Japan Trip 2023 – Nov

Prologue

I have been procrastinating since… forever. A lot has happened since I came back from this trip and… honestly I didn’t really feel like writing this trip down, but I figured I may as well get it done and over with, since I did visit some new places this trip (despite being in the same cities yet again).

Unlike previous trip journals, I’ll be focusing more on where we went instead of my feelings or thoughts during the trip.

So this was a trip which I somewhat promised my Xiamen pen-friend that I’ll bring him along for, and so I did. The best part is – I planned the entire itinerary (to suit his preferences), and even paid for almost the entire trip for him (he didn’t have the financial capabilities), and yet during the trip I’ve gotten pretty bad vibes from him, and the last straw came AFTER the trip, where he told me his friends had been asking how did he plan for the trip, where to get to this or that place, etc, and he decided to write a travel journal, get it printed into a book (no ISBNs) which would detailed everything in this Japan trip and he would be selling it to his friends.

I’m like… hello, the itinerary was done by me, the trip was paid by me, and all you can think of is to make use of me and this trip to make some money off your friends? I was honestly pissed, so pissed that I dropped him off my “friends” list. The feeling was so disgusting… 太恶心了，感觉被白嫖了, you know? It’s fine if he’s not appreciative or grateful. I have my 私心 when it comes to paying for his portion too – I needed someone to travel with me and he had been wanting to visit Japan since forever, and since I have the financial capabilities to sponsor him the trip, I did it (so that I can fly to Japan as well since I will be having a travelling partner). So it’s totally fine if he didn’t say thank you or wasn’t appreciative – but to the extent of wanting to make money off all my efforts and money that I put in into planning this trip and making it happen for him… that totally crosses the line on my end.

If it takes spending a couple of thousands to truly see someone for who he is, I’m fine with that. 这点钱我还花得起。

I guess now you’d understand what I was so reluctant to write about this trip – it left a foul taste in my mouth and it’s not a trip that I would fondly remember.

Day 1 – 7/11/2023

So yup, for the first time, I’d willingly paid for an upgrade to Business Class, because I still hadn’t quite recovered from COVID on the day I flew. I honestly did not want to spread to anyone else on the flight (especially when cattle class was so cramped with so many people in close proximity of each other), hence I upgraded myself to have a more comfortable flight, and also to have a bit of distance between myself and other passengers.

A benefit that came with a Business class ticket (I didn’t know this beforehand) was being given the free admission to SilverKris lounge – a lounge where you need to be either a PPS member or holding a business class ticket before you are allowed to enter. Priority Pass members were never allowed – so I came here for the first time.

It was definitely less crowded than PP lounges, thus a lot quieter too. I didn’t get any food though – just got myself a cup of latte (which wasn’t to my liking). Took some pictures of the surroundings, drank the coffee, posted a status on 小红书 and instagram, and off I went to the boarding gate.

It was really an awesome feeling to be boarded right at the start… hahaha! I always watched the Business Class ticket holders being boarded early with envy when I was holding an economy ticket, and finally I was one of them! To be honest, I really feel like a frog in a well… even though I had sat in Business Class before – like 20 years back on Finnair (it was a bulkhead seat too). The Business Class seats back then weren’t so… comfortable like now. Sure, there was a lot of legroom, but the seat’s comfortability left a lot to be desired. So anyway, let’s just say I was in awe with just how much space I get on a Business Class seat now, and how comfortable it was. Even as other fare class’ passengers are still boarding the plane, I’ve already settled down in my comfy seat and the flight crew were already coming to us and asking what we would like to drink now, and what we would like to drink after taking off. It was those times that I wish I could drink wine or champagne…. I felt like I had “wasted” the opportunity by only asking for apple juice all the time while others were drinking alcohol. T_T

Soon the flight took off, and right after the seatbelt sign had gone off, I was busy getting myself comfortable by adjusting the seat (lie flat!), finding that best position to stretch my legs… Ah, flying to Japan had never been so comfortable and fun! And because SQ now provides free Wifi for all Krisflyer members, I was happily WA-ing in the group chat with my mom and my sis, busy browsing 小红书, and doing all that while resting on my side, all stretched out and comfortable. XD And really, I was quite amazed that the entire crew serving Business Class remember all the Business Class passengers’ names. Everyone calls me Ms Tan. Initially I thought they must have stuck some sticker indicating the passenger’s name somewhere on the seat, but no. They really remembered it by heart. Gosh, I’m amazed by their memory,

Then came lunch… honestly, looking at the plating, who would have thought this was served on an SQ flight? I shared this pic on social media, and everyone thought I took ANA or JAL, lol!

It’s so exquisite isn’t it! Though sadly, there were some items that I couldn’t / didn’t eat, like the raw sashimi. But anyway, this was just the appetiser, can you believe it? The main course came after that:

It was so good! I think I finished all of the main course. And I was really really full by then… but of course, there’s dessert. I was hoping for Haagan Daaz ice cream, but nope – it’s just a mont blanc cake and a cup of green tea to wash it all down.

I almost forgot I was sick. It was really the best flight I’ve ever taken (until then, that is). So good, that I have half a mind to upgrade every single time as long as there’s seats available for future flights.

Anyway, the plane finally touched down at Narita Airport (for the first time I wished the flight would be longer T_T), and I got through the infrared scanner smoothly (I was so worried that they will single me out because I was still having a low grade fever the night before… the fever broke in the morning that I flew, but just to be on the safe side, I took panadol while on the flight in case the fever returned). Due to the fact that I was in Business Class, I disembarked from the plane earlier than the rest of the passengers and I was basically one of the first few at the immigration counters… everything was a breeze. I didn’t even had to wait long for my checked-in luggage at the carousel because my luggage had that priority tag. It was really an exceptional experience.

Thereafter, it was all routine… I dropped by the Keisei counter to get my reserved Skyliner ticket, and boarded the train to Ueno. For some reason, since this trip, I didn’t feel very comfortable leaving my luggage unattended at the luggage rack now. Not sure if it was because I read too much 小红书 posts about others’ luggage being mistakenly taken away by other passengers… in any case, I kept my luggage in front of me while in Skyliner, even though I know that was bad manners and felt quite guilty about it, while hoping at the same time that there won’t be anyone else sitting in front of me (yup, thankfully there’s no one seated in front of me for the entire trip).

I reached Ueno in no time, and I dragged my luggage to Sotetsu Fresa Inn Ueno-Okachimachi. I really love that feeling of being back in Japan again, dragging my luggage and walking amongst the crowd. I don’t know, I really felt at home in Japan. It really feels like it’s my second home in this big, big world.

And because I was still totally full from my Business Class meal, I only bought the instant nameko mushroom miso soup for dinner, and… I realised that I’ve lost my sense of taste. I can’t taste the saltiness of the miso… LOL T_T Anyway for some reason I wasn’t too disturbed by this… I was feeling quite detached, honestly. I brushed that fact aside, and slept early. Hey, I was still sick after all!

Day 2 – 8/11/2023

Zack’s flight would only arrive in the afternoon, so I woke up pretty early in order to get my mom’s shopping list done before heading to the airport to meet up with Zack. For breakfast, I went to a nearby underground ガスト. I found this place from scouring Google Maps, and after looking at their menu online, I decided to give it a try. There’s no tourists at all at this outlet, and you can just choose your own table and just order your food from the tablet. Zero human interaction required – just what I wanted! I ordered their Tonjiru set (JPY800, only available in the morning), and it came with a huge bowl of hot piping Tonjiru (miso soup with pork), some pickles, a bowl of rice (you can choose half rice and get JPY20 off). And all their breakfast sets come with unlimited serving of their drink bar – which you can get juices, tea, coffee, and even soups (western style). With that price tag, it was really a steal. I was absolutely in love with their Tonjiru – huge chunks of tofu (I’m a huge fan of tofu), with tender shabu-shabu style pork slices. Downed two cups of latte after that. Perfect way to start the day! Payment was also self-service – just scanned the receipt that was brought to you together with your food by the robot server, and opt for cashless payment (I always use IC card to pay in Japan wherever possible – I honestly hate dealing with coins). Everything’s done and completed in a jiffy~

Now, to OK supermarket and get the Moonlight Cookies and Calbee’s prawn crackers for my mom! Some Kagome juice packs for myself~ Oh, and I took a pretty nice shot of the Skytree while I was on my way to the supermarket too.

Back to hotel to dump all my purchases, and soon I was on the Skyliner again back to Narita hotel. Not that hungry still (probably also because I lost my taste buds and lost interest in eating haha), but I did buy a melon bread and brought a Kagome juice pack with me to drink on the train.

Reached Narita Airport just right when his flight touched down – but I knew he had to go through immigration and all that… so I simply got myself a cup of coffee (just to get a place to sit down and wait) and wait. Wasted about an hour or so before he stepped into the arrival hall. So yup, after a year of chatting from Slowly app to WeChat, we finally met in person. I already knew how he looked like (we had exchanged photos) so no surprise there. Was just a wee bit awkward at the start but about 20-30min later it was fine.

After we checked him in at the hotel, it was already early evening and Japan skies turned dark quite early. When I brought him to Ameyoko where we simply strolled through the narrow shopping street, daylight was already almost gone. He was busy taking photos here and there – just what a first-time tourist would be do, I guess. He had requested an Izakaya experience, so we took the metro to Asakusa and I brought him to Kaminarimon and Nakamise shopping street first, before heading to Hoppy Street for dinner. We picked an Izakaya with English menu – can’t remember what he ordered but I had yakisoba. Ordered a bowl of oden to share too. I was quite worried that I would pass my COVID virus to him if we dined together, but amazingly he didn’t even get sick throughout the 14 days… Anyway, after the dinner, we literally walked all the way back to the hotel – from Asakusa to Okachimachi. It was quite a walk, but weather was perfect. He was amazed that downtown Tokyo was so quiet and all shops closed so early (it was barely 8pm). We chatted non stop the entire way… though I can’t even remember what we talked about now. But anyway, he’s quite a big eater so we stopped by the combini to get some supper. I had my usual – miso soup, edamame and basil salad! (Yup, taste buds still missing, but I’m forcing myself to eat!)

Day 3 – 9/11/2023

So I woke up this day – ate the breakfast I bought at supermarket yesterday – a pocket sandwich filled with egg and butter. It was supposed to taste good. I know how it should taste like. Unfortunately when my tastebuds are not working, butter seems to be an extremely bad choice. This pocket sandwich tasted horrendous… I really could not quite explain the taste/texture of butter when the tastebuds weren’t working… it was just… bad.

Oh well. I met up with Zack at hotel lobby, and off we went to Kamakura. I made the effort to go all the way to Ofuna station because I wanted to let him experience the Shonan-monorail ride. Unfortunately, my effort was lost on him… he was just busy looking and chatting on his phone than to look out of the window when he was on the monorail… I was a wee bit upset – after all I find this experience really fun and wanted to share with him, but it wasn’t being appreciated. Never mind…

We reached Shonan-Enoshima, but unfortunately it was a tad foggy and you could barely make out the silhouette of Mount Fuji from the Shonan-Enoshima observatory platform. It was quite unfortunate for Zack (after all it was all over the news that Mount Fuji lost her snow cap just before our Tokyo leg) but the trip must go on. We bought the 1 day pass on Enoden and started off the Enoden ride from Enoshima to Kamakurakoko-Mae where we alighted for the famed Slam Dunk Enoden scene. I’m not a fan of Slam Dunk, and till today I still don’t understand why the need to visit all those anime/J-drama locations… but OK, since this trip is more or less solely to bring him around Japan, the itinerary was planned meticulously (by me) and specifically catered for his interests. I was honestly more like a tour guide and his part-time photographer at the same time.

Anyway after we got some shots (of him and an Enoden running behind him with the Sea as the backdrop), we went back to the station to wait for the next train. The sun was shining so brightly that I couldn’t help but complain about the weather – why was the weather so hot in autumn?! The next Enoden came after we waited for quite a bit, and we alighted at Hase next, to visit Kamakura Daibutsu, the famous 镰仓大佛~ I had promised him a year ago on my IG that I would bring him there some day – and yeah, I finally made good of my promise. We then dropped by Woof Curry for lunch, and for some reason their standards seemed to have drop. At least I didn’t find it that nice anymore… After lunch, we popped into Uni Coffee Roasters. My latte was pretty decent. I really like just sitting there by the window and watching people pass by as I slowly sipped on my drink. It was so relaxing. I’ve uploaded a video which I took while sitting there with my latte – no idle narration, no chit chats, just pure ASMR video, haha! I think I could really get used to taking such videos – for myself. I like the feeling of being transported back to that exact moment.

After having our coffee, we still had some time to spare hence before heading to Enoshima, we first visited Hasedera. I didn’t take any photos there because I’ve been there before, but he took many, as usual. After Hasedera, we went back to Hase station to take the Enoden to Kamakura and took a brief stroll along Komachi-dori. It was really too hot with the sun right in our faces… he bought a Kamakura beer to try and cool himself down, but he got quite burpy after a few mouthfuls, haha! It was really quite crowded there, so we made our way back to Kamakura Enoden station to take the Enoden back to Enoshima.

By the time we were back in Enoshima, the sun’s a lot less relenting now, but unfortunately it was still cloudy and we still couldn’t see the bald Mount Fuji, even after we went up the Enoshima Candle. Unperturbed, I just sat there and enjoyed the cold wind and watching the sea that stretched out to no end in front of my eyes. I can feel Zack wasn’t too thrilled about sitting there doing nothing in the wind, but um, too bad, because I like the tranquility of that place. I really could sit there forever… I did not waste too much of his time though. We made our way down and started looking for dinner at around 5+pm… finally found Kaisaku, a seafood restaurant that will remained open for the next few hours, and decided to just go for it instead of hunting for other options. The food was decent – not fantastic, but not bad either. Just decent. I had the entire grilled Ika though. It was odd – I’m not supposed to taste anything but at that point I realised I could taste a bit of the teriyaki sauce that came with the squid, and the miso soup had some taste too. Like wut? I thought the loss of taste buds would usually last for 2 weeks or so? How many days has it been only? Like 2-3 days, and my sense of taste is back?? I’m not complaining, of course. 😀

Anyway after dinner, it was like barely 6pm, and we figured by the time we reached Tokyo downtown it would only be around 7pm, I suggested that we head to Ikebukuro’s Animate so that he can try and find his Slam Dunk merchandise. So we went there… and nope, he can’t find any Slam Dunk stuff, like what I expected. Oh well.

Day 4 – 10/11/2023

Woke up extremely early today – because we need to catch Fuji Excursion which will be leaving from Shinjuku station at 7.30am. I’m always wary of catching JR Yamanote line on a weekday morning because there could be… um… “人身事故” at any time, which will cause massive delays. So I opted to leave hotel at around 6.15am to give ourselves ample time to get from Ueno to Shinjuku.

I was, in fact, contemplating not to head to Kawaguchiko on this day, because 1) it’s forecasted to be an overcast/rainy day, and 2) Mount Fuji had lost it’s snow-cap. But Fuji Excursion tickets had been booked a month ago… and I also considered the fact that besides seeing Mount Fuji, there were a couple of museums in Kawaguchiko that Zack would be interested in. Hence despite the weather, we went according to our planned itinerary.

The Fuji Excursion journey itself was rather uneventful. I bought beef ekiben to eat as breakfast (I just love eating bentos on long journey trains in Japan), and it was pretty good! By the way, ekibens are usually cold (or at least at room temperature), so do take note of this if you wish to have the train ekiben experience as well. If you can’t stomach cold rice or food, just opt for sandwich or snacks.

It was extremely windy and cold when we reached, to the point where I needed my outershell so that I won’t freeze to death due to the cold wind. We took the Kawaguchiko Sightseeing bus (can’t remember which line… Red line I think?) to the Momiji Corridor, and I was so happy we did, because the koyo was fantastic! My phone camera somehow got the colours too dark – trust me when I said the colours were a lot more vibrant in real life!

We continued on to Kubota Itchiku Art Museum 久保田一竹美術館, where we spent some time inside to view the exhibits. I don’t like to take photos of exhibits (even if they do allow), so I only usually have photos of the building facades and their landscaped gardens and such. There’s a small tea room in the museum that overlooks a small pond, and we understood that it was the same exact room where Kubota-san sat to contemplate and seek inspirations. I bought a matcha and dorayaki set just to go through the same experience – it was really a zen experience and I could totally understand why one could get inspiration just by sitting there and watching the waterfall, listening to the sound of water… it quietens the mind.

I realised all the photos I took in the tearoom had reflections due to the lighting behind us… so I guess I won’t be sharing the photos here.

After we left the museum, we simply walked all the way south in search for lunch (needed to work those calories after that dorayaki, LOL) and we settled for ほうとう研究所 for Yamanashi prefecture’s famous dish – Hoto noodles. It was quite a bit of a wait, but we managed to get a table after 20 minutes or so. The serving was HUGE… I almost couldn’t finish mine. There’s a lot of vegetables though! That’s a rare thing in Japan, haha! I had hoto noodles in Singapore before, so I know how they are like. But since Zack’s there for the first time, thought it’d be good for him to try a local dish~

After lunch, we visited Kawaguchiko Museum of Art, and ummmmmmmmm, let’s just say I really can’t quite appreciate art pieces. I would very much prefer to visit the Music Forest Museum next door, but there wasn’t much time left.

What happened next was the most ridiculous experience I’ve ever had in Japan – we queued in advance at the bus stop for the Red line bus to get back to Kawaguchiko station. Bus intervals are supposed to be 30min. Since I’ve booked the return Fuji Excursion train, I needed to make sure I’m back at Kawaguchiko station before 5pm. I thought I was already rather “kiasu” and early when I queued at the bus stop for the 3pm bus. Hey I have 2 hours as buffer, right? But no, the bus that came at 3pm refused to stop – it was totally full and no one was getting off the bus, so the driver drove off. Next bus came at 3.30pm – and again, same problem. Bus was completely full, and driver drove off without even stopping. Now I was getting a bit panicky, and so were everyone in the long line behind us. Kawaguchiko area wasn’t serviced by Uber either, and I didn’t have Japan’s Taxi app installed (but from the look on the faces of the locals behind us, they couldn’t book any Taxis either). Just when I was fretting about the prospect of missing the train back to Tokyo, and wondering if we had to end up finding a last-minute accommodation in Kawaguchiko, we spotted a Yamanashi region cab had stopped opposite the road in front of us, and a passenger alighted. Just as the empty cab made the turn to head back, Zack sprang to life and ran up to flag the cab down, and with my lousy Japanese, I managed to get the driver to understand that we wanted to get to Kawaguchiko station and she willingly let us get on. Phew!!!!!

I thanked Zack profusely for his quick actions, but he ended up preaching me non stop (for about 1 hour) about being too uptight and nervous when in unexpected circumstances, while smirking and rubbing in my face that if it’s not for him, I’d still be waiting for the bus.

…

我忍。

But anyway, thanks to him, we were back at Kawaguchiko station, with more than enough time to spare. It was already dark by the time we reached Shinjuku (around 7pm), so we went to Kabukichiko because Zack wanted to see the place with his own eyes. It’s not a place I’d go by myself; it’s not a place that I’d go with Bruno either (he’s too skinny to protect me if anything happens LOL); but OK, Zack’s pretty well-built so I guess I’d be pretty safe there with him. It was glitzy area and um, can I say unsavoury place… I don’t feel particularly unsafe, but let’s just say I don’t feel safe if I was alone, either. I probably just don’t mix well with places that’s associated with beer and nightlife.

Dinner was at ガスト, and let’s just say, breakfast at ガスト is YYDS, but lunch and dinner there… just forget it. It’s just microwaved cheap food, like Saizeriya. If you’re not on a tight budget, give ガスト a miss when it comes to lunch/dinner.

Day 5 – 11/11/2023

Honestly, Tokyo Imperial Palace is really not a place I’d ever visit if it’s up to me. I have no interest in any forms of history or culture… but well, my travel partner for this trip is a history and culture buff… so here I was, early in the morning shivering in the cold autumn wind, trying to queue at the venue for a number to join the palace tour (you can’t tour the palace grounds on your own). I thought I was early enough, but nope, we almost did not made it for the first 250 walk-in persons (it’s 300 now according to the palace tour application site) for the morning tour. Almost did not, but we did. Phew~ I was deciding between the English tour and the Chinese tour, and ended up choosing the Chinese tour. Glad I did, because the Chinese guide was so cute and funny. We went past the English group a few times so I did overheard how the English tour was being conducted, and honestly I found the English guide to be quite boring…

Well, like I said, I have zero interest in the palace, I have zero interest in the history of the palace, so I was just there taking photos and enjoying the Chinese guide’s witty remarks.The tour ended on time at 11:15am, so I made my way to an unagi restaurant which I had been eyeing for some time. I’m not an unagi fan, really, I hate all fish and I hate fish with bones even if it’s soft bones that can be swallowed. I can’t swallow sardines, so I was really not a fan of unagi either. But in all honesty, good unagi restaurants in Japan serve unagi which you can barely feel the bones. Sure, I can see the bones, but I really don’t feel them when I put that piece of unagi in my mouth. My experience at Koyanagi in my 2019 trip was extremely wonderful, so I was quite looking forward to try another famous unagi restaurant this time. I brought Zack to Hitsumabushi Bincho at Tokyo Marunouchi Building (within walking distance from the Imperial Palace), and this is the first time I’m trying hitsumabushi style – the 3 ways of eating unagi. I really love the ochazuke way, and that ended up being how I ate the rest of the dish, LOL! This was one of the most expensive meals I’ve had in Japan, but no regrets! In fact, I’d love to come back again!

It was a rather exhausting morning actually, after queueing in the cold early in the morning and walking non-stop during the 2 hour tour in the Imperial Palace grounds. Both of us were rather spent and we decided to give ourselves a break and head back to the hotel to rest up before dinner. And dinner was… yakiniku.

I’m really not a fan of bbq meat, but he insisted on eating it… so okay, I relented. He said since he was the one who insisted on yakiniku, he’ll be paying for the meal. Um, all right, since he offered to pay, I told him to order then (I don’t want to be the one ordering and ended up spending too much of his money), and… well I’ll show you in pictures what he ordered. 🙂 12 pieces of meat for 2 pax… I wouldn’t call that dinner. I ended up buying onigiri and miso soup back to hotel for my actual dinner. 🙂

Day 6 – 12/11/2023

Hey, happy birthday to me!

I specifically bought a slice of swiss roll from 7-11 for myself the night before, so that I can have my own “birthday cake” to munch on on my birthday. 生日可以不用他人替我庆祝，但该有的仪式感还是要有！Heh heh~

After eating the cake in my room, I met up with Zack at hotel lobby to head to ガスト for proper breakfast. I tried their pancake with scrambled eggs this round – both were decent.

Today’s the last day in Tokyo. We’ve had some museums lined up for today – so it’s best to start the day early. After breakfast, we headed to the Tokyo National Museum and spent the entire morning there. I did take a couple of photos of some interesting exhibits. Even though I’m not a fan of history and culture, I realised I can appreciate some of the exhibits after all. The Tokyo National Museum is a place where I won’t mind revisiting, to be honest. The exhibits are more than interesting and I believe I hadn’t finish looking at all the exhibits before we had to leave because we had other places lined up for the day.

Lunch was at a forgettable cafe at one of the art museums in Ueno Park. It was expensive and taste was just.. meh. Not bad, but not great either. While walking back to Ueno station to take train to the next museum on our list, we passed by this street performance which somehow captivated me enough for me to start recording, LOL. Seriously, here’s a suggestion from me: If you wanna do street performing, especially when it comes to music, just play a Ghibli piece. No matter which country you are in, people will stop and listen. Trust me.

We then headed to The Sumida Hokusai Museum , yes, THE Hokusai, the very artist who drew the famous Great Wave off Kanagawa. It was a relatively small museum, talking about his life and artworks in chronological order. Spent about an hour and a half there… and there’s not many visitors. Not a bad place to visit if you are in the vicinity and is a fan of ukiyo-e artworks.

We strolled around Sumida neighbourhood after that and decided to head to Tokyo Skytree Tower. I hadn’t want to go up, but he insisted and said “来都来了”… OK fine. I paid for the tickets (they weren’t cheap) and we went up… and realised there was just so many people that you can barely find a place to stand and look out of the windows. And, there was even a longer queue to take the lift to the upper Tembo Galleria… Maybe it was due to the it being a weekend, but I think it took us about 45 minutes to queue for the lift up from Tembo Deck to Tembo Galleria, and another 45 minutes to take the lift back down to ground floor. Geez… it’s totally not worth it. At all. 听劝, please!

Dinner was at 一幻 – a ramen chain famous for their prawn stock. I absolutely love the umami seafood taste, but I guess it was a little too salty for Zack.

We went back to hotel, packed our luggage, and rolled them to the nearest Family Mart where we forwarded them to our hotel in Kyoto. I’ll be living the next few days off my trusty Tom Bihn T30 backpack!

Day 7 – 13/11/2023

A trip to Shirakawa-go – a UNESCO heritage site that Zack hadn’t even heard of before.

I don’t know why, but I love taking photos of Hayabusa and Komachi kissing. The love story of the 2 trains, who would be forced to decouple at Morioka station. *weeps* What a sad love story~ :3

OK, jokes aside. These weren’t the trains we were gonna take – we were heading to Kanazawa, so our train Kagayaki will come after these two lovebirds depart from the station. We reached the platform like 45 minutes earlier (sorry, but I’m very kiasu, I don’t like to 卡点 when I have to catch a train or a flight), and I bought a latte from 7-11 to wake myself up. (Have I mentioned it already – 7-11 has the best brewed latte among all the combinis!)

Train ride was uneventful, as usual. 

We had some time (about 45 minutes or so) to spare once we reached Kanazawa station, so we lingered at the shops right in the station for awhile, before heading to the bus terminal to catch the bus to Shirakawa-go. Bus tickets need to be purchased online, and since I’ve taken the trip before, I knew what to do and what to expect. The bus journey will take about 2 hours, and we’ll be going through lots of mountainous tunnels along the way. View was lovely when we emerged into Gifu prefecture though~

And so we got to Shirakawa-go after a long bus ride! It was still rather early, the day-trip crowd wasn’t that bad yet. Zack was so excited with this quaint little village and took photos eagerly at every possible photo spot, hence making our 15 minutes walk to our gassho-hut (Shimizu Inn again! Our accommodation for the night~) becoming a 30 minutes walk… -__-;

And because of this, I decided to change our plans a little – to grab lunch first before heading to the inn. We dropped by Karyudo 狩人 for a quick lunch, and I was completely enamoured with the miniature gassho hut display in the restaurant. So cute!! Anyways I ordered their Hida beef stick and yakisoba (aye, I love yakisoba, if you hadn’t noticed it by now 😀 ). Both were amazing! He ordered a tofu stick with miso paste, and a Hida beef don. He wasn’t impressed with the tofu stick, but he was raving non stop about Hida beef (nope I didn’t take any pictures of his food).

After lunch, we proceeded to Shimizu Inn to check-in and leave our bags. We were being assigned to the same room that I stayed in 7 years ago, what a coincidence! 😀 The lady owner of the Inn didn’t seem to remember me though, but that’s all right!

Because it started to rain and it was just too cold out there, and Zack didn’t had proper winter clothing with him (he didn’t expect it to be so cold in autumn), hence we ended up spending our time in the room charging our devices while waiting for dinner to be served in the dining hall. I was busy clearing my work emails on my iPad Mini, while he snored away, catching up on his 午休…

Finally dinner was served! This time, there were one ang moh dude (solo traveller), and another group of 2 ang moh guys staying at Shimizu Inn. Dinner was a quiet affair (I swear the Inn’s lady owner’s MBTI starts with I too…) with the owner hiding in her own kitchen eating her dinner, instead of dining with us. So there’s zero interactions during dinner, and none of the guests at the hall were extroverted people I guess…? Everyone just ate quietly. I really enjoyed the quiet dining experience, but Zack complained to me after that, saying he felt extremely awkward. In his words: “吃的最尬的一个晚餐” LOL!

After the meal, I had originally planned to go stroll around the village at night, but again, it was too cold outside so he wasn’t interested. I shrugged – back to the room and to my emails then. It had been a long long while since I last shared a room with a guy – it wasn’t as awkward as I thought it’d be, since the room was pretty big and we laid our futons at each extreme ends, LOL. His snores though…………. I was glad I specifically bought noise reduction ear plugs just for this night. I managed to sleep through the night, yay!

Day 8 – 14/11/2023

Breakfast wasn’t as sumptuous as I remembered it to be, but I didn’t really mind. As long as there’s food going in my tummy, I’m happy. 🙂

We checked out right after breakfast (around 8.30am I think?), but we decided to stroll around the village since we did not do it the day before. There’s zero crowd, and the residents of the village were probably still sleeping, and there was this sense of tranquility as we slowly walked along the deserted pathways. We stumbled across the famed Three Houses photo spot this time (I didn’t manage to get a picture of this 7 years ago).

It was still about a couple of hours before our departure from Shirakawa-go’s terminal, so we dropped our bags at the customer enquiry desk at the bus terminal and since the fog had lifted, I suggested to go up to the observatory deck. It is really a must-visit spot if you find yourself in Shirakawa-go. The view is breathtakingly amazing!

We bought latte from the kiosk while we were at the deck, and we were being given a free cookie. Yay~ It was just a lovely experience, gazing at the picturesque village from above, and enjoying the cold air with the warm latte in hand. 太惬意了！I took so many pictures – can’t decide which to keep and which to delete, every photo looked so good!

Soon though, we found ourselves back on the bus on the way back to Kanazawa. Sigh, I’ll miss Shirakawa-go. I don’t think I will ever visit during summer, but I hope some day I’ll be able to visit again during spring season!

Back in Kanazawa station, we had lunch at 金沢肉食堂 (yup I had dinner here in Feb-23 and here I am again for lunch!) and despite us ordering just the normal beef bowl as main dish for lunch, I separately ordered the Noto beef steak for him to try. Extremely expensive – but it’s worth the money! It just melts in your mouth…. yum~ It’s really something that one should try – even if it’s just once in your lifetime.

In case you don’t know, Kobe beef is not the only high grade beef out there in Japan… Hida beef, Noto beef, Miyazaki beef all ranked up there together with Kobe beef. 😉 There’s more too, Yonezawa beef, Ishigaki beef, Matsusaka beef… etc etc. I swear I’ll try them all out at some point, haha!

Took a stroll in the vicinity around Kanazawa station since we still have some time before our Thunderbird train leaves for Kyoto. Brought him to the nearby Omicho Market (no photos of the market this round since I took quite a few last trip), and saw some interesting shop displays along the way.

Got back to the station in time to take our Thunderbird train to Kyoto. And guess what, we saw a rainbow from the train! (The first of many to come!)

By the time we reached Kyoto station, sky was already dark and we hastily made our way to our hotel to check-in and to dump our heavy bags in our respective rooms, before heading back to Kyoto station to find dinner. However before we could go find restaurants, we found ourselves captivated by this light show in Kyoto station – so creative! My arms were totally aching after trying to capture the entire show… 手酸死了…

We went up to the free observation deck at Kyoto station after watching the light show – while it didn’t have the best view, it’s free. And it wasn’t crowded. Compare this with Tokyo Skytree Tower, I’d opt for this free observation deck – hands down. (Okay, not a fair comparison since one is at Kanto and one is at Kansai…) 

Dinner was at a random okonomiyaki restaurant (can’t remember the name now, oops). I’m not a fan of okonomiyaki at all (really dislike that sweet teriyaki sauce), but he can’t finish one whole okonomiyaki himself either. So okay, I gave in… we ordered tamagoyaki as appetiser and a regular okonomiyaki. The food’s all right, nothing to shout about though.

Day 9 – 15/11/2023

Starting off the Kyoto leg with breakfast at Nakau~! It was only 6.30am when we left the hotel… my brain still wasn’t quite working…

Budget salarymen breakfast – I can’t tell it’s microwaved food or not, but I hope it’s not. They have a lot of fish options in their menu, but I don’t eat fish, so my options were very limited. Glad they had beef!

After filling up our tummies with hot food, time to start off the long day!

First stop: Ryoanji 龙安寺

This temple has always been on my to-visit list, but I’ve never managed to slot this temple into my previous trip’s itinerary because I always find its location so far away from other spots in Kyoto. Initially for this trip, I’ve planned to head to Kinkakuji first, but when we were on the bus, I realised we would be too early for Kinkakuji (proof that brain still wasn’t working)… hence I decided to head to Ryoanji first since the latter opens at 8am.

We reached Ryoanji right when the gates opened for the day. 😀 The best part about being one of the first visitors – it feels as if you have the whole place for yourself. It was so peacefully quiet. Zack ran for the toilet immediately (maybe he’s not used to having a heavy breakfast…?) and told me he’ll be “taking some time”. Just what I’d like to hear, because I want to spend some quiet time myself too. I sat at the porch, gazing at the stone garden (which was meticulously landscaped every day), feeling the cold autumn morning air around me, yet the rising sun was shining warmly on my face. At some point I closed my eyes and somehow my mind cleared (or should I say my brain went blank; I don’t feel anything except for the cold air and the warm sun; I don’t hear anything except for the occasional bird chirping). I’m not sure if that was meditation (I’ve never meditated or attempt to meditate, ever) – I always thought meditation needs some form of music in the background, but apparently not! Soon though, sounds of footsteps on the wooden porch interrupted my state of mind. I opened my eyes and saw there were now more visitors behind me and they were passing by the rock garden to go to the other side of the compound. All of them (mostly Japanese and some Westerners) were very quiet though – they didn’t speak or chat, probably because it was just so quiet and nobody wanted to spoil the atmosphere. I’m sure this will not last long as those busloads of tourists will start coming. Some of them sat down on the porch like I did too, just to take in the zen atmosphere for awhile. If it’s not because I still had to bring Zack to the rest of the places in the itinerary for the day, I would really love to stay there longer. But never mind, I’m sure I’ll be back again some day at 8am!

Zack wasn’t quite interested in the temple (probably because he hadn’t heard of it), but he was surprised to see it being listed as one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

2nd stop of the day: Kinkakuji 金阁寺

I’ve never understood why Kinkakuji was so “famous”. Yes, Kinkakuji is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but hey, so is Ryoanji. They are very close to each other too (we actually walked from Ryoanji to Kinkakuji – took a while but it’s walkable), but Ryoanji has so much lesser visitors compared to Kinkakuji. I wouldn’t have come to Kinkakuji at all, if not for… OK, I think I’ve been repeating this sentence too much. All right, I shall not keep complaining… I should be glad I’m visiting these sites because of him because otherwise I wouldn’t have do it myself. (Sounds nicer when I phrase it this way, huh?)

Kinkakuji’s admission ticket is… tacky. It just looks like a talisman (although the words on it feel more like it’s a lucky charm). I just feel it’s just being too… I can’t find the right word. Anyway… Kinkakuji was really extremely crowded. Extremely crowded. Really, really extremely crowded (重要的东西要说三遍)… There were MANY groups of local students (at least like 10 classes?) on school trips there, then there were local domestic tourists, and then there’s TONS of Chinese tourists. Western tourists were like… just 5% of the entire crowd? What’s with Chinese tourists and Kinkakuji? Because they know of Kinkakuji’s history better hence they all flocked there? The “best” part about Kinkakuji is that you can’t even go into the interior of the temple. You simply walk around the pond and take photos (or selfie) with the golden pavilion in the background, that’s all. I’m like… ?_? Why am I squeezing with the crowd, queueing at the ticket counter and queueing at the entrance… just to walk and jostle with the crowd for a 10 min (although the actual time taken was a lot longer because it’s so jammed on the pathway with everyone stopping to take the best selfie with the pavilion) walk around the pond? The one-way path in the compound leads to some other nice garden landscapes which most visitors weren’t interested in though, but there’s really nothing much to see other than that golden pavilion (which I don’t feel it’s worth the long bus trip from city anyway). I honestly do not understand the attraction of this place… and I probably won’t ever understand.

Here’s some of the photos that I took while I was there. There was really nothing else to do except to take photos, especially when one has to wait for the other person to finish taking all kinds of selfies from every angle and then that person would stand there and post-edit his photos right on the spot. Sigh. A simple 30 min visit dragged to an almost 2-hour visit because someone had to stand there and post-edit his photos right after he took them. 发朋友圈很重要, you know? 🙂 Thus, I had the time to take photos from all angles too… (but no, I didn’t post-edit them).

And because it was really still early (probably around JST 11am), Zack still wasn’t that hungry, so we went to the next place in itinerary (which he hadn’t heard of either, but he saw there were quite a lot of people recommending on 小红书 about this place so he said he wanted to go).

3rd stop of the day: Ninnaji 仁和寺

Again, this is another UNESCO World Heritage Site (third one of the day already). I honestly had never really heard of this temple either. After visiting the place, there’s nothing that makes me remember it either. It’s just like any other temple… (that’s the problem when one’s not interested in cultural stuff *cough*). I like its landscaped garden though! As usual, I’m always more interested in the gardens rather than the temple itself…

It was around 12:30PM JST when we were done with Ninnaji. We popped into the on-site vegetarian restaurant for lunch, and we were lucky to be there earlier. The rest of the people who wanted to come in after us were all rejected because they ran out of ingredients. We ordered their Yuba Udon (yuba is soy milk skin 豆腐皮 and yuba dishes are very famous in Kyoto) and it was really good!

4th spot of the day: Nijo Castle 二条城

Again, another UNESCO World Heritage Site (fourth one in a day), another place which I’d no interest in hence I hadn’t visit in the past.

嗯，开拓视野是好事。

Ummmm… I honestly have not much interest in castles. Yeah I remembered going into the castle… but I can’t remember what I read or see inside the castle anymore. Ooops. 

We left Nijo castle at around 4pm JST. My legs were almost dead at this point. I scoured Google Map for a decent cafe nearby and we settled on Usagi Coffee (yup literally 兔咖啡). No, it’s not a rabbit cafe. Instead of rabbits, I spotted a real feline in the shop, LOL.

I like this cafe’s interior – it’s very obvious that the shop’s pretty new, but it maintained Kyoto’s traditional vibes. There is also a merchandise shop behind the cafe, and a very small zen garden in between the cafe and the merchandise shop. It’s really a lovely place – do pop by for a cup of coffee if you are in the vicinity. They have menu in English and they have staff that speak good English too.

After having rested our legs and got our caffeine fix, we took a bus and headed to Kawaramachi, where we were headed for dinner. The early evening skies looked so pretty!

5th spot of the day: Pontocho Alley

I always bring friends who visited Kyoto for the first time to Pontocho Alley. I don’t know, Pontocho Alley is very famous among western tourists and domestic tourists, but somehow Asians didn’t seem to know about this place? It was a very tight alley with restaurants lined up on both sides. Most of these restaurants open only at 5pm for dinner (some of them do operate during lunch hours till 2pm), and a lot of them require advance booking. I’m not a fan of making restaurant reservations, hence I will only dine at those establishments which allow walk-ins. And in order not to queue forever, I’d often try to avoid peak meal times and have my dinner early at 5pm instead.

Kyoto Katsugyu 京都勝牛 is a restaurant which I often recommend to anyone who visits Kyoto. I was blown away by their fried beef cutlet the very first time I tried back in 2016. It’d be best if you can visit their honcho (main shop) at Pontocho Alley – for the best/authentic experience. This round, I brought Zack there too.

After looking at the menu, let’s just say he’s very 不客气… straight away ordered the most expensive item on the menu – Wagyu Katsu set. I ordered the regular Japanese beef set because, well, I’ve eaten the wagyu one before already.

If the beef is a tad too raw for your preference, you can always place it on the stone grill in front of you and grill it for about 2-3 seconds and you’ll get a very nice medium texture. If you prefer something less bloody, then maybe grill the meat for about 5 seconds and you’ll get a medium-well texture. It tastes best (in my opinion) when coated with the onsen egg, or with the curry. Yums~!

6th spot of the day: Nintendo official store (Kyoto) (I’m really, really not 特种兵… today was an exception!!!)

I’m not a fan of Nintendo nor their games (though I kinda like Kirby as a character), but Zack’s son was in love with Mario. My nephew loved the Bomb (sorry don’t know the real name.. Bomberman?) from Mario series too. In any case, Zack spent like another 1.5hr in the shop trying to decide what to buy for his son… I don’t think I can feel my legs at that point anymore. ;( We went up to the rooftop after that – there’s an official photo spot where the staff will take a photo for you – he went for it, I didn’t.

6 tourist spots in a day, and 4 of them are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. My legs were pretty dead by the time I was back in my hotel room. Like what I said in my IG, 我没有在一天内去过这么多个世界遗产… I’m quite amazed with myself, actually…

Day 10 – 16/11/2023

Another UNESCO World Heritage Site day… but thankfully I only planned for ONE place today. Yup, it’s a trip out of Kyoto – to Himeji. For Himeji castle, obviously.

Again, I have nothing much to say about the castle. I don’t think I’d ever want to climb the 6-storey castle again. Nope. NADA. Nuh. Not even if you give me US$1K to do it. For US$5K… maybe. But, just maybe.

I really preferred Koko-en 好古園 next door… it’s such a pretty garden!

So my initial plan after Koko-en was to head to Engyoji 書寫山 圓教寺, but unfortunately the weather became a little overcast and I wasn’t sure if we would be able to make it there in time with all the complicated transport routes. We decided to give it a miss – and instead made a decision to stroll for about 30 min to a residential area in Himeji city for Kura Sushi (our lunch). It was one of the best last-minute decisions that I’ve made, because I really enjoyed the peaceful walk (leisure stroll but not aimlessly) in the residential neighbourhood, away from all the hustle and bustle of touristy spots.

Kura Sushi was a place I had in my mind when Zack said he wanted to try conveyor-belt sushi. He said he never heard of Kura Sushi before, but then didn’t they open up outlets in China too? Anyway… Kura Sushi it is.

Perhaps it was because it’s not in tourist area, perhaps it was already past peak lunch hours, but by the time we got to the outlet, we didn’t need to queue at all (it was always packed with long queues in other cities). You can opt to order from the tablet at the table, or you can scan the QR code and order on your mobile phone. It works both ways. The nice thing about Kura Sushi is that you can feed the empty sushi plates back to the plate disposal system and for every five plate, you can have a chance to play the gacha game, and if you are lucky, you’ll win one! We got lucky – we won 3 gachas in a row. The prizes are all just Jujutsu Kaisen merchandise (stickers and stuff), which Zack asked to keep. I’m not a Jujutsu Kaisen fan, so I let him take them all. And because we gave up on Engyoji, we had to find another place to spend our afternoon. He opted to go to Himeji City Museum of Art, and so that’s where we went. Coincidentally, there was a mini TeamLab exhibition going on there. He hadn’t been to one before, hence I immediately convinced him to go (well, I was the one paying for the ticket anyway, so it didn’t take much convincing on my part for him to say yes…), and he was absolutely blown away by such immersive exhibition.

All in all, I find teamLab exhibits always very thought-provoking. You might first be blown away by all the lights and how interactive the exhibits can be, but when you think about the theme of the exhibition and think about how these exhibits relate to the theme, then it starts to hit you how deep these are.

It’s okay if you just feel the lights are pretty though. Everyone understands and sees art differently. 😀

There was a hiccup back at Himeji station when we were trying to catch the train back to Kyoto. Let’s just say I was totally upset (to the point of being angry) with Zack and his attitude, and even to this day I feel he owed me an apology. I often tend to review such incidents afterwards to determine if I’m in the wrong as well, but no matter how I see it, this incident was totally his mistake, and in the end instead of apologising, he became angry at me for being upset with him. Like, wut? If it’s not for the fact that we still have a couple more days to stick together in this trip, and that I felt it’s my responsibility to bring him around till the last day, I’d really love to just abandon him there and then and go off on my own for the rest of the trip.

Pffft.

深呼吸。不气不气。Anyway, after we got back to Kyoto, because it was still rather early (like 6pm JST), even though the sky was almost as dark as if it was 10pm, I decided to drop by Kodaiji for their autumn night illumination event. My phone can’t capture the night illumination that well, but I hope I could go for more next time! I really, really love night illuminations…

Here’s a photo of night-time Kyoto (taken after we left Kodaiji) to end this day. 🙂

Day 11 – 17/11/2023

I brought Zack over to Kurasu, before we head to other places. Kurasu is my favourite cafe for matcha latte – they really do have the best matcha latte ever! It’s definitely a must-visit every time I drop by Kyoto. Don’t think I need to share any more photos – I have shared quite a lot from my visit the last time!

After Kurasu, we made our way to Toji Temple 东寺 – again I’m not a fan of temples’ interiors, hence I have more photos of the temple grounds to share instead.

After Toji Temple, our plan was to head to Uji for a half-day trip, but I was torn between grabbing lunch at Kyoto or at Uji. We passed by an unassuming ramen restaurant named Kyoto Ramen Laboratory 京都ラーメン研究所 as we made our way to Kyoto station, and decided to pop in to grab lunch. The interior was very…. very… retro….? I don’t know if that’s the good word for it, but it’s like its right from the Showa era, LOL. Their ramen is not bad at all – wonder why is it only getting a 3.9 rating on Google Maps. It’s at least a 4.3 from me.

After lunch, we hurriedly head to Uji – that’s the problem with travelling in Japan during the autumn/winter season. The temples and museums close real early, like 4pm or 4.30pm, so you really need to plan your time well if you don’t want to be chase out of the compound by the closing time. Zack still wanted to linger in the tea shops while we were on our way to Byodo-in at Uji, and I had to hurry him along and told him to check out the shops after we were done with Byodo-in.

It’s him who wanted to go Byodo-in, and it’s also him who wanted to dilly-dally in shops and almost caused us to miss Byodo-in opening hours. -__-;

Byodo-in 平等院 doesn’t have much to cover – it’s really just the Phoenix Hall, a small museum (sort of), the pond, and a garden. The Phoenix Hall requires extra admission fee too, and honestly it’s NOT WORTH to spend the extra money to join the tour and go into the hall – it’s not a big hall. It’s just a small square room (and you couldn’t take any photos), and the guide only speaks Japanese. All in all it just took about 15min for the guide to explain what this hall is about, and he/she’d give you a couple of minutes to ogle at the artworks on the walls – and that’s about it. Not worth the money.

After we left Byodo-in, we finally had some time to browse the tea shops in Uji. Unfortunately at 4+pm, some of the shops also started closing. I took a photo of the very nice evening sky again (the evening skies in Japan somehow always looked so pretty!). I feel I didn’t really get to enjoy Uji itself… I will definitely revisit again and spend more time in the town and at the shops next time.

Before we headed back to our accommodation to retire for the night, I dropped by at Niigata Katsudon Tarekatsu for dinner. It is a Tarekatsu chain, and Tarekatsu is a very popular Niigata dish. I’ve been wanting to try Tarekatsu ever since I’ve heard of it, and since I’m not sure when I’ll be visiting Niigata, I figured since this outlet was near where we were back at Kyoto, I thought to just try it out.

Initially I was worried that the meat would be too tough, but no, its thin but very tender. I really liked it! I think Zack found it to be too salty though. I’m not sure why, I can take the saltiness in Japan quite well – while I can’t stand Chinese or Western dishes that were too salty. More proof that I should be living in Japan? 😀

Day 12 – 18/11/2023

Went to Yoshinoya for breakfast. Although I’m always happy with just breads from Japan’s convenience stores, hot meals from restaurants are nice too!

After breakfast, we took a bus and headed to Eikan-do 永観堂 – this temple at this time of the year usually has very pretty koyo, but unfortunately koyo season was late in 2023, thus most of the leaves are still green. But nevertheless I did see some colours though!

We were supposed to take the Kyo-train GARAKU to Osaka after Eikan-do, but I wasn’t able to find the platform in time. Sigh… oh well. 无缘… I’m sure I’ll be able to get onboard the train next time!

We took the normal train to Osaka and went to Kuromon Market 黒門市場 for lunch. Forgot which shop we went into… the food was just decent, and rather expensive. Really dislike lunching at such tourist traps, but well, guess sometimes it can’t be helped…

After lunch, we went over to Den-den town for Zack to look for his Slam Dunk merchandise. There weren’t that much to see (or maybe because I wasn’t that interested in anime merchandise now), so I excused myself to a nearby cafe to rest my legs and got my caffeine fix while he continued his search for his SD stuff. His search turned up nothing though, and since daylight was slowly fading away, we then walked and made our way to Dotonbori, for the Glico running man (famous photo spot) and dinner. I figured he hadn’t had Ichiran at all for the entire trip, thus brought him to queue at one. Nice evening sky (as usual) captured while queueing to get in… we didn’t queue too long, perhaps just 20 min or so before we took our seats inside. I’m not a fan of Ichiran ramen (but I’m a huge fan of their solo diner booths), and I’ve eaten Ichiran many, many times, so I have no comments other than “eh, decent Hakata-style ramen”. He seemed to like it though.

After dinner, we just strolled around Shinsaibashi-suji Shopping street 心斎橋筋商店街 before heading back to our accommodation to rest for the night.

Day 13 – 19/11/2023

Half day trip to Nara! Initially I planned for one whole day here, but then when we reached, we realised that the Nara National Museum wasn’t open – only the Buddhist Sculpture Hall was opened. Oh well… We spent some time there but ummm, well it’s okay. Most exhibits have several languages explaining what they are, so it’s really kinda catered for tourists.

Nara Park itself is just, well, Nara Park. I’ve seen those deer a few times now, so I’m not so in awed with them. I’m more concerned with all the deer shit on the ground, so most of the times I’m looking at the ground (to avoid stepping on the poo, of course) instead of those deer…

We had lunch at one of the touristy restaurants in Nara (Happy Kitchen Kin-no-shika), and it was one of the most unmemorable Western food I’ve ever eaten (it’s worse than Astons’ back home). Bleh. Not recommended. Coffee’s bad, food’s bad.

After lunch, we continued our way to Todaiji. Again, a place I’ve been before, but the large Buddha statues in Todaiji are something which I don’t mind paying the admission fee again and again to view them if I’m happen to be in Nara. There’s something about large Buddha statues that draws me to them.

We finished Nara Park within half a day, and there goes my idea of waiting for sunset at Wakakusayama Hill. Zack repeated his request to go to the Manga museum again, so I brought him there since we now have another half day to go.

I was a fan of manga, yup, but I’m no longer a huge fan now. Hence I’m not that enthusiastic about the Manga museum, though I still find myself appreciating the place more than I thought I would. But most of it was kinda lost on me since I only started my manga journey from Shaman King onwards, and only up till… One Punch Man? Nevertheless, if you’re a fan of Japanese manga, I think the museum is worth about 2-3 hours of your time.

Dinner was at 糖朝 (yup I wrote that correctly), at Kyoto Takashimaya. I first ate 糖朝 many many many years back in Hong Kong (yes it originates from HK), and I recalled their food was decent, even though their signature dishes back then were desserts (which explains the 糖 in their name). I wasn’t feel quite well that day, so I opted for a Chinese restaurant in order to get some congee, hence you can imagine my sense of relief when I saw this restaurant while walking around trying to see what to eat for dinner. I mean, it’s a restaurant that I’m somewhat familiar with, and know what to expect. In any case, I got myself a bowl of seafood congee (it’s really very nice – comfort food at its best), and some dim sum to go along with it (congee gets digested real fast).

Not cheap, but I don’t mind splurging a little for Chinese food in Japan now and then. 2 weeks of pure Japanese food is kinda tiring on the palates…

Day 14 – 20/11/2023

Bwahahahahhahaha how cute is this!!!!!

Yup this is my breakfast for the day. I still recalled the first cup noodle I’ve ever had in my life (like 30 years back?) was this Nissin Cup Noodles Seafood flavour. The taste was soooo nostalgic! T___T I was almost in tears as I slurped those noodles up.

OK so I initially planned for an early start of the day, to walk to Kiyomizudera via Hanamikoji Street 花見小路, then to Ninenzaka 二年坂, then Sannenzaka 三年坂, before reaching Kiyomizudera. I wanted to skip the crazy crowd, so I asked Zack to try and wake up at 6am in order for us to leave at 7am. But uh, he overslept… oh well. We left about an hour later than what I had planned, headed for Starbucks for my coffee, before starting the walk. And we even saw a rainbow! We reached Ninenzaka at around 9am, which by then already started to have some tourists. I really like Kyoto early in the morning and super late at night – the quietness of the city is something I really enjoyed.

Zack was trying to stop at every step to take photos and I had to hurry him on and told him we will be back to take the photos after we are done with the temple. We should just go to the temple quick… but ugh, we still reached the temple a little late, and well, the hall was just full of people by the time we reached… I’ve tried to take photos without people in them, but I’ll throw in a few that can let you have an idea of just how crowded it was, despite us attempting to reach Kiyomizudera early in the morning…

My camera always can’t capture just how pretty the views were from Kiyomizudera. 🙁

We grabbed a quick lunch from a soba restaurant, before heading to Arashiyama (another of my favourite Kyoto destination). But this round, we didn’t go to the famous bamboo forest, because, um, Zack is from China… I’m sure the Chinese have seen enough bamboo forests in their own country…? Instead, we went to the Fukuda Art Museum for some Ukiyo-e exhibitions. I’m totally not a fan – but hey, this trip was more or less curated for him so as long as he’s happy… *shrugs*

Oh, and a second rainbow of the day! 😀

Dinner was at Ine, a tofu restaurant. Tofu dishes are very famous in Kyoto, and I’ve always wanted to get my hands on a proper tofu meal, but Bruno wasn’t a fan and I doubt he’d be willing to splurge (yup Kyoto Yuba meals are not cheap) on something that he didn’t even wanna try in the first place. Since Zack claimed he likes tofu, and that I’m the one paying for meals, I figured it’s the best time to try my very first tofu meal in Kyoto on the last day of the 2 weeks trip.

And it didn’t disappoint! I ordered the Arashiyama set, and I really like all the dishes – but it was very, very filling… 差点被撑死了 >___<

We stopped by the Arashiyama Randen station, because I want to take a quick look at the “网红” Kimono Forest in the station. Turns out to be… um… rather disappointing, I must say…

Back to hotel to pack up!

Day 15 – 21/11/2023

Checked out of the hotel pretty early, and we dumped our luggage at Kyoto station’s coin lockers, and wandered around Isetan department store at Kyoto station. We went up to the ramen “street” and had our lunch at Ikkousha. I seriously would avoid Ikkousha next time… 猪腥味好重!!!!!!!!! I thought it was only the Singapore outlet had this issue, but nooooooo, the smell was horrible in Japan’s outlets as well. The entire shop has the smell of pork, OMFG… regretted max for choosing Ikkousha. -___-;;;

Took Haruka (which is somehow known to many people as the “Hello Kitty airport train”) to KIX. The long queues at check-in desks and at the customs immigration check were really just as bad as what 小红书 users were saying back then. But I’ve got my upgraded business class ticket, so I could go through the Fast Lane~ Heh heh heh~ It was evening by the time the plane departed from KIX, so I’ve got very nice sunset views…. <3 I didn’t use the “Book the Cook” service on the flight back, and opted for the in-flight options instead. I chose the hamburg, but they’ve ran out of the Western meal’s appetiser, and gave me the Japanese meal’s appetiser instead. Well I’m not complaining… 😀