 |
| Philosopher's walk |
 |
| Ginkakuji |
Arriving in the late afternoon at about 1600, we are still in time to catch the Haruka Express to Kyoto. (tips: get the ICOCA-Haruka deal in JR station for a very very much worth it price, inclusive of the train ride into Kyoto an hour away and also ICOCA card, which is the IC card used for most subway and public transport in Kansai region). We checked into Capsule Ryokan in Kyoto station area. The budget accomodation is small, but you have to see it to believe how good are the Japanese in use of space.
The remaining of the night is spent in Kyoto station. The station has many choices for food, and even an observatory for night view, all free of charge
 |
| Kiyomizudera temple |
Day 2: Kyoto east
start of the day with Sansugendo hall, with the famous 1001 statue of Buddha and also the guardian diety. No photo allowed inside, but do not miss the place.
We proceeded to Ginkakuji, which is a nice view for the silver pavillion. Finish the visit with the walk along Philosopher's path, which is a approximately 2km walk along a small river with a few small temple in between. There are still a few sakura trees remaining, making the walk not so tedious and dull.
We ended the walk with nanzenji, however, we did not enter to the main hall. The outside environment is impressive, but frankly, it is not so special after all.
For lunch, we visited Nishiki market. It is not the typical Tsukiji wet market but the usual dry and clean market in Kansai region. There are more street food kind of choice than proper restaurant but still, the food is great.
We continued to Kiyomizudera temple on top of the hill. Over rated, and so crowded, but still a sight not to be missed. Descending from the hill via the old street is a shopping experience for all things tourist related. We ended up in Yasaka park which is the usual Japanese public park (reminiscent of Ueno in Tokyo) and Gion area. Forget about hunting for geisha, as the place is crowded with tourist. We ended up eating dinner in Kyoto station instead.
 |
| Arashiyama bamboo forest |
For our Arashiyama trip, we started with Togetsukyo bridge, which is, again, over rated. The significance is lost for foreigners compare to local. Tenryuji temple is a must for most itinerary, which is the typical Japanese shrine. The free bamboo groves is the highlight of the trip, which make a very nice photography moment.
Since we still feel fresh, we continued walking to Saga toriimoto (old street), Gioji temple (moss garden) and Adashino Nenbutsuji temple (small stones statues on ground). Given the far walking distance, I would probably just visit Gioji for the moss garden and give the rest a miss.
Lunch in Arashiyma is not easy to find, but concentrated on one side of the station.
Northern Kyoto trip started with Ryoanji temple, famous for zen rock garden. However, for most people, it is just a few rocks with pattern of pebbles/ sand. Only for those who know how to appreciate. Ginkakuji, the golden pavillion is worth visiting, solely to visit the golden structure, counterpart to the silver pavillion.
We still found enough time for a short visit to Nijo castle, which is a nice visit with a glimpse to how an actual Japanese castle looks like and function.
It is interesting to note that for both days, we used the one day bus pass which manage to cover all the above sites.
 |
| Fushimi Inari shrine |
Ended the Kyoto leg with Fushimi Inari shrine. Famous for its endless torii gates, this is probably one of the must-see place for Kyoto, although bit out of the way for most tourist spot.
We travel to Osaka, started using our 2 days amazing Osaka pass for our subway and also entrance fee for most of our tourist spots.
We visited the museum of history, and also Osaka castle museum which is within walking distance from our hotel Keihan Temmabashi. Both are good for the history buff, but Osaka castle being a museum in a castle, is more impressive.
The night is the visit to Kita/ Umeda area, with visit to HEP 5 shopping complex, the ferris wheel on top, Sega joypolis (nothing great) and finally the Umeda sky building floating garden observatory. Although requiring some walking distance, the observatory is rather nice. However, the Umeda/Nishi Umeda/ HIgashi Umeda station complex is rather confusing, is the one single place that we actually got lost.
Day 5: Osaka proper.
The morning is spent at the Bay area with visit to Kaiyukan aquarium, which is worth the expensive entrance. Since the boat ride is free with our pass, we took the Santa Maria boat ride to rest after a good lunch.
We made a quick stop at Museum of housing and living which is very very convenient since it is located in a building joint together with the subway station. The rest of the afternoon is spent at Den Den town for manga/ figurine shopping.
The night we made a quick stop at Minami/ Namba area, complete with Tombori river cruise. I would not pay for the cruise but since it was covered by our pass, why not.
 |
| Osaka Kaiyukan |
Day 6: Nara
This is the only place we engage the help of goodwill guide from YMCA, which is highly recommended. The short one day trip open our eyes to many things culture related that we saw for the past few days. There are plenty of deers around, and yes, they may be intimidating at times, but not to worries, they are rather tame. We visited Kofukuji temple which is the normal Japanese shrine, Nara park, Todaiji temple (for the big bronze Buddha), Nigatudo, Kasuga Taisha (many stone, and metal lantern). Remember not to miss the local kai no hazushi which is sushi wrapped in persimmon leaves.
Day 7: Kobe
Everyone is rather tired by the time we hit Kobe, so we had to cross out many of the place we intended to visit. Nunobiki Herb park is a nice place to wind down with pleasant walk around nature. Coming downhill, we made a quick stop at Kintano area, but the European influened sturctures and houses are much smaller than what I expected. We ended up not going into any of it. We made use of the loop bus to go to nankinmachi, which is Kobe's chinatown. Being from Malaysia, DO NOT try the chinese food here as most are highly price and not that tasty compare what we can find here. However, some of the street food here is good. In fact, we had one of the best Kobe beef steak beside the road. Of course we know it is not the famous Kobe wagyu strain, but still, it is one of the best beef I had ever tasted ever.
We spent the afternoon going to sake brewery, the easiset to find being Hakutsuru sake museum. Even though after a week of visiting museum, this trip is still worth the walk. Just concentrate on the free sake tasting at the end of the tour. Yes, we ended buying some sake for the night.
 |
| outside Osaka castle |
the last morning, we visited Kuromon ichiba market. Although it is a small street for local food related shopping, there are so many choices of freshly cooked stuff here, including sea food. Of course, I chose to eat the Kobe beef again. Being an otaku, we walk to Den Den town after that for some final shopping.
Overall, this trip has more cultural taste compare to our Tokyo outing last year. Kyoto is more expensive, but the people are friendlier and warm. Osaka is a good mixture of everything, which has a piece of pie for everyone. A good note is Den Den town still pale in comparison to AKB in Tokyo but good enough to make me wait until my next visit to AKB. The whole trip is cheaper than my expectation, but still relatively more expensive compare to trips to Indo- China. The whole trip, inclusive of airfare, souveniours shopping, taxi ride back to our house from Aman Jaya costs us RM7k for two. The bulk of the epxenditure is on admissions and transport. There are wys to cut down on transport using bus pass for Kyoto and also Osaka Amazing pass for Osaka and Hanshin pass for Kobe. A fast food cheap meal (rice, noodle, not burgers) in the area cost around 500 yen, but a decent restaurant meal would cost 700-1000 yen.
ratings: 4 poink!
comments: next stop, Hokkaido.
