Japan :: Day 07 :: The Dinner

Brian planned most of this trip, which has been such a treat. Plus, no surprise, he’s completely nailed it. One of the highlights however, was Valentine’s Day dinner/25th Anniversary dinner at Michelin star Koke. It was one of the top dining experiences we’ve ever had. From the food to the calming environment to the perfectly orchestrated service, it was incredible. Thank you, Brian. 

Japan :: Day 07

We decided to have breakfast at our hotel, catch up on a few things, then start our day, which included a trip to Kiyomizu-dera Temple. Kyoto sure is lovely, but what a zoo. Even in February during "off season." There were so many people. In this area in particular, renting kimonos is very popular, so you see lots of people walking around in them and posing for photos all over town. After the temple, we walked the tiny streets of Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka. Again, they were just so packed. We didn't spend a lot of time, but did pick up a beautiful, handwoven tea strainer from Kyo-Kanaami. I would have picked up a few more items from here, but it was a bit of a splurge. Afterwards, we found a delicious udon shop for lunch before heading back to the hotel to rest a little (we put on some serious steps every single day) and get ready for an amazing dinner. Which is getting its own post since it was so special and one of my favorite meals ever.

Japan :: Day 06

It was a big day that didn't disappoint. We took the train to the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. Look at how beautiful the local trains are. Those green velvet seats were on two different trains. We couldn't believe it. Japan is such a clean country. It's fantastic. We stumbled upon the Tenryu-ji Zen Temple (built in 1339, and registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1994) to get there. You can either walk around the temple to get to the forest, or pay 500 yen and go through Sogenchi Garden. We did the later, and are so glad we did. It was so peaceful. Over the years, the temple has been rebuilt. But the garden has survived centuries in its original form. Pretty amazing. After a walk through the forest, we strolled through little neighborhood, ate a taiyaki (sweet cake in the shape of a fish - Brian had red bean and I had custard), and took a cab to Kinkaku-ji Temple, a buddhist temple known as the Temple of Golden Pavilion. The original temple is believed to have been built in 1399. It was rebuilt in the 1950s after an arson attack. The sun was shining a bit, and it was stunning. After our tour of temples, we took a cab back to more central Kyoto, where we walked along Philosophers Path. We had another series of misses for lunch. The udon place I wanted was closed on that day. The soba place Brian found looked closed for good. We found another cab and headed back to the market area to grab chicken sandwiches from Taku Sando and tacos. I thought Brian was crazy getting tacos after those huge chicken sandwiches, but they really were very good. We didn't stop there! We got macha and donuts at koé. Worth it? Yes. But we were stuffed, so took a long walk along the river, Gion district where we did see a couple true geisha, and Kennin-ji Temple, another Buddhist temple which was located very close to our hotel. After our large, late lunch, we decided we weren’t hungry for dinner again so walked around the Yasaka Shrine, originally constructed in 656. That's crazy! It was so beautiful at night. Afterwards, we found a grabbing a cocktail and calling it a night. What a day.