Day 03 –
“It’s such a beautiful day today!” We know it because Julia will say it at least 10 times a day. So, on this beautiful day, we’re off to see Kinkaku-ji, a golden temple. This time though, we decide to eat first. Doo takes us to our first sushi restaurant with revolving plates on a conveyor belt. He went there in 2015 and he has eaten the best sushi of his life.
Once at the table, we start to look at the plates that pass by and soon enough, there’s one we’d like to try. So we go for it and off course… we create a pileup! We don’t really understand how to remove the dish from its bell and instead of taking the plate, we take the entire container that is attached to another one. And since we’ve decided ourselves at the last minute, well, we’re responsible of a plate crash. Nothing serious though, rest assured. No sushi has been injured in the crash and soon, the carpet starts again and we can enjoy a delicious sushi! Our favorite one is: braised salmon sushi with cheese. It’s just the best sushi in the world! In order to avoid further crashes, we learn how to use the order screen and are delivered our ordered plates on another express carpet. Côme adores to see those plates getting delivered because they are just flying by. After about twenty plates (a good fifteen of them were braised salmon with cheese) we decide to call it a day. Julia gives two thumbs up to the experience. Côme on the other hand had a lot of fun watching the plates fly by but didn’t like the sushis at all.
We then go to the golden temple and its garden. The entrance ticket alone is worth it. It’s like a scroll with beautiful calligraphy. The temple and its gardens are magnificent! Côme, who adores gold, is enchanted. The sun makes the temple shine intensely and the golden phoenix on its roof seems to be on fire. In the gardens, we throw coins into a Tibetan bowl to make wishes and we retrace our steps to make a short video in front of the temple for Côme’s friends at the school. On our way back, we find Dino, our stuffed puppet on a rock. Curious as he is, he must have wanted to explore the Golden Temple on his own. We are very happy he fell out of the bag right here in Japan though. In this country, you can drop your wallet pretty much anywhere and it will still be at the same spot a few days later…
After the visit, we take the train to another part of town to see a bamboo forest. This time, we get on the front of the train to watch the driver. It’s a real show! The driver does not simply drive the train but performs a choreography of gestures that we find, at first, quite odd. As the train departs the station, he points his index finger forward and then shows the timetable and the station it is heading to on a small board just next to the windshield. He then repeats those gestures midway. Julia is confused. Doo thinks it’s great. There are so many little details in Japan that make this country… unique.
Once in the forest, we walk through a large bamboo corridor full of people. Even if the forest is impressive and mysterious, it’s really not our favorite visit. You can’t get out of this hallway and it feels like you’re in a subway during rush hour. So we decide to continue our journey and venture to the top of a hill to see what’s hidden behind it. We find ourselves in front of a magnificent view of a “fjordlike” landscape. The fall colors are stunning and you can see a traditional village in the valley. Unfortunately, the sun is already setting so we can’t go any further. Here, the sun is setting at 4:30 pm.
We take the train back home, but before we go back, we stop at a shopping center where there are video game arcades (and in Kyoto, arcades are extremely rare). And there, we hit the holy grail for Côme. There, is THE fishing game he could not play in Tokyo because it was a gambling game (go figure). Here, it’s a normal video game, so of course Côme wants to play it. well… he will end up all drenched and bright red after a huge fishing effort. Julia on the other hand is starting to be really addicted to the “scam” and is looking for the “right” machine… We’ll end up spending/wasting a few coins… Tonight, we’ll eat once again our favorite yakisobas at home. We love our house (and the yakisobas) so much that it’s the perfect routine.
Day 04 –
Today, we’ve decided to go back to Kura, the sushi restaurant. It’s actually a franchise so there are several Kura restaurants throughout the city and there is one not too far from our house, in the market/shopping arcades neighborhood. On our way there, we make a couple of stops: at some sort of bakery with an impressive cake machine (the cakes are themselves much less impressive) and at a random spot where Côme found a fearless one-legged pigeon he could feed (it turns out we have bits of cake left over). Once at the restaurant, no more sushi crashes. We have become masters of the tablet and we even notice we can participate in little games every 5 plates to earn a “prize”. After our 20th plate, we finally earn a badge. Wooohooo!!!
We then head towards an old neighborhood with a lot of temples on top of hills. The walk is quite long but very pleasant and allows us to digest those delicious sushis. As we stroll the neighborhood and visit some temples, we cross path with a lot of couples or friends in traditional clothing. Today is Saturday, and it is a tradition in Kyoto to dress well during the weekend and go to the temples. We think it’s super cool! First because it gives us the opportunity to take beautiful pictures but also because it gives us the idea to do that ourselves once we’ll be back in France. It’s actually what people used to do on Sundays in our countries before. It would be quite nice to revive the tradition and get all suited up on the weekend.
So we take our time, strolling through pedestrian streets. We visit some temples, stop by some shops, more or less traditional. We come across a studio Ghibli store (it gives us the idea to watch “My neighbor Totoro”, we’re in Japan after all). We discover an incredible store of fabric toys. And then we head to the biggest temple in this neighborhood. The pedestrian street leading to it is packed with people. We literally find ourselves in a traffic jam on foot where agents are helping with the “traffic” using a red stick that reminds us of Darth Vader’s lightsaber.
When we finally reach the temple, on top of the hill, the sun is setting. The colors are beautiful and the view is just amazing! We spend a few moments there, enjoying the scenery, before we head back into the traffic jam going downhill this time. To cheer herself up, Julia stops along the way to buy Matcha tea cream puffs. She won’t sleep until 3:00 a.m. tonight. Even in a pastry, the tea make her feel like she’s drunk Asterix’s magic potion. Before returning home, we obviously stop by the video game arcade we went yesterday. The one with the fishing game. Tonight, Côme will play for more than an hour… with only one coin! ONE!!! We are impressed, it’s quite a feat!!! He will catch more than 100 fishes!!
Day 05 –
Today we say goodbye to our favorite house. Sniff sniff… We’re going to Nara, the city of deers. On the way to the train station, we still take the time to stop for a moment at a huge temple. We arrive right on time for the “mass”. Julia and Doo find the chants relaxing. Côme however doesn’t like them at all. He tells us that it sounds like the song of the “horrible” birds Julia hates. We actually didn’t tell you the story… Here, in Japan, we have found a bird, surely a cousin of the Bali shrill cicada, which has a scream (we can’t decently call it a song) that makes us think of an animal at the end of its life suffering atrociously. Like seriously! So for Côme, these beautiful Shinto chants resemble a dying beast… Well… as you can imagine, we won’t stay till the end. Instead, we go look for the three temple stamps. The past few days, we have started collecting stamps that are found in train stations, metro stations and monuments throughout the country. We think it’s a brilliant idea! And super fun for kids! Thanks to these stamps, the visit is really enjoyable. Côme loves looking for the stamps and we can take our time admiring the temple.
These past few days in Kyoto, Côme:
Didn’t understand: how Dino fell out of the bag.
Learned: that the Japanese are a very respectful people and that no one steals anything.
Liked: the golden temple, throwing coins to make wishes and of course the fishing game.
Julia:
Did not understand: why the Japanese traditional dress is so difficult to wear (an ultra tight long skirt, heeled flip flops and slippery socks).
Learned: that the phoenix was the enemy of the dragon.
Liked: the sunny day… 😁
Doo:
Did not understand: why there was a phoenix at the top of the temple.
Learned: That the thatched roofs were very thick.
Liked: the braised salmon sushi with cheese.