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

Monday, snow dusted the trees and mountains of Kyoto.

There were flurries off and on and the wind was icy and blustery.

After visiting with MIL, we headed to Uji because I had heard they had a rabbit statue.

Since this year is the Year of the Rabbit, I thought it would be nice for us to do hatsumode (visit shrines and temples to ask for good wishes and thank the gods for everything for the past year) here.

At Mimurotoji, the statue of the rabbit has two holes at the base. Inside there is a marble egg.

You are supposed to reach inside and make the egg stand upright. If you do, it is supposed to help your back and legs be strong and "stand upright".

Satoshi and I tried this and were successful, hopefully we will both be healthy this year.

From Mimurotoji, it is about 500 meters to Uji.

We were surprised because every time we've taken a bus or train to get to Uji.

This time, we walked the distance and searched for somewhere to have lunch.

Being a national holiday, some places were closed, luckily we were able to have some cha-soba (noodles made from green tea) at Kawabun.

I had eaten here when my Aunty had visited several years ago.

Satoshi had never eaten here so we decided to have lunch here.

The lunch crowd had subsided, so we were able to get a table right away.

Satoshi chose the cha-soba (noodles made from green tea) teishoku which came with some nigiri sushi...1050 yen (about US$10.50)

I chose the don mini set, this came with cha-soba and a mini oyako donburi (chicken-egg bowl)...950 yen (about US$9.50)

On a day like Monday, the warm soba really hit the spot.

Satoshi was in the mood for some sweets so we stopped in at Surugaya and picked up some cha-dango (rice cakes made from green tea) and a kuri mochi (rice cake filled with sweet bean paste and chestnut)...total 575 yen (about US$5.75)

It was a very cold day, but we were able to visit with MIL and do hatsumode.

Surugaya
16 Uji-higashiuchi
Uji, Kyoto
Phone: 0774.23.8191

uji

Sunday we spent the morning at church for their Autumn service. It was basically the same service as the one during Obon except this time they had chairs for everyone to sit on.

After the service, Satoshi, my MIL and I went to Uji. It is about 40 minutes from the Higashiyama area by train.

I have visited Uji with my Aunty M1 and with Satoshi during various times of the year. This was the first time to visit the Tale of Genji Museum. This museum showcases "The Tale of Genji" and the culture of the Heian period in Japan.

I studied this in college but to tell you the truth, I don't really remember much about the story (guess I should go back and read the book I have stored away...somewhere...)

Anyway, my MIL had been wanting to visit this museum for some time now. Last year was the 1000 year anniversary of the tale being written by Murasaki Shikibu.

Most of the displays were in Japanese, so I couldn't understand most of them, but did find the display on incense intriguing. The display had different items like clove, sandalwood and other items which were combined to make different fragrances for incense.
After walking around the museum and the Ujigami Shrine (the shrine is a UNESCO world heritage), we walked across the river to the Uji shopping arcade.

My MIL was interested in checking out the sweets at Nakamura-Tokichi, a famous green tea shop in Uji.

We found the shop and a VERY L-O-N-G line waiting to get into the cafe. Instead of waiting for a table, we went across the street to Yamakawa, a patisserie.

This tiny patisserie also had a cafe, so we signed our name to their waiting list and after about 15 minutes, had a table.

If you are going to eat anything in Uji, get something made from green tea because Uji is known for their matcha (powdered green tea).

Satoshi got their sencha (roasted green tea) roll. My MIL got the matcha ice cream and a slice of baked cheesecake (she found the ice cream too strong and made Satoshi eat most of the ice cream). I got their matcha vanilla (matcha cake with matcha mousse, a layer of vanilla mousse and adzuki bean and a layer of vanilla whipped cream). This dessert was really light, and the sweetness of the vanilla layers balanced out the bitter matcha layers.

It was a beautiful day and we were glad to get my MIL out of the house.

Tale of Genji Museum
45-26 Uji Higashiuchi
Uji, Kyoto
Phone: 0774.39.9300
Admission: 500 yen (about US$5)
Open: 9:00-17:00, Closed on Mondays

Patisserie Yamakawa : UPDATE: 2/2014: this shop is now called Patisserie Yuji
70 Uji
Uji, Kyoto
Phone: 0774.66.1102
Closed Tuesdays and every 3rd Wednesday

arashiyama & uji

Satoshi had the day off today, so we went to check out the hasunohana (lotus flowers) in Arashiyama and Uji. The last time I went to Arashiyama was during cherry blossom season and the last time we went to Uji was last month to see the ajisai (hydrangea).

I got up at my regular time and made us a bento (boxed meal) for breakfast--tamagoyaki (omlette) with shiofukikonbu (seasoned dried kelp), asparagus with bacon, pickled veggies, ume (pickled plum), rakkyo (pickled shallots) and rice with tororokonbu (shaved kelp).

Our first stop was Arashiyama. I have often seen the empty pit at Tenryuji during Autumn and Spring, but never when the lotus flowers are in bloom.

Luckily, we were able to see them today. The lotus flowers are fenced in, so we had to use our zoom lens to get up close. There were lots of blooms and not many people so it was nice.

From Arashiyama, we caught the train to Uji and went to Mimurotoji. The lotus flowers were in pots in the courtyard of the temple so you could get pretty close to them.

Since it is a weekday, not too many people were out and about, so it was really nice and peaceful.

I was surprised at how tall they were!

After admiring the lotus flowers we headed back to Osaka for lunch and stopped at a cafe called Gokan. Gokan means 5-senses in Japanese. This cafe is located in an old bank building. I wrote about it (here).

Lunch was cold cuts, salad, brioche and croissant. There was also a nice matcha (green tea) dessert that came along with it.

It was a nice day (very humid), but nice in other ways.

uji

The other day, I had seen a live broadcast of an area filled with ajisai (hydrangea) and found out that it was located in Uji. In Japan, ajisai is usually in full bloom during the rainy season.

While the rain is coming down, it is kind of nice to see these pom-poms of pastel colors brightening up a gloomy day. So, despite the rain, thunder and lightning and that the rainy season hasn't officially started here, we went to Uji--located in the South-Eastern part of Kyoto. If you remember, I went there a couple of months ago during the Spring with my Aunty and her friend.

The temple that these ajisai were at was called Mimurotoji. It was a 15 minute walk from the Mimuroto station. The temple is actually located at the top of these steep stairs. (We are looking forward to going back in July to see their hasu no hana (lotus flowers)).

At the bottom of the steep stairs, there is a beautiful garden with about 10,000 ajisai plants.

Despite the weather, the flowers were beautiful. And I was amazed at how many different varieties there were.

I was also surprised at how red the leaves of this maple tree was, it reminded me of something you might see during the Fall.

Since Uji is known for their green tea, we had lunch at a place called Magozaemon and had their zaru udon (cold wheat noodles) with green tea in them. The noodles were really chewy and delicious.

After lunch, we walked along the shopping street and you could smell tea roasting. Ho-ji cha is a very smoky flavored tea and is actually roasted green tea. This is what a roaster looks like.

You could even see tea plants along the roadside.

We also got some cha-dango (rice cakes made with green tea) and warabi mochi (bracken rice cakes). Bracken is a fern and the young shoots are turned into a powder to make this mochi. In Osaka, we usually eat this with kinako (ground roasted soy beans), but in Uji, they eat their warabi mochi with what else, green tea powder. Both were nice treats and as we were going home, the sun came out.

kyoto (part 2)

Today, my aunty M1, W1 and I did more "sight-seeing" starting with West Kyoto's Arashiyama. Satoshi and I have visited here during Autumn in the past, but never during Spring. It was very beautiful.

You can rent boats to view the cherry blossom (spring) or maple leaves (autumn), while on the Hozu River.

There is a huge bamboo grove which you can walk through.

And at Tenryuji, you can experience walking through their garden. They even have these huge devil tiles which decorate their roof tops.

After roaming around Arashiyama, we got onto the train and headed south to Uji. This area is known for their green tea and a temple called Byodo-in. Some from Hawaii may recognize this name, as there is a replica of the temple in a cemetery called the Valley of the Temples in Kaneohe. I had only visited the one in Hawaii, so I was quite interested in seeing what the original looked like. I was a bit shocked to see that it was quite worn down.

We had lunch at a noodle shop called Kawabun. It was a pretty interesting experience for the two of them to sit on the floor and eat. I ordered the cha-soba which was noodles made from green tea. It was really good and really warmed me up.

Kawabun
22 Uji Renge
Uji, Kyoto
Phone: 0774.21.2556

After lunch and the temple, we walked across a bridge that crosses the Uji River. It was very beautiful to see the cherry trees along the riverbanks. Despite the cold weather, there were many people out picnicking and enjoying the day.

We then stopped in at Azumaya for a little sweet treat. I had their matcha set. Matcha tea (concentrated green tea) with cha-dango. Little rice cakes made from green tea served with very bitter green tea.

Azumaya
21-2 Uji Renge
Uji, Kyoto
Phone: 0774.22.8080

It was a nice day despite the cold winds. Still, we were very fortunate to see so many trees in full bloom and for the most part, it was sunny! Kyoto is busy for the most part of the year, but times like this, it is especially crowded! I hope my Aunty and W1 enjoyed themselves as much as I did!

Hope you are having a great week!