Photography — Carmen Haidee Leung Blog

Getting To Kyoto from Tokyo

Before our trip, we bought Japan Rail Pass tickets from the Japan Rail Pass website. At Tokyo Station we redeemed our rail passes and took the Hikari bullet train (or shinaknsen) to Kyoto. Our trip took around 2 hours and 30 minutes to get form Tokyo to Kyoto!

Where To Stay

We stayed at Imu Hotel, a beautifully designed hotel located at only a 7 minute walk from Karasuma train station. The staff was polite, the design was clean and modern, and there is even a little shelf area outside where you can switch out your pillow for a different one with your preferred firmness level. The Japanese breakfast we had at their cafe area was absolutely delicious. The location is also close by many popular Kyoto attractions, including Nishiki market! We would highly recommend staying here!

Day 1

Walk Around Shijo-dori street

Shijo-dori is a busy street in the heart of Kyoto lined with shopping, food, fashion, and some street performers as well! We walked around the bustling street to work off some of the dinner we ate.

Kamo River

The Kamo River is a famous and beautiful river than weaves through Kyoto. Many restaurants have their balconies open for customers to dine along the sides of the river. The night glow of the lanterns lighting up the riverbanks was a calm and beautiful scene. We saw many residents and tourists sitting along the riverbanks at night, canoodling. We sat down ourselves, munching on some dessert mochi we bought on Shijo-dori street, witnessed a couple to our right crying and flipping through what seemed like a couple’s memory book, and a young man flirting with a couple girls to our left. The river was lined with couples back to back. The air was filled with romance all right.

Eat Omurice at Omura House

We had worked up our appetites after hours of traveling and were finally ready to eat! We had been looking forward to eating omurice (Japanese Omlette Rice) ever since we set food in Japan. We were tempted to try the famous omurice and meet the vibrant chef at The Youshokuya Kichi Kichi, but we realized reservations had to be made in advance and the price was definitely more expensive than we expected to spend. Instead, we found a local joint nearby a university, Omura House, which far exceeded our expectations. The place was filled with young and hip university students, which made us feel kind of cool. Service was quick, prices were very affordable, and the omurice dishes were mind-blowing. Our dishes were cleared by the end of the meal.

Day 2

Nishiki Market

Nishiki Market, known as “Kyoto’s Kitchen”, is a narrow and crowded five block long shopping street selling all sorts of hot foods, desserts, produce, and kitchenware. The place was so packed that I was constantly brushing shoulders with people who were walking by. Some favorite food items we tried included the seven-spice rice cracker (it was warm and SOFT) on a skewer, season sakura items, Tako Tamago (glazed and grilled bright red octopus stuffed with a quail egg), japanese omelet with pork inside, yuzu and honey drink, and fresh mochi! A great place to try all of Kyoto’s local street market foods!

Kinkaku-ji - Temple of the Golden Pavilion

Kinkaku-ji, the famous temple is completely covered in gold leaf, earning its name, the Golden Pavilion. It was transformed into the infamous building it is today by shogun Ashikaga Yoshimutsu back in 1397. Today, it stands as a Zen temple who is visited by tourists from all over the world. We walked in, paid the small entrance fee of ¥400, and got to see the unbelievably shiny building with our own eyes. The temple is encased in gorgeous greenery and stands on a still lake. I had never seen anything so regal in my entire life!

Eat Souffle Pancakes at A Happy Pancake Kyoto

Get your jiggly, fluffy souffle pancake fix at A Happy Pancake Kyoto! There was no line when we went (we got lucky) and were seated pretty much right away. I debated long and hard between all the options, and ended up ordering the pancakes that came with hojicha ice cream and matcha syrup. We poured the syrup over our fat stacked pancakes, gave it a jiggle, and cleaned the plate of its fluffy, cloud-like deliciousness.

Day 3

Kenninji Temple

The Kenninji Temple is a perfect peaceful first stop of the day. It is ranked third among the fie great Kyoto Zen temples. Constructed in 1202, it is considered one of the oldest zen temples in Kyoto! The entrance fee is about ¥500, and all visitors are required to remove their shoes before walking around. There is a beautiful painting of twin dragons on the ceiling of Dharma Hall, but my favorite were the green gardens and intricate patterns woven into the gravel. We sat here for a while and peacefully enjoyed the beauty of the place!

Tatami Styled Starbucks

The world’s first tatami-styled Starbucks is now open on the historic Ninenzaka street. Tatami is a type of straw mat that is often used for traditional Japanese floor covering. The two floor Starbucks offered three tatami-styled rooms on the 2nd floor that guests can enjoy after ordering their typical Starbucks drinks and snacks on the first floor. A fun spot to visit for a cool drink!

Kyo Chabana — Okonomiyaki

While okonomiyaki is directly translated to “Japanese pizza”, it moreso resembles a thick, grilled frittata/pancake that is filled with a variety of savory toppings and ingredients! A must try in Kyoto. We stopped by Kyo Chabana for our okonomiyaki experience. The chef was vibrant, friendly, and engaging! He was so warm, inclusive, and involved all his guests as he grilled your orders in front of you! He the all his restaurant guests that we were on our honeymoon and continued to joke with everyone as they ate. Some of the guests even poured him drinks as he continued to cook for us. The okonomiyaki itself was absolutely delicious!! This was by far one of our favorite and most intimate experiences!

Ippudo Ramen

There was absolutely no way we were going to visit Kyoto without trying the infamous Ippudo ramen! For our second dinner of the night, we dropped by and shared a bowl of Ippudo Karaka for ¥850 at a level 3 spice (a perfect medium level) with some fresh whole garlic on the side you can crush straight into your ramen bowl. We loved the ramen and thought it was quite scrumptious!! We would later find out that many of the convenience stores would sell Ippudo instant ramen — which we proceeded to purchase as future late night snacks. One of the waiters at the particular location we visited actually did a study abroad program at our alma mater, UC Davis! His English was super fluent and it was a sweet moment where we realized just how small the world was.

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Day 4

Arashiyama bamboo grove

Tucked away in the far west of Kyoto, the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove is one of Kyoto’s most well-visited and popularly photographed spots. The mesmerizing bamboo stalks tower over you as you walk along the paved walkway of the grove. The walk is quite and took us only about 10 minutes to walk through the bamboo forest. Try to arrive as early as possible if you want to arrive with the crowds at a minimum. We made this our first stop and walked around Arashiyama to grab some lunch afterwards!

Tenryuji Temple and Sogenchi Garden

The Tenryuji Temple and Sogenchi Garden are a World Heritage site and beauteous beyond belief. Some of the tree leaves were just starting to change color as fall was just around the corner. The Sogenchi Garden landscaping, designed by the famous Muso Soseki, was my favorite with a still lake surrounded by the forested Arashiyama mountains.

Kimono Forest

Right on the doorstep of the old Randen tram station, the underrated Kimono Forest is colorful and quite magical. This short walkway is lined with kimono patterned poles that light up during a night. It is definitely on the way to the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove and worth a quite 2-minute stop!

Day 5

Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine

Anyone looking to visit Japan has likely seen pictures of the seemingly endless line of bright orange vermilion torii gates that make up the Fushimi Inari Shrine. The Shinto shrine is located in southern Kyoto and encompasses a beautiful mountain trail. Each torii gate is donated by either an individual or a company, whose names you can find inscribed onto the back. While we elected to complete the entire 2-3 hour hike to the summit of the mountain, the option to turn back at any point in time is available.

Katsu Lunch at Katsukua

We stopped by the restaurant Katsukua located at the 11th floor of the Kyoto Station Building in the Cube to try some Japanese katsu for lunch! We loved the experience of getting to grind our own sesame seeds to make the base of our dipping sauce. The experience is interactive and the service was super friendly!

Izakaya/Yakitori Dinner and Drinks at Torikizoku

Torikizoku was hands-down, our favorite izakaya place in all of Kyoto. We can comfortably say this because we came back to eat and drink here for three nights in a row, making it our perfect last meal in Kyoto. The restaurant is decked with white lanterns hanging from above and the chatter was lively. You have touch screen at your table to order drinks and food from. Our absolute favorite cocktail was the Yuzu & hachimitsu drink (I ordered multiple every time we went). We ordered multiple yakitori items (grilled chicken on a skewer) and our winner each night was a bowl of rice + chicken + green onions + radishes for only ¥321. We ordered 8 drinks and a full dinner for two for only ¥5126. Pretty worth it if you ask me.