Outside of My Ishikawa Bubble - Osaka and Kyoto Pt.II

12/29/2009
Waking up in the morning after a night of drinking is easy. Finding the strength to battle off that feeling of laziness isn't so easy. Kazuki and I didn't leave Osaka until close to noon and when we got to Kyoto we were starving. We met up with Mike, another ALT in Ishikawa, and some of his high school buddies. They just finished visiting Kiyomizu-dera. That was supposed to be our first Kyoto destination, too, but we were too hungry to walk around the temple first. So, we had lunch with Mike and his friends and then parted ways. We made promises to see each other in Osaka.

On the way to Kiyomizu-dera, we stopped first to eat

Eating at a cafe with old fashioned decor

My salad and caramel milk (delicious drink that became my favorite...for a week)

Omu-rice with a cute star on top

Kiyomizu-dera was amazingly beautiful, even though it was in the middle of dreary winter weather. Luckily, it didn't rain that day. I got my first omikuji, which is a fortune, for the 2009 year. It was the BEST FORTUNE. Too bad the year was ended a few days after I got it. But, I must agree with it that I had a pretty good year considering I got to come to Japan. :) I also got my first omamori, which is an amulet of protection for something. There are various amulets: for good studies, for driving, for happiness, for romance, etc.

In front of the entrance to Kiyomizu-dera

Praying in Japan

Omikuji: Big Fortune!

My first omamori: Shiawase (happiness)

By the time we finished walking around Kiyomizu-dera, all of the temples and shrines were starting to close. They usually close around 5pm and we finished at 4pm. So we just walked around the streets of Kyoto and tried some yatsuhashi. Yatsuhashi is sort of like a mochi triangle with something inside and the mochi is usually flavored. It is also, currently, my favorite Japanese sweets. We sampled a ton of different flavors and I ended up buying orange flavored and green tea flavored yatsuhashi. Since the temples and shrines were closed, we just took a few photos of the sunset and the scenery viewable from the outside.

Kyoto isn't really known for its nightlife, but the downtown is pretty busy nonetheless. Kazuki and I had dinner at an izakaya, a tapas-styled restaurant. It was delicious and inexpensive for the cost of each plate. Because of its close proximity to Osaka, we hopped back on the train to spend the night in Osaka.