Quite possibly my favorite part of Kyoto (that I’ve visited, that is) that it warranted a revisit, never mind that exploring it would take more than a couple of hours and there’s some hiking involved. It is Fushimi Inari Taisha, my friends, and I’d be glad to show you once again how my 2nd visit went.
Continue reading “[JP18] Kyoto: Revisiting Fushimi Inari Taisha”
This is yet another tl;dr, image-heavy post, which I’m not really gonna apologize for because, really, if I don’t have the photos, then I won’t really have much to say, now, do I? This blog post is all about… walking. Yes, walking. Because if you don’t know me by now, I really, really, really like to walk. A fact that drew the ire of one or two of my companions from time to time. #sorryNOTsorry So, yes, this’ll be all about that time my friend and I practically walked almost the entire length of the road from Nishiki Market, across Kawaramachi to Pontocho Alley, then across the Kamogawa to get to Gion District, until finally we ended up in front of the Yasaka Shrine. Yes. All on foot.
Continue reading “[JP18] Kyoto, Japan: Walking Around Nishiki Market, Pontocho Alley & Gion District (plus Ichiran Kawaramachi!)”
This week-long rain is putting a damper on my spirits; it’s as if the sun decided to hide for a bit to make us realize our transgression of complaining about her heat and glare. We’ll never win, I guess. But, to pick myself up, let me just hark back on that day I spent walking around and about Arashiyama in Kyoto, Japan.
Continue reading “[JP18] Arashiyama, Kyoto: Around and About”
The only train rides I’ve been on thus far mostly involved those on subways and metro transits, often packed and speeding through tunnels or in concrete jungles. Shinkansens or bullet trains in Japan are a whole other story, because they speed so fast and stealthy, and you’re boxed inside, unable to breathe in the air outside. It’s definitely nothing like those train rides we see in movies that are set, say, in some parts of the countryside, probably somewhere in Europe. Ya noe, those train rides that evoke… romance…?
Continue reading “[JP18] Arashiyama, Kyoto: Riding the Sagano Romantic Train”
It’s the last day of July, and all I could think of was “Thank goodness July is over, but DANG AUGUST CAME TOO SOON”. I guess that’s the thing about time: it passes, and it does so in an unforgiving fashion. There are no rewinds, no take twos, just pushing forward, and all we can do is to keep pace with it. Or, at least, try to. And while doing so, make memories. Good ones. Lots of them. So you will have lots of them to look back to even months, years to the future.
Continue reading “[JP18] Arashiyama, Kyoto: The Tenryuji Temple”
A visit to Kyoto won’t be complete if you didn’t step foot into a shrine. Or two. And practically all areas of Kyoto have them, so whichever part you choose to go to, you can be sure to pass by at least one. In Arashiyama, it was one of those unexpected things, us stumbling on a small shrine while following the Path of Bamboo, which I talked about in my previous post.
Continue reading “[JP18] Arashiyama, Kyoto: The Nonomiya Shrine”
One thing that frustrates me about traveling is the time constraint. Especially if I find myself someplace with soooo much to see, but with limited time on my hands to check them all out. Kyoto is one of those places. There’s just so many gems, so one has to be strategic in planning out their itinerary so they can make the most of it. As much as I appreciate being all chill and relaxed with my itinerary, I’m more the type that wants to cram as much as I can in what little time I have in a place. I’m greedy like that.
Continue reading “[JP18] Arashiyama, Kyoto: The Path of Bamboo and Bamboo Forest Trail”
Another food-related post for the last day of October! Not sure if this’ll be the last I’ll talk of my Japan trip last year, but I figured this is a good way to wrap it up. Or something. Kyoto… ahhhh, Kyoto. Food was definitely the least of our concerns when we were in Kyoto, because there was just sooo much to see, and we just ate wherever we stumbled into. 🙂
Continue reading “JapanEats: Food-trippin’ in Kyoto”
It’s time to wrap up my blogging spree on the glorious city that is Kyoto. It’s also an excuse to take a break from going through the tons of photos I took from my recent trip to South Korea. 🙂 In a nutshell, Kyoto is one of those places that can frustrate you. Because you thought you saw a lot of it already, only to realize you haven’t even scratched the surface. I tell ya, that type of frustration is something that makes me wish I can hop on the next available flight and go there again.
Since our lunch-in-kimonos at Mimikou at around midday, Peach and I haven’t had a bite to eat, and we’ve been wandering all afternoon around Ginkaku-ji, then early evening in the Gion area (looking for a place to eat, incidentally), then bumping into Hazel, She and Jas, and heading off to Kiyomizudera instead. So it is a given that, by the time we parted ways at close to 9pm, the two of us were already starving. So we (yet again) did more walking through streets leading towards our hostel, looking for any open food place. At that moment, we were so hungry even a food stall will do. AND THEN. We came across Kiraku, which turns out to be one of the most recommended okonomiyaki places to eat in Kyoto. HUZZAH, cheered my empty tummy.
Continue reading “JapanEats: Okonomiyaki Kiraku (Kyoto)”
As much as I would like to say that “I am back”, I couldn’t, at least not entirely, since I think I left part of my soul (and heart, I kid you not) in South Korea. 5 and a half days are barely enough to get my fill of SoKor, and I hope to go back to explore more of it. I’ve soooo many stories (and photos!) to share, but I resolve not to do that until I have finished my Japan travel diaries. And this is the last in my three-parter on Fushimi Inari Taisha.
Continue reading “Kyoto, Japan 2014: Fushimi Inari Taisha Pt 3”
I have a love-hate relationship with the month of August. Hate stems from the fact that it is the month where there are soooooo many deadlines. It’s bad enough that my line of work means I have deadlines to deal with on a monthly basis, but August just piles them right on. But I also love it because of a couple of long weekends, which means trips and travels. OH YES. But I’m getting ahead of myself. This post is all about the AH-MAAAAY-ZING Fushimi Inari Taisha, which I’d love to go back to in the future. Take a walk with me?
Continue reading “Kyoto, Japan 2014: Fushimi Inari Taisha Pt 2”
And so we have come to my favorite among the many Kyoto attractions we visited during our short stopover in Japan’s old capital: the Fushimi Inari Taisha (Shrine). I loved it so much that I am devoting more than one post for it. Yes, because it turns out I took so many pictures, and I didn’t want them to go unshared! It’d be such a waste, don’t you agree?
Continue reading “Kyoto, Japan 2014: Fushimi Inari Taisha Pt 1”
Back with another Kyoto post! (Yes, I resolve to finish my Japan series before the year ends, haha!) The last time we talked about my Japan trip was that time we went to check out the fall illumination at Kiyomizudera on the evening of the day we went around the Gion area wearing kimonos. So what happened on the afternoon in between? One word: Ginkaku-ji.
Continue reading “Kyoto, Japan 2014: Ginkaku-ji”
I have one complaint about Kyoto: there are simply too many places that are worth checking out that, for someone like me who has a limited number of days to spend in the area, it’s almost tragic. While mapping out where we want to go, it was with a heavy heart that we had to slash many of them on the list. Kiyomizudera was one of those places that we had to let go of. But, one evening, while walking around aimlessly in the Gion area looking for a place to eat, Peach and I bumped into Sheryl, Hazel and another new friend, Jas. And plans were changed.
Continue reading “Kyoto, Japan 2014: Fall Illumination at Kiyomizudera”
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