Kyoto, Japan or One Last Hurrah!

So here's the deal. 

Cathay Pacific will let you fly until you are 36 weeks pregnant. 

Derrald had a conference in Japan last week, when I was 35 weeks pregnant.

So... even though I know I said I would be grounded in Hong Kong after my last long trip to the USA, at 35 weeks and 2 days pregnant, I flew to Japan!!

And can I just say, I LOVE JAPAN.

More specifically, Kyoto.

Perhaps it's the pregnancy hormones making me feel all extra emotiony. Perhaps it was all the Japanese food appealing to my pregnant appetite. Perhaps it was because I got to wear my coat (even if I couldn't button it up completely!) and sip hot chocolate from one of the five trillion Startbucks scattered across Kyoto pretending to bask in my pregnant glow (instead of facing the reality that is now simply swollen, pregnant pudge face).

I don't care.

I LOVE Japan.

I love all the colors on the trees this time of year.

Walking across the city in search of "the Philosopher's Walk"

A beautiful area on the North-east side of town

I love the Japanese hospitality and the way everyone was so polite ALL the time. Even this yogurt wanted to wish us well!  

I can't confirm whether or not this food does in fact bring one "a wonderful time" but I can't imagine why it wouldn't. Every other food we tried in Japan certainly lived up to that statement.

And can we please talk about the toilets?! 

Even before going to Japan I have dreamed of those mythical toilets. The ones that are supposed to have 70 different buttons and be able to talk to you.

Well!!!! Imagine my delight when I walked into our hotel bathroom and beheld this little beauty:

Let me tell you, when you have placed your tired bottom, cold from being out in the chilly winter air, onto a toilet seat that has been pre-WARMED for your comfort, bless those Japanese hearts, it's WONDERFUL!  

And check out these buttons! 

 Now, mind you don't give yourself an accidental enema using those bidet/spray functions. We don't know how they have done it but it's like the faucets have inbuilt radar. They know exactly where to spray.

 I love the comfy Kimono robes provided by our hotel that let us feel like we're taking part in the culture even when we are lounging around our hotel room. *sidenote: our hotel did not provide any english speaking TV channels either so there was even more opportunity "immersing" ourselves in the language/culture.

I love all the people riding bicycles, even if it meant risking my life every time I stepped out onto the sidewalk! 

Point in case: as I raised my camera that man on the bicycle wasn't there, and then suddenly he was..

There are so many things to do and see in Kyoto that we couldn't possibly fit everything in to the brief three days we had there, but a few of the highlights included:

Nishiki Food Market. 

An undercover market that sells all kinds of Japanese foods. Things like pickled vegetables and salty fish. I loved trying to work out what each thing was and marveling at how little I could recognize!

So many barrels of vegetables. So many colors. And the vendors were always very polite.

Pickled vegetables - look like they are covered in mud? We think it might be salt. We have NO IDEA.

 There was a little place serving up oysters and a place that does mini donuts made from soy milk. I had read about these babies on some blog and so insisted on trying them out for myself. The key is to make sure you go around the corner and get them nice and hot! They don't dip them in sugar or any silly thing like that. Just nice sweet, soy donuts. Delicious!!

Mmmm, donuts.

Daimaru Department Store.

Right by Nishiki Market and in the center of town is Daimaru department store. This turned out to be way more fun than your regular department store because, aside from being 8 levels, the basement is FULL of fun foods. I went while Derrald was at his conference and knew I needed to bring him back to see the amazing array of foods on offer. And now I will share some of our findings with you.

The dish on the bottom is made up of bean sprouts and we had something very similar on our first night, SO GOOD!

This salad bar lives in my dreams. They had some of the most delicious looking salads. The one I tried had crisp fresh romaine lettuce and arugula, thinly sliced white onion, thin slices of lemon and a cured ham like prosciutto. Tasty tasty tasty. There were pumpkin salads and seaweed salads and roast veggies salads and salads with seared tuna and avocado... oh why oh why don't we have one of these salad bars in HK (preferably on campus!) ?

Now, the Japanese really know how to fry things. The Scottish are known for deep frying EVERYTHING (um, hello fried Mars bars) but the Japanese, they seem to fry everything AND in different ways! It can be a fried curry dumpling, or it can be <insert food item here> in panko crumbs deep fried, or there is tempura, the fantastically light fry Japanese are typically known for. 

Derrald trying to decipher what might be in these particular fried goods. These seemed to be in some kind of croquette style.

Then there are "sticks" i.e. fried goods - on a stick. 

What these sticks are is anyones guess. One of them looks like shrimp, the rest = mystery meat.

Gion District.

Pronounced "ghee-on" with a hard "g", this is one of the more famous Geisha districts that still exists in Kyoto. It's filled with old style Japanese houses (machiya) and makes you feel like you are walking around in a movie set. Tourists go there with the hopes of catching a glimpse of an actual Geisha or Maiko (a geisha-in-training) as they emerge from one of the tea houses and go about their business. We were lucky and saw several!

Giving my best geisha look... 

We had some of the aforementioned "sticks" on our last night in Kyoto after wandering around the Gion district for too long and then failing to find a sushi restaurant to our liking (in close enough proximity for my pregnant body to get to). In desperation we ducked into what I can only describe as a Japanese dive bar.

Looks like he belongs doesn't he?

 It made us nervous at first but the staff were so friendly we soon relaxed and ordered "10 mystery sticks" to share. Our "sticks" included beef, salmon, onion, green pepper, octopus, mushroom, spicy sausage, shrimp, egg yolk, and camembert cheese. 

This place also rekindled our love for edamame...

While we are on the subject of food and things that are fried. How's this for a treat?

 "Deep fried, panko crusted cheese wrapped in chicken"! 

Look at that chicken wrapped cheesy smile. And the plate on the bottom left is a giant bowl of tofu.

With all the food and all our eating we had to balance it out with lots and lots of walking. We did so much walking I worried the baby thought I might be trying to induce labor... but she clung in there like a trooper and I collapsed into a nice deep Japanese bathtub at the end of each day to soothe my screaming hips. The walking was wonderful. There is always something to see in Kyoto.

I took this mid-walk, mid-crossing and it turned out awesome don't you think?

How adorable is this little girl?

We crossed this river several times...


Heading out...

And heading back again... I love when Derrald wears scarves. I had insisted we bring this one just in case it got a little chilly for the hot blooded man, and guess what, it did!

Philosopher's Walk.

We made our way to the Philosopher's Walk where we took many a thoughtful step in the direction of the Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion).

The walk runs aside a little canal and you know you've found the right place because you'll finally see some tourists!

There are also a surprising number of houses and building lining the walk. This picture peaked my interest because it featured the gorgeous colored leaves as well as the bamboo. Love it.

Ginkaku-ji.

For those of you who won't read the wiki entry about the Ginkaku-ji, it's called the "Silver Pavilion" but you won't find any thing silver on it. It is all made out of wood and is nestled among some of the most beautiful gardens. It is a Zen temple... and boy was I ready for a little zen at this point.

 I must confess, it had been a long day up until now. We had walked all across the city and I was getting a little tired, a little hungry and a little grumpy... but just a little time spent in these gardens (even with the other tourists all filing through) and I truly felt my spirit calm. So, when Derrald asked me if I was "on my las wit" I was able to reply "I think I just regained them".

Wits regained and ready to smile.

These leaves were shaped like stars. I wish I had a collected a few to take home.

Okay, THIS is the only silver you will see on site at the Silver Pavilion... even just a simple coin pool and it looks so artistic and pretty. 

As you follow the path around the garden you climb to a peak where you can see out over the city of Kyoto. It was glorious.

 *see how I captured those falling leaves mid-fall? awesome.

Back to my leaf and tree color obsession, here are some of my favorites:

It was dusk by the time we reached the Imperial Park on our way home but even in the dark the colors were beautiful.

I told Derrald this photo wouldn't turn out... but it totally did. Look how pretty the leaves are even in darkness!

And just to re-enforce again how incredibly pregnant I was for this last hurrah adventure of ours, here's a picture of me in front of the Nijo Castle. We got rained out on our last day in Kyoto but our awesome hotel lent us some umbrellas and we headed out for some last minute sightseeing anyways. Sadly, we didn't have enough time to get inside the grounds of the castle but it will be on the list for next time. Oh, there WILL be a next time!

35weeks and 5 days pregnant.