Day 6 - 10 Dec 09

Since we missed seeing the Imperial palace guided tour, we decided to head back to Imperial Palace so that we could immerse in the culture


Capturing a shot of Kyoto tower behind us before catching a bus to Imperial Palace. We are getting quite expert in figuring out their public transport. The kids just go crazy at the pure sight that they could have their seats all lined up together. Hmmm..spacious bus.



Unfortunately, when we reached Imperial Palace, we got our first and only nasty experience of Japanese rigidness. The guided tour could only accept groups of 10. They flatly rejected our plea that we have young children with us and can't take in just two more. The fact that we were so angry was that they continued to accept other groups (within 10). It was so absurd!!! We thought two could signed up together with another group in their threes or fours. BUT NO!, the staff was very adamant and insisted we could not do so as "we may be too noisy". Since we had come so far, we had not much choice. Remy stayed with the girls who chose to continue their collection of maple leaves.

Presenting the Palace...










After the unpleasant episode, we went to the charming Shinkyogoku shopping street and Nishiki Market.



Look at all the salivating food & stuffs...Everything looked so yummy and nice!






The salmon sashimi was sooo fresh! As soon as we gotten our hand at it, we gorged it and only remembered to take picture of the final piece.


Right at the end of Nishiki Market is Nishiki Tenmangu shrine. Japanese students will pray here before exams because the shrine is a memorial of a very intelligent guy who used to serve the king.


We went back to Kyoto Station to enjoy the night view of Kyoto Tower.



Sky Garden


Isn't the view breathtaking?


The next day, we were going to the Kids' highlight of the trip - Universal Studio!