I promised you my second post on Kyoto and here it is along with my one day trip in Osaka!!! Each time when I write my travels here to share with all of you, I do hope that you guys know I always pick out the best places that I think you guys should visit too. The ones that I didn’t find interesting, I wouldn’t include it for you guys:)
As you guys know, I stayed at Ana Crowne Hotel Kyoto and besides having large rooms, and an amazing breakfast spread, it was so closed to a subway station and one of the state’s landmark tourists attraction which is Nijo Castle. We didn’t even know it was an attraction but our room faced directly across from it,and we kept waking up to the beautiful scenery of it’s gardens!! If you guys google it, you would know it’s a flatland castle fortified by two castles and several gardens.
Here we are at the majestic entrance of the castle
One of the several beautiful gardens you get to walk through. It’s so pretty with the snow dotted trees. I swear I was staring at this scene taking it all in for a good 3 minutes not moving or talking…
A part of the castle. They usually allow people to go in but it’s under renovation when we were there
Another opulent entrance
Using the Colour tone effect on my Olympus EPL7!!! So, you can mostly see only the greens… nifty eh?
My OOTD with meshed grey stockings, a dress, coat, scarf and ear muffs!! Seriously, all wrapped up because I just can’t stand the cold!
The next place everyone MUST go to when you are in Kyoto is the onsen, it’s natural!
We went to one in the outskirts of town where you have to take the tram too
They were selling fukubukuro bags too!!!!! So tempted to get one
Our bags filled with towels and keys to our lockers before we head in
Separate one for men and women. Some private onsens actually have rooms for families which is more comfortable for men who are not used to it.
As for me, I have been to the jimjilbang in Korea before and knew how it was like, but for Ben, it was a complete culture shock for him from stripping naked to being with naked men all over!!! LOL!!! Be prepared for that if you have never been to one.
Just a tip for those who are heading to onsens:
1. Remember to strip completely naked
2. You can take the smaller towel with you in to cover your privates if you are not comfortable while lying down
3. As you enter, head to the shower area and cleanse yourself thoroughly before heading into any of the onsen pools
4. There are some cold pools, so if you feel your body being too hot, you can dip in the cold pool or pour it over you
5. enjoy the effects of the onsen, my skin was amazingly clear after getting out and Ben’s eczema went away
Now, onto Osaka, I am just highlighting the awesome okonomiyaki(Japanese pizza) and one of the attractions
We were brought to an okonomiyaki place in the heart of the city next to our hotel. There are two types of okonomiyaki, one is from Osaka, and the other from Hiroshima. I usually prefer the Hiroshima one, but I wanted to try the authentic one from Osaka.
Some has egg on top, and some does not, but within it is a mixture of vege’s, meat,seafood(if you add in), and flour
The yummy part is the sauce they put on top
Ta-da – a complete okonomiyaki with fish skin and it was yummy! Please be warned that okonomiyaki is an acquired taste so not everyone will like it BUT you should definitely try it when you are there
We also got a chance to try the Tempozan ferris wheel which used to be the most technologically advanced observation wheel in the world.. Btw, there’s a lot of shopping in that area too, and very close to the Osakako station, Chuo Line
About to head up
The panoramic view of Osaka. There’s basically a map when you are inside
All the way up, and Ben just realized he has a fear of heights!!! hehehe
This write up concludes my 9 days in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. My takeaway from it all is Kyoto is a MUST to visit, please spend more time there… Tokyo and Osaka are very similar but I prefer Tokyo simply because it just seems a little bit more orderly 🙂
If you have any questions, drop me a comment and I will definitely reply…
xoxo,
Mei Sze
