Kyoto Restaurant (Food) Guide

Most people will include Kyoto as their part of itinerary when they visit Japan, especially for the first timer. I did not need any help to find list of temples & shrines I want to visit when I visited Kyoto for the first time, as there's simply too many.
















What I found rather difficult was finding a good restaurant! Well partly it's because of my ridiculous expectation (must taste good, cheap, traditional Japanese atmosphere, and English menu).
















After 3 times in Kyoto, I finally found this free guide book, "Kyoto Restaurant Guide Book - A selection of Kyoto's best restaurant".























It's published by Kyoto City Tourist Association, in English, complete with the location map, suggestion menu & price for each restaurant! Download the PDF version from here.

















They have 2 other guidebooks that will be useful for your travel in Kyoto:
1. Kyoto Tourist Guidebook
2. Kyoto Sight Seeing Map
















Bring this guidebook along with you. Or else you will end up in the supermarket searching for food like I did.

Kurama

On the third and final day of my 3 day Kansai Thru Pass, I decided to go Kurama, located in Kyoto’s outskirt. From Kyoto, I cycled to Demachiyanagi station, and then continued by train to Kurama station.













There are only 2 things to do here; see the temple on top of the mountain (Kurama Dera) and then to soak in Kurama onsen.













Entrance fee to Kurama-dera is 300 yen. After that, you have 2 options: to walk your butt up to the top or to take the cable train to the top for additional 100 yen. Being a lazy bum, it took me less then 10 seconds before I reached my pocket searching for 100 yen coin.













With the red lantern all over the mountain, the height, the view, and the fresh clean air, Kurama-dera is surely one of my favorite place around Kyoto. It’s surrounded by mountain and not so many people, left alone tourist, can be seen around.













The court yard of the main temple is full of sakura trees. Unfortunately I came her in winter, leaving the trees without a single leaves on. I will be back here during the sakura season one day.













To get to the onsen, I walked back to Kurama station to catch the onsen’s free minibus which transported me for free to the onsen’s door step. I chose the lunch + onsen package for 7,000 yen.













The food was not disappointing, while the indoor onsen is just average. The outdoor bath, however, is quite an experience to try. The view of the mountain is just spectacular! By “spectacular”, I don’t mean the naked male bodies around me!

Arima Onsen

On the second day of my 3 days Kansai Thru Pass, I decided to its furthest travelling distance it allows me to travel, Kobe / Arima Onsen.













Arima Onsen is not as easy as Nara to get to. It takes around 2.5 hour train ride from Kyoto, and change lines a couple of times. But I have been intoxicated by onsen from my last trip to Japan, and Funaoka Onsen alone was not enough to satisfy my urge.













From Wikitravel and Japan Guide, I learned that there are 2 ways to get to Arima Onsen:

1. The fun & expensive way Via Mt. Rokko and then descend to Arima Onsen using ropeway.
   
2. The cheap & easy way Using train from Kyoto (Hankyu Line) to Arima Onsen station.

View Kyoto to Arima Onsen by Train in a larger map

Heck, I have spent so much money & time to come all the way to Japan, why should I choose only one way? I decided to combine them! I took to the easy way to go to Arima, did sight seeing, soaked in onsen, and came back to Kyoto via Mt. Rokko.













I have made a detailed Google Map and separated it into 3 parts:

• Kyoto to Arima Onsen station (by train on Hankyu Line)
• Sightseeing in Arima Onsen
• Arima Onsen to Kyoto via Mt. Rokko

Kyoto to Arima Onsen station (by train on Hankyu Line)
Kansai Thru Pass covers all expenses in this way. It’s a pretty darn good deal considering the distance between Kyoto & Arima Onsen. It’s difficult to explain by words, please refer to the map I made in Google Map.

Sightseeing in Arima Onsen
If you have booked an expensive onsen trip / package, chances are: there will be someone waiting for you at the train station. If you are on a budget like me, I would suggest Tourist Information Centre as your first stop.













It’s located just 5 minutes walk from the station. If you plan to go to Mt. Rokko, make sure you ask them the time table of the ropeway.

They have a very complete sightseeing map / brochure with all onsen, what to see in Arima, restaurant, etc. Download the English version of the map here.

I came to Arima onsen with 2 things in my mind, to try either the Gin-no-yu or Kin-no-yu onsen and to try Kobe (Wagyu) beef.













I arrived in Arima 3 hour before lunch time, so I walked around first, tried the free foot onsen...



















Ate manju...













Japanese croquette...













And finally I soaked in Gin-no-yu. The best way to spend cold day is to soak in bloody damn hot onsen water.













Now is time to taste the wagyu beef. I found this kiosk or (restaurant?) while walking back to the bus stop.













Instead of Kobe / Wagyu beef, it’s selling “Tajima Beef”, with hand written explanation claiming Tajima Beef is the origin of all Kobe / Wagyu beef.













It's probably the most honest restaurant in Japan too, with this poster posted outside its door:













Anyway, I tried 2 stick of it’s Tajima Beef + rice for 1,000 yen. The taste doesn’t disappoint me.

Arima Onsen to Kyoto via Mt. Rokko
Kansai Thru Pass does not cover most of the cost in this. Bus (from Arima Onsen) to Mt.Rokko Ropeway station costs 100 yen.

I recommend buying a package ticket in the ropeway station which covers:

• Ropeway to Rokko Sancho Station
• Mt.Rokko bus
• Cable train to go down from Mt.Rokko
  

After that, you can use Kansai Thru Pass again on the Train to Kyoto.
Refer to the map I made in Google Map.













When you reach Mt. Rokko, before you take the bus to cable train, I made my walk to Jukkoku Observatory, where I saw a scenic view of Kobe city harbor. Well that’s probably the reason why most people even bother forging extra yen to go up the mountain in the first place anyway.

Walk to the right sight of Mt. Rokko station, continue under the bridge, until you find your self in an open space with full view of Kobe city harbor below. The night view from here is breathtaking, but I did not wait until its dark because I chose not to miss my connection bus.












Refer to my Google Map for easier view of the route I took.

Nara

I bought my 3 days Kansai Thru Pass (5,000 yen) from the in front of the Kyoto Station. It’s a small building outside the station, so it’s not the JR station.













The staff will ask you to fill up simple form for your detail, where you’re from, Passport, etc. 10 minutes later (and 5,000 yen poorer), armed with Kansai Thru Pass, I hopped on the train to Nara, to Kintetsu Nara station.













I have made an appointment about 1 month before with Nara Student Guide through their website. They are a group of student in Nara who volunteer their free time to guide tourist around Nara.

Thanks to my guide, I visited more places in Nara, got a really good history of each building, temples, and shrines. We did all this sight seeing on foot, just under 3 hours. That's included my numerous stops to take photos.













I have made a walk through map in Google Map, with some photos along the path I walked. Visit the link here.


View Nara on Foot in a larger map

Just like its neighbor, Kyoto, Nara also has a long track of history which can be seen on its buildings, trees, temples, & shrines.













However, I found Nara has more nature to offer, and I’m not just talking about the deer on the street.

Kyoto By Bicycle

JR pass is not really helpful when it comes to wonder around Kyoto, as most subway & train in Kyoto is run on private lines. Beside, when you bought JR Pass, which valid for Shinkansen, might as well abuse it to travel to the end of Japan like I did back in August 2009.













To wonder around Kyoto, there are 3 options you can consider:

1. Bus Pass (500 yen / day) 2.
   
2. Kansai Thru Pass (5,000 yen for 3 days & 3,800 yen for 2 days)
3. Walk / cycling
   

I don’t like to wait for bus and all information about Kyoto bus (time table, route, etc) are in Japanese, which can turn simple trip to an adventure. My Japanese language is only enough to insult people instead of asking for help, so bus is not an option for me.

Kansai Thru Pass is really ideal to see most of Kyoto. I bought the 3 days pass, but I had a plan to abuse it to travel to the maximum distance it’s allowed, Nara, Arima, & Shirahama. Although in the end, I could not make it to Shirahama.













So I was left with cycling option. You can rent a bike for 700 yen for the whole day from K’s House Kyoto. Just make sure you go down to the front desk to get the bike key before 09:00 AM, or else you can only use your legs to get you around.













I cycled from K’s House as my starting point, and then;

• cycled north along the river to Kyoto Imperial Palace,
  
• North west to Ryoanji Temple to see the Rock Garden,
  
• Continued further north to Kinkakuji Temple.
  

I have saved this cycling direction in Google Map. Click here for the link.


View Kyoto by bicyle in a larger map

After cycling like a mad man for half day (and it was winter when I did this!) a stop to Funaoka Onsen is really worth it! Although it’s called onsen, it doesn’t offer any meal. It’s purely for soaking in traditional Japanese way. Funaoka Onsen opens from 15:00 PM to 01:00 AM.

Travelling Kansai - Japan

After I got such an expensive camera on my hand, and spent a month reading books and browsing the net about DSLR photography, the next thing that came to my mind was to travel and test what I have gathered about photography so far.














So I grabbed the promotion from JAL and went to Japan... again. Even though I just went there a few months ago.

This time around though, I did not purchased the JR Pass, instead I made an itinerary with 3 days Kansai Thru Pass which is much cheaper compared to JR Pass, but it was limited to Kansai region only. Detailed (my personal opinion: way too..... detailed) map can be downloaded from here.













Well, I did not really see Kansai back in August anyway and I was able to stay for 9 days in Japan this time with even less cost compare to my previous 7 days Japan trip.

If you want my detailed itinerary, you can download it from here. Let me know if you need the excel file.













In those 10 days, I visited Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, and Arima, with most days I spent soaking in onsen around Kyoto area.

Beppu

I had no idea why I decided to go to Beppu in summer. Beppu is well known for its onsen, which probably as the least favorite destination during hot summer.












I arrived in Beppu in the afternoon, after making a slight stop in Hakata with only one goal in my mind, to try their infamous tonkotsu (pork bone) ramen. Among so many ramen shops, Ichiran ramen is the most famous one.

Thanks to a nice lady in JR Hakata tourist information desk, I found the nearest Ichiran stall, just across JR Hakata station (10:00 – 22:00). I was planning to go all the way by bus or subway to Canal City.

This Ichiran ramen is the best decision I made during the trip!














Anyway, back to Beppu. I know Beppu is called Japan’s onsen capital, but I didn’t expect to see hot air steaming up practically from any possible crack from the street!














I stayed at Khaosan Beppu, a well located backpacker hostel. In this onsen capital, even a backpacker hostel is equipped with natural onsen!

The folks in Beppu like their onsen hot, and they really mean HOT. If you are up to the challenge, you can try takegawara onsen, famous for its hot water.

There are several onsen area around Beppu. Among them, the famous ones are Myouban onsen and Kannawa onsen. It takes about 30 minutes by bus to get there from JR Beppu station, and it cost around 320 yen.














If you don’t want to go to Beppu Jigoku, you might want to consider the time & bus cost. If you are just looking for a dip in onsen, Suginoi Hotel has an onsen with magnificent view over Beppu town.

I have uploaded Beppu city area map I got from the hostel. You can download it here.
For Kannawa onsen and Mouban onsen area map, click here.

Hiroshima

It took about 3 hours shinkansen (Hikari) ride from Kyoto to Hiroshima.














Maybe I didn’t search enough info, but I had no idea that the Atomic Bomb site is located about 20 to 25 minute by tram from JR Hiroshima station.














Take the south exit of JR Hiroshima station and take tram No.2 to get to A-bomb site (Genbaku Domu in Japanese). It cost 150 yen one way. There’s a coin exchange machine at the tram station.














Map from tourist centre in Hiroshima Station is really useful as it shows complete tram route. I have scanned and upload the map. Download the PDF map here.

These two websites have a good information about Hiroshima, including a sound guide which you can download to your ipod.

• Hiroshima Navigator
• Get Hiroshima
  

Taito Ryokan (Tokyo) Review

No matter what you want to do in Tokyo, I advise you to avoid Tiato Ryokan at all cost and by any means necessary!!

I first know this dreadful lodging place from Lonely Planet guide book (surprisingly). I had no idea what was in the mind of the writer when he or she recommend this place as a traditional lodging. Traditional? Ancient or run down is more fitting word for this place.














I’ll be fair about the location. It’s right in the middle of Asakusa area, and not far from Tawaramachi station. Even though Taito Ryokan website failed to mention that this station (exit 3) has no elevator. Kaminarimon & Sensoji temple is within 5 minutes walk. Oh and there’s a big & flashy love hotel, Boston Club, right in front of Taito Ryokan. So for those who already booked Taito Ryokan, but change your mind right after seeing the ryokan with your own eyes, can right away change and stay in this love hotel instead.


















The front door of Taito Ryokan is never locked even though the “front office” is only open between 10:00 – 20:00. After that, no one is watching over the main door and everybody (including thief) is welcomed.














The room door is not a “door”. It’s made of some kind of thick paper or board, and my there’s no proper lock for the room! Instead they are using tiny pad lock to lock the door.














The room smelled funny, some sort of mixture between old smell and fish. There’s only one bathroom / shower room and the toilets are so smelly. The water heater temperature can only be set at 22 degree at the lowest, which is so out of question for a bloody hot summer!

For 3,000 yen per night, K’s House Tokyo is 100 times better then this!

Tokyo

My impression of Tokyo? It’s a biggg city that has everything for anyone. It’ has one of the most complex train and subway networks in the world.

First thing you would need before going to Tokyo is to download & print it’s train network map. Marking the nearest station to the point of interest you would want to visit, may be a good idea. I didn’t do this and ended up gawking at the map after I arrived in Tokyo instead.

For Tokyo train & subway network map, click here.
For JR lines in Tokyo, click here (PDF)
For greater Tokyo train map, click here (PDF)

I found JR Yamanote line is the easiest way for me as a tourist to travel around Tokyo. It’s a JR line, so JR Pass is valid to travel on this line, and this line goes around Tokyo’s famous spot such as Shinjuku, Shibuya, & Akihabara.

A one day itinerary in Tokyo suggestion:
1. Tsukiji Market in the morning
2. Starbucks in Shibuya
3. Meiji Shrine
4. Tokyo Tower
5. Akihabara
6. Sensoji Temple & Kaminarimon in Asakusa
7. Jakotsuyu Onsen

Tsukiji Market
Download my printable map on how to get to Tsukiji market here.














I strongly recommend to take the earliest train (around 5am in the morning) to go here. Spend about 1 to 2 hours to walk around the alley and try one of the sushi stalls between building no.5 & 6. The famous ones are Sushi Dai & Daiwa Sushi (around 3,500 for a set menu).


















Shibuya
After breakfast at Tsukiji, sipping coffee while watching over the crossing in Shibuya during rush hour is quite amusing.


















Meiji Shrine
This shrine that projects majestic impression from the moment you see its first torii. It’s quite unbelievable that it’s located just a stone throw away from Harajuku, the centre of Japanese fashion victims.














Try to visit this shrine in the morning, when less tourist around and enjoy the grand & tranquil shrine. Sometime I feel that foreign tourist just does not fit into Japan shrines or temples.

Tokyo Tower
Download my printable map on how to get to Tokyo Tower here.
I went to see this Tokyo icon in the morning & night, and I find night view of this tower is slightly better then the morning. But I wonder how it looks like during the golden sunset.


















Akihabara
The nerd side of Tokyo. From maid cafes, anime, arcade games, electronics, costumes (including kinky stuff), or simply useless stuff can be found in this area.














Asakusa
Download my printable map of Asakusa area here.
This area is my favorite suburb in Tokyo. It’s very convenient, so many budget hotels & eating places. Kaminarimon & Sensoji temple offers another iconic sight of Japan.


















Jakotsuyu Onsen
After walking around Tokyo the whole day, a dip in onsen is very relaxing. Jakotsuyu is a natural onsen, and charge very basic fare (450 yen).














If the map link is broken, drop me an email and I’ll try to email you the PDF file.