On Saturday, we woke up and were greeted with a beautiful, sunny morning. We had a quick breakfast, then took a cab out to the Northwest part of Kyoto to visit Kinkakuji. Kinkakuji is home to the Golden Temple that sits next to a reflecting pool. There isn’t a lot to do visiting the temple, but it does make for some spectacular pictures. 
We took a taxi across the city to the Southeast part of Kyoto. There, we visited Sanjusangendo, a temple that’s home to 1001 Kannons, the Goddess of Mercy in Buddhism. It was quite impressive seeing so many statues lined up. I wasn’t able to take any pictures because photography wasn’t allowed inside. I did take some of the grounds, which were serene like most other places we visited.
After Sanjusangendo, we took yet another taxi to Kyoto Station in order to hop on a train out to Nara. We were running short on time, so we grabbed bento boxes for the train ride. I had heard a lot about how great bento boxes were, but I wasn’t all that impressed. The bento boxes had rice, some pickles, and maybe some sushi or meat and is served cold. Pickles, rice, and salted fish is not my idea of a great meal. I’d rather find some hole-in-the-wall noodle place, but we had to catch a train. We also grabbed some half liter cans of Asahi. In Japan, it’s perfectly legal to drink in public, but some my Japanese friends have said you shame yourself by drinking in public. So, shame on us. Once arriving in Nara, we went to Nara park, home to 1,200 deer. My mom and I both bought some crackers for the deer, and soon became their best friends for about 45 seconds. As soon as we started unwrapping the crackers, we were swarmed by deer, and they didn’t give up until they were sure the crackers were gone. After feeding the deer, we headed over to Todai-ji, the location of the world’s largest Buddha. I couldn’t believe how big the temple was as we were walking up to it. It was monstrous. There wasn’t much to do once we got there other than snap a few pictures of the Buddha, which was also gigantic. Afterward, we walked back to Nara Station and made our way back to Kyoto.
Before dinner on Saturday, we went down to the hotel bar with a couple Cuban cigars we had bought the day before. In Japan, it’s perfectly acceptable to smoke indoors, including cigars. My dad and I lit up our cigars, and the three of us unwound with some cocktails. For dinner, we had tried to make reservations at an upscale yakitori place through the concierge but were unsuccessful last minute on a Saturday night. Instead, we used our guidebook and picked out a yakitori spot near the hotel. The concierge seemed nervous about making the reservation, but did it anyway. When we arrived, it was obvious why he was nervous. The restaurant, Ichi Ban, was small, warm, crowded, and smoky. In other words, perfect for yakitori. The grill was in the middle of the restaurant, with a counter surrounding it. There was a table in the back, so full capacity was probably about 20 people. Amazingly, there were three seats saved for us at the counter near the grill. Since this was my second time having yakitori in Kyoto, I did the ordering. We had some pork, chicken thighs, shiitakes, chicken meatballs, bacon wrapped asparagus, bacon wrapped scallops, and crispy duck. Of course, we also had a few draft beers. Looking back on that meal, I think it was the best one of the trip. The atmosphere, the food, and our fellow diners made it a memorable evening.
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