We flew by Scoot from Singapore and landed in Osaka. Then took the express train to Kyoto (about 1 hr 15 min ride).
We get by with English and Mandarin (my guest - maybe 50% of Japanese characters are Chinese).
We checked into the Ebisu Ryokan. Our room is about 4m x 4m but with a small attach toilet.
The room is nice for me - maybe because I am not particular about where I stay. The staff are friendly too and we are within walking distance from the Kyoto station.
Ebisu Ryokan.
The Eco friendly toilet.
A view of our room.
Most of the bus journey will only cost 230 Yen - flat rate.
We visited the Higashi Honganji ("ji" means "temple") first.
Views of Hagashi Honganji.
We next headed to the Shosei-en Garden: Kikoku-tei Villa. Have to pay entrance fee but the walk in the garden is serene and peaceful. Take your time to do some mindful walking.
Views of Shosei Garden.
From the garden, we took a 25 min walk to the Nikishi Market. You can have lunch here as there is a wide selection of Japanese food.
Views of Nikishi Market.
A sketch I drew while drinking coffee.
Had dinner in a foodcourt in Aeon Mall. For less than S$30, had air-flown US sirlion beef.
Nice beef dinner and reasonable price.
Saw this sign. Guess it is excusable given that we are in Japan.
Can spot the errors?
Today we had breakfast in the room. It was raining but we first went to visit the Imperial Palace thinking we can spend the day indoor. However it was an outdoor walk - cannot enter into any building.
Taking subway to Imperial Palace.
Imperial Palace, Kyoto.
Gion is the next place we visited. It is really nice - with many old structures.
Gion is well known for geihsa but don't think we saw any. There were a lot of people in kimono which you could rent for a day.
Gion.
Taken from Kiyomizu-dera, Gion. Can see Kyoto city from the temple.
Another cup of coffee.
We had shabu shabu for dinner.
Shabu shabu.
The weather was fine on the 3rd day. We took the local train to Arashiyama. Visited the Daihikaku Senkoji - a zen temple up the hill. Also visited the bamboo walk. The place is very "touristy".
Arashiyama.
A sketch of the zen temple.
On the 4th day, we took a train to Lake Biwa (Shiga Station). The place has lots of padi fields - like almost every household plants their own rice. The place is really quiet - think people only go there to camp or ski.
So not much at Lake Biwa.
Lake Biwa.
We jad lunch back in Kyoto and spent the rest of the day shopping at Yodobashi Camera Multimedia Center, Kyoto. The number of signs is amazing at Level 3 (think other levels may be similar). Looking for the toilet and escape route can be challenging. Amyway, bought toys for our grandson (hopefully grandchildren the next time we have to buy toys back).
Another cup of coffee.
On our last day in Kyoto, we visited the Heian Raku Market (opens on 2nd Saturday of every month). Most sellers sell handicraft. Definitely worth a visit. There is also live jazz, blues, oldies in English (I think depending on luck).
Heian Raku Market.
Quite a few people were sketching at the market.
After a pinic lunch, we made our way to Osaka. It is a maze of underground passages and the problem was that we keep loosing GPS signals. I suggest you get to the street level to navigate.
Osaka Tokyu Rei Hotel - where we stayed.
Ferris Wheel, Osaka
Beef from food hall.
Behind our hotel, Tokyu Rei. Food and lots of people.
Views at Osaka Station in the evening.
Saw the above display outside Daimaru, Osaka Stn. The images are formed by water coming from the top.
As it was Sunday, we went for Mass at the Church of the Holy Family, Umeda. The Mass was conducted in English. Wonder why there are no keeners.
Church of the Holy Family.
Next we went to the Kuromon Ichiba Market. It is a market worth visiting. Lots of street food. One of the food we had there was Wagu and Kobe beef (the smaller beef in the photo below).
Kurumon Ichiba Market.
We next headed towards the Dotondori, Shinsaibashi Shopping Street area. There are lots of people there and if you are free, you can walk along the canal.
Shisaibashi Shopping area.
Next we headed for the Osaka Castle. It is definitely worth a visit. At the top of the castle, you can have a bird's eye view of Osaka. The museum at the Castle is also worth the entrance fee.
The Osaka Castle was also the scene for a gozilla movie.
Today is Monday and we made a trip to Kobe. It was just a 45 min local train ride.
We visited Chinatown (small though), the Kobe harbour and walked around the old settlement area a bit.
Kobe
Today is our last day in Osaka. We are going to the airport by 10 am. So we took a leisure day to just stroll along Kita Tenjibashi - the longest shopping street in Osaka. It took us a couple of hours to walk the whole street - stopping for shabushabu lunch along the way.
Wanted to visit the Housing Museum but it was closed (close on Tuesdays).
Kita Tenjibashi
Never thought we would see this in Japan. Guess humans are generally the same.
Thank you for visiting the blog.
