This was the first morning in Kyoto that I did not go to the convenience store to get food for the day. We paid 220 yen each to take the local subway which was not covered by the JR pass to central Kyoto. I made a 10am reservation at Mipig Cafe where these cute little micro pigs just swarmed us and laid down on us for 30 mins. I think they just wanted us for body heat. There were many other animal cafes to choose from and some were probably cheaper, but I wanted to go to a cafe where the animals really wanted to be near you. It may have been a little overpriced at 3520 yen total (~$27) and it didn’t come with a drink as advertised, but I LOVED this!
We then proceeded to Nishiki Market where we got squid on a stick for 200 yen, soy bean cream croquette for 350 yen, tamagoyaki for 450 yen (I was thinking of going to place advertised online, but those sold for 780 yen and I didn’t know how long it had been out), and a beef and potato croquette for 300 yen. We then found a Lawson and got some more food for the day for 903 yen.
We walked thru Hanamikoji Street to Maruyama Park where it started snowing! This was my first time being in snow fall, and it was beautiful (and cold). We then went over to the Gion District where many people dressed up in kimonos and yakutas and we even spotted a geisha. We paid 400 yen each to go to Kiyomizu-Dera. Being that we went around 2pm, this place was pretty crowded. Near the end, there was a restaurant that served udon/buckwheat noodles and we were able to sit on tatami mats. We shared a buckwheat noodle w/ fried tofu bowl for 800 yen. It was nice to be able to sit down and have something hot.
We ended the night by walking back to the hotel and only went out again (so cold!) to get more food from Lawson (I got another 3pk of natto) and spent 1527 yen. We were debating on whether we wanted to stop in Nagoya tomorrow on the way back to Tokyo, but decided we can just go early back to Tokyo to explore. Our vacation is almost coming to an end!
Cost: Subway 440 yen, Mipig Cafe 3520 yen, Nishiki Market 1300 yen, Lawson 903 yen, Kiyumizu-Dera 800 yen, Soba lunch 800 yen, Lawson 1527 yen = 9290 yen (~$71)