Kyoto Photography, Professionally

I finally received the edited copies of selected pictures from my photographer, Boon Cheng, who took our pictures in Kyoto.

Boon Cheng is a Malaysian photographer who spends most of his time in Japan. I found him on Airbnb.com when I was looking for a Kyoto photographer.

Out of the final three that we had shortlisted, we decided on him for his natural, bright and cheery pictures.

I made a request for my mother's dark brown spot on her cheek to be removed in the editing works and he kindly obliged.

He tried to get them to throw the small maple leaves but one of the models didn't look too spontaneous

When we met up at a Mcdonald's in Gion, Boon Cheng asked me about the kind of scenery we wanted, either nature or cityscapes and Japanese houses in Gion. I told him we wanted red leaves in our pictures, so he took us to a temple about 10 minutes' cab-ride away, where we had maple leaves and gingko trees as backdrop.

Being a Chinese Asian, I find him very friendly and easy to talk to. As what he stated in his Airbnb post, there is no need to worry about posing. 

I had a hard time trying to decide on the photographer and only confirmed with him about 3 days prior to flying to Osaka.

Boon Cheng's photography service is tied up with a kimono shop which offers makeup services but we didn't explore that as I was worried that I might feel obliged to take it up even if I don't like their kimonos.

The shoot was a short 1.5h duration. It passed very quickly as Boon Cheng kept us occupied with the photo-taking at different spots even though it was only at one venue. It turned out that the temple spread over a wide area was a tourist attraction during fall. 

After the shoot, I received the link via google drive from which we selected 40 pictures for editing (10 edited pictures per person). I missed out on the window period to write a review for Boon Cheng on Airbnb. Otherwise, he would have given us an additional 10 edited pictures. I am writing this review out of my own accord though, as a memory keepsake for myself and a form of resource and point of reference for anyone who is trying to find a photographer in Kyoto.

It was a great experience having some professional pictures taken in kimono. I wished I had known about such photography services when I first went to Japan a few years ago! I would urge anyone who's going Japan to try the same thing: rent a kimono and get some professional-looking photos done for keepsake. It's very different from doing selfies and having pictures taken on a mobile phone. After all, how many times do we get to don a kimono when we are not Japanese?

Day 6: Donning a Yukata for Fushimi-Inari

After our not-so-delicious breakfast at the ryokan, we set off to look for a kimono shop for my yukata. I had googled for 'kimono dress up' the previous night and found two shops selling yukatas and doing dress-ups for customers.

I decided to go for Saganokan, a shop that was located a 2-minute walk from Shijo Subway Station, just a stop away from Gojo Station.

As usual, we were lost the moment we exited from the station. 

I approached a Eurasian-looking girl and asked her for directions.

She was as helpful as any other Japanese on the street. She didn't know the way either but she helped me seek help from other locals. Two other ladies helped to identify the street we were on and pointed the direction we should head.

The pretty young lady led the way and found us the shop just round the corner!

I entered the shop without any appointment made, telling the lady who looked like the owner that I wanted to buy yukatas.

She picked out a few in Baby's size and got Baby to choose one before taking me back to the first floor for my turn to choose.

I was dazzled by the beauty of this 380000 yen all-silk kimono.

What appears to be yellow flowers on this stunning garment are actually golden in reality.

The lady of the shop said this kimono is worn for celebration of occasions.

Baby's yukata: 3000 yen

Obi: 1000 yen

Socks and slippers: 1500 yen thereabout

Dressing up: 1000 or 1500 yen for the hair

My yukata: 5000 yen

Obi: 2000 yen (??)

Socks and slippers: 1800 yen (??)

Hair: 2500 yen

The adult yukatas were on sale in June at a good 50% discount.

I can't remember the exact breakdown for our outfit but I remember that it cost me about 14000 yen for both our yukatas, obis, socks and slippers.

I am no expert in yukatas but before I went Japan, I was warned that kimonos are 'very expensive'. I had heard from an ex-colleague that she bought her yukata at about $300 and that was 10 years ago.

I thought $150 for two full sets of yukatas was cheap - never mind that one of the sets was a child's set. 

The rental service for a day of yukata with hair-dressing was 3900 yen. My intention was to buy the yukatas as souvenirs and thought it should be quite worth it since we could wear them for Racial Harmony Day or International Friendship Day. However, when the lady was helping me to put on the yukata, the only thought that went through my mind was: goodness! How am I going to wear this by myself?!!

The service at the shop was top-notch.

The ladies made me feel welcomed even though I came without an appointment. 

My mother bought another set of yukata for my niece. However, they ran out of pink obis. When they saw that my mother was reluctant to settle for a green one, they went off without a word to get a heavy box up from the first floor and showed my mother all the colours they had, including pink of course!

The ladies were very humble. They would not offer their opinion without me insisting on having theirs. I had to keep asking,"Which one do you think is nicer?" before they would give me their opinion.

I asked the lady a lot of questions:

"Can I wear this to Fushimi-Inari?"

"Can I wear like this back to Tokyo?"

"Is it very strange? Do people in Tokyo wear yukata?"

"How do you wash this?"

Very patient people, really.

Not once did I feel slighted.

And the lady bowed when she saw me out the shop! Wow! A truly Japanese experience for me!

We took the JR train from Kyoto Station to Inari JR Station, just 2 stops away from Kyoto Station.

Fushimi-Inari was just right outside the station!

We deposited our heavy bags and water bottles in the lockers at the Inari Station before making our way to the Temple.

The map of the vermilion pillar walk

Most people do not complete the walk, I presume. We got tired walking through the never-ending pillars.

I had read on the internet that most people do not walk beyond 900m, so walk beyond that and you would get an isolated area to shoot your pictures without other tourists in it.

Rubbish.

No matter how far we walked, there were constantly tourists walking past us. 

It was challenging to get a picture without other people in it!

Other tourists, possibly Japanese from other parts of the country, in yukata too!

By the time I got to take some pictures, my hair was falling apart and my face all oily!

Fushimi-Inari's 5000 vermilion pillars are gifted by different people and organisations at different times, as stated on the pillars.

Beautiful pillars indeed!

We returned to the small Inari JR Station to take a train back to Kyoto Station in order to catch our Nozomi train back to Tokyo.

The Kyoto Station platform for the Nozomi train

Again, we looked for Car numbers 1 to 3 for our non-reserve seats.

Baby was thirsty, so I got her a small packet of fresh milk at a small supermart before boarding the train.

I bought another train station bento to give it another try.

Kyoto Station has superior bentos indeed! Even the ordinary vegetable-wrapped rice (left-centre) was tasty!

The Nozomi train tickets

Catching a quick shot of the Nozomi train before it flew away!

We actually rushed back to Tokyo for a specific purpose: to shop at Oriental Bazaar, the souvenir shop that we missed previously!

Arriving at the shop at 6.30pm, we only had 30 minutes to do our shopping before it closed!

We spent more time at the basement and first floor buying small items such as fans, fan holders and chopstick rests while we did a brief run-through at the second floor without getting anything since they were mostly antiques, paintings and the more bulky household items.

No time for pictures either as we were the last paying customers at the cashier's!

By 7pm, we were a little tired.

I decided to just dine anywhere that we could see so that it was not so exhausting for my mother and Baby, and I recall walking past this sushi shop, so we stepped into it for another dinner of sushi.

They were mostly tourists.

It was the most inferior of the lot since most of the food had been on the conveyor belt for some time. The eel were especially rubbery and hard. The rest were specially ordered.

More than 8100 yen in total. The most expensive sushi dinner we had in Tokyo.

After that, we walked to a subway station, and as usual, it was the wrong station. 

The station staff said we had to walk to the JR station and it was 'near, near!'

My goodness! It was at least another 15 minutes' walk?!!

What's wrong with these people?!!

We took a train to Hatchobori JR Station and walked 2 or 3 minutes to our third hotel for the trip.

This hotel was meant to be a stayover-just-for-the-night hotel.

I did not even send our luggage here as we would make our way to Disneysea the next morning.

It looked small on the outside and the reception but again, it had everything you need! They even had a computer with printer which I used to print my Disneyland's 3-Day Passports for free before we headed off for Disneyland that morning!

The staff spoke English and were helpful.

I had problems keying in '@' on the computer. Through a few trial and errors, one of the receptionists helped me key in '@' by changing the default language back to Japanese before changing it back to English for me!

And unlike Nagomi Ryokan Yuu, knowing that I had a child with me, they did not charge me 1000 yen for Baby's one-night stay!

Comfortable stay. Helpful staff. Loved the hotel, but it was not in the best location in Tokyo. I had booked it as it was on the way to Maihama Station, the station where Disneyland Resort Line was at. However, the good experience at the hotel will definitely make me look at the hotels under the Hokke Club group from now on.

Directions:

Saganokan Kyoto Main Shop
Sento-kan, 582 Kikusuiboko-cho, Muromachi-dori, Shijo-agaru, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto
Alight at Hankyu Karasuma Station or Kyoto Subway Shijo Station
2 minutes walk from Exit No. 24
Opening hours: 11am to 6pm

Fushimi-Inari

Alight at Inari JR Station and walk to the temple

Hotel Hokke Inn Hatchobori

3-20-4 Hacchobori, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
TEL 03-3537-7711

Alight at Hatchobori Station on the JR Keiyo Line or Hibiya Subway Line. Exit the station via Exit B1. We are directly across the street.

Nagomi Ryokan Yuu

The address on the Agoda website would lead you here.

 

However, the reception had moved to another venue just a few steps down the street perpendicular to this place.

 

We stood there trying to figure out what to do. The arrow on the door instructed us to press a certain button to communicate with the receptionist but as we were fiddling with it, a young lady wearing yukata came and directed us to the new reception area.

We walked along the quiet neighbourhood to the reception.

The new reception area

 

The chalkboards are the menu of the ryokan

The little decorated aisle leading to the reception

The small reception counter

The sitting or waiting area opposite the counter

 

The shoes belong to the guests who were staying in the rooms above the ryokan. The steps on the left are the 'gateway' to the rooms.

 

As mentioned in my previous post, we rejected the first room given to us. The ladder-to-the-bed concept was too much for us to bear. After we returned to the ryokan for the day, our new room was ready.

For safety purpose, the guests have to key in the access code to enter the hall.

 

The hallway leading to our room - the brown door on the left.

Our room number

 

The ryokan uses the traditional key-and-lock system for their doors.

What greeted us when our door was opened: tatami floor and two bed sets with sleeping robes on them.

We were quite excited by the concept of sleeping the traditional Japanese way. It's one thing to see people doing it and another doing it yourself!

And it's definitely different from the 'lay the mattress on the floor and sleep' concept.

 

The bed sets were comfortably soft yet thick enough to cushion us from the wooden floor. We had a good night's sleep.

 

The private bathroom was the tiniest we came across in all the four hotels we stayed at in Japan but it had everything we needed, except toothbrushes and toothpaste.

 

I had read about shared bathrooms in ryokans and had deliberately picked a room that came with a private bathroom. I thought it more convenient and comfortable to have an en-suite bathroom. Of course, a room with a private bathroom is more expensive than one with a shared bathroom but for most foreign tourists, I think price is not an issue unless the difference is great.

 

If there's one similarity between Japan and London and Paris, it's the existence of bathtub no matter how small the bathroom is.

Shampoo and bodywash on the water closet 

As the Chinese saying goes, 'a sparrow is tiny but the 5 main organs are intact', meaning although the place is small, it has everything you need.

The room is a little dark though.

We only discovered what appeared to be a public or shared bath just next to our room the next day when we were about to leave the ryokan.

Doesn't this look like an onsen?

The 1100 yen breakfast

Main course: rice and salmon (with lots of bones)

 

The hits:

1) It is an old and pretty ryokan in my opinion. I couldn't help but felt that it was quite made up though, but at least they made the effort to decorate the ryokan in a traditional way.

 

2) It is cheap. I paid $121 for a standard Japanese room with bathroom for 2 persons. Additionally, I paid another 1000 yen to top up for a child's (6-year-old) stay.

 

For breakfast, I topped up another 2200 yen for 2 persons.

 

3) It is clean.

 

 

The misses:

1) Across all 4 hotels that I have stayed in, Nagomi Ryokan Yuu rates the lowest in terms of service.

 

As a ryokan, I would expect receptionists with a more personable or friendlier personality. However, I didn't feel that way. On the contrary, I thought they were quite cold, although polite nonetheless, and not as helpful compared to the Tokyo receptionists.

 

2) As mentioned in my previous post, I had wanted a kimono dress-up session but was turned down because 'all sessions were booked'. To be fair, the receptionist did try to offer alternative timings but they were all inappropriate for me eg. 12pm on the first day (but I would be out by 11am), 3pm on the next day (but I would have checked out of the ryokan and on my way to other places for sightseeing already). However, I thought a more appropriate way is to offer alternative shops or let me know where I could get the service on my own. What I had felt was there was no alternative. If you had missed booking it, you wouldn't have it at all. As it was, I found out the next day that I could have done it on my own, just that as a tourist, I lacked the knowledge of where such shops were.

 

3) The receptionist even charged me 20 yen for the two-minute phone call she made to the kimono dress-up shop for the enquiry of the timing. My thought was "Wah, so hard up ah? Like this also want to charge?" It's a small sum but the ryokan had paid more for it. What kind of impression, which would translate into a reputation, has it left on the guest?

 

4) I decided to send the heavy luggage ahead of us to the partner hotel at Disneyland so that my mother and I could be spared from carrying heavy stuff. I felt that it was quite worth it as the courier service at Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku cost only about 2800 yen for 2 luggage (1300 yen for a 22-inch and 1500 yen for a 24-inch), so I thought that the hand-carry luggage should cost less.

 

To my not-so-pleasant surprise, after diligently measuring my luggage, Nagomi Ryokan Yuu charged 1700 yen for every single luggage, regardless of the sizes! It totalled up to 5100 yen for 3 luggage.

 

When I whipped out my receipts at Hotel Sunroute Plaza as proof, the receptionist coldly told me that they were using a different company.

 

Of course I paid obediently. My thought was "Then why bother to measure the luggage in the first place? Just say 1700 yen per luggage will do lah!"

 

5) Breakfast was not delicious. It was just that, ordinary and plain. The Kyoto train station's bento that cost just 1000 yen was more delicious than their breakfast.

 

6) The ryokan had given us a list of rules to abide by. As a result, we had to remember to keep our volume low for fear of disturbing other guests. We had to remember to mind our behaviour when we stepped out into the neighbourhood street ...

 

It is not as if we were the rowdiest tourists on earth, but when you are given a set of rules in black and white so formally, it becomes rather binding and restricting. I found myself asking my mother, repeatedly, not to speak loudly when we were in the room. I have never done that before since a hotel room is supposed to be a private place. I didn't really enjoy the stay with the constant need to remember to behave well. Perhaps it was just me. Other guests might not have treated the set of rules so seriously.

 

 

The in-between:

The location.

 

It is located about 7- to 10-minute walk from Gojo Subway Station, just one stop away from Kyoto Station.

 

I would not find it too inconvenient, just that the walk can be a little confusing for us. On the second day when we were walking to the station, we lost our way in the neighbourhood and came out the wrong way. We spent a good 15 or 20 minutes getting to the station.

Will I come back again? No. Not for the service for sure, and we know that service is quite important for a hotel or ryokan when you are unfamiliar with a place.

Do I recommend this ryokan? Well, I wouldn't write it off as a resounding 'No'. However, I would ask you to look around for something better first.

But this experience makes my mother and I feel that a hotel stay is better than a ryokan stay any time.

So, I am not stating the ryokan or the directions here. You can google for it if you are interested. :)

Day 5: Nozomi Train to Kyoto, Arayashima Bamboo Groves, Kinkakuji & Kiyomizu (Golden Pavilion) Temple

I woke up at 5am on the 5th day.

It was the day to check out from Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku to visit Kyoto.

By then, I was quite weary of the constant search for directions. I didn't want to put myself, my mother and Baby through another round of great stress at Kyoto, a whole new world to explore. I looked up 'Kyoto day tour' and found Chizuko who replied to my last-minute email, saying that she would do a private tour with us. I paid US$165 via paypal for it. It was cheap and the itinerary looked fantastic. It promised to cover what I wanted to see:

Arayashima area, Kinkakuji Temple, Kiyomizu Temple, Nijo Castle and Gion.

However, Chizuko stated that she conducted the tour on foot and by public transport as she didn't drive. I thought it was fine as long as we could cover those areas in the itinerary.

We woke up bright and early to board the train at Tokyo Station at 6.45am as I had read that it would be difficult to sit together if we had boarded at Shinagawa Station, the second station, for our Nozomi train. However, we still didn't get to sit together as all the rows in Cars 1 to 3 (non-reserved seats) had at least one person sitting in them.

The grandmother-child pair soon fell asleep on the train. It was to be a  2 h 15 min journey.

I bought a bento at Tokyo Station's platform in case my mother was hungry. I had read that the Japanese station bentos were delicious and unique at every station so I had always wanted to give them a try .

It looked great but tasted disappointingly ordinary.

A lady was selling food and drinks on the train.

When we reached Kyoto Station, the Visitor Centre was the first place I went, as advised by everybody on the internet.

I was supposed to get a bus map but I totally forgot about it. I didn't know what to get except a one-day subway pass for the next day (we already had a one-day bus and subway pass from the Kyoto E-ticket) and 3 kimono passports for discounts which I didn't have any use for!

After that, we took a subway to Gojo Station, just one station down, to our ryokan, Nagomi Ryokan Yuu.

By then, there was no network on my mobile phone. 

I followed my hard copy of Google Map that I had printed out and managed to find the place!

The 'red umbrella' the ryokan's website had asked its visitors to look out for had turned into a white lantern.

On arrival, the receptionist saw that I had Baby with me and requested for 1000 yen for her one-night stay. I was not surprised by it since it was stated on Agoda that I might have to pay for an extra person's stay. I also paid for two persons' breakfast at about 1100 yen each and another 1000 for the deposit.

All three of us were shocked when the yukata-clad young lady led us to a room that required us to climb this ladder to get to our tatamis! I seriously doubted I could climb that ladder that perched so precariously on a ledge, much less my mother and Baby!

 

I am sorry, but my first thought was "You don't use common sense ah? You actually needed me to tell you that we would not be able to climb that thing just to get to our beds?!!"

 

So the lady agreed to change our room to one that didn't need us to risk our lives to exchange for a one-night's sleep. And we were eternally grateful for that!

I enquired about the kimono dress-up the ryokan had advertised on its website. It stated that with a fee, you could wear a kimono out for a day in Kyoto. That was part of the reason I picked the ryokan. However, the lady replied that the sessions were 'fully booked' for the day.

I was quite disappointed. I consoled myself that most people do not wear a kimono when they come to Kyoto anyway.

We began our wait for Chizuko, our local tour guide, to come and pick us up at the reception.

However, I only realised that the lady I saw earlier sitting at the other side of the ryokan was Chizuko when she called the ryokan to tell them that she was waiting for us at 11.30am, half an hour after our agreed time to meet.

Chizuko did not want to tell me her age but she appeared to be in her fifties.

She was very helpful and spoke good English. She was able to understand most of the things I said and her English was comprehensible to me. She tried her best to accommodate what I wanted to see although I later realised that she could have forgotten the itinerary she had listed on her website, so if you want to use her service, you should jot down the day trip and the itinerary you had paid for just to remind her the places you want to see. However, to be frank, you get what you pay for. US$165 is not a high price to pay for a guided trip in Kyoto so I am not complaining.

We took a subway before changing to a JR train (which our day passes did not cover) to get to Saga-Arashiyama Station and walked about 10 to 15 minutes to the Tenryuji Temple.

According to Chizuko, there are 8 small temples within the Tenryuji Temple.

Three-legged = Tripod

One-legged = Monopod

Interesting!

Lots of lotus in the pond

We paid to enter the garden.

This is a typical zen garden - without water, just sand and trees.

The lines on the sand depict waves in the sea.

A pretty pond to behold

So we took a picture here

There were quite a few species of flowers in the garden. Among them were irises ...

and hydrangeas ...

more hydrangeas ...

still hydrangeas

After the garden, we continued on the path that led to the Arayashima Bamboo Forest.

Very beautiful, but very crowded, like any other tourist attraction.

See the crowd behind us?

Chizuko helped to photograph us at an angle so that we were the only people captured in the picture.

Isn't she a genius?

 

The Bamboo Forest was a mere 400 m (?) walk.

 

It looked like a long walk on the Internet pictures but it really was a rather short one and many people were taking pictures of themselves and their families or friends. We had to wait for our chance to take it and jump at the window that fleeted past us when it was available. Chizuko said that you would have to be there at 7am or 8am to have a nice photo without other people in it. Well, we were not likely to return that soon.

She walked us to a Moon-crossing Bridge. Besides the Bamboo Forest, the Moon-crossing Bridge was another representation of Arayashima to the older generation. The bridge looked just like another modern metal-made bridge to me and I forgot to take a picture of it!

This forestry mountain would turn into a colourful mountain in autumn, somewhere in mid November. The Japanese maple leaf trees would dress it yellow, orange and red. Unless I quit my job, I would never be able to see such a beautiful sight.

The river is a special river, having three names at three different points.

I asked Chizuko if it was common for construction areas to have such cute barriers.

She said yes.

We had a peek at the colour of autumn.

The locals would hold parties on the sheltered boats during autumn.

This is where the river has its second name.

"Hydroelectric power," Chizuko mentioned.

That's not the name of the river, of course.

After the Arayashima tour, Chizuko took us to take a foot train for a 20-minute ride to Kinkakuji Temple.

It's a flat rate of 210 yen and 110 yen for adults and children respectively.

The final station, and our station.

It was very crowded at Kinkakuji, or the Golden Pavilion, Temple.

It looks deceivingly quiet and calm in the picture but we had to fight with other tourists for a spot to take a quick picture with the Temple!

The pond is also known as the mirror pond as it supposedly reflects the Kinkakuji Temple beautifully.

On looking closely at the Temple, we could see the squarish slabs on the body of the Temple. Those were the golden leaves that part of the Temple's construction.

 

That was as close as we could get to the Temple. No commoner could get into the Temple in case of thefts of the golden leaves.

 

Near the Temple was a 'bonsai', planted by the founder.

The entire plant is a bonsai.

Pictures of the interior of Kinkakuji

Do you see the crowd? We were there when we took our picture.

And Chizuko said it was not very crowded as it was not the peak season.

My goodness!

We left Kinkakuji quite hastily as the crowd was getting to be too much to bear and I was worried that we might not be able to cover much if we continued to spend too much time there.

 

So we moved on.

 

On to Kiyomizu Temple.

 

We took a bus there and walked uphill for a good 20 minutes!

Finally, we reached the place!

It is the most visited temple in Kyoto

The students were drinking the spring water.

The first stream from the right was for Health, the middle stream was for Studies and the last stream was for Love and Beauty.

Kiyomizu Temple is also known as the 'Take the Plunge' Temple.

This platform is 30m high.

More than 150 years ago, it was a practice for people to take a plunge from the platform to pray for the fulfilment of their wish.

About 50% of the jumpers died.

The practice was banned 150 years ago, but 'to take a plunge at Kiyomizu Temple' has become a phrase synonymous with courage eg. I took a plunge at Kiyomizu Temple to buy this million-dollar bag!

A tiny view of the platform

Another cute barrier!

By the time we came down, it was nearly 5pm and the people drinking the spring water were not as many, so we joined the queue to drink from the Health stream.

You have to hand it to the Japanese. They even have a steriliser for this!

Pond skaters in the pond at Kiyomizu Temple

At about 6pm, Chizuko took us to a bus stop near Kiyomizu Temple to take this bus back to Kyoto Station. She only bade us goodbye after the bus arrived.

 

It was extremely crowded on the bus as there were hordes of tourists on the bus as well. We had to squeeze ourselves up the bus and remain squashed for the next 20 minutes or so until we reached the bus terminal just outside Kyoto Station.

 

Chizuko recommended us to remain around Kyoto Station to have our dinner before going back to our ryokan.

 

My mother's udon with beef, which she said was good.

Baby's chicken katsu don (left) that came with my udon (right)

The meal totalled up to 2410 yen.

We chanced upon the Kyoto Tower from within the Kyoto Station as we walked to the subway.

 

Tourism is the main industry in Kyoto and a law stipulating the height restriction of buildings constructed had been passed (can't remember how long ago it was) to protect the industry. However, Kyoto Tower was built before the law was passed so it continues to stand as the tallest building in Kyoto.

After we exited the Gojo Station, we had to navigate the dark and quiet neighbourhood streets to return to our ryokan. My mother kept asking us to keep very quiet so that we would not attract robbers and thieves. At first, I dismissed it,"Japan is very safe. There is no robber." but after she repeatedly mentioned about robbers, I became paranoid as well and we quickened our steps to get back to our room.

I was relieved to see the white lantern.

We bought a Melody-shaped Japanese sweet for about 560 yen at Daimaru supermarket at Tokyo Station before we came to Kyoto. I urged Baby to eat it before it turned bad. For the hefty price I paid for a sweet, she said it was awful and refused to eat more. The shape was really cute though.