Day 3 : For the Love of Culture
Here’s to Day 3, our first day with something actually planned. Today we were heading a bit north of our Airbnb toward Kinkaku-ji Temple. We had an appointment with a geisha who was going to teach us ikebana (flower arrangement) and green tea ceremony.
Surprisingly, we woke up on time, caught the bus, and made it to our appointment about 15 minutes early. We were both pretty nervous. Our teacher spoke very little English, but we were able to understand most things through gestures.
The first thing we did was change into yukatas (casual kimono). Then it was time for our ikebana training.
Imagine getting a set of pre-cut flowers, and then suddenly a geometry teacher starts putting shapes and degrees on a board while also giving a history lesson. It was really cool… but also pretty hard to follow.
Next up was the ceremony. However, there was a big problem. I am not very flexible and I also had been going to the gym for the last year. My thighs were way thicker than before and I couldn’t sit traditionally. Thank god our teacher let us sit criss cross applesauce, which was still difficult for me.
She gave us freshly made mochi and ginger powder snacks(JJ almost gagged on the ginger). Then she explained how we were supposed to grab the bowl, turn it, and sip from it properly. We also got to whisk our own green tea, and mine turned out very bitter.
Even with the awkwardness and confusion, this experience was a solid 9 out of 10. I love learning new things and stepping outside my comfort zone.
She recommended that we visit the nearby temple, Kinkaku-ji. It was really beautiful, and we actually had a wholesome moment buying some little trinkets made by local kids. I still have mine in my gym bag to this day.
This is where the trip really started to turn for the better. I recommended that we just pick a direction and start walking. We could always find our way back using maps.
And we just wandered…
DIRECTLY INTO A MCDONALD’S.
To be fair, trying McDonald’s in other countries is a must. You get to see the different menu options and compare the prices to back home.
Everything might look normal but it tasted 10x better and was half the price.
We then decided to take a stroll through the residential streets. This was actually pretty unique because it started to look more and more like something out of an anime.
I also got to have my first real conversation in Japanese with a local. We saw a small community temple and I asked him what it was. He also showed us how to clean our hands properly before entering.
Just another five-minute stroll later, we stumbled onto the entire community having a New Year festival.
This was about as good as it gets.
Everything felt kind of blissful. I loved seeing all the traditional clothing, artwork, and little pop-up booths. I even filled out a New Year’s resolution card saying that I hoped to travel more.
I also walked into this cute shop selling yogurt and fruit in small glass jars!
With half our day being a success, we decided to head back to our Airbnb and figure out where to go next. One quick Google search later and we ended up at Fushimi Inari.
We knew it was a mountain with some torii gates… what we didn’t know was that it was going to take us FAT Americans about 2–3 hours to climb.
By the time we got to the top, it was pitch black and we couldn’t see anything in front of us. We could hear monkeys around us though, which was not very comforting.
We survived.
Well… everything except our feet.
On the train ride home that night our feet were absolutely killing us.
Here are some pics we took at one of the rest spots.
Me and JJ split up. He went back to the Airbnb and I decided to go barhopping, but that’s a story for another time…