Didn't forget to get my monkey goshuin haha
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河合神社 Kawai Shrine
Although we didn't want to go too far from the Kiyomizudera area, I really wanted to visit these two shrines so we hopped on a bus and found our way here!
It was definitely kind of weird riding the bus in a kimono, as there was far less people wearing it once you leave the touristy area.
From the south entrace near Demachiyanagi Station, you will encounter Kawai Shrine.
Kawai Shrine and the Shimogamo shrine are right next to each other connected by a beautiful greenery path.
Worshippers are known to visit Kawai Shrine to pray for beauty.
Thus, the ema here is in a shape of a cute wooden mirror with a woman's face printed on it.
There are seats and supplies nearby for visitors to "put on" the makeup for the woman.
I took much longer than I expected to draw out my perfect face haha!
love it ♥
Gotta get the goshuin!
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en route to Shimogama Shrine....
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下鴨神社 Shimogamo Shrine
At the end of the foresty trail, you will welcomed by the bright red two-storied gate to the Shimogamo shrine. A total opposite of Kawai Shrine.
This shrine is one of seventeen UNESCO sites in Kyoto!
It was actually the shichi-go-san festival weekend on the day we visited, so there were many families who came to celebrate. All the little boys and girls were soo cute dressed up in traditional Japanese wear, I wish I could experience that as a kid haha!
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さるや Saruya
After a stroll around the area, we stopped by the small Japanese cafe right outside of the shrine for a nice afternoon tea break.
They serve the traditional Japanese sweet sarumochi, which was a popular treat sold at Shimogamo Shrine in the Edo era during the Aoi Festival. The confection eventually disappeared after the Meiji government institutionalized the festival. Recreated recently in 2010 by Housendo, now we are able to taste this dessert again after 140 years!
Sarumochi & Soybean Tea Set
Sarumochi is not too sweet, with red bean paste wrapped inside.
They also have an info sheet in Japanese and English on the Soybean tea. After drinking the tea, you can take out the remaining soybeans from the teapot and eat it with salt.
Aoi Monaka & Hojicha Set
It was pretty warm, especially walking around in our kimonos all day. I saw a picture of this heart shaped monaka outside and had to order it!
Nothing too special, a thin wafer sandwiching red bean paste and vanilla ice cream, paired with hojicha 👌
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these two mini torii gates are soo adorable hahaha
Now to our next location!
ootd? 😂
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カフェ・ドン バイ スフェラ Café DOnG by Sfera
We didn't have lunch today so we were still hungry after that mini tea break. I found Cafe DOnG online, they serve wagashi from 嘯月 Shougetsu, a very famous Japanese confectionary shop. I heard it is really hard to even buy wagashi directly from Shougetsu, but you can easily order them at the comfort of this cafe.... say no more!
I wished they had more items on the menu to choose from apart from the sweets.
If you want to try one of the best namagashi in Japan, here is an easy way!
Click here for a detailed post on my experience at Cafe DOnG :)
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八坂神社 Yasaka Shrine
After a pleasant break, we went back to the tourist hotspots and walked around Yasaka Shrine.
& man... I do not miss the crowds...
There were many vendors selling food and we found one that sells Taiwanese soup dumplings haha!
Last one for the day~~
There were many different goshuin to choose from at Yasaka Shrine, but I went with this dragon one in the background.
We were a bit early, the foliage have not all turned red yet, but I still love all the colour variants in this picture below.
It was so hard to find a corner to take pictures in peace LOL
Still can't stop staring at the beautiful hair arrangement they did for me at First Kimono ♥♥♥
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After leaving Yasaka Shrine, we walked a bit more around the area before returning our kimonos.
Look at this beautiful view
The crowds did not decrease at all, it definitely felt more packed than earlier. Totally not what I expected.
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Very sad we had to take off our kimono, but it was a long day, off we go to dinner :DD
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手づくりハンバーグ とくら Tokura Hamburger
Tokura is a family styled restaurant serving Japanese Hamburger or meat patties. I was drawn in when I saw some videos of it online and had to check it out.
We visited the store in Sanjo as we were nearby, arrived at almost 9pm and there was still a line up!
let us innnnn.....
Fortunately, we didn't wait too long, probably around 20mins.
Look at that?! Does that not look appetizing?
The best part is the inside of the hamburger patty... click here for a detailed review here to find out!
TLDR: Highly recommend! LOL
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We were full, happy, and ready to go back to our airbnb to rest.
Tomorrow we will be going to Osaka! So stay tuned :)
Good night♥
DAY 7 - KIMONO RENTAL, SHIMOGAMO SHRINE, YASAKA SHRINE
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