*Ding Dong!!!*
Today RJ and I made a trip to Kyoto Maica at Gion to turn into Maikos. HAHAHA. I know I'm so not refined, but! Kyoto Maica can turn anyone into a Maiko. The Kyoto Maica website, a very english friendly website had indicated that reservations should be made 2 days in advance. However, being the slow-mo people that we were, RJ and I had not made reservations in advance. We decided to just go on down to the shop and ask if we could become Maikos on the spot. The shop opens from 9am - 7pm. We reached at about 10.30am and it seemed quiet. But once we stepped in, we realised that it was quite bustling.
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| RJ settling admin matters while I laze around |
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| Front yard of Kyoto Maica |
Kyoto Maica had quite a few options, Maiko, Geisha, Samurai, Oiran and so on. For each type, there were various plans, the basic one would have use of a full wig, 1 studio picture, and 1 hour indoors with free use of your own camera on yourself. Haha, that sounds wrong. The more expensive plans would allow us to go outside and walk about for pictures and came with more prints of photos.
We decided on the most basic plan (Okigaru) which cost 6500yen. Based on our research, it was an economical option for our needs. There was no option to walk outside the studio but it was fine since we didnt really want to walk up and down the streets as overaged Maikos. This plan had use of the full wig, which is less natural since it can look obvious that it's a wig, however, our hair was totally not long enough to be combed into a half wig so that was fine as well.
After providing our sock size, we were led up a steep flight of tiny narrow stairs that you could literally climb on fours into the dressing room. Our items went into lockers first, then phones and cameras into a separate locker before the makeover. Strictly no photo taking. The face went on first, i was amazed by how the white make up went on, and when RJ and I looked at each other, it was like.. Who are you? Then the entire wig went on, and we were sent to wear the kimono we chose beforehand.
O wow, the amount of layers that went on! I was commenting to the geisha beside me that I really don't know how toileting is done with all the layers. But it was surprisingly easy to move about. When you hold the outer layer up, you can run easily. And that's me in the Maiko makeover while RJ was taking narcissistic selfies. LOL
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| Don't make me take out my chopper |
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| Wanton Wefie-ing |
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| And the circus is starting soon, so please take your seats |
It was a really fun experience. I especially like being able to try on the kimono and walking around in it. RJ and I had more fun when the other maikos, geishas and samurais started leaving, and we started our wanton we-fieing. However, i conclude regretfully that I would have never made it big as a Geisha. HAHAHA.
After we transformed back into ourselves, we headed towards the Gion Shijo area for lunch. As we crossed the bridge, i snapped a picture. It's a beautiful area!
We came across Tsujiri and just had to spend our money there. Haha. I stood in front of the cashier for about 2minutes gazing at the multiple options till the staff saved me with 'this is the most popular item'. Thank You Tsujiri Staff. The said item is shown below. The matcha taste was strong, not too sweet and so yummy with the red beaaaaan.
After the beautiful dessert went into our tummies, RJ led us to this udon shop along the main street. I could not recall the name but google informed me that I can call it 'Myoudai Omen Shijo Potoncho' I believe one can call it Omen. Because it was cold, i decided on the hot udon. RJ liked cold noodles, so cold udon for her. Again, I chose the first option which I assumed is the recommended one.
When the first part of the meal came, I was really happy to just look at it cos it's so pretty!! The staff infomed us the greens should go into the soup before we start dipping. Or at least that's what i interpreted.
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| So pretty!! |
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| Itadakimasu!!! Yes!! |
After lunch, we decided to make a trip to Kinkakuji, the golden pavilion since it was one of the places we had wanted to go. And off we went to Saiin station to take bus 205 that stops outside Kinkakuji.
Once we turned in the direction of Kikakuji from the bus stop, I noticed Yojiya, that famous facial blotting paper from Kyoto.
We went in, walked one round and came out. Couldn't stay that long since it was already 4pm and Kinkakuji closes at 5pm.
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| Towards Kinkakuji |
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| Entrance ticket, 400yen |
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| You beautiful thing!!! |
We helped a pretty mom with a super cute toddler to take some pictures and went off to explore the grounds. As we strolled around the garden, I saw a bunch of people taking pictures of the pond and realised there were several fish swimming near the surface, waiting for visitors to feed them. I took a pic as well, but.. really, the result is not worth my effort. Hahaha.
On the way out of Kinkakuji, we stopped by this shop selling rolly dolls that were just so desirable and cute. Really wanted to buy them, but didn't because I couldn't find a good use for them. HAI!!
When we left Kinkakuji, the plan was to visit the Tsujiri Teahouse for dessert and tea. Google map informed us that bus 12 can get us there and so we took it. So far, both buses we took had a standard fare of 230yen regardless of distance. While on the bus, I made the decision to detour to Kyoto Station since it appeared to have Tsujiri, Malebranche and Izutsu Yatsuhashi, all the places I wanted to go. But sadly it wasnt a good decision because I was not able to locate Malebranche fast and Tsujiri closed -_-.
So the only thing I accomplished was to buy Malebranche's Okoicha Langue De Chat - Cha No Ka. Green Tea biscuits with white chocolate sandwiched between. These LDC were created through a collaboration of a tea leaf production expert, a tea appraiser and a master patissier. These are pictures I got from the Malebranche website
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| So pro! |
The biscuits were so crisp with a hint of bitterness and i really liked them. But i found the white chocolate a little too sweet. I could be biased since I do not enjoy white chocolate but if the white choc was less sweet, I will definitely queue up to purchase it over and over again.
Since we were in the midst of a bustling food sale, we purchased some items for sampling. I really loved the Inari sushi i bought, its got sesame seeds inside. Heart!! I also purchased some interesting looking sushi that were wrapped in some sort of leaf. The sign in english said 'this is a very popular sushi in Kyoto!', so i immediately purchased them at 150yen each. I'm so easy to sell to.
By then we were looking for dinner, and RJ found a highly rated okonomiyaki place nearby called Donguri. So we walked there and queued up nicely inside. It was a place of frying, smoke, happy people and yummy food. If you are coming here in cold weather, do wear very little under your coat because its super warm inside with all the hot plates. By tue way, their green tea drinks are Tsujiri which makes them yummy already. But if you like the drinks non sugared, be sure to inform the staff.
This okonomiyaki restaurant serves the items on a frying/hot plate at each table which keeps the food (and us) hot, and allows for some customization with the provided sauces. We ordered a negiyaki, which is a flatter version with green onions, and a yaki udon which was yuzu and bacon flavoured. That udon was really yummmmmmyyyy and would be perfect if it was just a leeeeetle less salty.
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| Yea that's you, Udon. |
By the end of dinner, we were stuffed and had to extract ourselves from the seat. I decided to not wear my jacket on the way back to the apartment because i read that your body will need more energy to keep itself warm and that would, in turn help me to burn up the food i ate. Hurhurhur. And I did it! But probably only cos i was holding my warm warm jacket in front of me. Along the way, we saw a Mount Fuji parking, and took a picture to trick our friends that we were at Mt Fuji at 10pm but i never did send the picture and the friends remained untricked.
Tomorrow will be our last day in Kyoto. I decided to re-visit the Fushimi Inari Shrine because I liked it and didn't realise that there's more beyond the pond that I stopped at the first time we went there.
