We first checked in to our hotel, Sakura Terrace The Atelier, it is very nice and clean but the room is very small, hardly any space to move around. We booked a room with shared bathroom. Even though it is a shared bathroom, it is super clean. At the lobby, there is also a lounge where you can chill, have some tea and read some magazines. They have many different tea flavours to choose! The hotel is also located in a very convenient location, just 500m away from Kyoto Train station!
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| Some supplies that you can borrow |
First, we went to Kiyomizu-dera temple. Take bus number 100 or 206 from Kyoto train station and alight at either Gojo-zaka or kiyomuzu-michi bus stop. The bus ride is about 15 mins. We just followed the crowd to get to the temple lol.
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| We chill at a teahouse and have some snack |
We seated at the counter seats and we could see the chef cooking our amazing food!
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| Sakura smoked red snapper with prosciutto and salsa verde |
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| Pork Pate with Pickled Veg and spinach, shrimp quiche |
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| Chef cooking our next dish! |
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| Grilled fish served with yuzu miso sauce |
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| The main lead! Kobe beef!!! The thought of this makes me drool.. Easily the best steak we had. |
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| Waiting for Kobe patiently...... |
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| OHH MY GODDD! |
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| HEAVENLY! I MISS U KOBE! |
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| End of with a dessert Matcha cheesecake with ice cream |
We were so so satisfied with our dinner. Yumz! We went back to hotel happily and rested for the night.
Next day, I am so excited because I am going to wear a kimono! I rented my kimono from the Kimono Rental at Kyoto Station. Hee. There were a lot of steps in wearing the kimono, I for sure dunno how to wear it on my own haha.
It was really tight and there is a board tied at your stomach area. I couldn't eat much when I was wearing the kimono and I also limit the number of times I need to go toilet. If you really need to go toilet, it is still possible, it's just that need double the usual time due to the need to lift up layers of the tight kimono. Oh, walking is also not that easy, you can't stride in big steps. After wearing kimono, you will understand why Japanese ladies have to walk in small steps. Hahaha.. And you definitely can't run!
Other than that, it is a nice experience to see myself in other culture costume! I will try again if I visit Japan again as I wanted to try different colors and pattern.
We are going to Arashiyama today in my Kimono! We will be taking the JR Sagano line and alight at Saga Arashiyama station. See me in kimono on the train hahaha.
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| Love the hair do! |
After roaming around for a while, we arrived at the Arashiyama bamboo grove.
We spent a few hours chilling in cafe and walk around to enjoy the place.
Hubby is interested in the railway museum in Kyoto and we went to take a look after I have returned my kimono. It's just a 10 mins walk from Kyoto station.
After that, we had dinner and shop around before turning in for our beauty sleep.
Next day, we went to the Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion), there were so many people that we were unable to stay longer and enjoy. We only stayed for half an hour and left. Quite disappointing as the journey there was about 45 mins -.-'''
After visiting the Golden Pavilion, we went to Nijo Castle. Nijo Castle is a lot bigger to walk around and there are nice gardens and also some cherry blossoms still blooming. You also have the chance to understand some history in the castle. It was quite a nice experience, walking around the gardens, enjoying the trees, small ponds and cherry blossoms.
Next, we took the JR Nara Line from Kyoto station to Nara! Deers, here I come!
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| Many deer roam around here. |
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| Nara biscuits. The packaging is so cute! |
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| Not forgetting a photo with the cherry blossoms! |
So we bought a packet of biscuits to feed the deer. We were told that when you wanted to feed the deer, you bow to them and they will bow back to you hahaha..
We played for quite long with the deer as they were so cute!! After we finished all the biscuits, they were still following us, thinking we still have food to feed them lol. It was already dark when we left Nara, so we just had some dinner at Kyoto station and went back to hotel to rest.
Ohh, we tried the Michelin star cup noodle! It tasted quite good for cup noodle standard, but still cannot be compared to the real restaurant cooked ramen la.
Next day is our last day in Kyoto, the last attraction that we have not visited in our list is Fushimi Inari! Let's go!
We took JR Nara Line and alight at JR Inari station. There were a lot of people and a lot of steps to climb! I didn't manage to finish all the steps, I was dead half way, hubby finished it on his own.
I saw many ladies in kimono at Fushimi Inari! My legs were sore from wearing the kimono slippers to walk around Arashiyama and there were no steps there. How did these ladies manage to come to Fushimi Inari with the kimonos climbing all these steps!
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| After climbing the steps, we were hungry, and stop by a tea house somewhere in the middle to have some food. It felt quite zen as it's all lush greenery when you look out of the window. |
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| Amazake (Fermented rice drink) - so sweet, refreshing and nice! I miss it! |
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| This is the view from the halfway stop as I didn't climb all the way up |
Before we say byebye to Kyoto, I wanna recommend Manneken Waffles! There is a stall in Kyoto station. The waffles were so yummy and chewy! The chewiness of the waffles is really comparable to the ones I had in Belgian!
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| So many flavours to choose from! |
We bought some to munch before taking the Shinkansen to Nagoya where we will spend the night.
We didn't cater much time for Nagoya as it is just a stop over to transit to the Limited Express Wide View Hida train to Takayama. Nonetheless, we found a gem in Nagoya!
Maruya Honten! The best unagi rice set I have eaten! They recommended 3 ways to eat the unagi with rice. It is similar to Man Man in Singapore. But having ate both, Maruya Honten in Nagoya wins! Oh.. Be prepared to wait in a long queue! Advisable to come during off peak hours.
That's all for Kyoto and Nagoya! Check out the next post for beautiful Takayama and Shirakawa!
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