Aah, that delicious Yuzu-Honey ice cream!

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That day, in May of 2019, was nice and bright. Me and my family had just arrived in Kyoto and were exploring the Higashiyama ward. After walking downhill from the Kiyomizudera temple, we were strolling about in the Sannenzaka area, enamored by its traditional wooden houses. We were well behind the schedule I had planned, to cover the countless shrines that gave our hometown, Bhubaneswar (the city of temples in India) a run for its money. But that did not stop my mom from popping into one of the cute-but-cramped stores which sold unique knick-knacks. My dad usually utilized such downtimes to stumble upon random snacks, which would end up being the highlight of a trip. This time he found a honey store. I went in to say “chop-chop” when I noticed a softy machine. I levitated towards it. The owner handed over a cone-full of vanilla ice cream, drizzled in a dollop of rare native Yuzu-honey and a chunk of the honey wedged in. Now I am not very spiritual person, but I can only believe that this dessert had been blessed by the deities of Kyoto. 

We resumed our walk towards Ninnenzaka after satisfying our gluttony and greed. Daylight was dropping fast. We would eventually end up exploring the remainder of the Gion area in the dark, but not before getting a lovely sunset view of the Hokan-ji Temple. The perfection of that moment was further magnified by a group of ladies in traditional kimonos. The sun could now set in peace, knowing that I had gotten the Instagram picture I wanted. The sight of the Yasaka pagoda elegantly lit up in bamboo paper lamps further raised our Japanese spirit. We decided to do a traditional dinner at a restaurant which had floor seating. The seafood and tempura fried veggies may not have catered to my pallet, but my family was gratified to no end. Considering there were models for the food items in most Japanese restaurants, I should have made better selections.

In the next two days, we tried to visit as many attractions of Kyoto as possible. The Arashiyama bamboo forest was charming. The Sagano romantic railway may have been romantic for my parents, not so much for me. No “dear” for me, and a no to the deer for me. Although I must say it was fun seeing them in Nara, casually roaming about among the tourists and bowing down to them. For god’s sake, one deer even used the zebra crossing. Anyway, the most awaited place for me was the Fushimi-Inari shrine. This was the first image that would pop on googling Japan and unlike many of the internet famous sites, this one lived up to its hype. Thousands of Tori gates stacked up in an array to form a hauntingly beautiful orange tunnel that guided us uphill. As we walked further up, the crowds got lesser. So did the integrity of the coating of paint on those wooden structures. But the view of Kyoto from the top was one to behold. The panoramic field of view from that elevation, triggered a sudden realization- “Osaka is right there. It’s not in the original itinerary. But could we…?”

The decision had to be quick as we were at a temporal crossroad. If we rushed, we could get a quick namesake tour of Osaka. But it would cut it too close to our journey back to Tokyo for our flight. Practicality won. We abandoned the admittedly ambitious idea. The disappointment was somewhat alleviated by the discovery of Manneken, a tiny shop that served perfectly sweetened chocolate waffles that me & my family sumptuously enjoyed.

Aah, those yummy waffles!

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“Oh my god, I was in Kyoto station, how could I forget to have the waffles?” I cursed myself as I snapped out of reminiscing mode, back into reality. The train pulled into Kobe and my break was over. Forget Korea, I even failed to enter Kyoto.

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