Kyoto Day 3: From Kyoto to Nara to Osaka

Rise and shine! We woke up earlier today as we had so many places to cover, including Fushimi-Inari that we were unable to go on Day 3 due to the fire on the railways. The bags under our eyes are starting to look more obvious...

To avoid lugging our luggage around, we stored them at the lockers in Kyoto Station. Our plan was to retrieve them when we return from Arashiyama while on our way to Nara.

Our first stop, Fushimi-Inari as it is just one stop away from Kyoto Station via the JR Nara line. We could see majority of the people exiting from the station and they were bound to head for the Torii Gates. However, due to the time constraint, our plan was not to climb, but just to take pictures to show that we have been here and go off.

Ringing the bells for some good luck 

At last! The Vermillion Torii Gates that never seem to end! The funny thing is that when we reach a crossroad where there were two paths. On the right, its actually a path for people to start the hike up. On the left, there was a line, and we were wondering why were there so many people queuing? Turns out that the side was actually a return route, and people were making use of the empty pockets to take pictures!

Being typical Singaporeans, we automatically joined the queue and finally it was our turn to get our shots. It was actually quite stressful to take pictures as there were so many pair of eyes from the people queuing in line. I did not want to hog the queue too much too as I also hate those people who take their own sweet time. However, this side of the Torii gates does not have any lettering, and we decided to walk up a bit more, take a few pictures before going off.

We managed to squeeze through an opening which allows us to cut from one side of the Torii Gates to the other

A shot each to check off Fushimi-Inari

Verdict: I could say our trip to Fushimi Inari is a fast and furious one, a bit like a touch and go as we did not even climb nor reach the peak. Not everyone is as gracious when it comes to taking photos. We met "professional" photographers who would do anything for the perfect photo by hogging the way and not allowing anyone to pass by until they are done.

We too could not stand to be among the crowds for any longer and quickly left before more tour groups came. 

As we have yet to have breakfast, we went into one of the restaurants, owned by a senior couple for some Inari sushi! We were required to take off our shoes upon entering as its tatami style and we were served green tea in cute little tea bowls.

When at Fushimi Inari, eat Inari Sushi! I was never a fan of Inari because it tasted sweet, but this one has a thin beancurd skin and its not as cloying as I thought it would be

Without wasting anytime further, we headed off to Arashiyama Bamboo Groves! Whew! The place was not as accessible as Fushimi-Inari and we were required to walk a distance before we finally reach the Bamboo Groves. 

A pretty pink cherry blossoms tree peeked out from one of the residence 

After a long walk, we finally reached the groves! I always heard that the Bamboo Groves is not a very big place, but I did not expect it to be that small either.

Loving this picture that I took of Pigg. It was really hard to take a good picture as there were throngs of tourists everywhere too! The only way is to take it from a low angle, or wait for empty pockets (which is nearly impossible)

Our next stop after the Bamboo Groves was Arashiyama Monkey Park! On our way there, we stumbled upon a Rilakkuma shop! I did not expect to see my favorite bear here and it was a huge store! Upstairs, it is a traditional tea house and downstairs, a mini dessert takeout kiosk and two sides of the merchandise store (one side selling special honey themed products and the other side selling all sorts of rilakkuma merchandise)

Inside the store, there's actually a little sit-down area for those who bought from the dessert kiosk and want to dine in. And there's this little Rilakkuma stone statue! 

Paying respects to the cutest bear

 And how could we resist these cute looking desserts?

And not to forget pictures with Rilakkuma!

To get to the Monkey Park, we have to cross Togetsukyo Bridge

Such a picturesque scenery! If we had more time, I would have loved to take a boat ride down the riverbanks

Admission costs 550 yen and it was a start of a 30 minutes hike to meet our furry friends... Seriously the hike up is not easy as it was quite a steep ascent with narrow steps. For the first 10 minutes, we were panting as we climbed up, and we kinda questioned why did we even bother doing this... 

However, I suddenly got motivated when I saw a Thai girl in heels and short skirt staggering up the slopes. If she could climb all the way up in the outrageous outfit, we could do so too!

With that motivation, we managed to hit the top and spotted our first monkey! And there were more!

Which monkey is cuter? 

Guess this monkey knows that its right profile looks more photogenic. I squatted down to capture this shot of the monkey and was immediately told to stand up as the monkey might be intimidated and attack us.

The view from the summit! We were quite high up!

And the main highlight: Monkey Feeding! It was quite funny that we are the ones inside the enclosure while the monkeys are in the wild.

For just 100 yen, we are able to buy either cut apples or peanuts to feed the monkeys

Me trying my hand at feeding one of the monkeys. Of course not all of the monkeys are cute and good natured, one of them who appears to be an alpha male monkey slapped my hand away when I offered it a peanut. I guess it preferred sliced apples more...

Look at that cute little monkey accepting a peanut from Pigg

The descent down the Monkey Park was not as arduous as compared to the climb up. But it took us quite a walk to reach Hankyu Arashiyama train station for our ride back to Kyoto station. 

Back at Kyoto Station, we decided to have lunch at Mimikou, a Kyoto-style curry udon restaurant! 

Pigg ordered the curry udon with tempura

While I decided to try their Smoked Duck Curry Tsukemen

Verdict: It is quite interesting to see smoked duck on the menu of a Japanese restaurant, I enjoyed my Tsukemen for the first few bites but as I ate more, it tasted saltier even though the dip felt diluted. However, I think it the normal curry udon is still worth a try.

After lunch, we went to collect our luggage from the lockers and made our way to Nara! Initially, we  were so happy to have boarded the express train as there were guaranteed seats. But we forgot that tickets were required and we quickly alighted before we get caught by the train conductor for not having any tickets... Thinking back, maybe we would not get kicked off the train but just required to purchase a ticket on the spot... hmm...

Without wasting time and before the train leaves, we quickly made our way to take the JR line to Nara. It was a normal subway train and we did not get any seats... 

Upon reaching Nara, we stored our luggage in the lockers and followed a sign which tells us to take a yellow bus to the deer park! It was quite obvious that the tourists are all headed the same direction and announcements were made when we reached our stop. You know that you are in the right place when you see deers crossing the roads!

Along the park, there were souvenir shops having a little pushcart selling the deer crackers (Senbei). The deers seemed to have a keen sense of smell and came chasing after us, even though I hid the crackers in my jacket pocket. 

The deers did not seem to be satisfied even after feeding them a piece, and knowing that you have more, they would kind of headbutt you for more. Maybe this was why the deers have their horns cut off, if not they would surely hurt us.

Me trying to run away from the greedy deer as it tried to bite my pocket. It was quite gross as it left its saliva on my coat...

A cute meek looking deer started by being polite and bowed upon receiving a cracker, but greed soon overcame them and they started chasing for more... Pigg tried to asked them to stop but raising his hand... but apparently he failed and we had to run away from them

It was quite fun feeding the deers and we bought more crackers when we ran out of them.

Right behind the deer park was the magnificent Todaiji temple which houses a large Great Buddha statue, but we did not manage to go in as the temple started to close at 5pm by the time we finished feeding the deers.

We came to Nara specially for the deers and it was quite interesting at first to see them bowing to us for crackers. However, it was scary when they start to chase us for more and also the smell of their droppings was quite overpowering. I would certainly recommend one to do a half day trip to Nara just to experience deer feeding and running away from them, and also to explore the Todaiji Temple. Do come in early afternoon as all the shops follow the schedule of the temple and closes at 5pm.

As there was nothing much to do after 5pm, we decided to head back to Nara Station via bus, collect our luggage and take the train back to Osaka! We spent quite a lot on transport on this day, like $50 per person, topping up our ICOCA card and also spending money on locker storage. Overall, it was still quite easy to get around via the trains! 

In less than an hour, we reached Osaka-Namba station where we headed straight to our accommodation for the rest of our trip - Midosuji Hotel, a hotel with onsen facilities, located in the heart of  Ebisu-Bashi Suji shopping street, and in close distance of the train station and Dotonbori. 

A tip for those who want to book an onsen hotel even though we did not use the hot spring facilities, is that a bath tax will be charged upon check-in. The hotel's onsen is actually single gender, with different timeslots for males and females

After checking in and leaving our luggage in our room, we headed to Dotonbori for our dinner at Ichiran! There was always a hype about Ichiran ramen, and I heard both good and bad reviews about it, but I just had to try for myself to see if its worth the hype.

Ichiran had two outlets at Dotonbori, the we went to the one that was just beside Mizuno, our first day dinner venue. The other was beside the Don Quijote with the ferris wheel. We were at first happy to see that there was no queue outside the restaurant, but the queue actually starts inside!

We had to order a vending machine which issued us tickets where we put on the table for the waiters/waitresses and they would serve us accordingly. The counter seats were popular, therefore, we went for the normal table seating located upstairs.

Pigg ordered beer to go with his ramen while I had Shikaibicha, which is their original blended tea supposedly for health and beauty purposes... I always preferred to have hot tea to go with ramen to get rid of the oiliness from the soup.

Time to dig in! I would say that the ramen texture is cooked al dente and I liked that they separated the ingredients from the soup so it would not be soggy. I would not say that it is definitely worth the hype, but we did not queue that long to get a seat too. It does not hurt to give it a try as a first-timer, plus, the restaurant is open 24 hours, an option for those who get hungry in the wee hours.

After dinner, we headed to Meoto Zenzai, a store located next to Hozenji Temple.

Meoto Zenzai only serves one item on the menu - which is their red bean soup. Each person is required to order one set which comes in two bowls, as it is bad luck to eat separately by two persons. Apparently, if a couple each eat one set by themselves, we will get to enjoy a happy relationship!

Although we were full from dinner, the red bean soup still made a great dessert. The portion is actually not that much, and there is an order to eating the dessert. First, to eat the red bean soup, then have the dried salted kelp to refresh the mouth and end off by drinking the green tea. 

And of course, we ended our night by shopping at Don Quijote!