Making the most of my off-duty days before the new school year begins, Ets and I went to Kyoto to take explore parts of the old capital. We started in Nishiki Ichiba where a long, narrow, covered shopping arcade housed several shops selling small nicknacks and plenty more selling all kinds of food. In all of them, we saw proprietors beckoning to passers-by and master craftsmen practicing their art.

We saw one young man drawing short lines of batter on a squarish metal pan before liberally covering the entire surface with peanuts. He then closed the lid, sandwiching the mixture, and placed it on top of a gas burner where it joined a long line of several other identical pans. The end result is a savoury and crunchy biscuit which conjured a strong desire for a cup of matcha.

Another shop we passed by sold kitchen knives of all shapes and sizes, all forged by the master in the back. Each blade bore his carefully engraved name on the blade just above the tang and a unique hamon. At the time of our visit, the master was busily sharpening several of his knives.

After walking up and down the length of the street, we proceeded to the Kyoto Botanical Gardens. Ets had seen in the news a few days ago that the plum trees were in full bloom. Even though it was a Friday, Kyoto was surprisingly crowded and the garden was filled with flowers and old people alike. We saw some artists either painting of sketching the more picturesque locations and while most of them were seated by the lake, we saw one young lass in the process of completing a huge poster-sized sketch of a water wheel.

The main purpose of coming all the way to Kyoto was the annual lighting up of the region's temples which only lasts for a couple of weeks. But since it was still about 5, we walked around in the general direction of Kodaiji Temple keeping our eyes open for interesting places for dinner. What finally won our patronage was a small izakaya that was unremarkable for the most part except for the smallish window through which you could see skewers of beef tendon slowly simmering in a pot of tantalizing broth. So enticing was this brazen display that we continually saw people glancing, even staring, at the skewers during the course of our dinner.

Kodaiji itself was worth the 600 yen entrance fee and the various buildings in the temple grounds were lit up amazingly. One lake deep within the interior was so still it was like looking at a mirror. The reflection of a smaller shrine above was so clear it was impossible to tell from pictures which was the reflection. I only have one gripe though, and it is that noone was allowed to use tripods within the temple grounds because "there might not be enough space for everyone". Bullhockey.

Labels: pictures, travel