Japan: Day 8 - Last day in Kyoto and Night bus to Tokyo

On a roll with my Japan trip posts now~  okay, so on to my last day in Kyoto the beautiful traditional city which was once the imperial capital of Japan.
For my last day in Kyoto, Emma took us to a highly recommended restaurant by her mum's co-workers.  Sadly I forgot what the restaurant was called, and didn't take a photo of it either (probably a bit sleepy) so I appologise for not being able to tell you which one it is, but I'm sure there are plenty more similar traditional-style restaurants around Japan :)
We each ordered a lunch set which were only around 1500円 each and suprisingly cheap for their quality, service and environment.  Mum and I both ordered this beef croquette thing, and Emma ordered this sashimi one.  The tempura with the sashimi set looked amazing, but I don't eat raw fish so there wasn't much point in getting it.  
Just the idea of eating a piece of raw fish meat just disgusts me, so I didn't have any sashimi in Japan, some of you may think I'm stupid for not having any amazing fresh raw fish in the land-of-sushi, but that's the way I roll, call me a picky eater if you want (and I'm not a big fan of heavily flavoured dishes either)

beef croquette set

sashimi set

What made this restaurant different was that it was a traditional restaurant from the seating to interior design. At first I thought we had to sit cross-legged which would make my legs numb after long periods of sitting, but, the had a deep heated gap under the table where you could put your legs and make it look like you're sitting the proper way *cheat* whilst keeping your footsies warm

Must say that that restaurant's food was very pleasing for my stomach, and their miso soup was the red miso soup which was described by Emma as the more expensive flavoursome type of miso soup.

We then departed at the train station and went our own ways, as Emma had to get ready for her new school term and I had to prepare for my night bus ride to Tokyo.  I hope I can still catch up with her next time I go back to Japan :)

With the many night bus services that are provided around Japan, mum and I chose Willer's as it was recommeneded by my hairstylist Yoshi-san.  We could've caught the shinkasen to Tokyo but that would've costed around $150 each person each way (I think), and its more sensible to travel from one city to the other at night, and wake up in the morning at your new city, and even catch a glimpse of the sunrise too.

awesome pink bus!

comfy seats and a hood thing

storage space

And when we woke up, we arrived in front of Shinjuku station, Tokyo after a very comfy night ride.  It was a very chilly foggy winter morning, and I was still somewhat half asleep when we got off the bus, so no sunrise/morning pictures of Shinjuku ;w;

After this post, it'll be about the places I visited in Tokyo such as Harajuku, Shibuya and Shinjuku so please wait for that.
Thanks for reading, bye~

Japan: Day 6 - Nishiki Market

Back to posts about my trip to Japan!
On day 6, Emma took us around Nishiki Market, a well known marketplace in downtown Kyoto which is famous for selling many of Kyoto's famous produce and goods, and many shops allow you to taste test their products before buying which is great as you will know what they taste like before you buy it; loved the pickled products like pickled umes and pickled radishes and these chewy sweet black beans, mum bought quite a lot from this market as they were all so delicious and fresh!

Next we went around Teramachi, which is a famous arcade located adjacent to Nishiki Market (sorry, forgot to take photos).  But we had and amazing lunch at Pomme's where I ordered this delicious half something and half carbonara I think omurice (omlete rice).

Around the corner they were rebuilding the fences, and I found their temporary fencing adorable!! Love the Japanese and their cute designs on anything possible.

Bunny fence

Here's what I got from that day:

from left to right:

fox tail - Marui O1O1

top and collar - Be Radiance

Craftholic sloth keyring - Teramachi

wallet - Samantha Thavasa

blouse - As Known As Pinky

jeans - Uniqlo

gloves -Teramachi

pacer -  Loft

Holidays will be starting next week, so jealous of those private schools who finished last week.  Anyways I hope I will have the time to update during my two week worth of holidays which are crammed with practice exams and lectures, if not, I might take a hiatus for a few weeks due to exams.

Toodles~

Japan: Day 6 Part 3 - Ginkakuji Temple

Last part of day 6, you can read about part 1 here and part 2 here.
Ginkakuji or Silver Pavilion is a Zen temple with other temple buildings and multiple gardens, also it is called the Silver Pavilion it was never covered in silver, but apparently it gives off a silvery appearance when reflected....who knows.

doesn't look that silver to me...

dry sand garden

view from the top of a mountain

Finally finished the post on day 6, I really recommend going to a few of these famous temples when you're in Kyoto because it's a city that still has historical buildings and symbolises the traditional side of Japan.

I'll be updating more posts these 2 weeks because it's holidays, and I've done most of my homework, so be prepared for more posts on my Japan trip :)

さようなら~

Japan: Day 6 Part 2 - Kinkakuji Temple

Continuing on with my post about day 6, you can see part 1 here.
Kinkakuji or more commonly known as the Golden Pavilion is one of the most famous temples in Kyoto, Kinkakuji is a three storey building that had the two top stories covered in pure gold leaf.

so beautiful~

can you see the chinese phoenix on top?

People are the only ones who visit Kinkakuji Temple

a cute little doggy in a dog pram with a kimono!! #onlyinjapan

hundreds of koi in the lake in front of Kinkakuji

An amazing variety of vending machines at Kinkakuji, from icecream to instant noodles, oh I love Japan for the convenience

When we left Kinkakuji to our next destination (Ginkakuji Temple), Emma told us to look at the top of the mountain on the left, and I found the word 大 which means 'big', and according to Emma there;s a character on each of the tall mountains surrounding Kinkakuji (I think), and they also fire fireworks from each of these characters each year, sugoi!

That's the end of part 2 of day 6, next up will be Ginkakuji the Silver Pavilion, stay tuned...I think I sound like a radio host haha

Japan: Day 6 Part 1- Kyoto Studio Park (Toei Uzumasa Eigamura)

Just started my term 2 holidays, so it's back to my posts on Japan!
So on my 6th day in Japan, Emma decided to take us to some 'fun' place, I had no idea what she meant as fun until we arrived at Toei Kyoto Studio Park which is a film set and theme park in one, and features a collection of replicas of traditional Japanese buildings which are used for historial movies and television dramas.

near the entrance were the props used in some recent historical movie

once you walked out of the entrance, you entered into the world of historical Japanese buildings

 

 

 

and we fought on top of a roof like ninjas with our roasted corn lol

my amazing ramen and ninja sword chopsticks

We also took photos in jidaigeki costumes, I chose to dress up as a maiko (apprentice geisha) and Emma chose to dress up as a queen, and the costume was so heavy with multiple layers and a head piece.

Then the 'fun' part came, it was the Ninja House which was filled with traps, and you had to find your way out!  Totally going to build a house like that one day haha, sadly there are no pictures of the Ninja House because cameras were restricted, however it was very similar to this video:

That's all for Toei Kyoto Studio Park, but only part 1 of day 6 because we later visited the Kinkakuji and Ginkakuji temples, so don't forget to read about it.

Japan: Day 5 - Kiyomizu Temple *pic heavy*

Continuing with my Japan posts, because we don't have school today due to parent teacher interviews
(ஐ╹◡╹)ノ  This will be picture story about a few temple's around Kyoto.  Emma was our 'tour guide' and took us to many places around Kyoto, she had studied at my school for a few years before going back to Japan so we met up, and it was good to she her after about 2-3 years.

 

waiting for the bus to Kiyomizu-dera

 pretty kimono

 One of those manual cart things

Famous Kyoto radishes

with Emma

we were still half way there despite the 15min or so walk

 Kiyomizu-dera!

 Apparently its going to be a bad year for:

females turning: 18, 32, 36

males turning: 24, 41, 60

 Little buddha's with aprons?

Amazing dango, matcha etc

SNOW!! my first sight of snow (இдஇ`。)

 I had tempura udon, and the prices were so cheap!

Samurai puppy :3

A very busy matsuri nearby

 

 Another temple that was hosting the 'Coming of Age Day' - 成人の日

We then took the bus back to Kyoto station, then mum and I had a delicious dinner in some restaurant on the sixth floor of Yodabashi, it was a very busy day with heaps of walking around the grand Kiyomizu-dera.

I'll be back with more posts about my Japan trip next time! 

Thanks for reading