Wakasaya, Wagashi Store

Store Front

Chigomochi

Sugar Sweets

You can sit and have tea and wagashi in the Wakasaya store or you can have things wrapped to go. The sugar sweets are great to get as a present or souvenir because of their long best-by-date compared to other wagashi (of which most is best to be eaten on the day bought). However, I strongly recommend you get the chigomochi which also lasts about a week from the day of sale and tastes like a dream.

Wakasaya

Location: on the SW corner of Sanjyo Street and Horikawa Street intersection.

Hours: 09:00-17:30

Kamogawa Cafe

The outside of the cafe.

The interior of the cafe.

'Today's lunch' set: pork slices sauteed in a honey and mustard sauce, a salad, some mean mashed potato, rice, and chinese (-I chose jasmine) tea. It tasted great-even the mashed potatoes (which I usually avoid even in NZ). It was well-priced too@780 yen.

Kamogawa Cafe


Hours: 12:00 〜 23:30（Last Order: 22:30)


Lunch: 12:00-15:00


Tel: 075-211-4757


Directions: from the NE corner of Marutamachi Street and Kawaramachi Street intersection walk one block north, then turn right and walk east to the T-junction, turn left and walk 100m or so north. You'll find the Kamogawa Cafe sign as above on the left side of the road opposite a large white building.

Sarasa3, Cafe/Bakery

:There is a small selection of savories and sweets (priced from 150 yen) to eat in or take away.


Part of the interior. You can see there is a garden out the back where you can sit on a nice day.


My 'Tea Time'(=Light) Lunch-I had the Quiche, Salad and Tea Set (for 740 yen).

For dessert I had a mushroom savory (for 150 yen).

The cafe from the front

This Sarasa is quite popular even though it's off the main drag. The food was good for a light lunch and with the mushroom savory very filling. The staff are friendly and polite even though very busy.

Sarasa3

Open: 11:30〜23:00


Lunch Hours: 11:30〜14:00


Tea Time: 14:00〜18:00


Dinner Hours: 18:00〜22:30


Directions: walk west 2 blocks on Sanjyo from Horikawa. The cafe is on the north side. If you get to the shrine Sarasa3 is back across the road.


Telephone: 075-811-0221

Miyoshikaho, Wagashi Shop

Shop Front

Hoshigaki

Fumanjyu (-koshian)

Yomogidango (-tsubuan)

Sanshokudango

Popped into Miyoshikaho for some sweets to have with tea. It was a toss-up between the Hoshigaki and Fumanju for me but both J and I ended up with one Fumanju each. Delicious!

Miyoshikaho

Location: 5 minutes east of Kawabata on Nijyo

Telephone: 075-771-1015

Myouondou

Out and About, Kyoto

It was another great day for walking up the Kamo. J and I spotted these sparrows hanging out.

Mimikou, Curry and Udon Noodle Restaurant

Lunch Set for J (900 yen)

Butakakuni for me (780 yen)

There are a variety of curry udon dishes here. All delicious, warming and filling-perfect winter food. Lunch prices are even cheaper week-days. For those who don't read Japanese there's an English menu available.

Mimikou

Location: just south of the Yasaka Shrine Gate on Higashioji Street


Hours: 11:00-8:30pm

Chibikko Hiroba

A little chill-out space ie. playground for the kids in central Kyoto city.

Location: on Nijyo in between Kawaramachi and Teramachi.

Kamigamo River

The Kamigamo River is one of the reasons I love living here in Kyoto. Having been brought up living beside a tidal estuary I like looking at the moving water...and the turtles. Can't see the turtles? Click on the photo to enlarge it. There you go.

Kabuki

The Minamiza on Shijyo just west of Kawabata

Inside the Minamiza

I usually go to the kabuki 2/3 times a year. I love it for the tradition, the actors, the costumes, and of course the plays themselves.

Kabuki is performed throughout the year at the Kabukiza in Tokyo and several times a year in other places including Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka and Kyoto.


Matinees usually start at 10:30am and last through to 3:30pm. There are evening performances as well which start around 4:30pm. There are a lot of breaks including one for lunch or dinner.


For those pressed for time or those who just want to see a little bit to satisfy their curiosity you can usually buy a ticket for one act on the day depending on the popularity of the performances.


Unfortunately, the present kabuki performance at Minamiza-being the last of the year and hence special-is sold out. I was lucky to get a ticket for Friday when I popped into the ticket booth on Monday afternoon.


However, there will be kabuki starting from the beginning of 2009 in nearby Osaka and of course Tokyo. Check the Kabukiza webpage for details by clicking here.

Shijyo Kyomachiya/四条京町家, Part 2

Shijyo Kyomachiya

Love this place. Click here for more information in English or the above link for information in Japanese.

Shijyo Kyomachiya/四条京町家, Part 1

Stove

Senzai

Senzai, Suikinkutsu

Ofuroba/Bath

Mise niwa/Entrance Hall

Shijyo Kyomachiya is one of my favorite places to visit in the Kyoto city center. If you have a chance I urge you to visit.

Shijyo Kyomachiya

Directions: walk 5 blocks west of Shijyo Kurasuma on the north side of the street. You should come across Shijyo Kyomachiya within 10 minutes.

Hours: 10am-9pm

Closed: Wednesdays

Entrance fee: none

News!

Tamaki Makaurau

Kia ora/Konnichiwa (=Hello).

My news is I'm going back to Aotearoa (=NZ) for the winter vacation. Ka mau te wehi! (=Maori for 'Awesome!')

Why this is so special is that I previously thought I couldn't go as tickets from here are soo expensive at this time of year (-170,000 yen=NZ$3400). I actually do have a ticket back (-the return portion of my Tamaki Makaurau-Singapore-Japan ticket) but was hoping to save it as it's valid for another 8 months.

However, my brother, P, is getting married next May in London and it worked out to be about the same price to buy a return Tamaki Makaurau-Japan-London ticket in Aotearoa as it is to buy a return Japan-London ticket here.

The fact that it's got so cold here so fast definitely helped in the decision process:)

Anyway, the long and the short of it is I'm going to use my present ticket to go back to Aotearoa and then get the Tamaki Makaurau-Japan-London ticket to come back here.

I'm soo looking forward to thawing out and soaking up some Kiwi culture.

Of course that also means I'll get to wear my jandals without socks. Though I might take some tabi to wow the locals:)

Emi Meyer, Jazz Songstress

This woman has got a voice that crosses all language borders. To have a listen to her music and find out more about her go to her My Space page. A big thank you to the boys from Mizugame for introducing her music to me.

For those in Japan she'll be touring later this month:

12/18 Solo Acoustic @ Club Ikspiari, Disneyland 8pm

12/19 Solo Acoustic @ Apple Store, Nagoya 7pm

12/19 Nagoya RADIX w/ Shing02 Waikyoku Band

12/21 Laforet 30th Anniversary w/ Shing02 Waikyoku Band

12/23 Kyoto Lab Tribe w/Shing02 Waikyoku Band

12/25 Solo Acoustic @ Apple Store, Osaka 7pm

Please note photo from her webpage.

Jandals in December-Tamaki Makaurau vs Kyoto

In my hometown of Tamaki Makaurau it was a warm 14 to 23 degrees (centigrade) today.

Here in Kyoto we had temperatures of minus 1 to 8 degrees.Even still it actually felt quite warm here in the afternoon. Maybe it was because the sun was shining and I was being active...

I was outdoors a lot today while doing 'oosouji' (=spring cleaning) and gave my jandals (=Kiwi speak for flip-flops) a workout just like I would have done if I had been in Tamaki Makaurau ...

There is one major difference though in wearing jandals in December there and here though. That difference is that I've never worn jandals with socks or seen anyone wear jandals with socks in Tamaki Makaurau...

Maybe I can be a trend-setter there and get everyone wearing socks with their jandals in winter. Then again, maybe not...LOL.

Yak & Yeti, Nepali Restaurant

Yak and Yeti is one of my favorite lunch spots.

Today I had 'Lunch Set C' with the curry of the day-chicken and spinach (980 yen). This set comes with a curry of your choice, naan, tandoori chicken, a salad, rice, another dish, and dessert. Fabulous as always. I also had a delicious mango lassi-thanks Y&Y:)

Yak and Yeti, Nepali Restaurant

Lunch: 11:30am-3pm (last order 2:45pm)

Dinner: 5pm-10pm

Telephone: 075-213-7919

Location: on the east side of Gokomachi Street (1 block west of Teramachi Street), just below Nishiki Market. Look for the sign on the road as above.

Please note the photo of the sign is from the internet.