Travel

Falling for Kyoto’s cooler side

I fall in love easily. It is a fact as solid as the sun rising in the east.

However, this time is different. This time I’m not in love with another irresistibly sexy-eyed life of the party with a melodic Colombian accent and hips that don’t lie.

Kyoto Nishiki Market.Getty
Take in the International Magna Museum.Renny Widojo

No, this time I’m in love with quiet Kyoto, the gentle, mountainous beauty that calms your soul and whose air cures all heartache. Yes, this is the ancient capital city of Japan that claims more than 3,000 temples and shrines. Yes, this is where the Kyoto International Manga Museum (kyotomm.com) is located. Yes, this is home to the world-famous mochi cake store Demachi Futaba (236 Seiryu-co, Imadegawa-agaru, Kawaramachi-dori, Kamigyo-ku) where, if you don’t have a Japanese-speaking guide, you just point to the ones that you want — and then eat them all on the same day. And “yes!” is the word that would jump out of my mouth were all of Kyoto compressed into a human who got down on one knee.

If manga and mochi aren’t enough for you, read on to see more of my reasons to swoon over Kyoto. Whichever side of the city you find yourself in, I’ll be happy to say, “I told you so!”

WEST SIDE STORY

Arashiyama and its expansive natural beauty are located on the western part of Kyoto. It can be explored by walking, biking or sitting pretty, like I did, on a rickshaw pulled by the most adorably-faced, strong Japanese young man (about $20 for a 10-minute ride, 81-75-864-4444 for reservations).

Upon arrival, pass an enchanting bamboo forest, various Buddhist shrines, a wealthy Japanese-styled residential area, then stop at Tenryu-ji Temple. Here, you’ll have delicious Zen cuisine for lunch at the reservations-requiring Shigetsu restaurant, while enjoying the breezy garden view. Explore that Zen garden after lunch; it’s a combination of neatly raked white rocks on the ground and topped with pine and maple trees trimmed to perfection — while Kyoto’s grand mountains star as the background. Picture perfect! (Temple admission, about $5; prix-fixe lunch, about $30; Syojin-ryouri Sigetu, Saga, Ukyo-ku; 81-75-881-1235)

Need more R&R? The luxurious Hoshinoya Kyoto resort is located at the far end of the Oi river with private docks on both ends — the extensively warm greetings from their staff will transport you to a world of bliss. The resort is currently under renovation but will reopen Feb. 1. (Rooms from about $600; global.hoshinoresort .com/hoshinoya_kyoto)

Start your morning at the resort with a magnificent traditional Japanese breakfast — personally brought to and prepared in your room — before enjoying a morning stretch in the outdoor space. Don’t miss an afternoon tea ceremony at the outdoor floating tea room overlooking the greenery and the river.

For dinner, try the Kaiseki dining here, designed and helmed by Michelin-starred chef Ichiro Kubota and his team. The artsy haute cuisine of traditional-meets-modern multi-course Japanese dinner consists only of fresh seasonal ingredients (about $215).

EASTERN PROMISE

Unlike the city’s serene western side, Higashiyama is the lively eastern part of Kyoto, where Zen temples swarm with tourists during the day, geishas sprint to tea houses in the evening and tea lovers, myself included, roam the streets — day or night. Find them darting in between Toraya (toraya-group.co.jp), Marukyu Koyama-en (marukyu-koyamaen.co.jp) and Fukuju-en (fukujuen-kyotohonten.com), sipping on different sorts of lavish green teas, trying desperately to split the brain between listening to the experts detailed explanations and deciding which ones to buy.

Eat at the famous Okutan restaurant (prix fixe about $36; 86-30 Fukuchi-cho, Sakyo-ku, Nanzen-ji), where tofu, the star of the menu, is made fresh daily on-site and promises to be the best in all of Kyoto. You can learn how to cook o-banzai, traditional Kyoto home-style cooking, with WAK Japan — a company founded by Michi Ogawa to empower housewives by having them teach interested overseas visitors — in a traditional Japanese kitchen set-up (about $80, lunch included;
wakjapan.com).

Should you feel the urge to get down and dirty, Nishiki Market, known as “Kyoto’s Kitchen,” is the perfect place to browse for local goods. It’s also a good spot to interact with Kyotoites and get to know their culture.

Isoya is a hip local spot, hidden next to a parking lot between two large hotels, where in-season vegetables are the highlights of the night and uni (sea urchin) goes unexpectedly well with char-grilled asparagus (421-5 Oike-cho, Kiyamachi).

At the Hyatt Regency Kyoto, start your night with cocktails at the trendy Touzan Bar while contemplating your dinner selections: Shall it be the juicy Kobe beef steak at The Grill, brick oven pizza at Trattoria Sette or posh Japanese cuisine at Touzan? Or all three? Ken Yokoyama, a living, breathing encyclopedia of all things Kyoto, can be found daily acting as the hotel’s General Manager. (Rooms from about $245; kyoto.regency.hyatt.com)

With a belly full of goodness and the brilliance of Pico Iyer’s wisdom — “We travel to slow time down and get taken in, and fall in love once more” — hanging in the air, I breathed it all in deeply and savored every nanosecond of my joy.