Index
Day 1: Flying
Day 2: Tokyo to Kyoto
Day 3: Kyoto
Day 4: Fushimi Inara Taishi
Day 5: Himeji Castle
Day 6: Kyoto
Day 7: Return
Japan
Had to restrain ourselves from going too crazy at breakfast at the hotel buffet, with the ochazuke being particularly good, because we had a fancy lunch at Tempura Endo Yasaka scheduled not too long after. The tourist experience began pretty much the minute we walked out of The Chapter Kyoto's front door, being barely two blocks from a major shopping district, and two-blocks-and-right-across-the-river from Gion.
Immediately saw some other tourists posing for photos by a doorway in Gion, on what we suspect was the street where all the geisha normally are (inside, at least), then continued our stroll south through a few smaller tempes and ultimately to lunch. The kimono-class hostesses welcomed us while still outside, then started a slightly too-fast paced but quite delicious tempura lunch. Had no idea you could do a tempura uni (!), the mushroom tempura was unusually delicate, and less we forget they do things other than tempura, the kampachi sashimi (yellowtail sashimi) was extremely fresh. Well worth a stop, especially with the extremely private atmosphere through, although given the price, this was perhaps the one place we would be happy to skip in the future.
The afternoon was spent walking around, up to the famed Hokan-ji Temple (soooo many photogenic angles) and further beyond to the much larger Kiyomizu-dera Temple. The crowds here are quite real, but we squeezed our way through, stoppng only briefly to try the pickled cucumber on a stick that is apparently the current fad snack in Japan. Kiyomizu-dera is pretty spectacular, which meant it was worth the crowds, although a bit hard to actually enjoy much peace and quiet until you were on the way out. Part two of the afternoon stroll was north, along the Sannen-Zaka path among others, with continuing crowds, a quick photo with two geisha, a slightly less brief stop at a very Japanese Starbucks, and ending up at Yaska Shrine, which is at least slightly less crowded than Kiyomizo-dera.
Wrapped up the afternoon with a random J-pop band sighting (I$M), then popped into nearby Bar Sasora, which had opened early for some random reason-- the bartender was probably very happy he'd opened early, as he was immediately beset by three sets of random foreigners happy to spend money in exchange for alcohol, and he was happy to oblige, spinning away with massive lighted ice cubes on a smartly designed bar. Clearly the bartender was the life of the party *grins*.
Dinner was a quick walk away at Shinmonzen Yonemura, so Diana could get a proper kaiseki dinner at a Michelin 2*. Chef Yonemura and his team do a slightly French spin on traditional kaiseki, elevating things like the lobster appetizer into a minature forest as art, not just food. The mound of tableside-shaved black truffle atop the clam and escargot brought out a big smile, and the uni-squid-pasta combo was even more delectable than expected. Ending with a waygu/mushroom course, then rice and curry/pickled vegetables, then a downright impressive dessert spread was quite a lot. Snapped a few parting photos both upstairs and downstairs, then a final one with Chef Yonemura, before saying farewell to Shinmonzen Yonemura.
Final stop of the night was L'Escamoteur with Diana's friend Duy, who was more than happy to hang out-- and who has exquisite taste in bars with not only character but excellent cocktails.