Sunday Café Expedition VI

www.traction-bookcafe.com
Citrus and yougurt parfrait 800¥
Caramel milk 530¥

Traction - Book Café. This place is one of the popular book cafés in Kyoto, and since we wanted to do some studying we went there. Design furniture, old books and magazines, inclusive menu and very quiet atmosphere. Even though everything tasted very good, the price is a bit expensive. The interior was not so interesting or memorable but the biggest turn off was the service. Maybe the waiter had a bad day or then he's just not that polite, but overall he made us kind of feel bad about the place so we changed to a Kissamaster, a very nice café near Sanjo with nice view to a inside garden.

Hop on your bicycle

In Kyoto on of the best thing is just to roll around with bicycles and see what you can find. This time it took me, Marine and Nina to North-East Kyoto. First we discovered the Kyoto University of Art and Design (which I always tought to be some kind of a museum). It was an interesting mixture of old red tile buildings inside, under, next to and on top of new concrete buildings. The buildings climbs up the mountainside. The view from classrooms and different corridors were really nice. It must be quite nice to study there!
    

View from Kyoto University of Art and Design

Cool new part of KUAD, interesting buildings with long long stairs.

Inside the cafeteria was not that nice. The lamps are cool, but colours not.

After that we hit the mountain. We discovered a small shop called "Salmiakki" selling Finnish design products and yes, I paid 2€ for a "pätkis", a chocolate bar that usually costs around 25 cents. I still haven't eaten it, so maybe I'm savign it for a special event. After that we tried to visit few tea houses and old traditional Japanese building, but since we didn't want to pay for it we ended up to the Tanukisani Fudo-in.

Totally different world. Tanukis at Tanukisani Fudo-in. Now the Miyazakis films feels so much more realistic

Tanukisani Fudo-in, but first 250 steps before that. No wonder they say this temple is good for your health.

After all the bicycling we were hungry and tired. So then it was food and sleep.

But the few last days have been so sunny and well, for me it feels like super hot summer, but actually it is just spring slowly getting warmer. It is nice to see people switching to a summer mood and one of the best ways to spend these hot days is just to hang around the Kamogawa river.

Shiho at Kamogawa riveside.

Music in river.

Sunday Café Expedition V

www.goethe.de 
Chocolate cake 500¥
Mango juice 500 ¥

Café Müller inside the Goethe-Institute. This German-Japan mixture felt actually almost too "Finnish" to call it a great new experience (unlike some of the other expeditions have been). The outdoor deck was nice with the garden, but the mosquitos were in aggressive mood. Over all this place was okay and the staff was very friendly, but a bit too ordinary. The furniture, tableware and architecture reminds a lot of cafés in Finnish museums, libraries ect, so only the Japanese customars and staff was an interesting twist. The big painting on the back was also good.

Lace mask

Today while being sick and stuck inside my room I found these photos we took with Kristiina in 2011 (time. please stop flying so fast!) and I think it is finally time to share them :)

Sunday Café Expedition IV

www.awomb.com 
Japanese umeboshi soda 650¥

A Womb. What a cool place! The architecture and minimalistic style would fit perfectly to Naoshima, but lucky for us it is here in Kyoto. Of course it is a bit expencive for everyday use but as an experience it is deffinitely worth it. The long window to the moss garden is simply beautiful and before we noticed, two hours had passed by.

I really enjoy discovering these hidden gems in Kyoto. It also makes the otherwise boring Sundays feel a lot more fun (Even though this week we did our trip on Monday, since it is a national holiday here).

Yabusame

"Every day is like a scene from my favourite movie"
 

Horseback archery aka Yabusame at Shimogamo shrine.
Front row. Long ceremonies. The patterns of the cloths. The speed of the horses.
It is just all perfect.

Sunday Café Expedition III

www.boogaloocafe.co.jp 
Tomato bacon pasta 850¥

Boogaloo. The weeks go by so fast! This Sunday was so sunny and great that we went to the café a bit later than usually - after spending the day at riverside enjoying the feeling of doing nothing. 

In the café we actually were already quite hungry so insted of the normal coffee and cake we tried the dinner menu and the food was good! It would have been great to have a hot chocolate but this they didn't have.

The dim lighting and playfull mixture of design chairs (+ Ikea haha) works better in this open space when it gets darker outdoors. In that dark mood the place is very cosy and it is easy to forget yourself there for hours.