Kyoto Day Trip Temple Hopping 2

3. Ginkaku-Ji Temple- also known as the Silver Pavilion. It has an elegant temple with outstanding Japanese landscape architecture. Basically just a garden with landscapes :) In my opinion, you can skip this part hehe.

4. Gion (Geisha District) and Nishiki Market- Gion is known for being the Geisha district. You can go around here and shop. We didn't get to see real Geisha though because it was still early and it was raining :( but I think the area here is nice at night.

Ichiran Ramen: Focus on your food

Have you tasted the best ramen in Japan? I did! and I can say that this ramen is THE BEST RAMEN IN THE WHOLE WORLD!!!!! Well....for me haha. I can eat this everyday!!! hahaha it's called Ichiran Ramen.

Ichiran Ramen is a classic Tonkostsu Ramen from 1960s. They say that the original red sauce of ramen was born in Ichiran. Well, I don't know what that meant but to me it's heaven in a bowl...PROMISE! :)

I'm really a fan of ramen. In the Philippines, there was a time that we ate in different ramen places almost every weekends. In Manila, the best ramen for me was Ippudo which also originated in Japan. We waited for 1.5 hours in line during its opening in Megamall, Oritgas and what I tasted was already divine!!! BUT, Ichiran Ramen is even yummier!

In Japan, I noticed that people are fond of falling in line. They are always curious and willing to wait for hours just to eat in famous restaurants!!! One time, we waited for 5 loooong hours just to eat at Sushi Dai in Tsukiji Market (will blog about it soon!) but in Ichiran Ramen's case, we were lucky there was no line at all in Umeda branch (usually it has long queue and waiting time will range from 30 mins -1 hour or more).

Kyoto Day Trip Temple Hopping 1

Kyoto is an ideal place to embrace the culture of Japan as it is known for temples, Geisha, and nature. We spent a day in Kyoto for temple hoping and generally, it was refreshing to see the different places of the Gods and emperors. 

We were able to maximize our trip to Kyoto because of the very efficient bus system intended for tourists. Click this link to know more about it and how to avail the Unlimited City Bus in Kyoto (for a day).

We visited 4 temples, 1 huge uhh...garden (?) of bamboos, and 1 market place. Here are the details in order of how we visited all of these. Note that you may change the order of places depending on your priority or "must visit" places but we recommend for you to follow our route to save time if you start from Kyoto Station.

1. Fushimi Inari-Taisha Temple- The temple that is dedicated to God of rice and sake or prosperity and success. There are stone foxes all throughout the shrine because it is believed that foxes serve as messengers to the Gods. This is the home of the famous red tori (shrine gates) and it is one of my favorite temple in Japan. We highly recommend for you to go to Inari Temple :) 

2. Kiyomizu-dera - Is a wooden temple that is located 13 meter high on the side of a mountain. The Japanese would say that it has the best sunset as it faces West of Kyoto-- a very auspicious place and romantic as well. Many tourists go to this place because it is known for the love temple or love match. There's a popular "love stone" located in Jishu-jinja Shrine and it is said that you will find your romantic partner if you can walk to the stone with your eyes closed. Lots of talismans and incense can be bought here. 

Unlimited City Bus in Kyoto for Temple Hopping

When you want to get the most of your Kyoto day tour or temple hoping, it is best to avail the Unlimited (1 day) City Bus for only Php 200 or 500 yen. We went temple hopping (around 5) with this bus pass with a lot of walking! Click here to know the places we visited. If you decide not to get an unlimited bus pass, each bus ride will cost you Php 100 or 230 Yen for adults and 120 yen for kids (flat rate), and you'll be riding buses more than 10 times if you want to go around the city.

Hwaseong Fortress, Suwon！！！！！

Finally this is the famous visiting place in the city I located.

To get away from the busy city life and set foot in a piece of history in Korea, Hwaseong Fortress is a destination that you can include in your Korea itinerary. Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon is actually very popular given that it is listed as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage in 1997 and there has been several Korean TV Shows such as 1 day 2 nights who had showcased this venue in one of their shows. The Fortress consists of historical walls and temples that surround the city which used to be one of the temporary locations of King Jeongjo when he stayed in Hwaseong Palace in Suwon

If you want to take a look at Korean history near Seoul, then this is a place for you as there are a lot of photo site of temples, walls, ponds, etc. and you can read through some of the highlights of Korean history at the venue. However, if you’re not a big fan of Korean History, then it is okay to skip this as you won’t miss out on a lot. 

My 400 Peso Room Experience in Japan

It was our first time to try Airbnb even though we were hesitant to try it at first because we're (sometimes) paranoid travelers. Well, you can't blame us because crimes, modus operandi and other unpleasant news are all over the internet, radio, TV, and newspaper. Also, we grew up not trusting strangers at all times so choosing Airbnb is quite a bold move for me and my boyfriend when we visited Japan (Osaka and Kyoto). 

What is Airbnb?
Airbnb is a trusted community for people to list (rent their place) and book unique accommodations around the world. I like the way they describe their service and it stated in their website: "Whether an apartment for a night, a castle for a week, or a villa for a month, Airbnb connects people to unique travel experiences, at any price point, in more than 34,000 cities and 190 countries. And with world-class customer service and a growing community of users, Airbnb is the easiest way for people to monetize their extra space and showcase it to an audience of millions

Here are the top 3 reasons why we've decided to book the room:

3. Japan is a pretty safe country so we decided to try Airbnb here. Also it's a first world country so I have high confidence in security compared to other countries (e.g. Third world).

2. Subway is just 5 minutes away from the apartment. The nearest station is in Matsuyamachi Station (Exit #4) and the Namba Station is just 15-20 minutes walking distance. Family Mart is just 10 seconds away from the apartment building and there's a 24 hour supermarket near the area. 

And the number one reason...

1. Daily cost is very cheap therefore we have more money to spend on food, clothes, gifts, and adventure!!! Price is not per person like most hostels or guesthouses so if you're 2 to 3 person in Ryo's room (name of our landlord) then price will range between 416 to 280 pesos! That's like 1 or 2 movie tickets in Makati, a beer in a bar, or just a meal in a restaurant. 

The Adventures in Japan

Konnichiwa!!!

We visited 4 different areas in the land of the rising sun. Our starting point...Osaka! Then we travelled to Kyoto, Nara and ended our trip in Tokyo where we met my high school barkada (who coincidentally was in Tokyo). We did all of these in 7 days but technically, it was only about 5 whole days :)

I can't wait to share in detail our Japan adventures. Will post it one by one very soon!