Taking some time to relax in Kyoto and rewarding ourselves with a delicious meal.
Arriving in Kyoto
We arrived in Kyoto and after dropping off our bags at the hotel, we wandered around the area to explore and find somewhere for a massage. We were feeling sore and a little run down so we thought a nice massage would do us good. We eventually found a place and booked in for later in the afternoon.
Because our hotel check-in wasn’t until a little later in the day, we ventured to one of the nearby gardens, the Shōseien Garden (it was next door to our hotel so you might say it was convenient). There was a small donation to get in and we wandered through the small garden area to pass the time in peace and quiet.
The garden featured a pond, splattering of cherry blossoms, and ample space to sit, relax, and admire the area.
Shabu-Shabu
After checking in and resting at the hotel for a little bit, we made our way back for our massage. This definitely hit the spot and our poor bodies were feeling a little more relaxed.
We made our way to a sukiyaki restaurant literally across the street. We’d been meaning to try sukiyaki in Japan and now was the time to give it a go! Most of our meals so far have consisted of ramen or different rice-based dishes so it was time to shake it up a little bit.
After flicking through the menu we decided to go with shabu-shabu which is very similar to sukiyaki. The menu had a handy guide on what to do and the server was so helpful in explaining each dish and how to best prepare and eat it.
Chris isn’t the biggest fan of seafood but quite enjoyed the sashimi. Also the desert was yuzu sorbet and it was absolutely delicious (as seen by Chantal’s face in the image below). It was a much more expensive dinner than we’d had so far but the food was delicious, service was outstanding and environment was beautiful.
Chris and Chantal 