japan autumn trip 2019

i need to be better at writing these travel journey. i didn't get the chance writing my hong kong trip, and since then i've been to japan twice. but this time we went solo without kids, so it would be different this time. i will try writing all my previous trip as soon as possible. in this post i will write about our itinerary, but i will write separate reviews for each place and dining choice and hotel but i will link it here. if there's no link available, then probably i haven't finished writing about it.

day 1: we went to singapore in the afternoon since we used SQ so we must go to singapore first. we got dinner on the plane and it was good. this was my first time using SQ for long haul so i was quite surprised that they gave us meal plan for the flight even in economy seat. and since we used SQ, we got to chance to get 20 SGD voucher to be used at changi. so we decided to trade the voucher once we arrived and bought something with it. the voucher can only be traded once per booking. my husband thought we could get another one when we came back home, but he was wrong. oh well, we did use them satisfyingly, so no regret. the next flight was at midnight, so we got enough time to take some rest. trip from singapore to osaka was okay, but i couldn't get enough sleep. food was marvelous though. it was delicious as well.

bright blue sky on our way to kobe

day 2: we arrived at KIX airport in the morning. there were some renovations going on, but it barely affected you since they were so careful with their construction. they cover the renovation part so i didn't see any dust or loose materials. really clean. not even singapore can beat this. after passing through immigration and getting our bag, we went to the HIS travel counter to get our sim cards that we purchased from klook earlier. after setting our phones, we went to next counter to purchase airport limousine bus ticket since we were going to kobe first. the counter inside only accepted payment by credit card. if you're paying cash, then you should head to outside counter near the bus stop. actually we planned to get the kansai area pass as well since there was a JR counter at the airport, but it was crowded and our bus would be arriving soon, so we decided to skip it and headed to the bus stop. we planned to get the pass in sannomiya station. for a bit about KIX airport, you can read it here.

for airport bus information, you could check on their website (here). for kansai area pass information you could check the JR west information here. we decided to get the kansai area pass since on this trip we will be going to kobe, kyoto, nara and osaka in 4 days time. the rest we decided to walk or purchase separate metro line. if you're not sure which card to buy, you can check the website here. the website will give information about which card to buy if you plan to visit several areas in kansai (this will only apply to west japan. if you're travelling to tokyo as well, you might need JR pass since tokyo is in JR east area).

HIS travel counter at KIX. the limousine bus counter is just left from this counter

anyway, we bought some snack at lawson to eat on the bus to kobe if we were hungry. we arrived at kobe around lunch time, so after buying the kansai area pass and storing our baggage at sannomiya station (there were several coin lockers at the station, so make sure you check every places) we went to get lunch. for coin lockers, there are 3 types, the small, medium and large storage. the prices are different according to the size. you can only pay using 100 yen coin, but you could change it at coin changer available. our lockers place had a coin changer but the smaller coin lockers area that we checked didn't have one.

since kobe was famous for its kobe beef, we decided to try them first. we headed to mouriya lin since it was listed at tripadvisor as one of the best restaurant. you should reserve if you could, but we're lucky since we arrived early, we could get in without reservations. you can read my review here. after that, we strolled around for a little bit then hubby got hungry again so we went to a ramen place that's recommended by paolo from tokyo (read my review here). after that we decided to move to kyoto earlier than we planned. actually if you want to spend more time at kobe, you could head to their port area or go up to mt.rokko. we decided we could do that next time.

us before enjoying our kobe beef

at kyoto, we stayed at granvia kyoto hotel (read it here) which is located at kyoto station so it was a breeze moving our baggages. we could check in so we decided to get some rest since both of us couldn't get enough sleep on the plane then we head to ramen kyoto koji (also at the station, read about it here) to eat some ramen for dinner. we also bought some fresh fruit and drinks at the department store (there are Isetan department store in the basement so food was no problem at kyoto). after that we went to stroll around and did some shopping. it was raining but it didn't stop us.

kyoto tower seen from kyoto station
(the light color is changing every day)

day 3: we didn't order breakfast at the hotel, we just ate some fruit and onigiri from department store and then headed our way to fushimi inari. it's best to get there early since it could get really crowded. we decided to use hike guide (check it here) since we wanted to see fushimi inari and tofukuji temple which is near fushimi inari (read about our trip to fushimi inari here). it was quite tiring hiking up fushimi inari, but the view was marvelous. you should wear appropriate shoes and bring some water but not too heavy bag since the hike was really tiring if you're not fit. then we took a turn to tofukuji. unfortunately, the guide didn't give enough explanation about reaching tofukuji after making the turn, so we asked google maps for help and finally we arrived there safely. we strolled around slowly at tofukuji, catching our breath before going on. even though you can visit tofukuji then head on to fushimi inari, i think it's better to do fushimi inari first thing in the morning then tofukuji since you can rest at tofukuji. it took us around 45 minutes to hike fushimi inari (lots of stopping since hubby was not that fit anymore) and around 15 minutes walk to tofukuji. then you could spend anytime you like at tofukuji (read about tofukuji here)

after that we took taxi to nishiki market. we still full from yesterday feast so we decided to just snacking for lunch. hubby refused to use train since he was so tired. even though it was afternoon, there were lots of food place still open. nishiki market is a long road full of fresh food and gift shops in one straight road. then at the other road after that, you could see lots of shopping stores, some cafe and restaurant. we ate some food and then hubby rested at some cafe while doing his work while i kept roaming to several stores before joining him at the cafe (read about our food trip at nishiki here). we then spotted ikinari steak (read it here) while walking to pontocho, so we decided to have early dinner before walking through pontocho alley and rest awhile at the riverside. then we headed back to the hotel (read it here). but at night, hubby got hungry so we headed out again to come local shop, kyo-chabana to eat some okonomiyaki and then head back to hotel (read it here).

actually if you're not tired, you could continue to gion area after visiting pontocho. it is popular for its geisha sighting if you're lucky. or you could try some food at that area as well.

day 4: we went to arashiyama today. we follow another hike guide but this time from inside kyoto (you can see it here). we started from tenryuji (read it here) then went through the second part of arashiyama bamboo groove. the guide actually suggested to go to okochi sancho villa to enjoy some scenery before finishing at drinking tea session but we skipped it since husband thought it was such a price to enjoy small place and drink some tea. so we skipped that and went through kameyama park. we went to the top of the park to enjoy the view then headed down toward the riverside. read it here. then after taking some rest, hubby thought we should just take taxi and went to kinkakuji which is in nearby area.

on our way from arashiyama to kinkakuji

at kinkakuji it was crowded. we thought maybe we should eat lunch first, but nothing was opened at that time yet, so we went to kinkakuji first. the walk around kinkakuji wasn't that much and it wasn't super high either, but it was hot and crowded so an ice cream treat to end the walk was a nice one (read about kinkakuji here). then we walk short distance to small soba/udon place called hamamakiya to eat lunch (read it here). after that we went back to kyoto station area. i strolled around yodobashi to do another shopping while hubby decided to take some rest at the hotel. for dinner, we thought we would try moritaya, but it had quite a queue so we decided to eat at tonkatsu wako again (read here). this was our last day at kyoto since we will go to nara the next day then head on to osaka.

day 5: we went to nara early since it took around 1 hour to get to nara from kyoto. since we're moving hotel, we brought our luggage and stored it at the coin lockers at the station. we were lucky we found one at the station since it was still early. we took bus to go to nara park (actually you could walk, but hubby didn't want to.. he was still sore from two days walking at kyoto). we visited todaiji then stopped by at small lunch place along the way to nigatsudo (read it here). i was following another walking guide to visit todaiji, nigatsudo and then kasuga taisha, but hubby decided nara was enough for today, so we skipped kasuga taisha. read about our nara trip here.

if you walked from the station, then you could visit kofukuji first then todaiji or vice versa. but we decided it was enough temple hopping for this trip. if you're looking for nara itineraries suggestion, you can see it here.

after that we took another bus back to the nara station to collect our luggage then head on to osaka. after arriving at namba station, we saw horai 551 counter so we decided to buy some to try. hubby then proceed resting at the hotel waiting for check in while enjoying free drink there while i roamed shinsaibashi and bought luke's lobster. for dinner, we tried zundoya ramen (a recommendation from jwestbros) and it was good (read here)! then we walked along shinsaibashisuji as long as we could before going back to the hotel. read about our osaka hotel here.

day 6: today's menu is osaka castle. since our pass has expired, we bought individual trip ticket. we used metro and head on to osaka castle. it was quite late so it was already crowded but still okay. no long queue at the ticket vending machine and not so long queue for the elevator. it was a good stroll, looking at japan history (read it here). then we went to umeda area and decided to try the famous gyukatsu motomura (read it here). no long queue as well, so lucky us even though it's lunch time. then we strolled around nearby area, stopping at this pancake place (read it here) since it was rainy then went back to hotel. luckily the rain stopped so we went to dotonbori area (read it here) and proceed snacking along the road before decided to eat okonomiyaki at mizuno (read it here).

day 7: today was almost our last day so we went easy since we didn't want to get tired when we got home. we went to kuromon ichiba market to eat some food. it was bigger than nishiki and it didn't have any shopping stores nearby (read it here). husband was looking for some electronic so we went to sofmap at namba and i strolled around the area myself. then we went back to hotel. for dinner we've already made reservation at matsusaka beef yakiniku M at namba so we decided to get back out so we could arrive on time for our dinner. it was the best dinner during our trip! definitely recommend you trying at one of their branch (read it here). after that we went to abeno harukas 300 to enjoy some night city view (read it here). i didn't get the chance to ride any ferris wheel despite so close to two of them, one in umeda and one in abeno area. oh well... maybe next time.

day 8: our hotel didn't give free late checkout so after packing our bags, we put our luggage at the concierge and strolling one last time. hubby went to some electronic stores while i was looking for some hello kitty macaroni for our daughter. after that we ate kushikatsu daruma, but unfortunately they only sell fried food without any rice. hubby was still hungry so we went across the street and eat kinryu ramen (read it here) before going back to the hotel since we already booked the shuttle service to the airport. at the airport we were planning to get some shower but it was full so we just walked around and eat some more food for dinner before going to the waiting room. it was the end of our trip. we got to sleep again on our way from osaka to singapore again, and then another flight from singapore to surabaya before arriving home to see our kids.

i have to say this trip is a trip for adults. lots of walking and a lot of places that we visit are not okay for kids. even eating places are not ideal for young kids. but some are okay for kids. i do hope we could bring our kids to visit japan again when they're a bit older so they can enjoy more. but japan is really doable for family. i will write review about the places separately and link it here. until then.. bye japan....