After another picnic breakfast, requiring minimal washing up…
… we headed off to our tea ceremony. We left plenty of time… or so we thought. Of course there is always something. Today it was that if you don’t swipe your Pasmo properly when coming out of a train line, you can’t get into the next one. This necessitated a return trip within a station so that we could carry on with our journey. Danny’s enthusiasm/lack of swiping accuracy made us slightly late, but as we weren’t last it didn’t matter and our host didn’t seem to mind.
The session started with our lovely host establishing where we were all from. There were two 4 person British families (including us), one young Italian couple (young enough to be asked to kneel on the floor!!) and one American mother and daughter in kimono.
We were taught how to bow- the four children got a private lesson. The most important part was the distance between the edge of the tatami mat and their knees- sixteen stitches.
Then the Italian couple demonstrated how to receive the tea, apologise for drinking theirs before we got ours, thank the host for making it, etc. The lovely host was labouring under the impression that we were all capable of remembering a multi-word phrase in Japanese. None of us were. Well, apart from the younger American lady who had cheated by learning some Japanese in advance! Clearly all Americans are highly tolerant of foreign cultures.
The host was lovely and only got slightly serious for the formal part of the ceremony. The rest of the time she happily laughed at us trying to eat our sweets with a little wooden stick and Keith’s face trying to drink green tea! [EDIT Keith: It was revolting. Think a lurid green frothy liquid, that should probably have a HAZMAT label attached to it. In fact it would make an ideal base paint for some of my models.]
After we had all tried the tea formally with the right phrases in the right places (although it should be pointed out that we did not
a) have white socks on
b) have a little fan to tuck into our kimono
c) remember any of the proper phrases!),
she invited all of the children and one person from each of the couples to make their own tea. The children then let their parents drink the tea they had made. Yay! Danny made mine rather strong so I didn’t quite finish the second cup.
It was really nice to have a quick chat with the other British family: the first we have seen since we got here. They were from London and had booked much of their trip with Audley as well. They recommended the Inca trail for our next adventure!
The other British family headed off to the Nijo-jo castle and we scurried between patches of shade in the other direction.
With some misgivings, after reading some reviews, we had planned a trip to the bamboo forest in Arashiyama. I did some research before we set out and plotted a course across the centre of town via the Tozai line and the San-in line to Saga-Arashiyama. My cunning plan was then to swap to another line to do one more hop that put us just outside the bamboo forest. When we got there, it became apparent that the other line was in fact the “Romantic Sagano Train Line”. This leaves every hour, is not air conditioned and had standing room only. Oh, and you have to pay for the whole trip even if you only want to go one stop. Less than ideal.
So we walked.
Hotness.
Moaning.
The bamboo forest was heaving with rude tourists. The trees were quite spaced out. The back drop was uninspiring. The bamboo forest at the Kodaiji temple was a lot better. I did try a matcha/soya ice cream. Not as good as salted caramel but edible. I was pleased that no-one else liked it as, for a change, I didn’t get pestered for another taste!
The children voted against another shrine or the monkeys- and I hadn’t even told them about the 20 minute walk to get there. I think they have a bad case of temple/shrine fatigue and not even the promise of a stamp can enthuse them when it gets to 39 degrees….again…..
We retraced our steps to the station, onto the train and back to the food market. I think this is by far our favourite place in Kyoto. We have been every day and found something new. Today it was a Japanese bookshop… the very definition of frustration! I was quite tempted by a Japanese jigsaw but the family guided me gently away.
I felt better when I found a stamp shop. There must have been 2 or 3 hundred stamps. The nice lady guided me to one that says well done in Japanese and has a picture of a samurai. I think I will use it for exceptional pieces of work!!!
I was very impressed today (although still unconvinced that it wasn’t accidental…) when Keith navigated us back through the grid of seemingly identical covered streets to the dumpling and bubble tea shop. We didn’t need any more dumplings, but there is always space for a bubble tea!
Our mission today was to try and get Danny a yukata to use as a dressing gown when we get home. We failed in the market. It seems to be a girl’s souvenir and he wasn’t keen on the silky red ones! We also failed in the shop Tim recommended. They had lots of second hand adult ones, but none that would fit Danny. Finally, having previously learned a massive number of random adjectives in Japanese came on handy as Danny was trying one on and the sales assistant sucked air through her teeth and stated: “mijikai” which means short. Time well spent.
We eventually found a shop selling what were in effect kid’s dressing up clothes. The quality is not fantastic but hopefully a few washes will soften it up.
We had a fun time in another department store food basement buying a picnic tea as we couldn’t face a restaurant or the queue that would inevitably need to be stood in to get into one.
After tea and a little rest, the children went to read in bed and Keith and I went back out to see Kyoto at night. It was significantly cooler than it had been earlier but still very warm, well over 30 degrees. We had a little wander down a fashionable street all lit up with hanging lanterns and went back to a shrine that was heaving with people when we visited it with Lucky. It was much quieter and with a little open space and less ambient light we spotted Mars. The last time I saw it was on the Amalfi coast, on honeymoon nearly 15 years ago. Ahhh.
Thank you Kyoto and good night.