Being Allured By Honshu - Day 4

        This morning's sunrise photography outing was definitely one of the best in this trip. I'm glad I tore myself away from the comfortable hotel bed and joined Derrick on this outing at Gion's Yasaka Pagoda. When we reached the spot along Higashiyama-ku Kiyomizu Sanchome (that's the name of the street), there were two other photographers who had set up their tripods there. Gradually, more shutterbugs joined us. Everyone was rather peeved when a taxi pulled up further down the slope and the passengers took ages to get off. However, it all turned out to be a bonus.

All in line for good shots of Yasaka Pagoda

        It was an ang moh photographer who had brought a kimono-clad model. Like most Westerners, he politely enquired if he could get his model to pose in the middle of the slope. Everyone assented. The presence of a Japanese girl in kimono at the dark, lonely Gion street with the imposing Yasaka Pagoda in the background...it all added to the allure of the scene. As I watched the photographers happily clicking away, a story weaved in my mind. I shall dedicate an entire blog post to that.

Memoirs of a Geisha

        By the time the sun came up, everyone had clinched some good shots. Slowly, the group dispersed. Derrick and I decided to stroll around for a while before we made our way back to the hotel. And that was how we ended up at Maruyama Park, right next to the Yasaka Shrine (not to be confused with Yasaka Pagoda). This park is especially popular for cherry blossoms, but the autumn scene was  quite a sight to behold too. As we were here so early (around half past seven), there were no tourists to jostle with. Whilst Derrick was happily taking pictures here and there, I decided to have something warm in the crisp autumn morning --- a tin of corn soup from the vending machine. Yum!

My 500 yen comfort food on a cold autumn morning

Big Bird spotted enjoying an autumn morning at Maruyama Park

Lovely autumn colours at Maruyama Park

       

On the bus 

        We later returned to Kyoto Station via bus no. 207. At our hotel, we rested for a while with our coffee (love my Chek Hup 2-in-1!). Then we proceeded to our next Kyoto destination via bus. no. 5 --- the Nishiki Market, also known as Kyoto's pantry. With more than 100 shops and restaurants along this five-block long shopping street, Nishiki Market is a must-visit in Kyoto. The snag is : your Yen will slip away easily if you stop at every shop. We were cautious about that and did not succumb to the temptation of every shop.

Nishiki Market, here I come!

Yummy soy milk doughnuts (300 yen for 10 pieces)

Happy with my soybean milk cream croquette (300 yen)

Vinegared fresh oysters

Nishiki Market's famous Octopus and Quail's Egg on a Stick

Sea urchins, anyone?

Custard cream porcupines

Snoopy marshmallows to tempt a die-hard Snoopy fan

Saying Konnichiwa to Snoopy

The grilled hotate (scallops) were so juicy and sweet

No way am I eating these!

Nishiki Market stretches on

       

           Again, we just strolled around and in one of the narrow alleys, we stumbled upon a jewel. It was a hole-in-the-wall tsukemen eatery with only 8 seats! Tsukemen is ramen that is served dry, to be dipped into a separate bowl of broth. Our lunch came up to 2070 yen. We had never tried this type of ramen, did not even know the popularity of this place, but our instincts told us that it was not to be missed. Only as we were leaving did we take note of the name of the eatery as I was again keen to rave about it on TripAdvisor. Kyo Tsukemen Tsurukame gets my thumbs up!

Just looking at this picture of my tsukemen is making me drool!

Perfect ajitsuke tamago

Kyo Tsukemen Tsurukame, tucked away in one of the many alleys, serves the most delicious noodles

        As the day was still early and we had unlimited rides on the bus, we decided to make our way to Tofukugi Temple, especially popular for the fall foliage. That must be an understatement, for it seemed that the entire Kyoto was there! We were literally elbowing our way through. Deterred by the crowd, we decided not to fork out more Yen to view the autumn colours from the famous Tsutenkyo Bridge. 

At the entrance to Tofukugi Temple

Finding a quiet spot away from the throngs of tourists

Tsutenkyo Bridge with its vivid autumn leaves and the "ants" on it

Adorable stone statues

        After having our fill of the free areas of the temple, we left and made our way back to Kyoto Station. Before going up to our room to rest, we took full advantage of the free drinks at the hotel lobby. Ms Kiasu had a cup of cold houjicha, followed by cold Premium green tea, and then took a cup of cold jasmine tea, and finally ended it with a cup of hot houjicha.  Love this hotel!

        We had a fairly early dinner at Ajisaiya, one of the many eateries at Porta Dining (located below Kyoto Station). I chose a rice set with unagi (eel) while Derrick went for beef slices with rice. My unagi don was tasty and so was Derrick's meal, but it wasn't an unforgettable meal, unlike today's lunch.

My grilled eel with rice costs 1700 yen

Derrick's 1700 yen dinner

        As we would be leaving Kyoto the next day, it meant that there would be no more 551 Horai fixes.  551 Horai is only found in Osaka and Kyoto. So we decided to etch the exquisite taste of their steamed pork buns and pork dumplings in our minds by having them for supper in our hotel room. Simply superb!!!

Patiently queueing up for butaman and shumai at the 551 Horai stall near the Hachijo exit

Face of sheer glee to have secured my supper

Illuminated Kyoto Tower as we make our way back to our hotel from Kyoto Station