Day 7 - Kyoto - Rain, Rain, Rain

We awoke today to  overcast skies, which cast a shadow over our plans. Last night we had finally decided to walk to Fushimi Inari and climb the tori-lined paths to the top of a mountain, an adventure which sounded less appealing when confronted with the wet weather. Instead, with heavy hearts we abandoned our meticulously outlined day plans, and created a different route to accommodate the unforeseen weather. After a brief look into our suitcases, and a whiff of a few shirts, we also thought it a good day for laundry.

So, this morning we set off in search of breakfast, and after the sweetness of Japanese pastries we had been sampling for the last few days, we were more in the mood for something savoury. We walked a couple of blocks and spotted a Doutor cafe, an abundant Japanese cafe chain. They offered savoury calzones for breakfast, so we figured, why not? I had one with roast chicken that did not look like chicken but made a pretty good effort, and tasted quite good, and Dylan had bacon and cheese, which was eh.

Mmmmmmmmm :)

From the cafe we walked back up to the main street and headed west for the Kyoto International Manga Museum. It was only a fifteen minute walk, and the rain was light, so we bought a 500 yen umbrella from a konbini and enjoyed the stroll. The Kyoto Manga Museum is set up inside an old school building, and the first thing you see when you enter is the little gift shop. The gift shop was full of cool manga things, which got me pretty excited about the shopping we would be doing in Tokyo's anime stores. Tickets for the museum were only 800 yen, so we figured it was worth it. The museum is more of a giant manga library, featuring huge shelves over two floors of manga, with a small foreign language section at the beginning, which we browsed through. There is an interesting section on the history of Manga, and sometimes they hold drawing lessons, but only on the weekends, so I did not have the opportunity to unlock my hidden skills. There were also special exhibits for two artists, Yasuke Aoike, celebrating 50 years of her artistry, specialising in shojo (girl) manga featuring beautiful male characters, and also Austrian Nicolas Mahler, who wrote small cartoon strips and stories, which Dylan enjoyed. Some of the rooms featured the history of the school building, which were a confusing segue in topic. We finished off with the gift shop, and bought a few Manga editions in English (which were somewhat overpriced I think). I bought Bleach volume 1, and Dylan decided to try One Piece.

Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take photos inside the museum... so this is the only one we got.

A convenient 15 minute walk down the road from the museum is Nijo Castle, one of my favourite destinations in Kyoto. The castle grounds hold two palaces, Honmaru and Ninomaru, the latter of which features the famous nightingale floor. The gardens are beautiful, especially in spring (as is everything in Japan during cherry blossom season), but I am partial so the crisp, cold beauty of the winter gardens, which was accentuated by the overcast day. We walked through the gardens and admired the inner bailey, surrounded by a secondary moat, within which lies Honmaru palace. In the outer bailey, you are able to enter Ninomaru palace to walk around on the nightingale floor and pretend to be a ninja.  We thoroughly enjoyed the entire castle, and Dylan reckons that a photographer could spend an entire day in there if they had a few lenses and a tripod.

The grey skies made for a great reflection

Featured in the background is the main gate under repairs, so we had to walk around the side.

I hate it when I have that problem!

Would look amazing during spring!

We couldn't get any closer - but it wasn't any less beautiful

The walls cut down much of the traffic and city noise

On a clear day we could probably see all the way to the mountains

The rain began to pick up as we left, and we decided to catch the subway back to our hotel area to find some lunch. Just outside the station we discovered an udon (a type of Japanese noodle) restaurant, which Dylan was keen to try. Luckily they had an english menu, and Dylan chose a curry udon dish, while I chose udon with citrus and something else I couldn't identify. We also got some tenpura to go with it, vegetables, chicken, and pumpkin. Dylan also tried some inari, and found the entire meal to be delicious. Udon is extremely filling and I only got about halfway through mine before I gave up, but Dylan, in his normal fashion, persisted until the bottom of his bowl.

Yum!

 After this new food experience we went to do a spot of shopping in the Teramachi district right next to our hotel, it turns out that we chose an excellent spot to stay. We got some hot drinks, and wandered around. I picked up a new soft scarf (mum that fuzzy one from Nana is good, but it sheds somwhat, and I already have hair that does that) and some cool things from the 100 yen shop. Our legs were feeling pretty sore at this point so we headed back to our hotel to do some laundry.

This afternoon was spent chilling out, waiting for the laundry to finish and watching some sumo on TV. The dryer in the hotel sucked, so we currently have various items of clothing hung like beautiful ornaments around the room. We had picked up a couple of miscellanious baked goods at the bakery next to the hotel, and snacked on these once the udon fullness had faded a little.

Once dinner time came around we were only a little hungry, so we went down the road to a restaurant we had seen on our way home previously. To the waiters confusion, we only ordered three plates of gyoza, technically a side dish, and then left once we had inhaled their deliciousness. After this short meal we went to look for an ATM, and on our journey discovered a Lock Up restaurant, one I had been to in Tokyo with Sophie and Bri, a prison themed restaurant where they try and scare the pants off you while you eat. They also have cool themed drinks. When you enter what was sort of the lobby, they play loud sirens and scary noises, turn off the lights and in enters an actor dressed as what looked like the girl from The Ring, which I found hilarious, and Dylan found somewhat unnerving. Once they've attempted to make you scream, a police woman leads you to your 'cell' and hands you a menu full of drinks served in beakers and 'scary' themed foods. We opted for a couple of interesting drinks and some fries which were brought to us by a waiter wearing prison stripes. Unfortunately, we left before the main event, where they turn off the lights and put on a whole house of horrors show thing. as Dylan 'did not want to be harassed while we were eating' (pfsht). Next time we go in Tokyo, we are staying for the whole time. Heh.

Sneaky gyoza!

Our view from the table at The Lockup

Our cocktails!

We walked back down the block and returned to our hotel room to watch some weird nonsensical Japanese game shows and write this blog. Tomorrow it is forecast to rain again, but we are going to persevere and go to Kiyomizudera, a temple nearby with lots of tea and souvenir shops nearby. Until then, good night!