Kyoto (Part 1)

Waking up early for a Japanese (and Western) style buffet breakfast!

Yuuum. Looking at this photo makes me hungry now.

For those who wanted a Western taste

Dennis did not look as excited as I was hehe.

Now off to our next destination, Kyoto!

This apple juice I got from the train station was amazing.

Finally I saw the school uniforms in Japan! But these aren’t Sailormoon-like…

Looked a little like boy scouts.

Pity Dennis for being squashed among the baggages while I enjoyed a seat in the train 😰

It drizzled a little when we arrived. We hurried towards our hotel, Hotel MyStays Kyoto Shijo. We were a little surprised at the receptionist’s attitude as he was not as friendly as other service staffs we have met so far in Japan. And I thought Japanese was famous for being polite. He did not even try to smile as if his muscles had failed him. His English was alright so it was not due to our language barrier. We did not pay much notice on his ‘lack of service’ until later in the day when we realised he did not inform us on where to get our toiletries, how to use their free WiFi and where the vending machines were! Most importantly, he did not bother to tell us about the free coffee and matcha drinks at the lobby! We only spotted it when we went to the toilet at the corner the next morning! 😞

Er……what do you think I was gonna use that for??

Verdict: Hotel MyStays Kyoto Shijo 3/10 for the poorly-performed receptionist. But I must add, other receptionists were fine, like the ones who did our check out. The room was small but clean. (to be fair it was one of the cheapest place we got for our trip at ¥6,000 a day)

We then walked down Shijo towards Nishiki Market, where Dennis claimed that I would get plenty of street food that I was craving for.

There were plenty of snacks but I was craving for hot food instead like Takoyaki because we skipped lunch! Hence I walked past snacks like this without any interest and that’s another thing I’m regretting now… How did I walk past these beauties without trying?!

Something must be wrong with my head. Hypoglycaemia is making me lose my professional judgement.

Plenty of food like this which I wasn’t sure what they are or whether I can eat them straight or should it be cooked or should it be just a condiment? Too many questions! So…skip…

Now that’s something! I love seafood and I love anything that comes in a shell. We had the top shell and it was delicious! We only had one though because I thought we were going to visit the fish market in Tokyo later but we didn’t! *Sobs*

Little alien tako!

Their matcha drink was pretty good too.

I never know wasabi plant looks like this! So cute!

Tenmangu Shrine right at the end of Nishiki Market Street.

Gold medal awarded croquette. I thought it was just okay but Dennis liked it though. Met ‘the man with a fierce wife’ here hehehe. Can’t tell you their story here because they might sue me for spreading rumours hehehe. 😂😂😂

This looked like the topshell I just had – only much bigger!

Had the Tako Ssisso. Dennis seemed somewhat dissatisfied.

Love these amazingly real fake food.

Oh I loved these flavoured honey! Actually had the impulse to buy a jar of these but I resisted the temptation.

Behold! The most amazing thing I tried at Nishiki Market! Powdered green tea bracken rice cake! Doesn’t matter what bracken means, so long as it is deliche! 😋

What you will become after one bite.

It drizzled that day so we hang around at Nishiki Market for some time, walking back and forth on that street. We then walked to Takashimaya nearby and decided to get some food from basement as it is almost dinner time. My eyes sparkled when the elevator door opened. Guess what I’ve found accidentally.

At the top of my to-eat list, there it is. Malebranche! Doesn’t matter how you read that word too.

Their signature are those green little langue de chat hanging on that tree. I was so busy asking them on their closing time that I didn’t notice that she was offering me a free langue de chat! How foolish! 😱  When I got there the second time I hang a little while around the shop til one of them offered me one teehee! Gosh the taste was amaziiiiiiiing. Much better than 白い恋人(shiroi no koibito) IMO.

There were lots of food-souvenirs and bentos there and we grabbed a few hand rolls for ‘sanbyaku’, only to realised that no seating area was provided! No food court or whatsoever. So we decided to head to Kamogawa to have our dinner by the river (of course, we were assuming there will be benches by the river … ).

Arrived at Gion, famous geisha district in Kyoto.

Where the bench?! What bench?! Hence we were still walking down the streets with the ‘sanbyaku’ handroll untouched.

We had Ippudo ramen for dinner instead! We did not find this branch by accident but rather, a series of events involving kitkat, the girl at Takashimaya info counter and a map. We were lucky to get there early because the queue grew after a minute.

Verdict: Ippudo Akamaru Modern 10/10!!! Very very very very delicious! 😱 And if you ask me choose between Ichiran and this, I seriously can’t so don’t make me choose. I’ll have both. We actually witness an ang moh drinking every drop of the broth, scraping off each and every speck of it. She was not being ridiculous I must add.

Verdict: Ippudo Karaka 9/10! I like this too but it can’t beat Akamaru modern. Partly because I am not a big fan of spicy noodles.

Back to our room and carefully taking pictures of my baby Malebranche.

Had ice cream for supper but I actually do not remember how this tasted at all. Or did you eat it all by yourself Dennis??