Japan Day 7: Bamboo forest and tea ceremonies

Kyoto has quickly become one of my favorite cities. Its richly filled with history, tradition and green tea (lol). Left and right people are dressed in gorgeous kimonos to keep the traditions alive. 

Because we were so exhausted from travel and heat, we had to choose between going to the bamboo forest in Arashiyama or to go see the Golden Pavilion. SO sad we missed the golden shrine because that looked SO amazing, but glad we opted to just do one. 

So we woke up early and headed over to the bamboo forest and it was so magical. I can't even put into words just how beautiful this place was. Walking down a huge long path with all these tall bamboo stalks and the sun just trying to peek through was such a gift to see. 

We walked in there for quite some time! We also passed a couple of shrines on the way!

After, we went to go try our first burnt miso ramen. I didnt really know what to expect! The broth had black bits of burnt in it that left this smoky after taste. It was such a unique taste - I'm glad I got to try it!! 

Then we walked through the Nishiki market again since we were in the area. This market is filled with so much life and fun - we got to explore new shops we didnt see the day before! I even found kyoto exclusive green tea kit kats! yum!

We then went to learn about traditional tea ceremonies. We learned a bit of the history of tea ceremonies and got to see how you traditionally make tea. Its such an intricate and calculated process. Each move she made was so purposeful! We then got to make it ourselves too!!! We got the water from the kettle and mixed the teas. We even got to enjoy little sweets before the bitter tea! It was a very worthwhile experience!!

Then we went to namco to play the arcade for felix. He won a couple pikachus pretty quickly but then realized they were bootlegged LOL... so we wont talk too much about that ha ha ha! 

Lastly, we wanted to enjoy the green tea in kyoto, so we went to this cafe that specialized in their matcha parfaits. It definitely hit the matcha spot!!! It was such a delightful mix of so many flavors nd textures - there was matcha cake, jelly, pudding, ice cream, crispies, chestnuts, rice balls and cream! 

needless to say, with all the sweets and tea.. I had quite some difficulty falling asleep.. lol! 

Were going to sleep in today (even though Im already up, but may nap again soon) and travel over to Osaka today! Excited to the fun eats on Dotonburi street!!! Until tomorrow...