Obanzai cooking class in Kyoto

After spending three nights in Nagoya Andrew and I took the Shinkansen (wheeeeeeeee!) to Kyoto and spent three nights doing the tourist thing. I didn't know much about Kyoto but everyone said we should go there, and we certainly enjoyed our visit. We stayed at a hotel near Nijo Castle which had wonderfully elegant brekkie options:

and had pre-booked a couple of touristy experiences: an obanzai (home cooking) class and a walking tour. The cooking class was run by the Women's Association of Kyoto (WAK Japan) and was an absolute delight. In the space of only 90 minutes, we learnt to make miso soup, mushroom rice, teriyaki tofu, spinach with a sesame dressing and rolled omelette, and we also got to eat it all! A few pics:

I asked our teacher where she bought ingredients and she recommended the Nishiki Market so we walked there after the class. It was excellent! A fabulous range of fresh and pickled local foods, plus plenty of cookware and tableware:

We enjoyed walking around various temples and shrines and also the historic Gion district and Nijo Castle:

The personalised cooking class was a highlight of our time in Kyoto and I'm excited about trying the recipes at home. We booked the class through Viator if you happen to be going to Kyoto and are interested in learning some (surprisingly simple) Japanese cooking techniques.

P.S. cooking classes in exotic locations seems to be turning into a habit! We've also learnt some Nyonya cooking skills in Penang, some Singaporean cooking skills in Singapore, and some French cooking skills in (ahem) Canberra.