Today was a very sad day in Japan, cause it was raining all day! First we had a nice breakfast at the same place we drank something yesterday, I had an amazing veggie Japanese breakfast. Then we went to the imperial palace by bus, first taking the wrong bus which was because my dad was a bit too enthousiastic when stepping into the bus (let’s just say it is difficult to realise which way you want to go when people drive on the other side of the road).

However, when we walked over there, we discovered that we had to wait for another hour to get a ticket to go in and see it. That was too bad, cause even though temples are often pretty open to public, or at least you can photograph the outside, this time the building was surrounded by huge walls so we could not even snap a pic from the outside.

We did not feel like waiting an hour, so we decided to go to the golden pavillion. It was a beautiful temple with a big golden buddha in it, and it was all very shiny and golden, really amazing. The rain was still poring and I was getting so cold, my lip started to shake and I could not get myself warm anymore. We had coffee at some tourist trap-kinda place before we made our way to the supermarket to buy a few umbrellas.

I usually don’t do umbrellas, as you might now, but I was so cold and I did not want to stay inside, I wanted to explore, so I went with it. I bought a nice see through umbrella that was just 6 euros and I liked it a lot. It really did help. So after the beautiful golden Buddha palace, we went to the  zen garden instead. The Zen Garden is a place that is very beautiful in spring, but to be honest it was a bit sad with the rain and all. I really loved the specific garden with the gravel and the stones, that was very peaceful, but other than that floral wise it was all very wintery, meaning there were still no sakura. My poor mother is so sad about it, but I am sure things will be better in Tokyo when it comes to that.

When we were done there we were super hungry, so we took the bus to Kyoto station and had some lunch at Subway. It is not very classy, but they had big queues everywhere and at Subway we were done right away. I had an amazing avocado sandwich that was fully veggie, so I was quite happy.

Afterwards we went to the shopping street where the Disney store is located. I managed not to go inside, which is mainly because 1 I already bought Tsum Tsum stuffed animals at the Disney store during our stopover at Hong Kong. And 2 I am about to visit Disneyland Tokyo in a few days. I did buy some souvenirs, cause I have to bring many! It is difficult though, as Japan is very expensive. Even though people say it isn’t, it is.

It is not insanely expensive, and The Netherlands have become more and more expensive over the years as well, but compared to other Asian countries Japan is a very, very rich country. It is good though, cause the things that are on sale are quite beautiful and often handmade. I was happy to finally buy some more souvenirs as I was getting worried about it a bit, hihi.

Anyway, we shopped some and then we went back to the hotel for a quick fresh up before we went out to dinner. I saw on Tripadvisor that Sugar Hill was recommended, which was right across from our hotel (Sunroute), and it was good. It had an excellent stuffed omelet veggie option and there was lots of stuff to choose from for my parents. There are only 5 tables there, so we were happy we made reservations the day before. It was not super special, but it was very good food and very good service.

In the evening I was quite knackered, and to be honest I felt a bit depressed cause I did not feel like I was really getting everything out of this city. Till now we have mostly be watching Japanese people, instead of actually talking to them, and so I wanted to make contact but everytime I try with apps and stuff, I get a bit afraid. And because of that I get annoyed with myself and yada yada yada.

Anyway, this evening I just took a bath in the crazy high and small bath tub in my room, and I wrote some stuff before I went to sleep. Tomorrow must be a better day!