Monday -
This is our last full day here in Kyoto. Dad Dan, Peter and I left early this morning to catch the 10 a.m. tour of the Imperial Palace. We went to the office to apply for a permit to enter the place - no entrance fee needed. By 10 a.m. we went inside walked directly to the waiting room where we watched a short introduction of the tour being given. This 50-minute to an hour tour took us around the palace grounds but not inside the buildings. There were several huge buildings which used to the be residence of the Emperor and his family for more than 200 years until the Shogun too power and moved the Imperial palace to Tokyo. It was after the Edo period when the Emperor was able to retake the palace in Tokyo.
After the tour we took the subway at Imadegawa station (very near Dad Dan's residence) to go to Toji Temple in the south to see the biggest flea market here in Kyoto. There are several flea markets all over the city but they are not held at the same time. This one at the Toji temple is held only on the 21st of each month. We got off at Kujo Station and walked about 4 blocks west.
A huge pagoda next to the temple is what we saw first followed by the vendor stalls on the front sidewalk and the tons of stalls within the temple walls. I think the temple occupies the entire block because there were just so many stalls that it was really overwhelming at first.
Peter and I walked around while Dad Dan sat down in a shaded area. We saw some interesting antiques and old Japanese paraphernalia like this military outfit worn during the Edo period complete with helmet and fast mask. Peter was so interested in it that he wanted to know its history and authenticity. Fortunately, a friend of Dad Dan, Goto-san was there. He helped interpret what the seller was saying nad tried to get a good price for it. Well, the price was too steep, around $3500, that Peter decided to just think about it (meaning, no way, jose!). Although it really looked authentic. Oh well, next time.
The three of us walked around to find a place to have lunch. We saw one place where assorted food were boiled or steamed. It looked interesting so we decided to go inside. Well, we thought we knew how to order, instead we let the woman choose for us. There were three plates with a piece of potato, tofu, seaweed cake, lotus root, and others I'm not familiar with. The price was expensive for what we thought was a cheap meal, we spent about $28 including drinks. It felt like we were cheated but from my research they say that the Japanese people will not overcharge anyone for even the smallest thing. Well, Peter asked Auntie Casilda and she assured us that that was the correct price.
Aside from that lunch, we found some interesting dessert items which we tried: pancakes filled with adzuki bean/custard/garbanzo bean and a sticky rice on a stick.
As for our souvenirs we only bought chopsticks with our names etched on it. We thought it was a good find.
By 2:30 p.m. we walked to the nearest bus station to get back to Kyoto Station where we stayed and meandered around while Dad Dan went back home to rest. Peter and I walked to the top of the station on both sides and had great views of the city. We also had some ice cream and soda snack so that we could sit down and relax before going back out for another walking tour.
At the Kyoto Station the Isetan department store occupied most of the west portion. We passed through the department store down to the Porta where we walked through the underground passageway to get to Nanajo street. We wanted to see the garden a block away from the Honganji temple, unfortunately when we got there it was already closed. So, we walked to the nearest subway station, at Gojo, to get back to Imadegawa and back home.
Tonight we will be having dinner at a nearby Thai restaurant. It really is a great thing that we are centrally located: just across the street is Doshisha University and adjacent to that is the Imperial Palace and there are so many restaurants around the area as well as a central point for buses and subway connections.
We hope to visit Kyoto again in the near future and to stay longer, maybe 3 weeks to a month. It sure is an interesting place to visit: for the history, the culture and the food!!!
~~~
Just came back from our dinner at the Thai restaurant. We ordered the fried bream fish with tamaraind sauce, fried chicken (karaage) with tamarind sauce, red curry with tofu and sauteed veggies, and for dessert: sweet basil seed with nata de coco / kaong and soy milk dumplings (tasted like palitaw) in coconut sauce. The food was very good especially the fish and the chicken. All in all it was a very satisfying meal.
After my post I will start packing for our trip to Tokyo tomorrow. Will tell you all about our shinkansen (bullet train) experience once we get settled at our hostel in Tokyo.
Sayonara from Kyoto!
This is our last full day here in Kyoto. Dad Dan, Peter and I left early this morning to catch the 10 a.m. tour of the Imperial Palace. We went to the office to apply for a permit to enter the place - no entrance fee needed. By 10 a.m. we went inside walked directly to the waiting room where we watched a short introduction of the tour being given. This 50-minute to an hour tour took us around the palace grounds but not inside the buildings. There were several huge buildings which used to the be residence of the Emperor and his family for more than 200 years until the Shogun too power and moved the Imperial palace to Tokyo. It was after the Edo period when the Emperor was able to retake the palace in Tokyo.
After the tour we took the subway at Imadegawa station (very near Dad Dan's residence) to go to Toji Temple in the south to see the biggest flea market here in Kyoto. There are several flea markets all over the city but they are not held at the same time. This one at the Toji temple is held only on the 21st of each month. We got off at Kujo Station and walked about 4 blocks west.
A huge pagoda next to the temple is what we saw first followed by the vendor stalls on the front sidewalk and the tons of stalls within the temple walls. I think the temple occupies the entire block because there were just so many stalls that it was really overwhelming at first.
Peter and I walked around while Dad Dan sat down in a shaded area. We saw some interesting antiques and old Japanese paraphernalia like this military outfit worn during the Edo period complete with helmet and fast mask. Peter was so interested in it that he wanted to know its history and authenticity. Fortunately, a friend of Dad Dan, Goto-san was there. He helped interpret what the seller was saying nad tried to get a good price for it. Well, the price was too steep, around $3500, that Peter decided to just think about it (meaning, no way, jose!). Although it really looked authentic. Oh well, next time.
The three of us walked around to find a place to have lunch. We saw one place where assorted food were boiled or steamed. It looked interesting so we decided to go inside. Well, we thought we knew how to order, instead we let the woman choose for us. There were three plates with a piece of potato, tofu, seaweed cake, lotus root, and others I'm not familiar with. The price was expensive for what we thought was a cheap meal, we spent about $28 including drinks. It felt like we were cheated but from my research they say that the Japanese people will not overcharge anyone for even the smallest thing. Well, Peter asked Auntie Casilda and she assured us that that was the correct price.
Aside from that lunch, we found some interesting dessert items which we tried: pancakes filled with adzuki bean/custard/garbanzo bean and a sticky rice on a stick.
As for our souvenirs we only bought chopsticks with our names etched on it. We thought it was a good find.
By 2:30 p.m. we walked to the nearest bus station to get back to Kyoto Station where we stayed and meandered around while Dad Dan went back home to rest. Peter and I walked to the top of the station on both sides and had great views of the city. We also had some ice cream and soda snack so that we could sit down and relax before going back out for another walking tour.
At the Kyoto Station the Isetan department store occupied most of the west portion. We passed through the department store down to the Porta where we walked through the underground passageway to get to Nanajo street. We wanted to see the garden a block away from the Honganji temple, unfortunately when we got there it was already closed. So, we walked to the nearest subway station, at Gojo, to get back to Imadegawa and back home.
Tonight we will be having dinner at a nearby Thai restaurant. It really is a great thing that we are centrally located: just across the street is Doshisha University and adjacent to that is the Imperial Palace and there are so many restaurants around the area as well as a central point for buses and subway connections.
We hope to visit Kyoto again in the near future and to stay longer, maybe 3 weeks to a month. It sure is an interesting place to visit: for the history, the culture and the food!!!
~~~
Just came back from our dinner at the Thai restaurant. We ordered the fried bream fish with tamaraind sauce, fried chicken (karaage) with tamarind sauce, red curry with tofu and sauteed veggies, and for dessert: sweet basil seed with nata de coco / kaong and soy milk dumplings (tasted like palitaw) in coconut sauce. The food was very good especially the fish and the chicken. All in all it was a very satisfying meal.
After my post I will start packing for our trip to Tokyo tomorrow. Will tell you all about our shinkansen (bullet train) experience once we get settled at our hostel in Tokyo.
Sayonara from Kyoto!
posted by Mimi | 12:04 AM
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