Day 5 (Jan. 10)
It was my last day in Kyoto.
2 nights and 3 days swung by at the speed of a bullet train.
While looking back at my memories, we concluded our trip in Kyoto by visiting the Arashiyama area, which is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Kyoto, with its many souvenir shops and beautiful scenery. Although the tables of the shops were nicely decorated with loads of snacks and food, we had one objective in mind, and this was to visit the Geinou Jinja.
Geinou Jinja is a shrine or temple that brings good luck to those seeking to succeed as a celebrity, musician, or artist.
Call me superstitious but I'd rather give it a chance than to just say that I don't believe in these things.
As you can see in the picture, the shrine is full of red wood blocks that have names engraved on them. The names that are on the blocks are names of celebrities who have sponsored the shrine.
If you look close enough, you can see names of many successful individuals... famous actors and actresses, artists, celebrities and musicians (I was able to spot some members of EXILE, the Japanese dance group).
I'm pretty sure this is expected but I made another wish at the shrine.
Again, the wish is a secret =)
After a long and productive tour around Arashiyama, we headed back to Yokohama.
On the way to Yokohama, we stopped by at a delicious unagi (broiled eel) restaurant that served only unagi dons (eel on rice) and nothing else.
In other words, their reputation and their life is dependent on unagi.
I'm sure you would say that's crazy, but after a bite of this, I'm sure you would understand.
This unagi don.... is simply the best bowl I've had in my life.
Undoubtedly, it was a taste I would never forget.
Day 6 (Jan. 11)
Continuing with our reckless tour of non-stop entertainment, our next destination was Sendai.
To seek a relaxing stay, we headed towards a ryokan (traditional Japanese-style hotel), that was located in the middle of mountains and lakes. It seemed like it was snowing at Sendai for a while, but fortunately, on the day of our arrival, the snow took mercy on our poor souls with no jackets.
For our stay, we selected a package with dinner, free access to the onsen (hot springs), and a breakfast buffet.
To be honest, I wasn't really expecting much when I first heard the package deal.
8000 yen (approx. $94 CDN) for all this!? It sounded too good to be true.
However, my presumptions were clearly mistaken.
When I first saw the dinner tray, I thought it was for the two of us.
Pork sukiyaki, sashimi, and a few small dishes. Sounded reasonable.
But no, this was actually for one individual.
Although I couldn't fit the other dishes and the dessert in the frame, this was actually only part of it! What a deal!
What surprised me the most was actually the onsen.
The ryokan actually had one big indoor onsen (like the one from Harrison Hot Springs in Canada), as well as a big outdoor onsen with four different types of springs.
I found the outdoor one to be a really good experience because I was able to look at the mountains topped with snow, while relaxing in the warm and cozy onsen.
This is something you can't really experience in Canada, and surely something you can't really experience in big cities like Tokyo.
With all my stress and pain flowing out of my body, my sleep that night was the most comfortable and relaxing one yet.
With high expectations for a delicious and filling breakfast, I called it a day.
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