Japan : Kyoto > Osaka > Kuromon Ichiba Market > Den Den Town > Matsunoya (Day 5)

27 May 2018

It was a bright, 🌞sunny day. Our last day in Kyoto and I knew I was going to miss Fresco and its strawberries 🍓😋 (a mart that was right opposite our Airbnb). 

We headed towards Omiya Station and took the train to Nippombashi Station. The whole journey took slightly more than an hour. One thing odd about Japan was that we couldn't seem to find escalators or lifts in some of the train stations. 😖Japanese (even elderly) seemed to be perfectly fine with taking stairs. Or perhaps the lifts were hidden somewhere. I remembered hauling my heavy luggage up the seemingly endless stairs at Nippombashi Station. 😰

Finally reached our Airbnb in Osaka. It was quite spacious and a lot bigger as compared to the one we stayed in Kyoto. But the bed at most was Super Single and we ended up sleeping in futon on the floor. It was a disappointment that the stove was not installed as advertised in the Airbnb since we were looking forward to cook in Osaka. The plus point was that the bathroom was big and washing machine was provided. Good thing I brought detergent from home as it was not provided.

Tips: 

Bring detergent from home if washing machine is provided. Also, if you want to cook, better double confirm with the owner whether stove and cooking pans/utensils will be provided.

Our accommodation was strategically located around 10 minutes walking distance to Kuromon Ichiba Market. We went to pick up our Osaka Amazing Pass at Ochihonpo and also to check out the delicacies. 

As we stepped into Kuromon Ichiba Market, we saw a long queue at the Wagyu/Kobe beef stall. It looked so yummy that we joined the queue. Wagyu Beef - 500Y (RM19), Kobe Beef - 2500Y (RM94), Crab Meat - 300Y (RM11).

I managed to capture this epic moment when a Hong Kong tourist asked whether he could have the Kobe beef that was laid out at the tray in front because the beef looked so much yummier 😍. I had the urge to request the same since the owner kept taking beef from the container behind. 

The Japanese owner was trying to explain and asked the Hongkie to touch the "beef" in the tray. Apparently these were artificial food sample and not real beef 😱. I was shocked and felt a bit conned 😒but impressed 😮with how real they made it to be. 

They had two types of sauce. If I recall correctly, the one on top was Shio (Salt) and tasted better. The other one should be teriyaki sauce. Some chunk of the meat was hard to chew and full of fat, so I guess it really depends on your luck. 

Right opposite, there was a stall that sold hokkaido scallops, wagyu beef, and crab meat for 300Y (RM11). We tried the scallops but the meat was a tad little. 

As we walked further down the alley, we found a shop that sold sushi. We bought unagi & tuna maki for 1000Y (RM38). I don't recommend this shop because there were cheaper and nicer sushis as you walked further.

Tips: 
If you have the luxury of time, don't rush into buying something. Survey first!

These were sold at one of the big supermarket (黒門中川) somehwere in the middle of  Kuromon Ichiba Market. 

The tuna belly sushi looked super duper awesome 😍😍😍!!! It was sold at 2400Y (RM90). We couldn't afford to eat them 😭. 

Another big supermarket that was crowded with customers was Kuromon Sanpei (黒門三平). Look at those fatty tuna!!! 😍At this point of time, I really regretted buying those pack of unagi & tuna maki earlier. 😞 The cheapest was 3 big fatty tuna sushi - 2300Y (RM87), 4 big fatty tuna sushi - 2800Y (RM106), 10 tuna and salmon sushi - 3000Y (RM113). If I have a chance to come next time, I will definitely buy from this place.

  

Japanese melon juice - 1200Y (RM46) and grapefruit juice - 300Y (RM12). If you want it to be serve in a cup instead of direct from fruit, its 500Y (RM19) per cup. I bought the grapefruit juice. Honestly there was not much juice. I peeled it to eat the flesh as well.

Japanese melon set - 600Y (RM23). It tasted just like honeydew. Haha. 😆

Sea Urchin - 600Y (RM23)

I don't know what is this but it was one of my favorite. Its slightly chewy, warm, with red bean fillings. Doesn't taste like green tea thou. 120Y (RM5) per piece. The shopkeeper even gave us tea and dessert to go with it.

Warabimochi - 350Y (RM13). I didn't try this because I didn't like the one I had in Nishiki Market. It was too sweet and not chewy as the typical mochi.

  

Suntory (the purple soft drink in the middle) - 117Y (RM5) was one of my favorite as well.

The facial products were sold at a competitive price at Kuromon Market. 

Tips: 
Some of the shops will pass you flyers. Be sure to check it out as most of them have discount coupons in it. 

We explored Den Den Town at night. 

Matsunoya - They serve one of the best pork loin cutlet. Highly recommended!

Pork Loin Cutlet & Chicken Tenderloin Cutlet - 680Y (RM26). The portion is actually extremely huge. Do dip the meat with their mustard sauce. It's heavenly!

Pork Loin Cutlet & Pork Tenderloin Cutlet - 730Y (RM28)

That sums up my fifth day in Japan... Sorry it took so long to update 😆

Japan : Kyoto > Uji > Fushimi Inari > Gion > Fresco (Day 3)

25 May 2018

We began our day with Japanese-style breakfast: onigiri 🍙and green tea🍵. I always thought the onigiri in Japan would have overflowing fillings. So I was disappointed to find that the filling was consistently little but they tend to use fresh salmon instead of canned salmon.

We took a train to Kawaramachi Station to purchase our Kansai One Pass (3000Y) at Hankyu Tourist Information Center, Kyoto. Basically, Kansai One Pass is like our Touch N' Go where you can reload money and use it on most trains and buses within the Kansai region. You can also check out this website for some of the benefits of having Kansai One Pass.

After that, we crossed a bridge and went to Keihan Tourist Information Center at Gion-Shijo Station to buy our Kyoto Sight-Seeing Pass (600Y). The 1 day pass allows you to explore around Kyoto using Keihan Railway. I found this website that is offering 500Y for the one day pass now.

From Gion-shijo Station, we took the train down to Uji Station. Our original plan was to go to Fushimi Inari first but we accidentally took the express train which skipped the station. Hence, the change of plan.

Tips: 
Express train only stops at major station. Refer to the train station map, the express train only stops at stations indicated in bigger dots. So do be alert and don't miss your station! 

We were going around rather randomly in Uji. There were quite a number of temples there. 

When you are in Uji, you just have to try their green tea ice-cream. But we were quite disappointed as this shop's green tea ice cream tasted exactly like the one sold at Family Mart in Malaysia. 😅

Walked a bit further down the street and you would see people heading towards Byodoin Temple (600Y). If you want to go into the Phoenix Hall ☝, you will need to pay additional 300Y and there would be a long queue to go in. If you have a 10 yen coin with you, you can compare the Phoenix Hall with the picture imprint behind the 10 yen coin.

After that, we headed towards Byodo-in Omotesando Street, the must-go place if you are in Uji. Here, you would be able to purchase all sorts of green tea products. 

I was attracted by the awesome green tea 🍵aroma from this shop. This cup of green tea was only 50Y!!! 😮😁 I felt like I had found a gem! 💚 

We bought quite a lot of green tea products from this shop, ranging from green tea mochi, green tea curry, green tea biscuits, etc. But if you are not thinking of buying a lot, you can purchase the same product at Kansai airport's tax free shop. The price is the same. The only down side is that you would need to hand carry them. If you are flying by AirAsia, it would be quite troublesome as they limit your hand carry bags to two.

After shopping, we headed towards Kawabun (川文) for lunch. 

We ordered green tea soba. Set meal on the left (1200Y) and ala-carte on the right (850Y). Do not mistaken tsuyu (the dipping sauce) as soup 😁. The right way to eat soba is to pour in scallions into tsuyu, then take a bit of green tea soba and dip into tsuyu before savouring it. 😋

We had to give Uji another chance to redeem itself for its green tea ice-cream. So we had another round at Masuda Chaho (ますだ茶舗).

Matcha ice cream (300Y) and roasted matcha ice-cream (300Y). Compared to the one we had before, these were heavenly. I personally preferred matcha flavour but my husband liked the roasted one more. 

At 1p.m., we decided to head back to Uji Station and move on to Fushimi Inari.

Fushimi Inari was packed with human. 😱

We hiked all the way up in order to capture a nice photo without any crowd. 

There was this foreigner that was talking to himself while attempting to capture a nice photo without any invader in his photo.

Photographer: *mumbling* Go away! Go away! 😠

Me & Husband: *Laughed Out Loud* 😆😆

Photographer: *looked at us and smiled* They look too nice to be in my photo! 😁

Haha.... he was so cute. 😆

I think a McD meal at every new country we visit is a must. We ordered one ebi fillet-o set meal and one gran club house ala carte (1180Y). Honest review: nothing to shout of. It was so-so.

After that, we strolled along Gion Street. We bumped into a geisha while crossing the road. There were quite a number of people that snapped photo of her. I thought I would see a lot more geisha so I didn't have a good look. Turned out that was my only encounter with geisha in Japan.... 😔 

Tried Pablo's original egg tart and it was one of the best we had in Japan.

I saw a lot of ladies holding shopping bag of this brand at Gion Street. Did some google search and got to know that its Yojiya and famous for its oil blotting facial paper. I am regretting now for not buying it. 😔

By the time we reached Shijo-Omiya, we were hungry again 😜 So we went to Matsuya (松屋) for supper. 

It was affordable and yummy! 🤤We ordered regular portion of Gyumeshi with Spicy Sauce [Extra Green Onions and an Egg] (430Y) and Gyumeshi (Beef on rice) (320Y).  

I love how the food was served without any additives but they gave you different types of sauce in case if you want to add a bit more flavour to your dish. 

Our last stop was at Fresco, a mart that was located directly opposite our Airbnb. The strawberries were heavenly and it was only 345Y per pack after 20% discount. 

So that was our third day in Japan. Sorry to those that have been waiting for updates >_< I'll try to update more often. 💓