For our first day in Kyoto “B” ended up making it a massively full day. We had planned to go to Kinkaku (the golden temple) and then do a little shopping and call it a day, BUT as is quite normal with my wonderful wife, she saw more things “in the area” to do. First she saw the Imperial Palace, and so we went there. That was neat to see but was a walk. We had ok food at a food place on the palace ground (this is also a theme for us on this trip to this point to have ok lunches that were later in the afternoon and not very filling), and then she decided we needed to go to Nijo castle. So, we walked over there (another 1.9km or so). We wandered these ground and garden as well. It was neat and there were some interesting tapestries, but by now I was well past the cultural side of things. I was ready to be done. But wait there is still more. “B” wanted to take the girls to a place called Kyoto Handcraft Store for a certain kind of jewelry. It is related to fact that “B”’s dad had gotten her the same kind of jewelry when he had visited Japan on business MANY years ago. This is black background with gold etchings put into it. There are very pretty. So, the girls went through the process of finding the ones they liked the best, and bought necklaces and earrings. They also found some other necklaces they really liked and bought those as well. By the time we were done with all of that it was almost 7pm and we headed back to our place. We got home and “B” made up dinner. We had found a grocery store along the way during the day and was also carrying that food as well with us for the necklace shopping time (it would only be an hour… almost 2 hours later we got home). Another long day, but a good day overall.
Time for day 2 in Kyoto, and it was another LONG day and things got heated at times. The day started off quiet. We did some laundry and sorted some laundry. Then “B” had arranged for us to partake in a Kimono tea ceremony with treat making. So we walked (2km) up to that location for our noon appointment. We ate a bit beforehand to try and make sure we weren’t hungry during the event. We got there and they sent me off to get dressed and the girls in a different area to get dressed and have their hair done up. After 20-30 minutes we all looked great (Kimono PICTURE). We then waited to get let in and we were with 2 other groups (a couple from Canada and 2 friends from England). We got to make some very fun mochi desserts that we super cute (Mochi PICTURE). Then it was time for the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. We learned a brief history and then had the ceremony. It was also brief, but it was loads of fun. During the ceremony I noticed there were more left-handed people in there. Of the 8 of us there 4 were left-handed. It was a great talking point and chuckle. Then they striped us of the kimonos and it was time for the next thing. “B” wanted to take the girls shopping for clothes in Japan and so she had a list of 3 places she got from a work friend that we should check out in Kyoto. When she had shown me on a map where they were they all seemed to be in the same area (in a mall) so we headed down there in the rain and tried to it.
I haven’t mentioned internet yet, so I want to talk about it here. There are lots of places that have free Wi-Fi in Japan. Many trains, malls, historic sites, even cities, have it available. But it is flaky and drops in and out all the time. So we purchased a Solis Lite personal Wi-Fi device before we left on the trip. This device connects to nearly any mobile network and you use their data and you have a “hotspot” to use. We got it to use as needed on the trip. We used it on the trip Back to the day. The train station we were at had flaky internet, and we hadn’t turned on our Wi-Fi, and we were trying to find the place. I was confident that when “B” had shown me the map earlier that the stores were in the Aeon Mall by the train station, but “B” was sure they were not in the mall and were separate stores in the area. Well, things got heated between us. I didn’t want to go clothes shopping, and so I was just willing to do anything she wanted, but she wanted me to find the places but didn’t think that I was right as to where they were. We definitely got on each other quite a bit there. It wasn’t great. She finally agreed (begrudgingly) to try to mall, and sure enough 2 of the stores were there (the third was a bit of a distance away and we ended up not going there). We went in and found the store. The ladies spent a couple hours in a few stores buying pens and clothes. I got a pair of toe socks for myself. At this point it was after 7pm and we were hungry and tired. We found a buffet place where you fry your food at your table and we decided to try that (“G” didn’t want to but we convinced her to try it (she wasn’t happy but she ended up saying it was ok)). You pay a flat price per person and you get 90 minutes to eat as much as you want/can. We have steak, pork, veggies, fish, shrimp, and more. There were donuts, soft serve ice cream, soups, and rice. It was a lot of food. I ate WAY too much. On the walk back to our place the fired food caught up with me and made my stomach very upset. I don’t think I have eaten that much fried food at once since college. We got in around 10pm that night.