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I woke this morning with an urge to take the Hotel’s ‘Kyoto’ buffet.  Actually to be factual, I work at 6.30am to take a FaceTime call with Jon, but as he was in Bed and had his light off we just caught up on a quick call, no picture.  I went back to bed for a while and then got up for my breakfast experience.  Well, you look around the restaurant for clues.  Everyone had a Tray (tick), they were using Chopsticks (tick), they had multiple bowls on their trays and there was the occasional Orange Juice…Hmm, how difficult could this be?  I did two circuits around the serving dishes and the labels, which were in Japanese English (Japanese words but using familiar letters)  Miso Soup (was clear, I stirred it, it went light brown).  1 bowl of that with some chopped spring onions.  Sticky Rice or Congee ?  Congee looked like white porridge and I didn’t know how I could eat it with chopsticks.  Sticky Rice it was, with a bit of Soy.  Now the next one I knew, but in its completed form, Beef Udon Noodles.  It was a thin broth, thick Udon Noodles and other larger bits in the bottom, which might have been beef.  Let’s go for that.  Well the serving spoon was a shallow paddle which didn’t grip the noodles and certainly didn’t hold the stock.  I tried very hard to be tidy, but most ended up in the tray.  The thing with wet noodles is that they are a bit like a slinky chain.  If one bit falls off your spoon, the rest follows.  I finished my tray off with a simple one of Yoghurt and Fruit and a Coffee.

I made my way swiftly through the selection.  Miso soup is a taste to be acquired.  I have not yet acquired the necessary sophistication for this drink-come-slurry.  It tasted of Tea.  Eating Udon noodles was again sloppy and subtle in taste and I added to the puddle in my tray and didn’t get much in my mouth.  There is a technique, but I will have to take lessons for it.

So with this completed and my bag packed for the day, I ventured locally to find some Temples.  Kyoto is blessed with many temples.  The Hotel guided me to my first, a 10 minute walk.  After 30 minutes I was sitting in a McDonalds sucking on a ‘Banilla’ milkshake working out where I was.  The sun was already beating down, the sky was blue and it was a nice day.  A kind assistant pointed me back generally in the direction I had come and a bit to the left.

The first Buddhist Temple and a pretty amazing one was the Toji Temple.  You will see a heap of photo’s for the Temple and the grounds.  The complex which goes back to 826 AD, although rebuilt after fire 4 times (the thought of Fools and Horses Trigger’s ‘Broom’ came to mind), it had an impressive 5 tier pagoda and this was the sign I should have been looking for when I got lost.  The grounds with more temples attributed to the founders of the learning were surrounded by Cherry Trees and the blossom was immense.  I took a huge number of photo’s and cut lots out before I posted them.  Apologies for the volume but I though they needed to be shown.

Culinary highlight was a Green Tea Whipped Ice Cream.  For one who hates the taste of tea, this was a triumph.

On the way to my next temple, I stopped by the Hotel to top up on water as it was a little bit draining.  Next I walked north to the Nishi Hongwanji, a temple devoted to another founder of the Buddhist learning.  The Japenese people have so much going for them.  You can see that they have a level of reasoning in their culture and values which I don’t think I have seen in any other country on my trips worldwide.  There link to Buddhism is at the core of how they live their lives and everyone tries to get on.  What a nation!  I’m sure Tokyo will/might be different (I am in two minds as to stay in Kyoto or Oaska and not bother with Tokyo) but even there I am expecting a level of reverence that big cities do not offer.

The scale of the Temples and how they are located is surprising.  Kyoto is a city just like any other with residential housing and shops linked by horizontal and vertical roads, but every now and then you get a break for a world class temple, garden or monument.  Once inside, you don’t notice or feel that the city is moving around you.

The final sister to this temple was about half a mile away.  It holds the worlds largest freestanding wooden structure as its prayer hall and temple.

On the way back I took in some Sushi and tried ones that I hadn’t before.  You will see from the  pictures what I consumed.  And all pretty good.

The evening was pretty slow, but I was running slower, so I called it an early night.  One of the things in my mind is what do I do the day after tomorrow.  Do I go to Tokyo or do I stay around here ?  keep you posted.