Day 2 of our Japan trip was our most tiring day because of my plan for the day. Please refer to my Fitbit steps above to gauge how much we have walked on this particular day.
We woke up fairly early around 8-ish and left the hostel to the nearest convenient store to buy breakfast. We bought a variety of onigiri and coffee to start the day. And we did not want to waste time as we had a lot planned for the day.
Photo credit : Michelle Low
Onigiri and Natto roll. Yumz!
BOSS Coffee Farm
First location is to KIBUNE (northern Kyoto), it's a picturesque small town with lush forest and a beautiful stream. Our goal today is to eat Hirobun Nagashi Somen. To learn about this, please visit the official website here. This year, the somen is only available from 1st May 2015 - 27th September 2015.
Photo credit : Michelle Low
Photo credit : Michelle Low
Muka enjoy dan gembira.
Video credit : Michelle Low
It costs us 1,300 yen per person and even though the portion don't look like much, we were full under dinner time. Probably because it is buckwheat noodle.
To get there, it was a long journey and a picturesque one. We took the Keihan Line to Demachi-Yanagi station. From Demachi-Yanagi station, we changed to Eizan Electric Railway and our destination was Kibune-guchi Station.
Photo credit : Michelle Low Photo credit : Michelle Low
Initially, we planned to go to Kurama for the onsen but due to the limited days that we have there and so much to see, we scrapped that idea altogether. If you wish to check it out, click here.
Anyway, we stopped at Kibune-guchi Station and you will notice that this station is different from the rest in the city. It is small and cramped and there will be a worker on standby to collect your used train ticket. Walk down a flight of stairs and you will notice a cute little bus on your left. It is a "Kyoto Bus" (like Bas Mini in Malaysia) that will take you all the foot of the Kibune hillside.
Photo credit : Michelle Low
The bus fare is 160 yen one way. Be sure to check for the timing to go back to the station from this sign here. Every season's timing is different. Unless you don't mind walking downhill and it should take about 30 minutes. We saw some people walking along the way and enjoying the forested scenery. Here are some photos from the bus stop to the peak of Kibune area.
Photo credit : Michelle Low
Along the way, there are many quaint restaurants serving Kaiseki meals. The patrons are all well dressed and drives expensive cars. We saw a lot of ladies wearing beautiful kimono and the men in suits. (mostly elderly people) The younger ones (like us...hehe) were busy taking photos of all the shrines there.
After a wonderful few hours in Kibune, we left the area to visit Ginkaku-ji or better known as the Temple of the Silver Pavilion. Just so you know, the temple itself is not silver in colour. It was initially built as a retirement villa and gardens in the early 1400s but then changed to a Zen temple.
Silly antics :)
We walked along the Philosopher's Path to get to Honen-in Temple and along the way there was some sexy trishaw boys offering their services. We declined the offer as we wanted to chat and walk. Along this path, we also noticed a lot of students practicing for marathon or something.
We find Honen-in Temple a bit eerie because it was quiet and gloomy. And the trees are dense therefore blocking any sunlight from the entrance area. We saw some tourist went exploring at the graveyard area, we wonder whether they know what it was.
Quaint house along the way.
Here are some photos of Nanzenji Temple.
After Nanzen-ji Temple, it started drizzling a bit and we were dead tired by then. We walked to the main area to hail a taxi to our next destination. A cup of coffee from % Arabica. According to their website, they closes at 6 and it was close to 5pm. We had to rush and my husband was grumbling by then and he said that the coffee better be good or else &^&$#%@^&$%#$ hahahahahahaha....
We heard great things about the coffee here at % Arabica and being coffee lovers, we must not miss this chance to try the coffee here. It's the best coffee I've ever had and I can still remember the taste. We all agreed on this and it was a trip worth making. The head barista Junichi Yamaguchi is a co-owner and celebrity barista with his own fan page. Coffee lovers will make the trip to meet him in person.
Dinner and takoyaki balls around Teramachi Street area because we were exhausted.
0 comments:
Post a Comment