24 Hours in Kyoto

In May, my parents, Cam and I flew from Busan to Osaka and then took the train to Kyoto where we celebrated my mom's 70th birthday. Including customs and waiting in line to get a train ticket, the trip ended up taking about 7 hours, which seems a bit crazy for a weekend trip, but we had so much fun and we're so glad we went.

My brother Andrew, my sister Kelsey and her boyfriend Diego were already in Kyoto when we arrived. We went for lunch at a small sushi place and tried to get a table for 7. They did not have tables for 7. So instead they sat us at the bar. But even at the bar, they did not have 7 seats in a row. So we sat in groups of three and four with an old Japanese man between us. He kept looking back and forth between us with curiosity. At some point he struck up a conversation with us and learned that we were all one family which he found amusing.

The food was delicious and a great first meal in Japan. My dad offered to pay for the group and we gestured to all of us telling the staff that we'd like one bill. The staff gestured toward the Japanese man in the middle and I assume joked that we would be paying for him too. We all laughed and he called my dad "great daddy!" which he kept repeating.

After a quick stop at our hotels where we dropped off our bags and reapplied sunscreen, my brother Gordon and sister-in-law Lyndsey joined us. Kelsey had a plan - we were going to the Fushimi Inari shrines. First, we all had to buy metro tickets. Then, I learned that in Japan, there are subway tracks where different trains go to different locations. We mistakenly got on the first train to arrive which was an express train that was going to skip our stop and keep going for another hour! Luckily we realized and got off at the next stop.

Unsurprisingly, Fushimi Inari was super busy. People were trying to get that classic photo with the seemingly endless arches behind you, but it was impossible without having strangers in the background and clogging up the foot traffic. I imagine it would be quite peaceful if you managed to come at 6 AM instead of 4 PM.

We hurried back to the hotel after so we could have an hour to get ready for our dinner reservation at Gion Yata. The restaurant was the first thing reserved for our weekend and it was one of only a couple options with a private room, which I'm so glad we had. It made the dinner feel so much more special and intimate than if we'd been in a loud bustling restaurant with a table for nine.

Just entering the Kaiseki restaurant was so cool. You take your shoes off at the entrance and then walk through a few curtained natural wood hallways. We each had cushions to sit on but you could put your legs under the table. The menu was set, and the waiter explained each dish to us as it was brought out. I wrote it down but I didn't catch all the details:

1. Salad

2. Cold soup (dashi)

3. Sea urchin, flatfish and cockle

4. Swordfish

5. Rice cake

6. Spanish Mackerel and dashi

7. Suki yaki with wagyu beef

8. Miso soup and mixed rice

9. Japanese custard with coffee liqueur (and birthday cream puffs)

During dinner, Cam and I finally revealed the secret that we've been keeping for so long, all so we could tell my family in person. We're engaged! My mom cried and so did my sister. Although my sister was suspicious. Of course, questions about the proposal and the timing of the wedding followed (I'll make another post about the proposal or you can message us). Gordon suggested we elope and the more I learn about all the things you have to figure out when planning a wedding, the more appealing elopement seems (don't worry, we don't plan to elope). But we'll figure that all out when we get back to Canada.

Sunday morning, Gordon and Lyndsey planned another birthday gift for my mom. We took family photos for the first time in years. The last time all the siblings were together was 2020 so it was really nice to get some beautiful photos by a photographer. We spent an hour getting professional photos at the Arishiyama bamboo grove. It is such a beautiful park and I really wished we could have spent more time. But, we had trains and planes to catch so we headed back to the Kyoto central area for lunch.

We said goodbye to Gordon and Lyndsey who had to catch their train back to Tokyo and then went for Tonkatsu. Afterwards, we had enough time to walk back to the hotel and visit Nishikiri market along the way. The market was definitely one of the nicest markets we've been to in Asia. Although to be fair, it might be because all the markets in Korea focus on fish and I don't like fish that much. Then it was time for quick goodbyes before Cam and I had to make the journey back to Busan (which only took 6 hours and 20 minutes back because customs is so quick for us with our resident cards). And we were back to work on Monday (not choosing our holidays is definitely a downside of teaching).