Day 3: Ginkakuji, Sake and Fushimi Inari

We managed to start the day a little earlier today. We walked out and hopped on a bus heading to the first location, Ginkakuji a.k.a. Silver Pavillion a.k.a. Higashiyama Jisho-ji. We had to walk a little up the path/shopping street to arrive at the entrance of the temple.

Street was empty. Shop were just starting to open at 9am

We got to take our photo at the entrance:

Cheeky girl

Daddy bought the tickets and we headed in. To me, the pavillion was just a little building, but the gardens surrounding it was beautiful.

Managed to get a photo all by herself with no one photo-bombing

We also got a family photo here

It was smaller compared to the Golden Pavillion. We were done within an hour. Then we headed back down the shopping street with had more shops open by now. 

Just at the end of the street, we turned left into "Philosopher's Path"

We were awed by the many maple trees which had red leaves:

A river ran along the path, with many duckies (much to Mei-mei's delight) swimming in it:

Group photo

The next stop is the Eikando Temple. There was an entrance fee and we were trying to decide whether to go in or not as the reason to look here is for the maple leaves, which we had just experienced in abundance along the Philosopher's Path. So we took some photos outside and gave it a pass.

Next stop (right next door) was the Nanzenji Temple. The gate was impressive.

We got a little lost here, trying to figure out that to do. In the end, we bought tickets to get into the temple grounds as well as the Zen garden. 

The Zen garden which Evelyn thought of messing up the patterns!

We took a look at the Sanmon Gate, had some photo's taken and then decided to go off for lunch.

On our way out, we saw this restaurant "Kyoto Goemon Chaya". The sign outside said that they were only serving the Yudoufu set meal. Since tofu is supposed to be a famous dish in Kyoto, we agreed to have our lunch here. It was an interesting and delicious meal. Everyone enjoyed the experience:

No, it wasn't just tofu, there were many other things in the set

After a satisfying lunch, we took a short walk to the bus stop. Walked pass the zoo: 

The next stop is a sake museum "Gekkeikan Okura Sake Museum". Walked pass this beautiful river along the way.

I had an appointment at 3.30pm, but they were happy to let us in earlier.

Little garden where the both of you hung out while we walked the museum and had our sake tasting

At the end of the museum, there was sake tasting. When we had paid for the entrance, we were given a sake cup each and 3 "coins". Well, it was free entrance for Mei-mei and Ko-ko was cheaper as he was below 20, so he got the cup, but no coins. 

There was a list of the sake choices along with details of them:

Our cup and the coins

Then we just needed to put the coin into the machine and it will dispense one (very small) shot of sake. There is option to pay ¥100 to pay for a coin. 

The 4 at the back having a "serious" discussion with the worker

We also bought some sake to drink at home (and bring home) and then it was still early. So we decided to head to Fushimi Inari Taisha and look at the 10,000 Torii gates. 

The crowd at the start of the Torii gates were madness. It got hotter as we walked too! But as we headed further and further in, the crows got thinner and thinner. 

Could get a photo of us with few people in it!

Nearly empty shot!!

Our family shot

Then we headed back to the station. We had just missed the train, so we waited a little before hopping into the next train. 

We took a stroll along the river in Gion before heading back home. 

Daddy and I had noticed this Yakitori restaurant just near the main intersection near our house the night before as we had hopped onto a bus right in front to visit the nearby Fresco for some groceries. So tonight, he suggested that we head there to try. The restaurant is called "Ahodori Shogointen".

It was an amazing experience. We got to sit at the bar right in front of the cook and the food was delicious. On top of yakitori, we also tried kushikatsu and a variety of other dishes on their menu. The staff were young and very friendly.  

Only dip once in the sauce

Beer and highball with our meal

And so ends our very busy day around Kyoto.