Kyoto, Japan Chuseok Vacation!!!

Jenn and I decided to celebrate Chuseok weekend in Korea by getting out of Korea! We had 4 days, so we thought, why not hop over to Japan, and check it out? We booked our flights, and decided to visit Kyoto, one of the more culturally-rich cities of Japan. When we first got there, we were amazed at how hot it was, especially because Daegu had started cooling down for the fall season. But dang, Kyoto was hot! At least mid 80s, but we weren't complaining, because we loved it.


Another observation about Kyoto...the sky was so clear. Daegu is a city, and heavily industrialized, so very rarely do we get a blue sky sort of day. But in Kyoto? For the 4 days we were there, the sky was clear and blue. It was beautiful, and we loved it. We landed at Kansai airport, which is actually in Osaka. From there, we had to take a train to Kyoto. Once there, we got to our hotel, which was right next to the station. The location was perfect, especially because we were right next to the train station, and also right next to the main bus stops. Jenn and I had no trouble getting anywhere when we were in Kyoto.

At Kyoto Station. You can see Kyoto Tower in the background!

We arrived to Kyoto late Saturday afternoon. The first thing we did was go check out Gion Corner. This place was famous because it had a lot of old  traditional Japanese restaurants (also very expensive!), and Geishas! So Jenn and I went here to see if we could spot one. And we did! We almost didn't want to take pictures though, because they looked so uncomfortable with all the looks that we, and other tourists were giving them. I don't blame them though, they're just trying to go about their daily lives and here we are ogling at them. So we took a picture anyways! Hahahaha. But we tried our best to be sneaky about it, and it really didn't turn out that well.

Geisha!!!

After Gion corner, we headed back to our hotel. Right next to our hotel was Kyoto tower! So we went up to the top, and caught some pretty sweet views of the city at night. This was of course, after we had our first Japanese meal. And I have to say, it was delicious. I love Japanese food, and my time in Kyoto made me love it even more. I'll post some pics, but I don't want to talk about it too much because then I'll just get sad. :( Anyways, after Kyoto tower, we headed back to our hotel to get some rest.

Dinner #1!

Sunday was a blur of temples, shrines, and cultural-ness. Seriously. We went to maybe 5-6 or cultural sites. Kyoto has a large number UNESCO World Heritage sites (17 I think?). Did some quick Wiki research...that makes up for 20% of Japan's national treasures. In one city!!! So...I won't tell you about all of them, because honestly, we went to so many I kinda forgot their names! Hehe. But we started off our morning with a World Heritage site called Nijo Castle. It was pretty awesome. The day was so nice, blue skies, and perfect weather. The castle had a couple moats, which I thought was pretty cool. 

Nijo Castle!

After Nijo castle, we went and got our bikes! Yup. We wented bikes for the whole day, and biked to another couple destinations. After about a 10 minute ride, we got to Kiyomizu temple (I might be spelling these all wrong). Anyways, this temple was sweet. It was on top of a hill, and we got to see some great skylines of Kyoto. The wind was also blowing, and since it was such a hot day, it felt really good. After Kiyomizu temple, we kept biking and saw a bunch more temples and shrines. I'll post some of those pics now. Oh, and we stopped to eat lunch! I had Unagi over rice, and Jenn had cold udon noodles. Delicious! 

Ryoanji  Memorial/Temple

Ok. So...you make X amount of wishes, and then, touching the ball with your hand, you circle it
however many wishes you had. (2 wishes = circle twice around the ball) and it will come true! Supposedly. :)

Unagi over rice lunch!

Actually got a pic of us while riding our bikes!

Riding along the river. So pretty ^^

After our bike ride, we went back and chilled for a while. Then...we headed over to one of night life areas. Not gonna lie, we were a little disappointed. It was more of like a street with a bunch of bars. That was it. BUT, luckily, that street was next to a main street, with a bunch of restaurants, shops, and best of all, a ROUND 1!! What is Round 1? Well, my little brother and sis might know, but if you don't, it's basically a huge arcade/bowling/whatever building. After another delicious dinner, a mini-Benihanas type place where they made our yakisoba noodles and beef slices right in front of us, we headed over to Round 1. And I won!! One of those machines where you can get stuffed animals. Okay, it was more of like a stuffed animal key chain...but...check it out! Then we played a couple of games, one in particular was very fun. Imagine a big pit filled with cheap plastic balls in front of you. Kinda like the balls in those big pits you used to play in as a kid (at Chuck-E-Cheese ya?). Basically, you took those balls, and chucked them at the screen at things that appeared. It was definitely Jenn and I's favorite game of the night. I could see it being really good for stress relief! After Round 1, we kinda just wandered and headed back to the hotel. We were tired!

Victory!!

On Monday, we headed over to Philosophers road. Philosophers road is this beautiful path alongside a creek that was named by the, you guessed it, Philosopher who used to walk on it everyday. It took us straight to Ginjuku Pavilion, also known as the Silver pavilion. We looked at it. It was nice :) Afterwards, we took the bus to see the GOLDEN Pavilion, which was...just amazing. The pictures we took looked exactly like some of the postcards that were on sale. It was just that perfect of a day. Check them out! Afterwards, we visited a lot more temples. One had a famous Zen garden, another had a famous Zen Rock garden, and we took a lot of pics. Check out the pics!

Tempura snack!

On the Philosopher's Road

Golden Pavilion! Our favorite picture

Lunch!

Famous Zen rock garden. 

Moon Crossing Bridge. It was raining, but the sun was out!

For dinner on Monday night, we had all you can eat meat! The meat was sooooo good, super flavorful, and cut really thinly. Tuesday, we woke up...and went home :(


Japan, you were good to us. It was an amazing time, and I blame you completely for making me feel miserable at work for the first week that we went back. You were that awesome. We hope to go back soon!


Closing thoughts about Japan...


- Food was amazing
- People were so nice. One man stopped to help us when we looked lost (we were!), which we really appreciated!
- Lines EVERYWHERE. To the subway, to the bus, and guess what? No CUTTING.
- Weather was beautiful, the sky was clear and blue.
- Culture everywhere. Kyoto was truly a city filled with contrasting views. Temples right in the middle of the city, and traditional Japan everywhere.
- Awesome hotel. Perfect location. Clean, and a really nice...bathroom. Seriously. The toilet was super fancy.