Was planning to visit the other pavilion today, Kinkaku, Gold Pavilion. Actually wanted to visit because I used to see it a lot in the riddle Anime, Ikkyu-san.

First thing was to get some change though. Didn’t have many 100 yen coins for laundry so dropped by the nearby gachapon store where there was a change machine for some more, lol.

Sgt Frog popular enough to still have their own gachas. Probably because there's a movie. Never really did grow up with that show and don’t think it’s running any more.

Braved another restaurant near my hotel for lunch, Kamakura Pasta. A slightly more expensive place than the usual chain and tried their “premium tender beef thigh bolognese” that came with a salad. Turns out it was order by tablet so less social anxiety for me. Phew.

It was tastier than the usual bolognese I had. Tender meat as advertised.

Usually just went for straight tea but tried a green matcha latte. Very nice but maybe a tad too sweet. It was a drinks bar so you could have all you want.

Had a nice sculpture outside the station Maps guided me to.

Digitalised display for this bus stop. Think I prefer the mechanical ones because of the physical design rather than just a flat video screen, same reason why I don't wear a smart watch.

It was a lot more busier than Silver. Very long queues and the sun was blazing with hardly any shade to take shelter in.

Instead of a long trail of stores leading in, you’ve got a park instead. Emperor wouldn’t want to be surrounded by noise.

Just like Silver, your ticket was in the form of a charm wishing for the same kind of protection for home. I doubt many know until they notice the bins for them because there's no English...

As soon as you enter, the main attraction is immediately presented before you. Look out for the fish swimming around in the pond. Everyone tries to get the perfect shot of course (including me...).

Would be nice if people snapped their picture and made room for others.

You then follow the path and have the opportunity to see it from different angles. There was a spot known as the Hakuja no Tsuka [White Snake Mound] akin to a wishing well but there was a bowl instead. People had fun tossing coins in.

It’s quite short and I overheard people expecting it to be longer.

I think the Silver tour lasted longer because it had a bigger garden.

Afterwards, I returned to the hotel for a break. It’s been a pretty hot day but pretty nice when you’re not standing in the sun. No storm either like the Silver Pavilion visit.

Really familiar scenery being inside this part of Kyoto Station again.

Didn’t know about Kyoto Tower during my first time here, another paid viewing deck. Not quite as colossal as Skytree but it's much older and I'm sure the views are better at this height when everything isn't tiny.

Wasn’t interested in paid viewing decks this trip though.

I wanted to pick up the tickets for my next destination so I didn’t have to rush and wait for the queue in the morning.

Been holding back on picking up a mobile drive too because I wasn't sure which native brand to go for but I was really running out of space with all my 4K walking tour videos... Osmo Pocket 4K 60fps videos were very space hungry and the camera itself uses up a lot of power too.

My 10,000mAh power bank just can’t keep up for a day trip so a power adapter smaller than my travel one would be good too. A lot of waiting rooms and restaurants had mains available. Local brands like Elecom seem cheaper than foreign ones like Anker which makes sense.

The USB-C power bank I got from Donki during my last trip only did 24W so an adapter with 30W output was decent enough. Ended up settling on an Elecom adapter and an IO-Data mobile hard drive, the kind that runs off USB alone. The native brand was around 3 - 5000 cheaper than Western brands.

Kind of wanted one of these Steel mice because of the unique design but must end up with a lot of dirt inside…

Since I’m leaving Kyoto in the morning, I thought I’d visit the Gion district which just happened to be near my hotel.

While making my way there, I realised I passed by part of the route where I had got lost during my first trip to Japan and my phone had stopped working.

No mystical Maikos or Geishas. Not even tourists in Kimonos. Just the odd people passing through drunk, laughing and chatting loudly. It was Friday night.

Weeping willow trees just remind me of Kijin Gentosho, a very wholesome show despite its twisted start and seemingly demon hunting cliche storyline.

The vibes were pretty good though and I avoided areas where the modern night life was with bouncers and girls trying to draw people in.

Well, it would have been better if the air wasn't filled with the thick smell of food and not in a good way...

I had also wanted to visit Kamo (Duck) River which had a large embankment where people could sit and hang out.

Came by some interesting buildings including this place specialised in chocolate. Maybe it dates back to the Showa Era when a lot of Western culture had merged with Japan.

I’ve seen quite a few photos so I recognised the place on the way back.

Night life in Japan feels fairly much like UK. There were two girls teasing and messing around loudly with a group of guys on the opposite side of the river.

While I was busy snapping photos of the area I was approached by a middle-aged man asking if I was interested in a “gentlemen’s club” and I kind of panicked replying “no, no, not at all” in Japanese before hurrying away, worried there might be gangs around.

Despite that, it was a nice walk before leaving Kyoto.