One More Day in Kyoto

I woke up extremely nervous, but also really excited because today is the day my parents meet my boyfriend for the very first time. Originally, he didn’t think we would be able to meet because they seemed to have a packed schedule, but it turned out that his friends wanted to do some of the same things, so we met up and went together!

We started the morning with a delicious breakfast at our hotel and kept our bags in the complimentary coin lockers. Then, we took a bus right to Sanjusangen-do, a temple with 1,000 golden buddha statues. You weren’t allowed to take pictures there, so I can’t show anything, but it really was a spectacular sight. This was the first time I had ever been in a museum or any establishment where I didn’t see anyone try to sneak pictures. Even when I was in San Marco in Venice, lots of people were slyly taking pictures of the beautiful basilica. Next, we went to a small, but very pretty shrine right next door. My dad had read somewhere that it is often overlooked, and no tourists ever go there, so we decided to take a gander. Afterward, we wanted to see the Kyoto National Museum, but it turns out that it’s closed on Mondays. This was such a shame because it looked really beautiful from the outside, but we figured we could head to Maruyama Park early, where we would meet up with Camden and his friends. When we got off the bus, we got some ice cream to eat while we waited since we were early. My mom got matcha and my dad got hojicha, which is roasted matcha! Hochija is one of my favourite teas, so I liked that one more. Once we finished our ice cream, we headed towards the park and came along some adorable cats! I stopped to take pictures and admire the cats, and my parents found a seat close by. There was a man who even had a cat toy with him! It was so cute to watch him play with all of the cats. After soaking in the seven or so cats, I joined my parents and sat for a bit taking in the nature. When we finally got up to head to the park, it wasn’t very long until Camden, Luke, and Josh found us! I was distracted by yet another nearby cat, when I looked up and saw the three of them! We walked around the park looking for the pretty viewpoint, but couldn’t find it. Then, we walked through the Yakasa shrine right next door and around the Gion district. The architecture is so unique with its fencing and lattice wood all over. We were also pretty hungry and found a great ramen place, whose Canadian shop has a Michelin star! I got the Gion black ramen, which gets its name from the black sesame and nori (seaweed) used in the broth. It really did take on a black colour and it tasted subtly of sesame. It was delicious! Then, we wandered around for a bit since we wanted to get to Kiyomizu-dera, another stunning shrine, for sunset, and we had an hour to kill before heading over. The walk was very pretty, and we ended up right where we were yesterday! It turns out that instead of going right to the Yakasa pagoda, we could have also turned left to see this large and beautiful shrine. There is another big red pagoda in front of the wooden and gold shrine. The view wasn’t very clear, and isn’t as impressive as Tokyo, but the sunset made it so much better.

Once it was time to leave, we split off and it was especially sad for me because I knew this would be the last time I see Camden until at least a month. I actually have been searching for a bracelet for him because I knew he was looking for one, and I finally found the perfect one on the street walking down to the bus stop! I even found a matching bracelet, but with different beads. I’m so excited to give it to him the next time I see him!