Japan 2012 - Part 6 (Kyoto)

Back to some Japanese adventures. Day six dawned with another hotel breakfast - some more rice bread and jam, some green tea and some fruit from my mother's hotel breakfast (nashi, persimmon and a peeled grape).


Breakfast is always a time for planning the day. With Lonely Planet on my kindle and my much consulted map of Kyoto.


Our day started at the stunning Kinkaku-Ji, known as the Golden Pavillion for obvious reasons. This was quite stunning to behold, though it is very busy and packed with tour groups.


Birds are awesome. There are awesome birds to see in Japan.



After the glitz of Kinkaku-Ji, Ryōan-ji was a peaceful change. This is the famous stone garden, which is considered one of the best zen gardens in Japan.


There is also a beautiful moss garden there.


However the real draw for me was Yodofu, a traditional tofu restaurant. By default, Yodofu is completely vegan. The tea house and garden dates from the 17th century. As you sit on the floor (traditional style), you look out over this tranquil garden.


We ordered the full Vegetarian Dish with Yu-Dofu, which centered around this giant steaming pot of silken tofu and vegetables in 7-herbs. This was amazing, the tofu is just mind blowing.


It also came with this wonderful tray of assorted goodies. This included an amazing sesame coleslaw, pickles, beans and garlic, rice, an amazing block of silken tofu (I can't even describe how good this was) with wasabi and a plate of assorted little bits and pieces that were delicious, though I am not sure what they were.


After our tofu feast, we caught the Randen (like a tram) out to Arashiyama. We visited Tenryū-ji, the famous temple and garden there.


I just really love this photo.


Arishiyama is famous for the beautiful bamboo grove. It is such a peaceful place to stroll through, though it tends to be quite crowded. There is also a beautiful little priestess shrine there you can visit (the Nonomiya Shrine).


Heading back to Kyoto on the JR train, I picked up some vegan snacks from the 7-11 for afternoon tea.


I spent the rest of the afternoon back in Kyoto, wandering around the Imperial Palace Gardens. You can't actually go in to the Imperial Palace most of the time, but there are some lovely gardens surrounding it and you can go up to the walls.


I made friends with a kitty! This lovely lady was smooching around a park bench, getting love from people who passed by. She was a very plump, healthy looking girl, I suspect she lived somewhere nearby.


For dinner I went to the all-vegan Morpho Cafe. A nice little place with a yummy menu. There is also an English menu and the staff speak excellent English, we had a great chat about Happy Cow.


I had the cutlet set, which was delicious. Though that grey stuff in the little oval jar... I have no idea! It was tasty.


I ordered a banana juice, which was like a smoothie.


Dessert was a seasonal tart, which was apple tart served with ice cream, whipped cream, pistachio and a Happy Halloween Cookie. They also had a great selection of baked goodies to take away, so I picked up a few for future snacks.


All finished off with a chai.

Adventures in testing - Veganissimo by Leigh Drew

It is VeganMoFo this month, so I know most of you will be in a flurry of writing and reading blog posts. I am not taking part in VeganMoFo this year, I am just trying to get back in to blogging on a semi regular basis.

Earlier this year I was able to test for a brand new cookbook, written by Australian vegan cook extraordinaire (and my friend) Leigh Drew. The book comes out in November, but I am able to share some photos of what you can look forward to! I know everyone has a lot to read this month, so I present to you just some glorious photos!


Lentil Burger with Peanut Sauce, Pickled Carrot and Daikon

Roasted Tempeh and Vegetable Burger

Soft Gingerbread Molasses Cake

Cashew Chive Creme Cheese

Mozarella - this is seriously amazing! You will love this! Plus gluten free.

Chocolate Mousse Tart with Raspberries

Cheese Onion Scones

Chocolate Raspberry Muffin (with a gooey chocolate surprise)

Corn Fritters with Tartar Sauce

Farinata

Potato Waffle

Scallion Pancakes

Potato Gratin; Green Beans with Garlic, Tomato and Olive Oil

Macaroni and Cheese Stuffed Butternut Squash

Lemon Garlic Dal; Steamed Basmati with Sweet Spices

Baigan Bharta; Tandoori Cauliflower Cheese
The book is called 'Veganissimo! Beautiful Vegan Food' by the amazing Leigh Drew and it will be available on the 15th of November. It is already available for pre-order on Booktopia.

I had a lot of fun testing for Leigh's book. Over the last couple of months I have also been testing for Julie Hasson's new casserole cookbook. Hopefully I will have an upcoming post to share with some photos from that soon!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post




The lovely Lucie is one of Leigh's beloved kitties. Leigh has looked after Lucie since she was teeny and tiny, and now Lucy is a grand old lady. She is gorgeous.

Update, with pizza

Wow, months fly by so quickly! It's been a while since I've blogged (again), but I have a pretty good reason. I spent most of June on an amazing trip to the Pacific Northwest (Portland, Seattle, Vancouver) and Hawaii. I ate a lot and saw some awesome things, and generally had an amazing time.

Since I've been back it's been full steam ahead with work, Masters and Eating For Animals events.

I am going to start blogging again. I still have so much of Japan to go, plus my most recent trip, plus my ever growing photo collection of recipes I've been making. So I am going to jump around between them all depending on my mood. My last few posts from Japan were more travel than food!

In the meantime, here is some pizza! The day after I got back from the US was World Vegan Pizza Day. I didn't have time to organise any sort of pizza event, but the beauty of pizza is that you can celebrate just as easily at home. Hurrah!




I was so excited to bring some Daiya home with me. Above is my haul. I bought it in Hawaii (our last stop before home), froze it and then packed it in a cool back and put it in checked luggage. It was fine. I bought home two packets of mozzarella, one of cheddar and a block of jack cheese. Sadly I couldn't find any of the new Swiss slices.



Pizza the first was barbecue, roasted vegetables (zucchini, onion and mushrooms) with Smoky Soy Curls (from Vegan Diner) and mozzarella Daiya. The Daiya melted and went all oozy. To be honest while I enjoy Daiya, the texture of it does vaguely creep me out.



The second pizza was Daiya-free, but one of my favourites. Olive oil and garlic with potato, sweet potato, rosemary and a dusting of nooch.



An excellent Vegan Pizza Day indeed! The bases were just purchased bases from my local deli. They are yummy and vegan, and make for very quick pizza prep.

Kitty Photo of the Post


 


A rare photo of the three kitties sunning themselves. You can see Dim Sim a little bit in the shadows, then Possum on the cushion and Sahara on the window sill. We have been having such magical blue and warm winter days, the cats love spending time in the sun room sunning themselves!

Japan 2012 - Part 5 (Kyoto)

Temples, temples, temples! It's all I ever seem to do. ;) This morning I had some of the vegan rice bread for breakfast, and it was delicious! I crave it even now just thinking about it. Yum!

There were two big temples just a few minutes walk away from the hotel, so this morning I headed out on my own for a visit.



First stop was Higashi Honganji, Higashi means 'East'. This was a very pretty temple, though largely was a reconstruction. But then, most things in Japan are reconstructed. Most things are made of wood, and it turns out that throughout history and conflicts wooden things burn down really easily.




It is a short walk from Higashi to the next temple. Just walking around streets in Kyoto is fascinating!


Next stop, just a short walk away, was Nishi Honganji, or the 'West' temple. This was similar to Higashi, but seemed bigger and there were more people around. There were some nice flowers.

I went back to the hotel for lunch via 7-11, picking up some salad with a vinegar dressing (meh) and some of my beloved grilled onigiri. Then we hopped on the subway out to Kitaoji for walk to our next temple. Except we walked the wrong way, so caught a taxi instead. Silly.



Daitoku-ji is a large complex that contains twenty-two sub-temples. It has a famous Hatto building and Sanmon gate. But the main draw has to be wandering around between the various sub-temple grounds. Many of the sub-temples were closed to the public, but we were able to visit two.



The gorgeous Koto-in is a serene moss-covered building, and was pretty much my favourite place of the entire trip. Walking around the cool grounds, you can't help but feeling complete peace and tranquility. I could have stayed here forever, just letting the calm wash over me. If you are anywhere near Kyoto, make sure you visit this place. It will completely enchant you.




We had planned to go and pop into a vegetarian restaurant right next to the temple for a snack, but we couldn't find it! I did however see a pigeon friend, and a delightful cat. Kitty!



We stopped off at Kourin-in as well, another sub-temple, to view the pretty stone garden.

Our next stop was Kiyomizu-Dera, a very famous and beautiful temple. We caught a taxi there, and were a little surprised when we got in the cab at the faint grimace of the taxi driver. We soon understood why. Although not a long trip distance wise, there was a lot of traffic. Then the taxi driver had to drive up a very steep, narrow road leading up to the temple, battling against other cars, pedestrians and giant buses! We were very grateful to have a taxi up there, though, it would have been a steep walk! Even so, when the taxi let us out there was still a steep walk up to the temple itself. Kiyomizu-Zaka is the steep street leading up to the temple. It is full of shops with all sorts of touristy things, and teeming with people.




The big red gates are crowded with lots of tourists and school kids. Then it is a walk up more hills to the beautiful temple itself. The balcony around the temple offers some stunning views across the city and surrounding areas, though it is a bit of a steep drop if you look directly down!



The temple is also home of the Jishu Shrine, dedicated to a god of love and good matches. There are two stones here, and if you can walk between them blindfolded, you will find true love! If you don't make it, then doom awaits. I decided not to tempt fate. ;)



One of the big draws is the Otowa-no-tak. Under the main hall, the Otowa waterfall runs through three channels into a pond below. There is a huge line of people waiting to drink the water, which is meant to help grant wishes.

After our temple visit, we walked back down the steep slope of shops, and I bought some pink glitter Hello Kitty chopsticks, before heading back to the hotel for a rest and a snack. Then we caught the subway  to Sanjo Keihan for a walk through Gion. No geisha were sighted, but there were lots of men walking around. We also walked down the Shimbashi, which according to Lonely Planet is one of the most beautiful streets in the world. It was OK.




For dinner it was back to Matsuontoko Cafe.



Dinner this time was a Namban (Southern Barbarian) Burger, which came with fries (OMG, potato, I love you!!) and salad. I'm not really sure what the burger was made from, but it came with a tartare sauce (yum) and did I mention the fries? After eating a lot of rice and a little bit of bread, I was craving potatoes.



For dessert I had to try their pancakes. These were a lot heavier than pancakes I am used to, but they were delicious and sweet and carby.