Friday, November 28, 2014

::Seasonal Dinner::


What I love about Japanese cuisine is that
you can enjoy the whole thing with your eyes, too.
Especially, the local cuisine in Kyoto, Kyo-ryori (京料理),
is beautiful like art.


Dinner on the first day started with local sake.
Prix-fixe menu at Kaji (京料理かじ)


starters.
I love Japanese persimmons :)


Soup


Sashimi (raw fish) with three different sauce.


Grilled pork and mushrooms with mushed nuts and miso.


Lily bulb tofu :)
The texture was lighter than normal tofu.


Stewed veggies and conger eel.


Sake ice-cream for me as dessert :) 
Because I was wearing kimono and obi was squeezing my stomach,
it was hard to breathe at the end of full course dinner.... :P

Dinner at a casual restaurant Kokoroya (ここら屋)on the second day.
I just found out there is a branch in Nakameguro, Tokyo. 
Glad to know!


They serve Obanzai, light Kyoto-style home cooking here.



stir fried lotus root.


stewed yellow tails and radish.


baked wheat starch with miso paste.
one of my favorites :)


Welsh onion with miso sauce.


yam and tofu with butter.


Saba sushi!!! 
This is one of the representative food in Kyoto.
I love the chunkiness of broiled mackerels on top.

Everything in Kyoto was so tasty :)
What I love about Kyoto cuisine is 
that it is more lightly flavored compared to that of Kanto region.

I definitely need to visit there again before long.
Maybe when the weather gets warmer in spring?

Kyoto is such a great city full of tasty food and historic beauty.
I'm in love with it already.

xoxo
Yuki♪














Tuesday, November 25, 2014

::Kyoto Day 2::


Second day in Kyoto
We started our day in Arashiyama 【嵐山】



Arashiyama is famous for this bridge "Togetsu-kyo" (渡月橋)
which is called Moon Crossing Bridge in English.
Think people in Heian era looked at the moon crossing over the river on the bridge.

We took a 5 mins walk from Togetsu-kyo to Tenryuji temple.
It was the best time to see the view of red leaves here.




The view from inside of the temple.



The weather was so nice 
and the reflection on the ponds made the view even more beautiful.


I love this color of autumn.


Bamboo grove which surrounds Tenryuji temple.
So many people were here for taking photos.
and.... I took this one doing a backbend!


I had a hard time drawing a straight line over my head....
there are some missing parts (black parts) in this panorama....
But isn't this cool?? 

We dropped by a pillow store on the way to Kinkakuji temple (金閣寺)


You can order a pillow with any fabric they have in store.
I got a little box shaped pillow that I wrote about in previous post.


Kinkaku :)
Gold Gold Gold!!!! 
It's just gorgeous.... but doesn't it hurt your eyes when you sit inside of the golden room??



We had fish noodle for lunch at the restaurant in front of Kinkakuji.

After lunch, we took a bus and a train to Fushimi Inari Taisha 【伏見稲荷大社】
This place is known as the most popular place to visit among foreigners.
The film "Sayuri (Memoirs of a Geisha) and many other Japanese films were taken here.




More than a thousand red gates (Torii 鳥居) were continuously built from here.






The map of this shrine.
I saw this place in a commercial once and always wanted to see it through my eyes.

Our last stop was Sanjusangendo (三十三間堂)


Cameras were not allowed inside so I took the exterior of the 120 meters long building.
I think if you haven't been here, this place is the must-see.
This exterior look is super simple but the inside is really gorgeous and majestic.
There are a thousands of wooden statues (Kannon) covered with gilt 
which surround a huge Kannon statue in the middle.
I've been here when I was 12 for a school trip 
and remember I was overwhelmed by the dignity of atmosphere.
I felt the same way this time too.


By the wall which surrounds Sanjusangendo.
I was wearing,

Jacket : Le Ciel Bleu
Stole : Citrus
Bag : Saint Laurent


Two days weren't enough to experience the whole things I wanted to do.
Next time, I want to see more of this beautiful city in, maybe, different season.

All the great food I had in Kyoto didn't fit in my last three posts, 
it will be on the next :)

xoxo
Yuki♪





























Friday, November 21, 2014

::Antique Look in Kyoto::

日本語ver. HERE

As I already wrote in my last post,
I wore a kimono for the first day in Kyoto.
My dressing skill isn't so great yet and I could do only the very basic way of tying Obi.


I wore quick and simple updo I did while waiting for the train in Tokyo.




antique kimono I wore


with zouri my mother got me for my birthday.


They let me use the changing room at our hotel which wedding guests usually use.
I love vivid pink and yellow which brighten up dark and cool color of kimono.




wore And A clutch bag







things I got this time :)
The pink wrapping cloth is from the store I wrote about in previous post.


Glass obidome :)


These are pillows that go under your butt when you sit straight.
I always wanted it because it avoids the soreness of your feet while sitting on floor.

xoxo
Yuki♪