Osaka Tokyo Adventure: Day 6- Kyoto, Arashiyama, Higashiyama

Warning... this may be another long one...  We decided to spend one of the days on this trip in Kyoto. We had big aspirations, but I'm just too old to do them all in one day, so we did what we could without pushing ourselves to the limit.  We never made it to the Monkey Park or Fushimi Inari Shrine the last time cause we were sick.

At Kyoto station, we decided to get some snacks in case we get hungry.  Paul was happy to find some chestnuts.

We then transferred to get to Arashiyama.  We went there last time and checked out the bamboo forest, kimono forest, and again when we got off the river cruise.  We were heading to the Monkey Park this time and walked through the main part of town.  They had a Miffy bakery!  So cute!!

So you have to cross the bridge to get to the monkey park.  This is the area where you get off the boats.

We soon found the Monkey park and paid our admission.  Just a word of warning.... Its a very steep hike!!!!  I'm so glad we trained before our trip on stairs, but no amount of training would've prepared me for that treck.  I had to take frequent rest breaks and was breathing heavily.  I felt like I was the only one.  This map shows you the rest of the trail.  We had only just made it to the first turn.  I actually wondered if I could make it all the way up.

Here's me tired out....

I tried to take pictures of the signs... this one warns you about their expressions so you know if you are pissing them off or not.  Don't look them in the eye!!

First Monkey sighting...

Once we made it to the top, I forgot how tired I was!  The view was beautiful!!

This made me laugh... people in the cage!  This is where you can buy food to feed them.  We bought some apples and they LOVED it!

 This mama kept watch over her baby...

Cutie pie!

 

Paul debated trying to slide down this slide, but we decided that our butts were too big.  LOL!

The forest was beautiful too!  The walk down was not nearly as hard.  I felt better when I heard other people panting while going up. 

Here is my badge of honor!  That monkey stamp is located inside the feeding area.  I stamped it on my ticket to show I made it!

After we finished coming down the mountain, we headed back to the main shopping area.  I was hungry after all that hiking and wanted to try some street food. We saw everyone in line at this tempura type shop, so we stood in line too.  Right?  So on the sign it said that this was their number one seller...

Yuba Cheezu..  Its deep fried cheese in tofu skin (aburage).  It was surprisingly delicious!! I would go again!

So after our treat, we headed back to the station.  On our way back, I saw a cotton candy place. I noticed it earlier on our way down, but didn't stop then.  Something told me to check it out cause their cotton candy didn't look like your typical cotton candy.  Sure enough, when I checked the flavors, they were very different from what you normally see.  You could either get it on the stick or take a bag to go.  I decided to take a bag to go but what I should've done was had one on a stick then take one to go!  I couldn't decide between the tea or the sakura milk, and went with the sakura milk.  I'm so glad I did!  Now I wish I bought more.  If you are in Kyoto you need to check it out.  From the station, go straight and before you turn right to go into the main part of town, it will be on your right.  There will likely be people outside eating cotton candy on the stick.  The store is called Zarame- here's the logo...  Memorize it... and bring some back for me.

So before tackling the Inari Shrine, we took a detour for lunch.  Randy said this is a "MUST DO" in Kyoto, so we took his advice and headed to eat Fire Ramen.  I don't even know the name of this place.  Just google Fire Ramen and I'm sure you'll find it!  It was quite a walk from the station, but worth the show. 

Here's their card:

BTW its laminated.  LOL!

When you get there.. sign in.  On that cart there is a charging station you can use- but don't be like me and forget our phones there!

Sorry, I can't seem to rotate this picture.  This is the instructions they give you when you first sit down.  The important things are- stay seated no matter what, don't touch the bowl cause its hot, don't scream, and the owners guarantee that it is safe.  "We have been serving Fire Ramen for more than 30 years but nobody has been dead for now,"  LOL!

They gave us our bibs.  Can you tell how I'm feeling?

Ok let's just take a second to appreciate how saavy this owner is.  He has totally embraced social media to the point where he has selfie sticks mounted so he can shoot video for you.  You then should hastag them #fireramen.  Nuff said.

Here is the "Boss" man himself.  Even his nametag says so. LOL!! LOVE IT!!!

And love these posters on the wall...

Paul is going to make a poster like this when he recruits for Taiko.

All joking aside.. it was pretty neat I must say.  I will try to post a link when I can upload Paul's video of it here.  The ramen itself was pretty good too, but you go more for the show.  He was nice enough to ask us where we were heading to next, so we told him Kyoto Handicrafts and he gave us directions to take the bus.  Super friendly staff and a fun experience!  You should go at least once!  Oh yah... and no screaming!

We then headed to Kyoto Handicrafts in Higashiyama district.  I didn't take any photos but I did buy a few things. It kind of reminded me of Oriental Bazaar in Harajuku.  They also had classes too, but I didn't take any. 

By then I was beat. I didn't think I could make it to the shirne, so that will have to wait till our next trip.  On our way home, we stopped at this intriguing kiosk and got a strawberry cheesecake thing.

It was really good!  They gave us a sample of the chocolate one too. That was good too. I would buy again.

So after we rested a bit at our hotel, we headed to Dotonbori for dinner.  We always have a hard time cause we don't really plan it out...we just go and see what looks good.  This is where we ended up eating...

We saw a sign, followed the directions to go to the 2nd floor and got lucky that they would seat us with no reservations.  Its called Matsusakagyu Yakiniku.  When we met up with Randy, he said that Matsusaka was another type of beef famous in Japan along with Oumigyu beef.  He said everyone only knows Kobe, but Oumigyu is where the Kobe beef is actually brought in from. Anyway, when I saw Matsusaka on the sign, I told Paul we should try...

Sorry, I can't rotate the next photo.  Its the salt, BBQ and soy sauces. 

This info was on the menu...

The staff was super friendly here and spoke English.  Yay!  You could go ala carte or order a set if for 2 people.  We opted for the Special Course at 5800 yen each.  Seemed like a bargain compared to the 2500 yen I spent last year on street food Kobe steak.

Here's the first and second courses.. appetizers and salad.

The garlic fried rice was bomb!

Next up was the short ribs.  Super tender!

Then beef sushi.  Melts in your mouth!

And the stars of the show!  Our favorite was the ribeye.  I can't even describe how good it was.  It was pretty epic!!

And yuzu ice cream for the win!

That was an EXCELLENT meal.  I was so happy we found that place and would definitely go back again.  Happy Endings.

Osaka Tokyo Adventure Day 5: Ikebukuro, Asakusa, and Travel to Osaka

Hi Everyone! I have some free time right now, which I will explain later in a future post.  For now, I'm going to try to get to the rest of my posts!  So today's post is about our stressful travel day to Osaka.  For some reason, Paul thought he had reserved the hotel for an extra day, but he was wrong.  Good thing we didn't leave early that morning, cause we got a call from the front desk asking us to check out.  So we quickly finished packing (good thing most of our packing was done) and checked out.  We asked them to hold our backpacks while we went to go drop off our luggage and do some last minute exploring around Tokyo.  They will hold your bags on the day you check out, which is so convenient.

So we headed to Ikebukuro with our two suitcases.  I always cringe whenever we need to go on the train or subway with our bags.  I'm sure everyone is irritated with us, but at least we were only taking them to Ikebukuro to have them sent to our next hotel.  Check out Hands Free Travel  or Luggage Free Travel  for more info.  It was more convenient than trying to go to 7-11, but then again we ran into some issues.

When we go to the Ikebukuro Station, Paul said it was on the Seibu Department store side. I was happy cause I love their food selection!  He tried to find the counter, but couldn't so he finally asked the department store information desk.  Then I saw other people coming to talk to him.. then he disappeared. I think he said they took him to the Customer Service desk for more help.  They called around and then finally found the counter.  One girl actually escorted us to meet the guy who would help us!  We gave her some omiyage as a thank you.

We would have NEVER found it!!  It was on the 4th floor(?) somewhere behind the clothing sections. I vaguely remember seeing a group of people sewing in the middle of the walkway, so that was a good landmark to remember.  After they took us in the back office, they helped Paul scan the QR code and print up the tag.  In true Japan fashion, they made us coffee while we waited.  I felt like I was in Crazy Rich Asians in the jewelry store.  Sorry, not used to that type of service!  So we gulped down our coffee and thanked everyone for their help. I must say that was the most excellent customer service I've ever had in a department store!  I will definitely go back to Seibu.

So my favorite section in Seibu is the food section (of course).  As we were walking through, Paul spotted this melon.  It brought back memories for him of when him and Grant came to Japan after they graduated college and wanted to thank the hotel they stayed at by buying them fruit.  It was so expensive that they used all their money they had with them that day and had to walk back to the hotel cause they couldn't afford the ride home. LOL!

I guess some things do not change... Look at the price of that melon!!

I checked out the Sugar Butter Tree counter and was happy to see it was still there.  Yay!  They are all over the place!  And I was even happier to see this mochi counter!!! The first time I had this type of mochi was in Osaka.  And I've been thinking about it since we booked our flight.  I got the mikan (orange) and Paul got the grape and banana.

Sooooooo Oishii!!!!

I couldn't buy too much since we sent our bags to Osaka.  So we only got the mochi and this chocolate covered baumkuchen type of cake. It was awesome!

After Ikebukuro, we headed back to Asakusa to try to find another pancake place recommended by Paolo in Tokyo called Benitsuru.  You have to try to get a reservation, but we got there so late due to all the luggage issues, that our call back time would have been 6pm.  Bummer, so we passed. Going to try to go next time!

On the way, we saw a headgehog cafe! They are popping up all over now, so no need to go to Roppongi. I even saw on in Osaka today.

Since we had no eating plan now, Paul wanted to go back to the festival we had gone to the night before withe Randy and Estuko.  I guess he wanted to check out their food...

First booth we hit was karaage chicken. I have no idea what she put on that chicken but I need it!!!  It was some kind of seasoning she put on right before she gave it to us and it made the chicken so good. I am on the hunt for it before I go back home.

Our next choices were just ok.  Paul opted for a mochi like pancake with pork hash filling.  I think Randy said it was korean.  I got the kamaboko tempura stick but it was just ok.  Not like I remember from Miyajima.

Next up was totally unplanned.  We passed by this Kobe Waffle and I guess I still had pancakes on the brain, so I got one. They actually put whipped cream and chocolate or strawberry on it, but I just opted for a plain one with butter.  It was really good!  Woud've been better if it was a little more heated., but not bad!

Last picks were that kebab sandwhich for Paul- he learned about that from Randy last visit... And I got the winner pick.. It was a steak fried up like katsu.  OMG it was so ono!!

After that we walked back to our hotel since it was so close by, picked up our backpacks, and headed to catch the shinkansen to Osaka.  Sayoonara Tokyo!  It was so much fun. We need to visit again soon.  

So on a side note, when you get the Japan Rail Pass, you cannot ride on the Nozomi train (which is the least amount of stops).  So we rode the one that stops at each stop, but it went out of service in Nagoya.  So I don't hear anyone say Osaka on the speakers.. and keep asking Paul about it. He keeps telling me we have a lot longer to go, so no worry.  Then they announce that the car is now out of service, please disembark!  Yikes.  Good thing I didn't go back to sleep.  Paul had to pack up his backpack and then we got off to find another train.  Oh brother!  I guess if we didn't have that issue, we would've gotten to Osaka earlier. It took us about 3 hours with everything. Good thing we didn't stay for the pancakes!  We would've gotten to Osaka after midnight!