My last full day in Japan, Seika and I went to Kyoto. She organized the perfect day! We took the train in the premiere car. It was very comfortable and felt fancy.

When we arrived to Kyoto, we had an appointment at a kimono place, where they dressed us in kimono and styled our hair. It was such a beautiful experience. We picked out the kimono, belt, bag, and coat that we liked. Then, the ladies wrapped us up in the proper kimono techniques. It felt a bit tight, like a hug, but it was comfortable. We spent the rest of the day in Kyoto feeling beautiful and walking around in fancy outfits and fancy shoes.

It is a bit slower to walk in than pants and tennis shoes, but was more of an elegant pace. Stairs were a bit funny to walk in kimono.

We visited Kennin-ji Buddhist Temple, where we saw the famous painting of the gods of wind and thunder as well as the twin dragon ceiling.

We also had some matcha tea there and paid for our fortunes. This time, my fortune was very good. The best! Seika’s fortune was medium good.

Here’s my fortune:
The adventure begins. It’s time to leave for a new land. This adventure is long, so we need friends. Take your time here and find your adventure companions. Being unprepared is a no-no. Work together with your friends to reach the goal.
Love luck: You are the one who has the same aspirations. I’ll be waiting.
Work luck: challenge, challenge, challenge.
Financial luck: Now is the time to spend money.
Travel luck: Have an adventure and increase your experience points in life
Auspicious items: Airplane goods (not really sure what that last part means)

Kyoto is more touristic than Nara or Kobe. There are warnings for tourists to not take pictures in certain parts of town that are residential and to also not paparazzi the geishas. We passed by one geisha while we were walking between our activities. She was dressed lovely and had her makeup all done up with the white foundation.

Around Kyoto, we did some shopping and bought some spices, Furoshiki cloths, and chopsticks. We enjoyed carrying around our Furoshiki bags with our kimono all day and wanted to keep that memory.

Lunch was exceptional. Seika reserved us a spot at this traditional restaurant that served many delicious and unique courses. It was a very special experience. We got to see the chefs assemble and prepare our food as well as prepare for the dinner meals. The ambiance and the food was top notch!

The weather was a bit cold at times. We wore our kimono “jacket” (the fur collar) and also had a heating pad underneath our kimono between our shoulders. At one point, it even started snowing, so a man with a butsudan shop let us rest at his shop and warm up on our way to our next location.

We made it to the traditional dessert making class. I was unfamiliar with traditional Japanese desserts, so I didn’t know what to expect regarding the taste, texture, or shape. Seika found one that translated in Japanese and English, but the lady definitely said more words in Japanese and only some parts in English. Seika explained any missing information, otherwise, I followed along with the actions of the instructor.

These traditional desserts are usually treated as a fancy gift given to grandma. They are made from white bean paste with a red bean paste filling and called Nerikiri Wagashi.

We had a lot of fun making two seasonally themed sweets: tulips and rapeseed blossoms.

Some parts of the making process were tricky, especially using the chopsticks to apply the small, delicate pieces of the rapeseed blossom decoration to the sweet. I’m pretty good with chopsticks, but this was practically impossible. Seika did pretty well with it!

At the end of the day, we returned to the kimono rental place and changed back into our normal clothes, just like Cinderella at midnight. The let us keep the socks they gave us.

This day was magical.

We headed back to Osaka to meet up with the family at a family friendly restaurant for my final meal in Japan. The restaurant had separate rooms for each group with a door. We would order from a QR code, and the waiter would knock on the door and deliver the items. The restaurant had a bunch of different international dishes like pasta, American steak, croquettes, etc. It was all very oishi and a fun dinner!

I will miss them all dearly.

On the way home, we stopped at the grocery store so that I could bring some Japanese treats back to America. Seika and her parents helped me choose what items I should get. It was such a fun adventure. We bought sake, candies, wasabi, okonomiyaki mix, takoyaki flavored chips—we even bought the same type of laundry detergent that Seika’s mom uses because I wanted to remember the smell, and smell is the strongest sense tied to memory.

Once we returned home, I had to start packing. Between my chaotic packing, we enjoyed some fresh strawberries from the store, since I was about to head back to America to less delicious strawberries. I also had some sake with Seika’s parents and wrote some postcards very quickly with the help of Seika. Time was running out, and I had an early flight.

Previously, I purposely bought a non-refundable, non-changable plane ticket to set clear boundaries for myself. But if I could have rescheduled my flight back to America to a later date, I totally would have! I will just have to come back again soon.