We went to check out the many Torii gates at 伏見稲荷大社 Fushimi Inari in the morning, and we discovered that there were now many more Torii gates compared to our previous visit in 2011, making it an even prettier sight. As we were entering the shrine close to 9am, we saw a few visitors leaving 😮 There were easily at least another 20 visitors making their way up at the same time as us, but most of them were quite quiet and orderly in their movements, so it was a rather pleasant walk. Despite the cold, we soon got warm as we slowly made our way up to the view point. Our journey to and fro the view point was about an hour. We were glad we came early; by the time we made our descent, it became really crowded!
Japan
Day trip to 伏見 Fushimi
かつくら・三条本店 Katsukura @Kyoto
Mr 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:
Day trip to 嵐山 Arashiyama
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: Arashiyama, bamboo, bridge, donut, latte, matcha latte, tofu
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Half day trip to Universal Studio Japan
Other than 黒門市場 Kuromon Market and 道頓堀 Dotomburi, we had no idea what else we wanted to do in 大阪 Osaka, and so had only planned for a one night stay in 大阪 Osaka, mainly because it was easier to catch our 11:00 flight at 関西空港 Kansai Airport. That was when Ms V found out that there was Wizarding World of Harry Potter (WWHP) in Universal Studio Japan (USJ), that launched in 2014. To go, or not to go?
We had read all about the crazy crowds in the morning awaiting opening, super long queues for rides, food and merchandise, and timed ticket entry to WWHP, with some getting lousy timings despite having the express tickets. Imagine paying ¥7200 for the 1 day pass (including tax), and an additional minimum of ¥5200 Universal Express® Pass 5 (The Pass 3 did not include the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey™ ride, which was apparently the must-do), and getting a 17:30 timing to enter and do the ride… That would be almost S$150 into the drain, and there was still the must-drink butter beer, and wouldn’t you want to get at least one souvenir home?
寅や Toraya @Takamatsu
We were quite famished for dinner and decided that we should have a great meal for this last night in 四国 Shikoku!
So we found some seats (and drinks) in Seattle Best Coffee in 高松 Takamatsu which had free wifi, and off we went in search of good food in cyberland. 😛
We had listed a few and started walking around to find them only to realise that most of them were closed, mainly because it was a Sunday today. So sad…
Then we laid our eyes on this 焼鳥 yakitori shop and the bright lights attracted us. Plus it advertised もつ鍋 Motsu Nabe! We were definitely in need of hot pot to counter this very cold day!
Categories: Dinner, Shikoku
Tags: Japanese, kushiyaki, motsu nabe, restaurant, Takamatsu, yakitori
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Day trip to 琴平 Kotohira
We had initially wanted to visit another island 直島 Naoshima Island today, but we realised that the ferry and bus timings were too few and not too compatible, and decided to give it a miss. After getting some suggestions from the Tourist Information Centre at 高松 Takamatsu, we decided to go to 琴平 Konpirasan (or sometimes spelt as Kompirasan), the location of the famous 金刀比羅宮 Kotohiragu Shrine, as there was plenty to shop, eat, see, and… Climb! Oh yes, it was a good 785 steps one way to the main hall of the shrine 😛
We still had a valid JR Rail Pass, so it was free for us to travel there. We took the 8:25am train from 高松駅 JR Takamatsu Station, and arrived at 9am to a still sleepy 琴平駅 JR Kotohira Station… There was hardly anyone around. The train station building itself was quite different from others, as it had this European-style to it.
一鶴・高松店 Ikkaku @Takamatsu
We had seen so many restaurants and stalls advertising the signature dish of 香川県 Kagawa Prefecture, 骨付鳥 Honetsukidori, or roast chicken on bone, everywhere we went in 高松 Takamatsu, that we decided that we had to try it!
Ms V discovered the must-go place to have this chicken is 一鶴 Ikkaku, so off we went for our early dinner, only to find a snaking queue out in the cold 😮
There was a take-away option, but we wanted to have our food on the spot while piping hot, and since we were not too hungry, we decided to join the queue with at least 17 people in front of us… Cold burns more fat and calories = more space to eat more, right? 😀
Day Trip to 小豆島 Shodoshima Island
Despite being a cloudy day, we decided to go ahead with our day trip to 小豆島 Shodoshima Island. We took the 9:30am ferry (return tickets ¥1320) from 高松港 Takamatsu Port to 草壁港 Kusakabe Port on Shodoshima, and one hour later, we arrived at 小豆島 Shodoshima Island!
The bus stop was located just outside the port, so we easily caught the 10:50am bus to 紅雲亭 Kountei (¥360 one way). Arriving at 11:03am at the bus stop, we quickly made our way to the ticket counter and bought the return tickets (usual price ¥1350, but we had a 10% discount because we printed a coupon from the website) for the 寒霞渓ロープウェイ Kankakei Ropeway. The ropeway runs every 12 minutes, and once it is full, you will need to wait for the next ride.
しるの店 おふくろ Shiru-no-mise Ofukuro @Takamatsu
Hubby had read about this place near our hotel that was popular for miso soup and homecooked style food, so off we went for dinner. We were quite lucky as we managed to get the last table 🙂
Everyone were having miso soup, and while there were many types available, we chose the more popular ぶた汁 pork miso soup.
We randomly picked some of the dishes that we fancied from what we saw. Most of the food were delicious, and made us feel like we were at home 🙂 However, the egg plant really left its imprints in our minds because it was so, so unexpectedly salty. So salty that it became our benchmark for saltiness throughout the remaining trip… Nothing else could beat it, not even pickles!
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上原屋本店 Ueharaya Honten @Takamatsu
On our way to 栗林公園 Ritsurin-koen, we made a special visit to the local speciality famous 讃岐うどん Sanuki Udon shop 上原屋本店 Ueharaya honten nearby. It is said that while udon is widely available throughout Japan, nobody makes it better and cheaper than in 香川 Kagawa Prefecture.
This is a popular lunch venue with locals working nearby, as it provided a very delicious meal at very affordable prices. It was a short wait outside the shop, as turnover was very fast. Almost everything is self-service. Once you decide on the type and size of udon, you just need to select your side dishes, pay up, and cook the udon yourself, or add the desired toppings yourself. Then you hunt for a table, finish your meal, and return your tray.
Eat.Eat.Walk.Walk . 吃吃走走 