We had a bit of a slow start on Saturday for our first day in Kyoto... but for me it also included three trips to three different konbinis in the morning before anyone else got moving much (one to top up our breakfast supplies at the Lawson across the corner, one to the Lawson up the road to get some cash out, and one to the 7/11 up the other road to top up our IC cards and get yet more breakfast stuff).
Once we got rolling, we headed into the Nishiki Markets on the bus for a browse and some lunch. One of my colleagues had recommended it as a great (if busy) spot to try a bunch of different food. While the markets were busy, they weren't super packed (probably because it's winter). We ended up trying: chilli chicken on-a-stick, prawns on-a-stick, tempura crabmeat on-a-stick, tempura sweet potato (not on a stick), tempura prawns, overpriced mochi balls on-a-stick (these were yummy and we later got more from our local konbini for 1/8th the price), and warabi-mochi with black honey (not as tasty as the mochi balls, but interesting).
View along the main food market strip.Sharing bites of chilli chicken on-a-stick.More salt!Prawns and crab stick on-a-stick.Figuring out our octopus ball topping options (thank goodness for Google Translate). We picked cheese.The balls started out as a layer of runny batter before the chef worked her magic (see video below).
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F decided we needed extra sauce after this.The rule at the market is "eat in front of the shop where you bought your food". And then hand back your rubbish because there are NO BINS ANYWHERE (this is not entirely true, as some shops did have a bin out front for rubbish from customer purchases — however, we've seen a total of three "normal" public bins on a street so far in our time in Japan, all near the very touristy Harajuku district).This was a little side alley area in the market where we got some of our tempura. There was actually a seating area right above that we used.Tempura deliciousness.Our vegetables for the day.Tempura prawn.Unsurprisingly, J was the only one of us not super convinced by mochi balls as a dessert option.100, 50 (with the hole) and 10 yen coins. Lots of places in Japan are still cash only — including pretty much all of the market stalls and most smaller eateries where we've eaten.
Despite not actually having walked far, by the time we finished our lunch expedition at the markets, the boys were getting a bit complain-y. After a bit of an unpleasant family meeting/lecture, however, we did manage to walk down to and through some of the Gion area.
A stop for a rest and for us (three of us anyway) to eat our warabi-mochi.Warabi-mochi pre black honey addition.Very talented finger-picking guitar busker entertaining us while we ate. While A was tempted to buy his CD, we settled on just subscribing to his YouTube channel.
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Into Gion.Balcony tree.Private side street. The triangular sign you can see the back of is one forbidding photography on the street (but presumably not OF the street — fingers crossed).
This area has some of the older parts of Kyoto, and can become very tourist heavy. In peak season it's such a problem that they have signs (and security cameras) up forbidding photography to prevent people inundating the smaller private streets in the area. We also started noticing quite a few people in traditional Japanese dress around the area (often couples). We had read that you can often see geisha on the streets in the late afternoon, as they head off for evening bookings, but we think these were just domestic tourists dressed up for a visit to a more traditional area.
We had a bit of a wander through the streets, as well as a walk through a large Buddhist temple area, before finishing up at a nearby Shinto temple.
Entrance to the Buddhist temple area.Nighttime gardens at the art museum (I think).Entry gate to the Shinto temple/shrine and markets.Shinto prayer amulet (omamori) options at the temple courtyard.Shinto prayer cards (ema) — we think.Omikuji (random fortune strips — "prayer lots") at the shrine.The other temple gate.
And then we took our weary, footsore children home on the bus.
On our way to the bus stop we stumbled across this amazing shop. The artist/owner makes these knitted hats (among other art). You can get your own custom-made one for about AU$700 😁.
