foodie friday in kyoto

Friday the water in our building was going to be turned off for several hours, so I went to Kyoto.

While there I ran an errand for Satoshi then I went to Obaku.

There is a bakery that I have been wanting to check out but was never in the area...Tamakitei.

I picked up a pastrami egg sandwich for lunch and other items for our breakfast the next day...top right was a croquant (puff pastry, walnuts), bottom left : miyazaki chicken, yuzu kosho & bubu arare (so good!) bottom right: yamaguri choco (chestnuts, chocolate & walnuts in puff pastry)

The sandwich was so soggy that I was disappointed with it but the other items we really enjoyed, I will definitely be back the next time we are in the area.

After buying some items at Tamakitei I went one station over to Mimurodo and walked to Mimurotoji.

We've visited here a couple of times...which I wrote about here, and here.

I had thought this temple was known for their ajisai (hydrangea), but they have way more tsutsuji (azaleas).

10,000 hydrangea plants & 20,000 azaleas!

Click to see a short video I shot from the top of the azalea "mountain".

I thought it was neat that a white azalea had inter-mingled with a pink one and became half-half!

After Mimurotoji, I went one more station over to Uji.

The area has changed since the last time we visited, more shops and eateries...a little more touristy.

I stood in line for Nakamura Tokichi, a well known tea shop in the area...I'm glad it wasn't a really long wait, maybe only half an hour?!

I had their namacha (literally raw tea) gelatin sprinkled with shincha (new/spring tea)...not photogenic, but super refreshing and perfect for the gross humidity on this day.

Then I went back to Kyoto city...and had an iced cafe latte at %Arabica Kyoto before catching the train back to Osaka.

It was nice to be out and about, though the humidity was quite bad...rainy season is coming...sigh!

Tamakitei
57-14 Gokasho Hirano
Uji, Kyoto
Phone: 0774.38.1801
Closed Mondays & Tuesdays
Hours: 7:00-18:45 (earlier if they sell out)

Nakamura Tokichi
1-10 Uji
Uji, Kyoto
Phone: 0774.22.7800
Cafe: 11:00-18:00
Shop: 10:00-18:00

%Arabica Kyoto
inside Fujii Daimaru Kyoto 1F
Phone: 075.746.5995
Hours: 10:30-20:00
Open when Fujii Daimaru is

kyoto

Today is Children's Day. When I was growing up it was called Boy's Day, but I guess with the times of equality this and that, it is now called Children's Day.

One thing you will see during this holiday is koi nobori (flying carp). As I understand it, each fish represents a male in the family and flies in hopes of the male to grow and flourish, just as the carp grows and swims along the rivers.

We went to Kyoto today to visit Satoshi's parents and grandma. Along the way to visit his parents, we went to the shokubutsuen (botanical garden), they had differenty types of shakuyaku (a type of peony),

shakunage (a type of rhododendron)

and other unusual flowers.

On our way to visit Satoshi's grandma, we came upon a special showing of tsutsuji (azaleas) at the Josuijo (waterworks). This place usually isn't open to the public, so it was a great opportunity to see inside the waterworks and to catch a glimpse of their tsutsuji. It was amazing! The whole hillside was filled with tsutsuji bushes.

There were many people there, but it was still worth seeing.

It was a great day, the weather has warmed up quite a bit over the past couple of days. Plus, we were able to visit with Satoshi's parents and grandma.

Hope you are enjoying the weekend.