BEEN ALREADY

Kyoto, Japan

DAY 4

SITES: Tenryuji, Arashiyama, Kyoto Gym, Nishiki Market

2018-08-12, 00:07, JASON

BUDGET, STAY: Ryokan



Kyoto was previously the capital of Japan, and has all the charms of a former capital city: better preserved old history, quieter scenic spots, and in general a more Japanesey feeling to it. Tenryuji Temple was one of those places. We got there early and the place seemed like it stopped in time. Everything was quiet before the Chinese tourists got in. Although one of the main sites on the "Tripadvisor Trail," it seemed prior just like a small, ordinary, unsuspecting Japanese garden.

Silence at Tenryuji.
Not a soul.
Strangely teal water.

The best part about going early is being able to do poses that you normally wouldn't do, but maybe would attempt to just for the sake of being obnoxious. The first group to show up after us was a group of monks which must've been from Thailand.

I'm ready to serve.
Monk serving cloth.
Frustrated at the arrival of the monks.

Next to Tenryuji Temple was the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest which is notorious for the amount of tourists that go. Again, having gone early enough, we were able to avoid most of the crowd and get some nice shots.

Listening to bamboo crack.
Um.. not even sure about this look.
When you don't Photoshop, but it looks that way anyway -- that is winning.

The winter causes us to be in a weird state of hibernation, where we eat a lot and feel heavy after a while despite all the walking. After having been to the Tokyo Metropolitan Gym, we decided to check out the Kyoto local gym as well. Similar to the differences in the cities, we also notice it in the infrastructure of the gym. It's a lot smaller, there aren't that many amenities, and it looked like a gym out of the nineties. But, there was a charm to that. The fact that smaller cities (which, I wouldn't even call Kyoto small) had a public gym for use in itself was already a testament to Japanese city design. The people working there were hustling to get us a membership card, which I left as a small souvenir.

Very cute chalet-esque Japanese Rail railway station

Afterwards, we went back to go to Nishiki Market to regain back all the weight that we'd lost. This is one of Kyoto's more famous and traditional markets. The routine went like: walk up and down trying all the samples that you can, and after, if you thought it was outstanding, go back and buy a larger portion to share amongst the two of us. Again, impressed by the quality of even the streetfood in this market.

Market time.. get in my belly.
Typical market scene: styrofoam boxes, a lot of water on the floor, and people on phones.
Delicious mochi
Don't even know, but don't even care, cuz it was good.
Hook it up girl. Fry it up.
Oh you know what time it is. Takooooyakiiii!
Roasted Rice and Green Tea ice cream. One of Japan's many contributions to the world.

Being creatures of habit in the Japanese winter, we go back and finish off the day with another meal from Isetan mall, looking at the Christmas decorations. Seems Christmas is near, and wouldn't want to spend it anywhere else. Well, maybe at another Sento. So, we walk to another famous sento nearby and decide to take our shower there. So relaxing..

My Bento
Thorin's Bento