Kyoto & Nara in Spring

Namarachi is a quaint district in Nara filled with small alleys and little hidden gems. We checked out two merchant residences ... free admission and you are allowed to go roam around inside the house (with shoes off). One is called Naramachi Nigiwai-no-le and the other called Naramachi Koshi-no-le. Both are interesting to check out but the former is clearly for a richer family. There are also a lot of well-kept small temples free to enter in the neighborhood. Naramachi Shiryi-Kan is a store selling the red monkey charms.

Kitahara is a famous soba spot near Nara Park. We got there 1130 and only one group in front of us, yet we still waited for 15 mins to get seated. There was a 2-person table available (the restaurant only had 3 4-person tatami tables and 3 2-person tables) but the group before us was 4-person so they wouldn't seat us until that group was seated. An efficient system to us but well, Japanese people are known for sticking with their rigid rules.

Kasuga Taisha was well worth a visit with the rows of stone lanterns along the entry road and beautiful orange-red shrine structure. Also a good place to play hide and seek with deers among the stone lanterns.

A local omakase place ... staff almost don't speak English at all. Despite the language barrier, the friendly chefs tried to explain every dish to us using highly animated gestures. Food was great too ... we were stuffed by the end. Favorite plates included crab with roes, freshly-grilled eel, monkfish liver, and marinated duck slices.

Kiyomizu-dera Temple was largely under renovation during our visit. What we found more interesting was the road leading to the temple - an uphill street filled with boutique shops on both sides.

Good-value 5,500 lunch set but they added ~20% services charges + taxes. With drinks and that, then bill came out close to $150, which is New York price for an expensive lunch.

What's has a great ambience and the beef was top quality too. We had the two most expensive cuts (chateaubriand and sirloin) and both were delicious.

Okochi Sanso was an interesting place to visit ... this old Japanese movie star basically picked a gorgeous site and built himself a zen sanctuary. You get a beautiful view of Kyoto city center too. Near the end of the garden route, don't miss this little calligraphy/meditation space called 妙音庵...many people missed it and we had the whole space to ourselves for a good 10 minutes to meditate and soak in the tranquillity.

On our way to dinner, we walked through this cute and happening area called Pontocho Alley. The alley expands into many small narrow lanes filed local eateries. We almost wish we didn’t have a dinner reservation so we can just go in one of the places there.

Maruyama park is not a famous park but don’t miss it if there is a food fair going one. We stumbled upon it on our way back to hotels - many street food vendors lined up the park all the way to Yasaka Shrine. You get a good sample of various local delicacies.

We had our best meal on this trip at Jiki Miyazawa. It deserved its Michelin star and the signature tofu dish was also worth the hype. It had such a unique and complex flavor!