Japan Mar 2011 Day 3 – Arashiyama Lunch @ 平の家

After visiting Tenryuji and a walk through the Sagano Bamboo Groves, we found ourselves back onto the main street of Arashiyama where we were treated with a rare sight, even in Japan – a female rickshaw puller. We only saw another one a couple of days later in Nara. She was all smiles to everyone along the way but did not go about touting her services actively unlike the others around. Couldn’t resist a candid shot of her.

mini neko beanbags outside a gift shop. kawaii ne!

beautiful rosette of savoy lettuce looking too good to be eaten! The Japanese people love maintain a small garden outside their house, no matter how small their premises might be. And most of them are so well kept!

Lunch at 平の家, a small japanese restaurant along the main street in Arashiyama. Its already 3 pm by the time we finished our walk around Arashiyama and some shops have closed for the day (yes, for the day!). Thankfully this small restaurant was still open and the food was pretty decent too!

This is J’s mini tendon 天丼 set which is basically short-grain rice set laid over with an assortment of tempura fried shrimp, vegetables, drizzled with a savoury sauce.

Piping hot 茶碗蒸 chawanmushi using the local vegetables yasai, 野菜.

The tendon set came with cold soba 蕎麦 , refreshing!

I had an udon nabe うどんなべ物 instead. basiclaly thick wheat noodles cooked in a clear broth with some poached vegetables, ebi tempura and a poached egg, nice and warm for the cold winter day.

After being fueled and fed, we made our way down the street to 渡月橋 Togetsukyō, where we met a geisha makeover along the way. She attracted a lot of visitors who stopped short to snap pictures of her and WITH her! She must either be thoroughly enjoyed the experience of all this limelight on her or thoroughly regretted her decision on the makeover altogether!

渡月橋 Togetsukyō, a scenic bridge Katsuragawa. Nothing much during this time of the year where everything looks so drab and grey but come spring, this place would transform into a popular spot for hanami

Togetsukyo in sepia

So ends our visit to Arashiyama. We took a bus from here back to Central Kyoto and slept mostly throughout. Thankfully we woke up in time to alight!