A different kind of Tiger mom - Onitsuka - Japan Day 4

The previous post in this series is here..

After we had lunch near the golden pavilion, we took an Uber XL to Kyoto shopping area. It was already early evening and we went to the Onitsuka Tiger shoe store.

The little one had told us that we need to get her a pair of shoes at this store as it is a Japanese product that is cheaper in Japan than in the US. Also not all designs are available in US.

The Tiger mom went into overdrive to make her cub happy. We saw the line at the store was really long. Our friends saw the madness and said “we will go rest in the hotel. When you finish this and come back to the hotel, we can all go back for dinner”.

We stood in line for 2 hours just chatting with others in the line. Then our chance finally came. I had also selected a shoe in blue but it was sold out. Still we picked the version for the little one and also decided all of us should get one given the two hours spent in the line.

Then we made it back to the hotel. There is a Puma store right next to this one and we got socks for my buddy on the way there. We hope the Onitsuka’s are noticed on Bubb road during the local walks.. given their price, I might as well do pooja for it or carry it on my head instead.

Things we do…

We were to have dinner at a vegan place in Kyoto. Again a Jr. selection and she had made reservations. The food was good as was the service but the price was very high compared to other options we had seen. We were happy with the food. Then we made our way back to the hotel.

A very short video..

Our original plan had us spend another day here. We did change plans the previous day. We were going to our next stop a day early. It was going to be our last night in Kyoto..

Will start with our next stop in the next post..

Japan Trip Day 3 - First evening in Kyoto

Previous post in this series is here..

It was close to 6PM when we got to our hotel in Kyoto. It was a massive hotel, the Miyako opposite Kyoto Train station.

We were formally introduced by Jr. to Uniqlo store in Kyoto. I have been to this store before once in bay area and once in Taipei. Didn’t understand the hype given the prices. Turns out the price is right for Uniqlo in Japan. The clothes are amazing and lightweight and fit me wonderfully! We promptly planned for a lot more purchasing at Uniqlo. After the intro shopping we were late for the dinner.

Jr. had already picked a vegan Indian place to dine for the night. So we took an Uber XL and went to the shopping area. We walked around the stores and then made our way to the place only to find it extremely busy.

We begged the owner at Vog and he said “if you can eat and leave in 30 minutes, will give you a table for 6. we have another party coming in 30 minutes”. We told him if the food comes fast we will eat fast.

We had an amazing meal at this place even if it was rushed. Towards the end he came and gave us another 10 minutes but by that time the food was licked clean off the plates. We were full. This place gets a two thumbs up from all of us!

We walked back to the Uber pickup spot. We were told by the little one that as penance for her not being with us, we should get her a branded shoe only available in Japan. We saw that there was a line for the shoe store a mile long and after a certain time they close the line. This had to wait for another day.

A short video of the. evening.

We made it back to our hotel and called it a night. The following day was going to be busy as well. We had already changed the plan for the day while on the bus.

A thousand gates - Stop 3 on the Osaka to Kyoto bus tour

The previous post in this series is here..

The last stop on our Osaka to Kyoto bus tour was the 1000 Tori gate shrine at Fushimi Inori Taisha.

Yet again, a beautiful place and temple where it is impossible to get any photos thanks to the 1000’s of people. 1000 is a lot of gates but for 6000 people walking around, it is still 1/2 a dozen people per gate.

Here are the pictures. The fox plays a crucial role in the temple lore.. so I got a fox mask prop from our guide for some photos.. It is also important to see what the fox has in its mouth.. a scroll means knowledge, grain means food, etc. etc..

I wanted to buy this panda drum they were selling but given our luggage weight passed on it. We did get some delicious chips (single potato cut and put on a stick and fried in front of us).. it was good!

I got one decent pano shot of the temple, covered in bits and pieces in previous photos..

A video highlight reel

After walking back to the parking lot it was a relatively shorter drive to the Kyoto train station where we all got our luggage out. Our hotel was right opposite the train station and we were able to get there quickly.

It was still close to 6PM when we got to our hotel. So we checked in and came right out to go see the shopping district. That in the next post..