Sonali does Kyoto 1

So we found the grocery store- it's called Lawson: a chain of grocery stores all over Japan for all your fruit and vegetable needs. 

Day 2 in Kyoto started with a stop in the Kyoto station for some hot soba! On the way to platforms 31-33, there is a cute little soba place. It's the same drill: use the kiosk outside the store to pay for your meal, show the ticket to the chef, they prepare your meal and you eat some delicious hot noodle soup!

Here's what we did:

1. Tenryu-ji shrine- the shrine itself is not very impressive but the Sogenchi Gardens surrounding the shrine looks beautiful. It has your typical Japanese style water pond filled with fish set against a backdrop of brilliant fall foliage.

2. Arashiyama Bamboo Forest - The long, massive bamboo forest did not disappoint! As you walk along the "path of the bamboo" you begin to notice the cooling effect it provides. The place was crowded which I think took away from the experience, but oh well! There is a tiny shrine along the way where you can stop to offer some money in the donation box and ring the temple bells. It's fascinating to see the commonalities in eastern religions! The concepts of idols, donation offerings to the God, ringing of bells to bring good luck, praying for something specific to be fulfilled by hanging trinkets on a tree or wire reminds me a lot of Hindu temples and customs.

3. Kinkaku-ji- The golden pavilion is a golden foil covered shrine set against a lush background of red, orange, yellow and green! The original pavilion burnt down in the fire but the current one was reconstructed in the 1950s. If I didn't mention this before, November is the time to visit Japan in all its glorious fall foliage. So yes, all the shrines with gardens are more beautiful than ever. One last tip, if you like green tea there is a dessert place outside the shrine which sells a matcha ice cream sundae with warabi mochi, rice dumplings, red bean paste on a bed of corn flakes! It was amazing:)

4. Nishiki Market - This is where you go to try picked vegetables! Japan is huge on pickling stuff and at Nishiki you can try every conceivable type. My boyfriend was like a kid in a candy store zigzagging along the market in search of tasty nom noms. The market also carries a lot of souvenir stores, shoe stores, alcohol stores- you get the gist! My feet were killing me from the super sexy but super uncomfortable boots I was wearing so after some initial hesitation, my boyfriend convinced me to buy some shoes. As I had predicted, they didn't have my size( what with Japanese women having small feet and me with my gigantic feet). So I did the only thing left to be done. I bought men's shoes and have been totally pulling them off! My favorite: you take a grapefruit, dig a straw through it, add some Japanese spirits and voila- alcoholic grapefruit without breaking a sweat.

5. Uniqlo - Japan's version of H&M for men and women. It happened to be Labor Thanksgiving, a holiday in Japan and so the entire store was on sale. So we shopped real good and made good use of Japan's tax free shopping for foreigners. 

6. Foot massage near Uniqlo - after a day of walking around we stopped by to thank our feet. So worth it! 

7. Ganko Sushi - Located a 5 min walk from Uniqlo, Ganko in the Gion-Shijo area serves decent nigiri. Although not the best I've had, the sushi here did the trick. You see after a long day all I wanted was some sushi in my mouth. The added bonus was that we got to sit at the bar and watch the chef make our food!