Kyoto Hotspots - Of a Sort, Part Ni

Sunday morning, I took Justine to my favorite cafe, Rue-Ergo. Oh, heaven. No justice can be done to this place in any shape or form - its close to my apartment, I can park my bike and not worry about it being impounded, it opens at 10:30 am which is quite early for Kyoto cafes, its quiet, it has cute outdoor seating, its right on the river and although it is a bit expensive the food and coffee is totally worth it.

THEY HAVE SMOKED SALMON AND CREAM CHEESE. Seriously? 'Nuff said. That is now my desktop wallpaper. I LOVE that photo. And you can bet it's on my new digital photo frame.

We had come to Rue-Ergo via bicycle; I borrowed one of Chen's (she has three) and decided that while on Saturday we would use the bus pass to get the out of the way thing known as Kinkakuji (it's over by Rits and very unbikeable because it's damn hot) and use the bike today since most of the stuff was in the same area, Northern Higashiyama bordered by Nazenji Temple in the south and Ginkakuji Temple in the north. Funny - I orient myself sometimes around here by the temple locations. I wasn;t so sure if the inner parts of the area were bikeable, but I told Justine lets give it a shot. Chen's spare bike is a three-gear 27 inch bike and I kept having to life my leg very high to get it over since my bike is 24 inches. My bike is also singe gear so riding it was a bit difficult.

Our first stop was Nazenji Temple and the Lake Biwa Aqueduct. I was really happy to see the aqueduct - yes, I am a geek - because I did research on it. Even better, it still works. According to Lonely Planet Kyoto, there was a small Shinto shrine "on a trail in the woods" in the Nazenji grounds called Oku-no-in. Something like that. So we left the main complex at Nazenji and saw a path ahead of us leading into the woods and the mountains.

You could totally tell that at least on foot this was as far east as you can get in Kyoto; the city is surrounded by three sides by mountains and we were practically in them. So much green! And you could tell that the air was fresh.At first, the path was very deserted and I had some misgivings and wanting to find something that would tell us that we were going in the right direction. There were some people ahead of us so I was relieved. Then I saw the characters for Oku-no-in. It was a very small shrine with a trickling waterfall; there were steps ahead that indicated that there was probably more to see, but they were very narrow. Given my fear of stairs, I passed on going further up.

After Nazenji Temple, Justine and I headed for Tetsugaku no Michi, or the Path of Philosophy. It's off the main road and elevated, but we were able to ride our bikes along the path. While on the path, we dropped by a teahouse/cafe place where we experienced a short but simple tea ceremony. Because of where I sat - in the first position, I was actually served the tea that the hostess made, while the others received pre-made tea. It was cool, and way better than my first tea ceremony experience which was the assembly line back at the
Miyako Odori, geisha or no geisha. The sweet was good too - green mochi filled with anko, or red bean paste.

Then we got a bit off the beaten path so to say. Along Testugaku no Michi, I found an antique kimono shop/cafe. You could tell that the place had alot of histoy because there were photos of the proprietress with geisha, celebrities, and family - it was that sort of place. There, I noticed a silver clutch sort of like my Taisho green one; I wasn't all that interested in it since I had my green one, but Justine liked it alot. I asked the owner how much it was; it was 800yen, about 8 bucks, so Justine bought it.

The area that we went through was pretty much done; in my opinion, Ginkakuji, the Silver Pavilion is a bit overrated. I went there when my Aunt Stella and Uncle George was here and I was totally in disbelief that a famous place was a simple wooden building. I understand that it was very Zen, but there is alot of hype about it. Justine wanted to do some shopping so we headed back to Sanjo. We checked out this one store (more like a mini mall) called Opa - I had passed it numerous times but sort of brushed it off thinking that the sorts of girls who shop there are the ones that are the female peacocks. To my surprise, there were some sections that I really liked; man, my bank account is going to HATE me, there were even cooler umbrellas at Opa. Justine got a khaki jumber dress thing; I tried it on as well and was a bit undure about it, but I really liked this one hoodie with short sleeves and eyelet lining in the hood and eyelet trim at the pockets. And it was long. Really cute, it would look great with a simple white tee, since I liked the army green one. Maybe I'll get it next week or something.

Justine finally got her Japanese umbrella at Inobun. It was a mint green with either white stripes or polka dots of various sizes on each panel. We were practically done with the sightseeing stuff (and everything touristy except for the shops were closing regardless) so we went to Holly's Cafe for a break since I was really thirsty. At lunch, I took Justine to the old school sushi-on-a-conveyor-belt place (and even placed a special order for eel so yeah! I can do that now!); we pigged out at had a late lunch so we really weren't that hungry for a big dinner like the previous night. I suggested that we pick something from the Takashimaya food floor, then go to Starbucks to try the Azuki ("Red Bean") frappucino.

We also walked around Takashimaya and tried on Tiffany & Co. watches; in Japan, the salespeople are really nice and since you know it's a part of the culture, Justine and I agreed that we feel less guilty and "more freer" if you will to try on the expensive stuff even if we can't afford it. Case in point: at Thanksgiving with Colleen, I had no qualms whatsoever in going to the Hermes store even in my grungy jeans and simple cashmere sweater. You feel like you aren't being judged which is totally different in NYC. I tried on a watch that I had my eyes on for a real long time; I also like this one too (which was my original choice but the Tiffany shop at Takashimaya didn't have it, maybe I'll check it out when I go to Tokyo).

I KNOW that it costs a freaking arm and a leg, but if I am going to have one watch that will be a classic and last me almost forever, might as well either save my money and get it myself, or skip a lot of birthdays, Christmases, and anniversaries to get it maybe as a gift. Or wait till I graduate from grad school, become a "doctor" and request it as a gift from multiple parties. Like I would really ask for that for just one birthday, or from one person. Plus, Tiffany has good warranty and repair services in-shop especially at 5th Avenue (You can take your Tiffany jewelry and get it cleaned there, for example).

After Takashimaya - where I got a sandwich and Justine a muffin - we headed up to Starbucks on Sanjo. In the summer, this particular STarbucks has a veranda overlooking the Kamogawa called a "noryoyuka" or "patio over water." THere are some pretty strict rules, two of which being no eating of outside food and no studying. I learned the former the hard way; as I was opening my sandwich, one of the baristas who actually manned the platform came to get my garbage (so it wouldn't fly int othe river" and apologized telling me that I couldn't eat my sandwich. Oh well. I enjoyed my frappucino instead. Luckily for us, we didn;t have to wait (yes there is sometimes a wait to uss the yuka) and we got tables right at the edge overlooking the river.

After Starbucks, we sat along the river and just chilled, just like how my friends and I do. Eventually, a big group of drunk and rowdy studetns came so we left. The next morning, we woke up early and I helped Justine get a taxi, telling the driver "Kyoto Eki ni itte kudasai" - "Please go to Kyoto Station." Then she zipped off and I headed back to prepare for my week.