10D9N Spring Japan Trip: Japanese Cream Puff at Hanamikoji-dori, Gion
If you are looking for the best place to see Geisha in Gion, you should stroll away to a street called Hanamikoji dori. Rumor says that an evening stroll at Hanamikoji dori will guarantee at least one sighting.
We did not really see any though because we came here in a broad daylight right after our okonomiyaki lunch at the nearby Issen Yoshoku. Anyway, Hanamikoji dori is still interesting even without the sighting of any geisha. The establishments located at the right and left side of Hanamikoji dori are still kept in the traditional Japanese housing style.
Hanamikoji dori can get pretty crowded with tourists and locals as it is indeed the popular main street in Gion. There are restaurants, entertainment parlours and even lottery office along Hanamikoji dori.
There is this store which sells packaged pickles. They are packed pretty nicely so that the customers can easily pack them in the luggage and bring them back home. Clever marketing really.
All kind of sweets and candies are also displayed in the next-door store. Kids and adults will love this so much.
Nearing to the end of Hanamikoji dori, a small Japanese patisserie store piqued our curiosity (or to be exact, our hungry eyes). It sells Japanese cream puff and it offers a lot of different flavor for the filling from the usual custard to green tea to black sesame.
As we are in Kyoto, I feel that I should really go with the green tea filling. Voila, let's enjoy the green tea cream puff together. Nom Nom Nom Nom. It tastes pretty good, for your information.
Make sure to visit Hanamikoji dori when you are in Gion.