Starting Our Japan Adventure in Kyoto

After initially having planned for a trip back in 2021 only for Covid to disrupt everyone’s plans, we’ve finally made it to Japan! On our first stop, Kyoto provided us with three great days, filled with lots of sightseeing, great street food, matcha everything, local craft beers and even did provided us with a side trip to Nara where we were mobbed by the local deer.

Our trip started with a flight to Singapore where we spent a night at the YotelAir Hotel located inside the Jewel, before landing the following afternoon at the Kansai International Airport where, as expected, it was busy, and it took about an hour to clear customs and exit onto Japanese soil.

Out first task was a practical one (or couple of ones), as Xander’s phone doesn’t support esim (which the rest of us got through Airalo) we had bought an actual sim card online through “NINJA SIM Kansai” which was easy to pick up and install. After that, we got some cash from the ATM before getting our local IC cards, ICOCA cards, which we will use for trains, buses, vending machines, and also at the many kombini purchases throughout our trip.

With all that done, we made our way to the correct train platform (where Google Maps was very helpful with directions) and got onto the Haruka Hello Kitty Express train bound for Kyoto where we arrived precisely when the timetable said we would (or about 75 minutes later.

Arriving in Kyoto train station, we walked a short 5 minutes to our accomodation, the Resi Heart Stay and took a moment to settle in before wandering out for our first glimpse of the city. Being tired after a long day of travel, we didn’t stray long and had a nice first dinner at the Heso Kyoto Ekimae where we enjoyed a mix of small plates together with some cold beers, which felt like a great introduction to not only Kyoto’s but also Japan’s food scene.

The next morning, our journey to Kyoto truly started with an early morning Taxi ride to the Kiyomizu-dera Temple where we wandered along the iconic wooden stage and enjoyed some great city views. Whilst at the temple, we tried our luck with Omikuji, the traditional Japanese fortune slips that sell for 100 yen. In order to get one, you first shake a large wooden drum until a numbered stick drops out which the attendant then matches the number to the fortune. Both Xander and Eloise had a go with her being specially lucky, even getting the largest thumbs up by the lady running the stall, apparently Eloise now has good fortune.

After we left the temple area, we wandered along the streets along the famous Higashiyama Ward where old fashioned wooden houses include plenty of different shops and tea stalls. Along the way, we tried some pickled cucumber on a stick and a very creamy matcha ice cream, made from Kyoto’s famous Uji matcha – and even joined a peaceful tea ceremony, a tradition in this region’s tea culture, where it was just Suz and I that participated (whilst Xander and Eloise sat nearby), a great experience.

For lunch, we stopped at a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant, Mori Mori Sushi, where you ordered the food via a tablet and it was delivered to your table through a small bullet train which was both food and entertainment in one.

After lunch we wandered along the very busy Nishiki Market, where Eloise tried some Tanghulu, sugar coated strawberries whilst Xander had some Wagyu beef skewers. Suz and I tried our first Taiyaki (filled with custard) before ending with some Sake, including a cherry blossom–flavoured sake.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped into at Kyoto Beer Lab, a small craft brewery along a river where we sampled some of their products before returning to the hotel for some rest and finishing that night with some dinner at the Kyoto Ramen Street located inside Kyoto Station where we ate at Ramen Koganeya, enjoying our first of many more ramen to come.

Our second day started with a train ride to the Fushimi Inari Shrine, which is famous for its thousands of bright orange Torii gates. We walked along with all the other persons who also thought that this was a great thing to do, trying to get some great photos along the way, before about a third of the way up, Suz decided that she would sit and wait for us if we wanted to complete the loop to the top of the Mt Inari-san. So Xander, Eloise and I made the tough journey to the top of the mountain, climbing up and down at least a thousand steps (or so it felt) – taking in the beautiful scenery along the way, before we made our way back down to where Suz was waiting for us.

Back at the hotel, we enjoyed some bento boxes that we had bought from the local 7-Eleven (the convenience stores here are something else and we visited them everyday on several occasions).

Later that afternoon, we took the train to Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, wandering among the towering bamboo before wandering the area down to the the Togetsukyō Bridge where we sat by the river with Xander and Eloise enjoying some shaved ice whilst I had myself a very tasty matcha latte (told you there was everything matcha here).

Once we were rested we caught a local bus, to the Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion, and wandered its ground as some very light rain began to fall which was , we wandered around the shimmering Golden Pavilion as light rain began to fall.

We finished that night with a dinner under the Tokyo Station, at the Porta Underground Mall, where we had our first Katsu pork curry which was delicious! And as always, we made a stop at a convenience store, or Kombini as they call them here, for desserts and drinks before heading back to the hotel.

On our last day we decided to do a day trip to Nara to see the local temple but mainly to experience the local deer in the area. Upon arrival we initially only saw one or two deer before, as we ventured further, we saw hundreds of them. There were small sellers that sold deer treats for 200 yen which we got, and after reading online, decided to just hide them and walk away. We could see that people that got them and kept them in their hands were being nearly attacked by the deer as they tried to walk away.

Eloise and Xander eventually got to feed the deer who were friendly for the most and bowed to them as they fed them. On occasion the deer got a bit pushy and seemed eager to steal the treats from our hands.

Besides from the deer in Nara, we also managed to visit the Central Golden Hall of Kōfuku-ji Temple and tried some of the famous Nakatanidō Mochi, which are green rice puddings filled with red bean paste, and dusted with kinako, a roasted soybean flour. They were soft, chewy, and quite tasty!

On our way back to Kyoto we stopped at the Fushimi Ward, an area known for its sake breweries, were we visited the Gekkeikan Sake Museum. Here we not only learnt about the making of Sake brewing but we were also able to sample a range of varieties.

We had our last dinner in Kyoto at the Kyoto Tower Sando, which is more of a food hall where we could all just pick a different meal from different stalls, sometimes it’s just easier that way. We ended the night with a quick visit to the Craft Kyoto, enjoying another local craft beer and bringing the day to a perfect end. 

We’ve had a great initial trip to Japan with Kyoto offering so much to us, all the way from our first izakaya dinner, through temples, markets, bamboo forests, and even some pushy Nara deer. Kyoto was a great introduction to Japan and we can’t wait to see what else is on offer to us on this trip!

From here, bring on Osaka!