Everyone should at least pay a visit to Kyoto if you happen to be in the area (Osaka).
Even though this is my second time visiting Kyoto, but I visited places I've never been to in my last trip. Kyoto is all about historical buildings/temples and natural beauty.
We had breakfast near our hotel before taking the shinkansen to Kyoto, which is about 15 - 20 minutes away on the shinkansen.
Having western style breakfast in Japan is a no no. Since you're in Japan, you should go for Japanese style breakfast! But it's kinda early in the morning (lots of food store around hotel not open yet) and parents not used to Japanese style breakfast, so we ended up with coffee and bread.
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| Cafe near our hotel |
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| breakfast |
secretly snapped photos of locals going about their daily lives in the small cafe.
One thing I noticed while eating in Japan (never noticed before despite my one month stay in Japan previously), was that it's hard to get seats if you enter a cafe/restaurant/eating house in Japan in a large group. Most of the time, my family members of 6 to 8 person always had to be seated separately. Also, in smaller shops, there is an unwritten rule that says "everyone has to order at least a meal". In another word, food sharing is not encouraged (eg: 2 person sharing a meal). This is to make up for the lack of space I guess.
Lucky us, we managed to secure seats in the unreserved car section of the shinkansen since we did not make a reservation beforehand. (It is always encouraged to make your shinkansen seats reservation at least a few days before your travel date)
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| waiting for shinkansen |
I also realised this while travelling with my family in Japan. (Never noticed before the last time I was here, as I'm more of a "C" type of person, at least that's what my personality test told me)
Eg: Even though you're supposed to wait at Platform 1 for your shinkansen/train, it doesn't mean you can board every train that arrives at Platform 1. (my parents/grandparents was about to board a (diff) train that arrives 10 minutes earlier than the scheduled time >.<) coz not every train is bound for the same destination, and even though they bound for the same destination, it doesn't mean they stop at every station/the same stations. And always believe the scheduled time on your shinkansen ticket, coz in Japan, everything is about punctuality/being on time. If they say the train leave the platform at 10.05am, it means the train will arrive at 10.04am and leave at 10.05am (longer interval for Shinkansen at major stations). Unless there's an unforeseen circumstances, announcements will be made.
Okay, back to Kyoto.
Upon reaching Kyoto Station, we switched to the JR Sagano Line and got off at Arashiyama, our first stop for the day.
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| Arashiyama Map |
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| Arashiyama Station. |
Friend was right when he said that I went Kyoto at the best time. And the best time to visit Kyoto is during the cherry blossoms (Spring) and fall colour (Autumn) season with the peaks around early April and mid November.
Having Soft Cream (Ice Cream). Though should have went for Matcha (Green Tea) ones.
The main attraction of Arashiyama: Togetsukyo Bridge (Moon Crossing Bridge)
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| View from the bridge |
Randomly we followed the crowd and came across a temple on the other side of the bridge.
Stairs: my enemy
View of downtown Kyoto from up here:
The flights of stairs was worth it. lol
Kyoto surrounded with mountainous region.
Lingered around for abit before making our way back to the busy main street of Arashiyama, where all the Omiyage shops and restaurants are.
If you have the moolah and time, there are Boat Tour available for a fare.
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| Autumn Leaves |
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| Autumn Leaves |
Tourists on a boat tour.
There is a walking path along the river, and a food stall if anyone would like to enjoy a simple snack break with the great view of the river and mountains.
Lunch for the day: Oyakodon!
Which is actually my first time having one in Japan. It had always been Katsudon for some reason.
The egg was a little too raw for me, but I was still ok with it. Though, I'm pretty sure my dad didn't like it that much lol.
Next we visited Tenryuji Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The temple is one of the many temples in Arashiyama.
We paid a small entrance fee of 500 yen.
Japanese Garden in the temple.
It was crowded tho, and I don't like crowded places -_-
And I got separated from my family here.... coz I was busy taking pictures (the problem of always having some random people in front of my lens) and they just went on without me.
It was getting late and we rushed off to our next destination even though we haven't really looked at the whole temple site.
Took the train back to Emmachi Station on the JR Sagano Line and asked around for the direction to Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion) Temple.
A guard working nearby told us to take a bus down. We thought the temple was within walking distance >.< And so we took a bus down.
The temple is about 5 minutes walking distance away from the nearest bus stop.
Again, there is a small entrance fee of 400 yen.
View of the golden pavilion.
This place is a bit out of the way from other tourist attractions. Unless you have the time, else it's not recommended.
A small tea garden in the temple site.
When we left the place, it was already around 5pm and getting dark.
Made the wrong decision and took a bus back to Kyoto Station instead of taking the train. The bus ride took almost 40 - 50 minutes and by the time we reach Kyoto Station, the sky had already turned dark. If we took the bus back to Emmachi Station and took the train, that would have saved us at least 30 minutes... oh well.
Once we reached Kyoto Station, immediately we took another bus down to Higashiyama District.
Bad idea.
I didn't know the shops close early despite the place being a tourists attraction! -__-
Quickly we took a look around, snapped a few shots (only me snapping coz the other family members only had digicam which could do nothing with night shots) and left the place to look for food.
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| Kiyomizudera Temple |
And had Mac for dinner.... MAC?! why Mac when you're in Japan?? T.T
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| Ebi Burger |
Gion is famous for Geisha. It's a "geisha district". If you wish to have a glimpse of an actual real life Geisha, this is the place to be. Though it depends entirely on your luck if you see one. Coz they don't really walk around and stay inside the teahouses most of the time.
And I was lucky.
The Geishas happened to be sending off their guests when we came across them. Everyone was snapping away with their cameras across the street.
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