ShWang Adventures: Japan Day 6, 7 & 8

Hello Everyone!

Like I said in my previous blogpost, my friends and I drove up to Kyoto for the weekend! It was a lot colder in Kyoto than in Osaka, (FELT colder, it was actually just a few degrees lower) but we braved through it all and it was a good experience! 

Day 6 

I think we weren't too ready for the difference in temperature and the early morning walk we had decided to go on, so we pretty much froze as we made our way to Starbucks for a morning cuppa. We didn't get breakfast with our hotel rooms so we were eating out all the time!

It's a lot cheaper in Japan, and they have WAYY better tasting things too.

The day started in Teramachi and Nishiki Market~

We arrived there a little too early, I think it was at about 0930?

Somehow found ourselves at a Daimaru too~ 

I realised that the shops generally opened at about 11am, but the fish/seafood shops did open a little earlier, probably for the people who would like to do some morning groceries! It got so crowded by the time it hit 11am!

Bought myself a little coin pouch ^^

Had lunch at a beef sushi place! 

They only have a few choices on the menu, I suppose that's when you know it's a really specialised place! They also only entertained reservations and we managed to squeeze ourselves into the 11am slot which was great!!! 

It was SO amazing!!!!

A little candy shop~ 

I FOUND CHACOTT!!

Tried some pointes!

I did try all the Freeds that they had, I did like the heart model (or that's what thr lady told me, I was trying to look it up on the site but they didn't have such a model?) but they didn't have it in my size so I was pretty bummed. I then decide to try the Chacott models and I quite liked the Odettes! The only problem was that they're a medium shank so they may not last me as long as my Gaynors, but they are pretty and comfortable~ We'll see how they do in a class when I go home!

We then went on a long walk to the Imperial Castle!

It really was quite a walk~

The entire area was pretty big! One of the buildings were under renovation though~

W clearly enjoying himself!

You don't get to go into the castle~

Everywhere has been barricaded so you can just look into the area, but you can take as many photos as you wished!

The gardens were so lush~

Dinner was at the Kyoto Omurice Luf

Corn soup seems to be one of my favourites this trip!

And their signature RUF Omurice!

It was pretty good! I don't know if it was worth the wait, they do get filled up very fast and we waited in the cold so I was quite angsty by the time it was our turn~ However, the interior was nice and homey plus the food did warm me up, I'd say I left there feeling satisfied (and fuller than expected).

Got a pretty little lipbalm from their drug store! (yes, the acrylic on my thumb fell off)

And we ended the day with MASSIVE cup noodles!!! 

They did taste normal, but the amount of noodles were colossal!! I had the Chili Tomato flavour which was not spicy at all (much to my disappointment) but it was so satisfying, and cup noodles in Japan taste so much better than the ones in Singapore!!

Day 7

I should mention that I love starbucks, not really sure why, but I was more than happy to have breakkie there. 

W and I got some breakkie and some snacks for the road! 

Got me a bowl of Oden~ 

Apparently, even in their drug stores (Like Family Mart or Lawson or 7 Eleven), the food is pretty damn good. I craved for Oden the moment I saw it at the counter the day before so I HAD to get it!!! It was warm and delicious and thank goodness I didn't spill any in the car~

Drove up to the Arayashi Bamboo Forest!

Pretty much just endless bamboo~

Of course the 4 of us had to take some mandatory couple shots!

And me just being excessive..

Found a nice river!

Look at how pretty ^^

Apparently, you can go for a boat ride, which we didn't get to ):

Lunch time!

Yumm!

So they only had one item on their menu, which happened to be a standard 10 course meal.

pickled eggplant (according to the lady)

Onsen Egg

Some form of jelly with Yuzu paste

Not too sure what these were if I'm honest.

The one on the left reminded me of Oden, the middle one was confusing, but it was good!! The one on the right was super soft and had a strong sesame taste which I liked very much! 

And the glorious soft tofu!

Which you dip in the sauce!

Vege tempura and some rice on the side~

Dessert! It was some form of pudding ^^

Lunch was so amazing!!

I loved our meal, but it was quite pricey, I'd say it was about SGD40, but the experience was great, sitting on a tatami and just enjoying endless tofu!

We then took a super long drive to Soni Highlands!

So long that we reached when the sun was setting!

It was quite pretty, but personally, not worth the super long drive

We then headed back to the town area for dinner to end the day!

We did intend to have teppanyaki at first, but the place we intended to go to was fully booked, but we discovered this little cafe-esq place called Cenetta Barba. I didn't expet much but of goodness it was amazing. 

This is their homemade pasta with beef! I LOVED IT.

I've never had pasta like this and it was so good. We did order another plate of Tagliatelle to share after we were done with our own dishes, it was just amazing. This isn't traditionally japanese or anything but it's somewhere I'd definitely want to visit again if I ever went back to Kyoto! 

Day 8

Our final day in Kyoto probably tested my willpower a lot. We started the day off with a typical Starbucks breakkie as always and then we checked out of our hotel before driving up to the hills to visit an onsen at Mount Kurama!

Looks so peaceful!!

I've been to an onsen in Singapore but it was for a promotional shoot, so I didn't have to be butt naked, but in the actual onsen, you really have to bear it all. In the cold. So it really tested me physically because I was absolutely freezing! But thankfully there weren't too many people, more or less it was just me and J. 

So you have to wash yourself off first before going into the onsen, and you can't bring in clothes or towels and all that. Of course, there are female and male onsens so there isn't anything to worry about~ 

Next stop: Inari Shrine!

Didn't expect that many food stalls though!

And crowd!

 om nom nom

The orange thingy was completely silly.

There isn't much juice to begin with, and it costs aobut SGD6, for an orange.. I was pretty miffed that it wasn't amazing, thank god J and I decided to share it instead of getting one each!

Then came the longest walk of the trip (I think)

Endless...

Really, endless.

Still going~

WE REACHED!!! 

Not even close but I think that's about 1/3 the way up. Plus it was beginning to drizzle, so either way we had to start walking back down!

And ice cream as a reward~

And a mandatory photo~

More treats!!

And we then had a long drive back to Osaka!!

Dinner to end the day off after checking into our hotel~!

With that, I'll be ending the blogpost here, I hope you guys enjoyed this blogpost! I'd say day 7's meals were my absolute favourite in Kyoto and they're at the top of my recommendation lists! As for places to visit, I'd say the bamboo forest intrigued me the most, or it felt the most peaceful. though it probably wasn't actually much. Also, I think the Inari Shrine was one of my favourites, though it was crazy cold and it was a really long climb! Anyway, I'll see you in my next post!


xx
Shayne