Shopping

More light drizzle on and off. Walked to the Kyoto Museum of Traditional Craft and found a playground at Okazaki Park! We walked on the wrong side yesterday. Kids happily played for quite some time. Local play group had a meet up there as well. Finally got the kids away and went to the museum next door. Catherine was not impressed. She was expecting craft for kids. Nicholas was engaged but then tiredness and hunger got the best of him. Had two grumpy kids as we left the museum. Off to Family Mart convenience store to get some snacks. After a quick energy boost, we headed to the Kyoto Handicraft Center. Three levels of a mixture of souvenirs. We spent some time there and we each got something.

Found takeaway sushi but ended up eating at the place anyway. Cucumber rolls for Catherine. Salmon rolls for Nicholas. Nicholas got a bit of a surprise when he accidentally discovered wasabi. He spit it out and had a cracker to get the taste out of his mouth. Owner discovered this and chuckled. He soon brought out another batch of rolls without wasabi! So kind! Fresh sushi. The best!

Caught a bus to Kiyomizu-dera temple. Got very crowded by the time we had to get off. Very busy that side of town. We walked up hill for about 15 minutes. Catherine was not happy. Bribed her with an ice-cream after reaching the top. Fought crowds to the top. Very impressive and the grounds are so lush and green. Beautiful views. Catherine even participated in some of the rituals after watching some people.

After admiring our last temple (kids have declared that temples are cool to look at but are boring), we headed back down the shopping streets. So many shops! We did more damage and bought a few more souvenirs before catching a taxi back to the house. Dinner at another local okonomiyaki restaurant. Had shrimp, beef galbi, yakisoba and grilled potato. Nicholas also taught himself how to use chopsticks!