We headed out to kiyomizudera this morning, the weather forecast said it was going to rain but we were lucky, the clouds passed us by.

I told the kids how daddy and mommy came to this temple some ten plus years back. And then, the temple was still under construction. But now, it’s all completed. Several years back, we also came here with grandpa, po po and ah mei ah yi. And were treated to a lit up Kiyomizudera in autumn at night

After visiting Kiyomizudera, spend a few hours exploring Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka!

I love love love the winding streets and traditional wooden townhouses , there’s always something to —eat!

We popped into almost every sweet shop and there was always something inventive of matcha alongside traditional sweets like the dango, which was very very yummy too!

Even if we were quite filled up already before lunch (had the chance to) happen, we came by Okutan Kiyomizudera, which is an institution for serving a full tofu course, so how could we let it slip?

There were so many more places I would have stopped at for traditional sweets but even with the kids in tow, they were already filled up

Before long, we found ourselves in Gion — Kyoto’s most famous geisha district. Even if we did not catch this place during the evening, we passed by a geisha. Then we made our way into Yasaka Shrine or Gion Shrine, which marks the divide between Gion and Higashimaya districts, sitting at the end of Gion Shopping Street, paid our respects then headed out to the 1km-long Hanamikoji Street,

This is Gion’s most famous street, lined with machiya (traditional townhouses) which have been converted into tea houses and high-end restaurants. A notice here reminded that photography is not allowed.

We made a stop at a cafe for kakigori before heading to dinner

Dinner was more tofu at Nanzan Ji Junsei

The restaurant is set in this beautiful zen garden and when you talk about gardens, the Japanese have their aesthetic values imprinted in every corner of it-the purpose of the efforts : to still you

All the courses were vegetarian and they were all so beautiful and clean

The highlight was a hotpot of soy milk which would boil slowly and have the topmost layer of “skin” crystallized over day ten minutes

Too eager and you spoil your yuba —- with what else but impulse? Wait too long and the “skin” that forms on the topmost layer of boiled soy milk loses its soft spongy texture. 

So much play with the heart to get to that magic in a moment.