Kyoto Day 3: Tea Ceremony and Gardens
Day 3 was spent checking out central Kyoto during the day time and meeting up with one of Mila's acquantances from Calgary. It's always fun meeting people half way around the world!
Started our day off doing a traditional Tea Ceremony. Highly recommended for anybody coming to Kyoto. We opted for a group ceremony at Tea Ceremony En. It's conveniently located and really well priced.
I had just watched Mozart in the Jungle and one of the last episodes had them participate in a tea ceremony in Tokyo. Expectations were high!
Obviously the TV show had very high production value and the decor couldn't compare to what we experienced, but none the less, it was a great experience.
Our teacher was incredibly graceful and informative. The tea was delicious and also came with a little candy snack that is traditional to give guests when serving tea.
Not much to write to be honest as I can't exactly remember where we went! Regrets on not writing in this blog immediately every night during our trip. :/
It was a grey and somewhat rainy day, and I recall walking through the Philosophers Path. The rainy atmosphere actually made the atmosphere of the walk a lot more enjoyable and added a sense of peacefulness. Luckily there wasn't many tourists on this path!
We ended the day off by checking out the Geisha district and we actually did spot a couple. No pictures, but I took some videos which might be added up soon!
Mila and I ended up feeling pretty guilty taking videos of the Geisha's as it seems like they're almost treated like zoo animals by other tourists. They were getting chased along the alleys by eager photographers hoping to catch a glimpse (us included). It was a surreal experience. I wondered if this is what being a papparazzi feels like.
Ended up walking back to the large temple we went to the previous night. We also ended up going night clubbing in Kyoto which unfortunately I don't have any photos of. It was a really strange experience. At the club, a group called Cyber Japan was performing which is essentially a variety of different GoGo dancing girls. The club was filled with guys just looking to film them. They were crowding the stage just looking at their phones while waiting for the girls to come out. No dancing, no talking, no drinking. The second the girls came out, the guys at the front of the stage all whipped out their phones and just stood there filming. REALLY strange experience. That didn't stop Mila and I from having a good time though!
Tomorrow, Nara!