Japan Diaries 3: Day 2

Day 2 December 20, 2019

Exploring Kyoto 1

A pleasant morning from Kyoto City! I woke up quite early today because I have to go to Kyoto Station to pick up my sister who's traveling from Nagoya City to Kyoto City to join us for our adventures. 

It's Aya's first time to ride a Shinkansen! Welcome to Kyoto Aya!

Bought our Kyoto City Bus One-Day Pass

We had our breakfast before heading out to our first destination.

When she arrived, we headed to the bus terminal area to avail of the Kyoto City Bus and Kyoto Bus one-day Pass (Y600 Adults, Y300 kids) for our family's adventure today. However, before that, we first headed back to our Air BnB residence to eat breakfast and prepare our things for the said adventure today. 

We rode the bus to Nijo Castle.

Arrived at Nijo Castle's main entrance

Nijo Castle

Ella at Nijo Castle grounds

Team Nicerio exploring Nijo Castle grounds

We tried the ice cream at Green Style Cafe inside Nijo Castle grounds.

We left our residence at around 9AM and rode a bus to our first destination for today which is Nijo Castle. This destination is one of those in our itinerary that was pre-planned already. It means that we have paid the entrance fees via Klook long before our trip. Because of that, we skipped the lines just as they were forming. Although my wife, daughter, and I visited Nijo Castle during our 2018 Japan trip, this would be the first time that we'd get to fully explore Nijo Castle and it's vicinity. Honestly, I never expected it to be so vast. It took us around two hours to cover most of it.  

Lunch at Life Nijo Station

After Nijo Castle, the original plan was to go to Kinkakuji but due to some confusion with which bus stop to go to, we ended up walking along Oshikoji-dori looking for the bus stop to Arashiyama instead. Before everything else, we decided to grab some lunch first as it was already lunchtime. Surprisingly, it was quite challenging to find a place to eat lunch at Oshikoji-dori so we continued walking towards Senbon-dori where we saw Life Nijo Station which was a supermarket. As expected, it has numerous selections of bento meals which were way cheaper than common meals served at most restaurants. We rested a bit to digest our food before walking towards the bus stop at Senbon-dori to wait for the bus which would bring us to Arashiyama. It took Bus #66 about 20 minutes to arrive regardless, the 30-minute travel to Arashiyama bus stop allowed us to have our noon-time siesta.

Togetsukyo Bridge as seen from Arashiyama bus stop

Look who greeted us upon our arrival at Arashiyama 

Ella checking out one of the stores in Arashiyama

Upon arriving at Arashiyama bus stop, we found ourselves walking along a long street full of shops and tourists. My mom and sister seem to have enjoyed checking out these stores as we went store-hopping for almost an hour. 

Tenryuji

Tenryuji Garden

My mom and dad at Tenryuji's Garden

Got my Tenryuji goshuin

I then "led" them to Tenryuji, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to check out its famed garden. What they didn't know is that I purposely prolonged our stay in the garden area so that there would be lesser people in our next destination which was Arashiyama Bamboo Grove. During our visit last year, our friend Gil showed us that the best time to visit Arashiyama Bamboo Grove was in the afternoon of a weekday because there are usually lesser people during these times. However, it was not the case today despite being a Friday. Well, basically I forgot that Friday afternoons are "considered" part of the weekends as most people tend to go out and have fun during these times. 

Next Stop: Arashiyama Bamboo Grove

Aya at Arashiyama Bamboo Grove

Pat at Arashiyama Bamboo Park

With that being said, it was hard for us to take that "perfect" solo shot. My siblings and I did not give up though so we waited for almost half an hour. Luckily, the crowd started to thin out and each of us got to have that coveted solo picture taken with the scenic bamboo grove as our backdrop. 

Next Stop: Kameyama Park

Finally a complete family picture

We rested a bit at Katsura riverbanks

We also did a bit of exploration near the river

From Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, we continued walking through Kameyama Park until we reached the Katsura riverbank where we spent some time admiring Mother Nature. 

The stores near Arashiyama Randen Station

Ella saw some awesome gatchapon along the way

An ebisuya plying the streets of Arashiyama

As the sun slowly begins to set, we decided that it was already time to head back home but before that, I suggested that we visit one more must-see destination nearby - the Kimono Forest. 

Arashiyama Randen Station

Keifuku Randen Tram

Team Nicerio at Kimono Forest

We had plenty of pictures in this magical place

From the Katsura River Bank, the Kimono Forest was just a few minutes away by foot and was inside the Arashiyama Station of the Keifuku Randen Tram Line. During the morning, this place seems normal but at night, the Kimono Forest lights up and becomes an enchanted place. 

It's great to be back at Yoshinoya Kyoto Station.

Itadakimasu!

Look what Ella had for dinner!

After taking family photos in Kimono Forest, we rode the bus back to Kyoto Station. It was dinner time when we arrived and since I craved for Yoshinoya, I brought them to the same Yoshinoya that my wife, daughter, and I visited last 2018. This branch was just walking distance from the entrance of the Karasuma side of Kyoto Station. Our meal brought back memories of our previous travel and also filled us up for an additional activity before calling it a night... and that activity is none other than shopping.

Nighttime shopping at Don Quixote Kyoto Avanti Store.

From Yoshinoya, we walked to Don Quixote Kyoto Avanti Store on the other side of Kyoto Station. Don Quixote, fondly called Donki by its shoppers, offers tons of products at a cheaper price. During this shopping visit, I bought a 128 GB Mini SD memory card for just 2980 yen. Upon checking the price of the same brand here in the Philippines I discovered that I managed to save about 600+ pesos.

Overall, we managed to visit only 4 tourist destinations today but the memories we got there were truly outstanding. Because of this, I could safely say that I'm very excited to see what's in store for us tomorrow. So where would we be heading next? Well, that's something that you should be looking forward to as well. See you guys!

Read more:

• Nijo Castle
• Tenryuji
• Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
• Kimono Forest
• Kyoto Station

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