Cycling into the Edo Period

Kyoto 京都市 , Here we come! 

A 4hr bus drive from Kanazawa brought us to Kyoto! I have been here once during the summer, and Kyoto with its Edo charm is worth a second visit.  

And of course, with the great weather, the best way to explore Kyoto is on a bicycle! 

Fushimi Inari Shrine (伏見稲荷大社) is famous for its thousands of torii gates, which straddle a network of trails behind its main buildings. These trails lead into the forest of the sacred Mount Inari, which stands at 233m. 

Giant torii gate at the shrine's entrance

The Japanese way of communicating to the deities- you gotta ring on the bell. To alert them I guess?

There are numerous fox (kitsune) statues across the shrine grounds as they are believed to be Inari's messengers. Kitsune Udon (きつねうどん), also known as Fox Udon, is a popular must-eat in that area. Japanese believes that fox enjoys eating the deep fried tofu, hence uses it to worship the foxes at Inari Shrine. You can also find the inarisushi (稲荷寿司) in those restaurant. 

The iconic Golden Temple: Kinkakuji (金閣寺). 

The extravagant architecture of this Zen temple is different for each floors and covered in gold leaf for the top 2 floors. 

Nestled amongst the traditional wooden merchant houses in the back streets of Gion, lies the highly-raved dessert jewel: Kyo-Kinana (祇園きなな). We ordered 1 chestnut parfait as it was the autumn's speciality, 1 green tea and black sesame parfait, and 2 scoops of home-made green tea ice cream. 

I'm no food connoisseur but these were darn good! Our eyes literally popped out  like this -> =O.O=  Ok, parfait first: I usually dislike parfait because those I encountered were layered with loads of cream, ice-cream, and hard cookies. As a result, the entire dessert tasted like ice-cream kachang. 

But, Kinana's parfait was PER-FECT! Maybe more than perfect. As can be seen, each layer is different, the chestnut cream, biscotti, and soft biscuits formed the apex, followed by a scoop of vanilla ice cream and wafer slices, and chestnut ice cream formed the base. 

The concerted effect of different tastes and textures made every mouthful a delight.

 And the chestnut cream? That knocked my socks off~ 100% pure chestnut. 

Not overtly sweet, ah...the lingering aroma of chestnut...

The presentation of these desserts speaks for the passion and pride Kinana has. 

I just hoped autumn would stay a lil longer when I had that last mouthful. 

Petite home-made green tea ice cream which left us craving for more! They striked a great balance between milk and matcha. How can the Japanese excel in everything!! 

Kinana is very popular even with the locals, to avoid disappointment, head there early!

~ Autumn never tasted this good ~