After sending my parents and Uncle James back to Hong Kong, our family remained in Kyoto for a couple more days. I signed Bridgette up for a special class, where she dressed in a beautiful kimono and watched a Japanese woman demonstrate how to conduct a traditional tea ceremony. The class was very informative and included people from all parts of the world, from Norway to Australia to Mexico to Germany to South Korea. Bridge looked absolutely darling in the red kimono that she chose, so naturally, I snapped a million pics.
One of the reasons I arranged for us to stay behind in Kyoto for a couple more days was so we could go to the special Sanrio exhibition celebrating their 60th anniversary. As a super Sanrio fan for decades, it was very nostalgic for me to see the different exhibits showing how the characters have developed and changed over the years. It was also where I discovered that Alan’s favorite Sanrio character is Tuxedo SAm!
Our friend Kirk, who had lived in Japanese for many years, recommended a French restaurant call Abbesses for us to try in Kyoto, and we were lucky to be able to get a reservation before leaving. It was an excellent multi-course meal that we thoroughly enjoyed, except poor Alan had to pull out his laptop mid way through to deal with a work emergency. 😆
We also discovered the district of Pontocho in Kyoto, known for its paved alleyways lined with traditional wooden buildings and its vibrant night life. We restaurant hopped for dinner there one night and had some delicious ramen and sushi!
The autumn foliage was getting more intense in colors, so right before we left Kyoto, we went to Bishamon-do to take some photos! Bridge got some great ones of Alan and I! 🙂
