Skip to main content

#meghangetslost in Kyoto

Less than a week after we returned to Kyoto from our Golden Week trip to visit Koichi`s parents one of my very good friends from my time at Henderson State University came to visit. The last time we saw each other was the weekend of my wedding party in Paris back in 2011, so almost 6 years ago!

On May 11 she took the bullet train to Kyoto from Tokyo and Noa and I picked her up at Kyoto Station and for the next 12 days we did some sightseeing together and she had a couple of days out on her own and we ended her trip by visiting Tokyo Disneyland together!

Here are some highlights from Meghan's time here!

Thursday, May 11

Dinner on her first night in Kyoto. I think I made a chicken with yogurt and pickled plum dish.

Friday, May 12

Costco trip! Noa loved having someone to play with while I shopped. 

Costco lunch, you can`t go to Costco and not eat a hot dog!

I had the cutest shopping buddies that day!

This has nothing to do with Meghan except that she was here when we bought it and enjoyed lots of ice cream from Noa`s ice cream stand.

Dinner at Chie, an okonomiyaki restaurant near our place.

Group pic at Chie.

Saturday, May 13

We had guests from Koichi`s company over from the afternoon, so Meghan helped us clean to earn her room and board for her time here 😉

After Koichi`s coworkers left we were hungry, so we took a taxi to a kaiten sushi place for a late dinner.

Sunday, May 14

Our entryway decorated with a huge pine cone my father in law gave me on our trip to Amakusa, the chalkboard I use for various occasions, and the Gerbera daisies Meghan gave me for Mother`s Day :)

We spent Sunday eating our way through Kyoto`s Nishiki Market and it was all delicious!
Here we are having "onigiri" or rice balls.

This was a "mochi" or sticky rice cake restaurant and we enjoyed some mid afternoon beer.

Mochi and beer for a snack

Walking through Gion

Enjoying some drinks from Starbucks along the Kamo River

Mother`s Day carnations from Noa and Koichi

I found Peach Jam, a bag store in Kyoto! I went there like 4 years ago when Lydia visited and we spotted it from the bus and got off at the next stop and made our way back to it and both bought bags. I was so happy to find it again and love the bag I bought that day!

Monday, May 15

Headed out on the bus for some sightseeing.

First stop was to watch a festival procession which takes place on May 15 every year.


This is called the Aoi Festival, click the link to read about the festival.

It was hot that day, so I know these ladies must have been really hot in those kimonos!

After the festival we found a place serving curry for lunch and took a break before heading to see Ginkakuji.


Picking a "love" fortune

The silvery rocks were gorgeous and Noa really wanted to play with them. Luckily she was able to understand that they weren`t rocks for playing.

She loves water and fountains.

Next stop was Nijo Castle

Such a serene view on the castle grounds

My favorite pic from the day was before we went into Ginkakuji and Noa was having a matcha ice cream break.


Shot of the May full moon. I think it was called the blush moon or something like that. I need to practice my night / full moon photography.

Wednesday, May 17: Day Trip to Nara


Breakfast at Hoshino Coffee on the way to Nara. They have the best French toast, souffle pancakes, and iced coffee in copper cups!

Loved this spot!

Noa loves the deer and requests many pictures with them.

The look on Meghan`s face cracked me up here.

I think she likes them because they`re the same height.

Cheese!

This is the largest wooden building in Japan (I think that`s right anyway). There`s a huge Buddha statue inside.

Feeding the deer some "shika senbei" (deer snacks)

She kept talking to the deer like they were people. I think she`s telling this one, "Let`s walk together!"

I love all of Noa`s facial expressions.

Dinner at a Chinese restaurant in the shopping center near our place. We had tan-tan men (a kind of spicy, creamy, noodle dish) and gyoza.
Koichi is such a weirdo. Meghan, I`m sorry you always had to sit next to him. 


Still to come: Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto Station, takoyaki, and our trip to Tokyo Disneyland!





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

This week`s goals

Goal #1 -　ｒｕｎ It`s Monday morning here and I`ve got my first run of the week done! My goal is to get out and run everyday this week M-F and maybe on Saturday too. From Saturday I`m going on a 2 night camping trip with 14 students from the English conversation school where I work. I`m hoping it will be fun, but who knows... This morning I set my alarm for 6:00 to get out and run before Koichi woke up, but that didn`t happen. I ended up getting out of bed around 7:40. I made breakfast so Koichi could eat and then I packed his lunch while snacking on the watermelon that wouldn`t fit in his lunch box. I considered not running since it was already after 8:00. but I decided to just get out there and do it and now I`m glad I did! Goal #２ -　ｅａｔ　ｈｅａｌｔｈｙ　ｍｅａｌｓ & track food About to make some breakfast now. I`m thinking I`ll make a green smoothie and have 1/4 of an avocado and some sliced tomatoes on the side, may even throw in an egg. Lunch will most likely be chicken taqu...
Post a Comment
Read more

TGIF

I love Fridays! Thursdays are pretty long for me and I have a few tough classes and then on Friday I have a really easy day with good kids and almost the entire day free. Plus, the weekend is near! Yesterday I was lucky to finish at 4:30 in the afternoon. I had to do some shopping for our upcoming camping trip so I texted my friend Kazuko to see if I could drop by her place. She said yes and I picked up some take out curry and headed over. We had dinner and talked and I played with her kids who are so adorable. It was a nice break from the kids I get to see everyday! I needed to get away from my everyday routine so it was a good visit. Here`s what I`ve got going on today: 1) fold and put away laundry (I`m bad about folding and leaving!) 2) clean kitchen and dining room table 3) Swiffer floors because they`re gritty with volcanic ash 4) exercise at 9:00 (that will make 3 days in a row) 5) Face Time with my sister!! I love planning things to do on the weekends. So far this wee...
Post a Comment
Read more

Headache -> Cancelled plans

I was supposed to have friends over for a 鍋 (hot-pot) party tonight. I`d invited Kazuko`s family and Miki`s family and we were all looking forward to a fun evening eating, drinking, talking and laughing. Unfortunately I have had a headache since yesterday evening so my plans were cancelled. I thought it would be better when I woke up this morning, but it wasn`t. I went to work at 9:00 for a lesson and thought some coffee would help, but it didn`t. After work I decided to suck it up and go to the gym to work out thinking the exercise would clear my head and take the pain away, but it didn`t. After I came home I discussed with Koichi that I would take some medicine and if my head was still hurting around 3:00pm that I would contact both friends and cancel the evening. Around that time I got a message from Kazuko that her son had a runny nose and that he and her husband would stay home because she didn`t want his germs to spread to Miki`s 8 month old baby. So I made the decision then to g...
Post a Comment
Read more