Fall, in love with Japan 2013 - Part 3

On the third day, we spent the morning in Osaka, and made our way to Kyoto early afternoon.

We checked out of our hotel in the morning, but we left our luggages at the front desk so we can go explore without a worry. We decided to find our way to the JR Namba station so we would know our way there later when we have to make the way with our luggages. We found the Welcome-to-Osaka metal ball!

Got way too excited about a giant reflective metal ball...

After we sorted out the way to the train station, we went to Shinsaibashi for shopping. After shopping we went for box sushi (箱寿司) for lunch! To be honest, the taste wasn't too special, but it was definitely super cute and relatively yummy.

having prism sushi - another thing off my bucket list.

so cute right? Food that looks like toy (like, prism sushi, sushi balls...) excites me ^^

 

After lunch we went to Dotonbori to get some souvenirs. Since I've been to Osaka way too many times, I didn't really buy much souvenirs from there. Just got some candy for myself (*´∀｀). We were having way too much fun so we were kind of rushing back to the inn to get our stuff, and we rushed to the train station. Good thing we checked our routes beforehand, so we made it in time to catch our train.

selfie with shades - MY NEW POLICE SHADES! (been wanting a pair for the longest time because...ATSUSHI <3 )

 

However, the ride was not a comfortable one. There were not enough room to fit my large suitcase in front of me. I had no leg room. (*´Д｀). It was a bit better when KK switched seats with me so I could sort of tilt my leg sideways towards the aisle, but still... uncomfortable!

no leg room (T___T")

still, not having leg room didn't stop us from taking a selfie.

 

 

After we arrived Kyoto station, we booked our seats for the way to Tokyo two days later, and then we took the bus to our accomodation in Kyoto. As directed from the information provided to us, we took a bus to Kiyomizu-zaka. This turned out to be quite a challenge; trying to balance myself and preventing my luggage from rolling and bumping into other passengers was not an experience I would want to repeat. After we got off the bus, we located ourselves. We started making our way to the accomodation, which is actually a Japanese style Ryokan in my opinion, although on the booking site, it was named a "hotel". The walk was not too long, but it was a killer because it was uphill! The sidewalk was really rough so during the entire way, I prayed that the wheels on my luggage won't fail on me (because it has happened, twice for that matters). It was also really dark by the time we got to Kyoto, and we were not entirely sure of our ways. Luckily we found our Ryokan without too many problems, but next time, I will surely opt for a taxi to save ourselves from the hassle.

our room when we first stepped into it.

we had a little desk thingie which was so cute

determined to take more selfies before we mess up the room.

 

The Ryokan we stayed at was operated by a family, who lived on the second floor. The wife was the one that greeted us and she was really friendly. She told us of all the regulations and showed us around the place. When we got into our room, we were so tired, and I was really sweaty. We cooled off (yay AC), dropped off our stuff, refreshed ourselves, and went out to get dinner and do a bit of exploring. We ended up walking into a small Okonomiyaki restaurant, since we didn't have a chance to eat it in Osaka. We ordered okonomiyaki obviously, as well as a dish that I totally don't remember the name of. On the menu, the restaurant claimed that the dish was popular amount regular customers. It looked pretty good, so we decided to order it. It was something like a roll, with egg on the outer layer, wrapping some pieces of pork inside. It was indeed delicious.

our Okonomiyaki nommmmmm!

It had soba in it, which made it more like hiroshima style okonomiyaki.

the pork egg wrap dish popular among regular customers.

 

After dinner, we decided to take a night walk around the neighborhood. We went to conbini and the local supermarket, where I found eito candy <3. We took a different way back and kind of got lost. We didn't care though, since we were too busy taking photos of the dark, creepy but kyoto-like streets. It was almost like an adventure and I was so glad I went with KK. There's no way I would dare to explore like that if I were to go by myself. After we got back to the ryokan, we just cleaned ourselves up and chilled until we went to bed.

haroooo I'm actually in the photo.

super Kyoto-esque scene.

more creepy but pretty kyoto scene.

The next day we spent entirely in Kyoto, which was quite eventful. More about it next post!