Kyoto

かつくら・三条本店 Katsukura @Kyoto

Posted on 8 December 2015 by lendeliz

2015-12-08 19.21.07Mr J recommended this place to us, and warned us about the long queues at the Kyoto Station outlet, so we were pretty excited when we found the main shop near our hotel! There was a little entrance next to Lipton cafe, and opposite Jeugia, a guitar shop, and we had to walk through a small alley before reaching the restaurant.

We were comparing the English and Japanese menus, and discovered that for the English version, the main pork dishes all come in sets (additional ¥300 for unlimited servings of barley rice), but since we wanted to minimise our carbohydrates intake, we ordered via the Japanese menu instead:

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Categories: Dinner, Kyoto | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment

Day trip to 嵐山 Arashiyama

Posted on 8 December 2015 by lendeliz

We travelled to 嵐山 Arashiyama in the morning, to experience the lovely stroll in the bamboo groves. It was an easy walk from the 嵯峨嵐山駅 JR Saga Arashiyama Station, as we basically just followed the crowd.  This meant that there was quite a fair number of people attempting to take photos at the more popular spots within the bamboo groves, including 2 Japanese dressed in kimonos, with an entourage of photographer and assistants, and they attracted plenty of attention from all the tourists! Aside from this, it was a rather serene stroll 🙂 As we walked along, there was also a lone vendor selling pretty postcards.
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Categories: Coffee/Tea Break, Japan, Kyoto, Lunch, Travel | Tags: , , , , , , | 1 Comment

我逢人 かっぱ Gahoujin Kappa @Gion

Posted on 2 December 2015 by lendeliz

We were done with sight-seeing for the day and were searching for cheaper alternatives near 祇園 Gion area for dinner, before heading home. Ms V found a highly recommended 居酒屋 izakaya, and we decided to go try our luck!

When we peeped in, we saw that the bar counters were fully occupied, but still decided to try enquiring for seats. To our pleasant surprise, there were tables available in another room, away from the smokey bar counters.. Happiness!

It was a traditional tatami room, which meant that we had to take off our shoes, and kneel/sit on the floor. The trio of stiff-legged 外人 gaijins ended up sitting with legs in various positions to avoid leg cramps 😛 The food and atmosphere were good enough that we sat through leg cramps and enjoyed our dinner for 2 hours!

Most of the items were ¥390, excluding tax, and of a small portion, which was good, because we wanted to have a variety. For a total of ¥5610 (~S$65) for 3 persons, we left the place really bloated and happy.

Contact:

  • Location: 77 Sueyoshi-cho, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto-fu 605-0085, Japan 〒605-0085 京都府京都市東山区末吉町77
  • Nearest Station: Gion-Shijo Station 祇園四条駅
  • Direction: Take Exit 7 and walk along 四条通 Shijo Dori. Make a left turn at 大和大路通 Yamato Oji Dori. Turn right at the second junction.
  • Website: www.kirinya-foods.jp/kappa
  • Hrs: 6pm – 3am (Tue-Sat), 5pm – 12:30am (Sun)
Categories: Dinner, Japan, Kyoto, Travel | Tags: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

高台寺 Kodai-ji Temple @Kyoto

Posted on 2 December 2015 by lendeliz

2015-12-02 17.03.00During our 1 day stopover in Kyoto, we had originally planned to go for the night illumination at 清水寺 Kiyomizu-dera. However, it had been a rather hectic itinerary for us so far, and 清水寺 Kiyomizu-dera seemed rather far away.

Instead, after hearing great reviews from a colleague, and also read many good things, we decided to go for the nearer 高台寺 Kodai-ji Temple instead, as we wanted to be nearer to the 祇園 Gion area.

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Categories: Kyoto, Travel | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment

東福寺 Tofuku-ji Temple @Kyoto

Posted on 2 December 2015 by lendeliz

We wanted and had hoped to try to catch some 紅葉 autumn colours from the maple leaves during our trip, but it was so difficult to find reasonably priced lodging in 京都 Kyoto, so we decided to stopover at 京都 Kyoto for 1 day (and stayed in a capsule hotel) before returning back during the later half of the trip. 東福寺 Tofuku-ji Temple was the place to try our luck for the day time… and we were so so glad that we made the effort to come here!

As we had our JR Rail Pass activated, we took the train from 京都駅 Kyoto Station to 東福寺駅 Tofuku-ji Station on the JR Nara Line, and from there, it was an easy 10-minute walk to the temple as we basically just followed the crowd.

While the peak was probably over, it was amazing to see the red, orange and yellow colours all around us… simply stunning, and totally worth the ¥400 per adult entry fee! We’ll let the pictures tell the story 🙂

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Categories: Kyoto, Travel | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments

はしたて Hashitate Restaurant @Kyoto

Posted on 2 December 2015 by lendeliz

2015-12-02 14.02.562015-12-02 14.00.39We left 東京 Tokyo on 東海道新幹線 Tokaido Shinkansen and headed to 京都 Kyoto!

After dropping our luggage at the Capsule Hotel, we went back to JR Kyoto Station for lunch before making our way to 東福寺 Tofukuji. FourSquare suggested はしたて Hashitate, and we managed to find the place after some help from the information counter.

The queue was rather short, but we only got a table about 30 minutes later. By then, we had more or less decided on what we wanted, a Seasonal Set (¥1650+8% tax) with a groupa and spinach don, vegetable soba, appetizers and pickles, and a Special Set (¥2250+) with a groupa, egg and vegetable noodle soup, preserved tuna don, appetizers and pickles.

The food was presented in a lovely manner and we could not wait to attack the food! Despite the almost completely blocked nose, I felt immediate bliss from the first bite… I love Kyoto! 😀

Contact:

  • Location: Higashi-Shiokoji, Shiokoji-Sagaru, Karasuma St, Shimogyou-ku Kyoto-shi, Kyoto-fu 600-8175, Japan 〒600-8175 京都府京都市下京区 烏丸通塩小路下ル東塩小路町
  • Nearest Station: JR Kyoto Station JR京都駅
  • Direction: 3rd floor of Suvaco JR Kyoto Isetan スバコ ジェイアール京都伊勢丹3F
  • Website: www.wakuden.jp/tenpo-hashitate
  • Hrs: 11am – 10pm
Categories: Kyoto, Lunch | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment

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