granvia kyoto hotel

we never stayed in kyoto, so i totally had no idea where to stay in kyoto. but there are some websites that you can read about all kyoto hotel recommendation like here, here, and here. i bet there are other recommendation, but for me, if i'm reading too many recommendations, i would get confused, so i decided to just read a few and understand about what they're talking about. basically, they didn't give certain recommendation, but they would categorize based on kyoto districts. they will lay down the pros and cons for each districts and even break it down to budget, mid range to top level hotel. and when i read some recommendation, people say that kyoto was the best place to enjoy some authentic japan tradition, and one way to enjoy it was to stay at ryokan. some people mentioned about kyoto authentic cuisine which came in courses. you could eat them in restaurants, but paolo mentioned that the easiest way to enjoy it was staying at kyoto machiya. honestly, i was intrigued at first, considering that we only went by ourselves, without kids. so i thought about giving ryokan or machiya a try. but most ryokan that i read about was totally traditional, even some only had sharing bathroom, which was not comfortable for us. and the price of machiya was totally expensive. so i decided to just stay at usual hotel. but if you wanted the experience and you had the budget, then you might want to try staying in ryokan or machiya.

okay.. so when i saw the recommendation, basically two famous area to stay was kawaramachi area and kyoto station area. both for different reason. kawaramachi was near nishiki area, so it was near dining options and shopping options. it was even close to gion which was famous for geisha sightings. but you need to take public transportation to go to places and obviously you need to walk from the station to your hotel. while kyoto station was basically the biggest station in kyoto, so almost all lines go through kyoto station. if i wanted to go to fushimi inari or arashiyama, i could go there from kyoto station straight. we could also go to kyoto from kobe and to nara from kyoto (since our plan was to go to kobe and then kyoto and then nara before ending it at osaka). dining was not a problem since kyoto station had 3 dining places and 2 department stores, but shopping wise, there were not that many stores. but we didn't mind about the shopping. for us, accessibility and dining were higher priority for us. so... i turned to tripadvisor and looking for affordable hotels around kyoto station area.

i had two or three options and then i told my husband, and he decided to pick granvia kyoto hotel. so, basically, this hotel was on the second floor or kyoto station, so even though you arrived super late or super early, with big baggages, you didn't need to drag all your bags all the way. you just need to take the escalator and you will arrive at the hotel instantly. you also didn't need to walk too much when you want to go somewhere else. cutting the travelling time. price wise, it was not the most affordable option, but it was within reasonable price range. when we compared the price on their website (here) and from agoda, the price on their website was cheaper, so we made the booking ourselves on their website.

since we wanted non smoking room, apparently the only bedding option available during our stay was twin bed (we chose the cheapest one, standard twin room). we hoped we could get a double bed or queen bed room when we arrived, but we didn't. anyway.. the room was pretty spacious for two people. it has cupboard to hang your clothes, small safe deposit box, several drawers and pajamas for two (but we didn't use it), big mirror and a long table, two chairs and decent window. the bathroom was quite nice too. it had bathtub. the toiletries was decent, but not super luxurious. i was quite impressed that the housekeepers left note on the sink saying that for today, (his/her name) was our housekeepers for the day and we could ask for his/her help by phone. how personal! and the bellboy that helped us with our baggage even explained to us in standard english about their sheet and towel changing policy.

we didn't booked the room with breakfast as we thought we wanted to try as much food as possible, including supermarket's food, but they did have several dining places scattered in the hotel. there was this cafe near the lobby and it was always full after office hours. we totally happy with our choice. it was totally easy to go anywhere since it was on top of kyoto station, and it was pretty near to places that we wanted to visit. fushimi was slightly south and arashiyama was about northwest from the station, so it was almost in the middle of our trip. we didn't have any difficulty in shopping as well. there was a nearby yodobashi which had wide beauty selection and it also had uniqlo. we could find another shopping mall that had GU or uniqlo or donki and even daiso. all within walking range. i was not sure whether or not they had family room or connecting room, but i've seen some families with their kids in this hotel. so probably you could bring your kids. and don't worry about hearing the train's sound. we didn't hear anything during our stay there. fyi, the pictures on their website are really true. our room pictures were exactly like the room we stayed in.

tonkatsu wako

today was actually our anniversary day. but we didn't plan anything special because this whole trip was special since we didn't our kids along, and we treated ourselves with good food so far, so everything was special. since we didn't have any plan for the night, we decided just stroll around kyoto station area and grabbed dinner at the station. at first we thought about giving moritaya a try. it was a pretty famous sukiyaki place and it was quite expensive, but it seemed popular and we found out there was one brand at kyoto station, so we thought we could try it. but the time we got there, even though it was not dinner time, the queue was quite long. the average time for eating sukiyaki were about 60 minutes, and there were about 5-6 names before us, so it would be quite some time before we could get inside and i've already starving so we decided to just go to tonkatsu wako which we knew was on the same floor because we've been there with the kids 2 years ago.

tonkatsu wako was on 11th floor of JR isetan at kyoto station. it's a little bit confusing finding the place, so when you got off the elevator, you should check the floor inventory and found it on the map, then you should walk to the right. walk straight and after passing several shops, you could see wako on your left. if you wanted to find moritaya, somewhere along the way the alley had branch and moritaya was on the right branch. inside, there were several tables with initially 2 chairs per table, but they gathered some table so it could fit 4 people per table. there were high chairs facing the counters, so if you had odd numbered group, they would probably put you on the counter seats. they did have high chair for kids, but basically it was a booster seat without any belt so if you're bringing baby, then it might not be safe. but it was okay for toddlers. anyway, i brought my own booster seat the first time and they were okay and let me use it.

ajisai set

i completely forgot which one we ordered the last time, so we ordered probably something new. there was english menu, so don't worry. i picked the ajisai set and husband picked the rosukatsu nabe gohan. they also had kids menu but it was only one choice. and they gave free toys along with the kids menu, so made sure you bought one for each kids. my ajisai set came with rice, miso soup and chawan mushi  (steamed egg) and a bit of salad. didn't like the salad, but everything else was delicious. the miso soup also had clamshells, but it was way smaller than the one i got in the sushi stall. but it was delicious as well. all the fried stuff was delicious too. the pork meat was tender and juicy, not too dry. even though they're fried, they were not oily at all. the portion was generous enough.

rosukatsu nabe gohan

now, even though the set came with a bowl of rice, what i didn't know was, you could ask for more rice or salad or miso soup for free. i didn't know that at first. when we were there the first time, i only ordered one kids menu because my second one only like chawan mushi so it seemed wasteful to order a full set that didn't have chawan mushi. so i gave her my chawan mushi at that time and shared the rice. but then the waiter saw us and gave me another bowl of rice, and when i paid, they didn't charge it. probably that's why... because they gave the second bowl for free.

i didn't try my husband's so i couldn't say much, but he said that it was delicious. but he didn't ask for more rice. in fact, it was me who asked for more rice, and it surprised the waiter. and i finished the second bowl as well. so probably that gave you sign that it really was delicious. moreover, it tasted better with warm rice. really.. their rice was different. anyway, price wise, it was a bit pricey, but it was worth it. and don't worry, if you're not in kyoto, you could find it elsewhere around japan. you just need to google it and made sure which one is the nearest from you.

hanamakiya

it was about lunch time after we went to kinkakuji. there were some dining places recommendation around kinkakuji area, but the one that i wanted to try was closed. so we decided to try the other one, which is hanamakiya. it was a soba/udon place. it was pretty close to kinkakuji. when we checked the maps, it was only two crossroads from kinkakuji. so from kinkakuji, you should walk straight until you passed two crossroads. then you should keep walking straight for couple more steps and you could see the tiny place, it had this white curtain with the restaurant logo. and there was this little sign on the right that said "hanamakiya".

the door

when we arrived, the restaurant was just open. the opening time was 11.30 am. since it's just open, it was not crowded. but the place was small, so braced yourself for waiting if the place was crowded. anyway, you can wait in the waiting area which is just after the door, but it only had 3 seats. then you could see the cashier and on the right side were tables with seats. there were about 4 tables ranging from 2 seats, 3 and 4 seats per table. at the back was the japanese style seating. from where i sat, i could see about 3 tables. according to the website, total capacity was 30 people. if you wanted to see the menu, you could see it here. but don't worry, there was english menu there. the waiter could understand english, but they spoke very poorly.

another sign on the side
made sure you saw the door and this sign before entering

we got the table with chairs, and we got seated on 4 seats table. the japanese menu was always on the table, so they handed us the english menu. we got free cold ocha, but somehow all ochas in kyoto were tasted like half tea half coffee. and since we didn't like coffee, we asked for water and luckily they would serve us water. if you're seated in the japanese style seating, you should take off your shoes at the entrance and walk barefoot. they said it's children friendly, but i didn't see any child seats, so perhaps if you brought little kids, japanese style is more suitable. but they should keep their voice low since it was very quiet there. and arrived early since the waiting area was limited. if the place was crowded, you should write down your name and phone number and waited to be called out.

my tempura soba

we both ordered a hot tempura soba and a tendon set. we both ordered hot menu, and it was pretty hot since it was still early autumn, and the waiter seemed did not approve of our orders. that's understandable since cold noodles were favorite during summer days. so when we ordered hot noodles in hot day, it's understandably that they didn't agree with our choices. but for us, we always eat hot noodles at home. we're not accustomed to cold noodles. but if you're interested in trying cold soba, you should give it a go.

his tendon set

anyway, after waiting for about 10 minutes, our orders arrived. both of us got big bowl of hot soba and i got a small plates of tempura consisted of shrimp and some vegetables. husband got a small bowl of tendon rice. they gave us big spoon to eat the soba. it was ridiculously big since spoon that big was used to serve back in our home, not for eating. anyway.. the soup had light broth taste and it was warm and comforting. the soba was okay.. i didn't know how to rate soba.. they said that it was handmade, but since i couldn't say the difference, all i can say that it was delicious, not too hard not too soft. the portion was enough for us without getting too full. the tempura was also delicious. the batter was crispy and not too oily. unfortunately, they also gave vegetables tempura and one of them seemed to be jalapeno, and i didn't like jalapeno, so we left it. i didn't try husband's tendon rice, but he said it was good. the rice was delicious as usual.. there was something about their rice. it always cooked perfectly.. but his soba didn't have any meat, only seaweed in it. so he ate it with one of my vegetables tempura since he's used to eating noodles with meat or something else, and not plain noodles.

anyway, both of us agreed that everything was delicious. we got warm and full stomach after eating here. however, some people complained about the price. i do notice that the price was a bit expensive considering that this is just a small shop, but the price was comparable to restaurants we found in the mall. especially if you ordered the one that had meat or seafood. the plain options or vegetarian options were definitely cheaper. but if you asked me whether it was worth it or not, i would say it was worth it. so i guess you could try stopping by at this shop after going to kinkakuji. oh, and if you're wonder whether this is a tourist trap, i didn't think so. i've seen a lot of japanese people and students eating here aside from tourist, so i think it's not a tourist trap.

kinkakuji temple

as i've said in my previous post, we decided to visit kinkakuji after finishing all that walk in arashiyama area. husband decided to take taxi because he was enough of walking. anyway, there are several temples near kinkakuji, but the biggest one is definitely kinkakuji. the other one that's pretty famous is ryoanji and it was the first one that we passed by from arashiyama. we arrived there around lunch area, but the restaurants around there were not open yet, so we decided to go to kinkakuji first then lunch later. if you're curious about kinkakuji, you can read some description here.

main gate

warehouse

it was noon, so it was hot and the sun was scorching hot, but not as hot as here though.. but that was probably the hottest during our trip. so when you arrived there, there was this one big road toward a gate. there was another road on your right that you could see people flooding out from that road. we were confused which way to go since that road was very crowded, but later we found out that it was the exit road. so.. keep going straight.

wish i took different angle, because the stone formation at the back was supposed to be stones surrounding ashihara island

kinkakuji

see.. i could take decent picture

and another one

it had opening hours and the admission fee for adult is 400 yen. after paying the admission fee, you would face a straight road in front of you and everyone was going the same way. then there was this officer that told you to go to your left. that's not the right way. apparently, they told you to go to the left because it would led you to the photospot. you could take picture in front of the kinkakuji. but it was very crowded that day. it was hard to get decent photograph without anyone photobombing yours. but since i decided to wait the other family to take their pictures, somehow the other person behind me decided to wait for me too. so i got my pictures okay.

other side of kinkakuji

the pond surrounding kinkakuji

then you would go back to the original road and going straight from where you entrance, which means you should take another left from the photospot area. from there, you can only walk straight. it was a one-way road, so somehow i felt like being herded like herd animal. a bunch of people going the same way.. anyway.. the ground was not super flat, but it would inclined and down in some spot. there were no stairs, but there were only couple benches there. so if you brought little kids or baby, a carrier was a good option since it was too crowded to use stroller. plus the ground was a bit bumpy and rocky for a stroller. for older people, they could walk slower, but they would have to wait halfway until there was a place to take some rest.

longmen waterfall

mound of white snake

yasuminsawa

they handed a little information booklet at the entrance, but i forgot to take the picture of it (if you want to check the map online, you can visit their official website here). it had the map of the whole area but the number was too small. and the distance from one object to the next one was pretty close. let's just say that it was confusing. basically, the main attraction was the golden temple at front which was located in the middle of a pond. there was a man-made small island in the pond. then when you started your walk, there were several objects that you should make stop at and take a closer look. but sometimes it was just a stone tomb or a small waterfall. there was another small shrine on a small island in another small pond, and then a few building. i didn't read the map at that time since it was too hot and it was very crowded, so walking and reading was not easy. so we decided just walk. at the last building, they said it was a teahouse, but i doubt that it was open for public. after that tea house, there was another big building and then you would come to a souvenir selling area. there were several tents that sells sweets, or area specialty. you could try the sample and buy it as gifts for people at home. but it was very traditional that we didn't even sure that it was, so we didn't try or buy any. and then you would walk down the stairs to the T-junction that i mentioned earlier, and it was the end of the journey.

fudodo at the back
when you saw that, then it meant that you're near the end of your trip

it was pretty fast if you didn't stop at every objects. and even faster if you didn't take any stops as well. the walk was okay, even for older people, but the lack of bench made me wonder whether or not they would be comfortable three quarters of the way until there were some bench. and then the downward stairs. it was quite a long stairs, though the steps were not too high. but again, if they had some knee problem, then stairs would be a difficult task. anyway, it only took us about 30-45 minutes then we got out of there getting our lunch.

arashiyama bamboo grove, kameyama park and katsura-gawa riverside

if you haven't read my last post, i suggested you read that one before this, as we were following a walking guide to explore arashiyama. it was started with tenryuji before moving on to the bamboo grove. when you heard about arashiyama, i bet you would automatically think about the bamboo grove and nothing else. but in fact, there were some other spots to visit and see when you were in arashiyama area. we've visited the tenryuji then we entered the bamboo grove in its second half. it is said to be less crowded, but when we exited the north gate, it was pretty crowded. you couldn't take decent picture without people photobombing you.

bamboo grove

see.. it's hard to take decent picture

the land of the bamboo grove was basically flat with some upslope and downslope, but no steps. it was sunny but the sunlight couldn't get through the thick bamboo. so it was pretty cool in the bamboo grove. but it was pretty dark even though it was almost 10 am. so i suggested you to use bugs repellent. if you wanted to explore the bamboo grove, you could do it so with kids and older people since you can adjust your speed walking, but if it was super crowded, it might not be pleasant for younger kids. you should be careful as people will walk with their phones or tablets or camera, taking video or picture, so made sure you walk mindfully. it was not that far to the from the tenryuji exit, and we would arrive at the T-junction.

if you go to the left, you can enter okochi sanso villa. actually, the walk was supposed to include okochi sanso since it was a nice villa with beautiful garden. it has opening hour, so made sure you arrived when it has already open. at the end of your trip you could enjoy some tea and sweets. but the ticket price was about 1000 yen for 1 adult, and my husband thought it wasn't worth it, so we skipped it. if you're looking at the guide, you could see the sign at the T-junction then you looked to your left and you could see the ticket booth from there.

okochi sanso sign

kameyama koen park

the cobblestone path
(look exactly like the one in the guide, right?)

but if you decided to skip the okochi sanso, you could walk to your left at the T-junction and then walked to kameyama park. the park was not that big, but it had a big flat field where your kids could run around and play. when we were there, it was raining before so it was a bit muddy. if it was very dry, then it might get dusty. there were some bench at the park, but not that many. the guide then suggested for you to take the cobblestone path uphill. it was quite inclined, but please endure the walk because it was totally worth it.

view at the top

you shouldn't do this.. don't sit at the border.. 

the cobblestone upward path was not that long, but the degree of inclination might be hard for little kids or older people with knee problem. but if you could walk, then you would be rewarded with the view at the top. at the top you could see the green mountain surrounding the river and then you could see the river stream at the bottom. it was a very breathtaking view. there was a bench at top, so you could sit and enjoy. we were lucky since the sky was clear when we reached the top so we could enjoy the scenery.

downward path to katsuragawa riverside

after then, you should take another walk downward. though the path was a stony steps, it was quite hard and rocky steps, so made sure you take your time walking down. if you had little kids, better try find another path. we had difficulty after reaching the bottom as there were no other sign to indicate which way to the river. at the bottom of the stairs, we couldn't see the restaurant's sign just yet. so when you reached the bottom, take the path on your right and walk further and then you could see the restaurant's sign on your right. from there, it was near the river and you could see the riverside from there. the restaurant was a tofu specialty and vegetarian restaurant, but somehow it was pretty popular. we read the sign that the restaurant was fully booked for lunch that day. so if you wanted to dine there, i bet you should make some reservation first.

then you could spend whatever time you want at the riverside. if you want to keep walking, you could go back to the main street of arashiyama and even walked across the famous togetsukyo bridge. you could see the sightseeing boats passing by. and even other boats. across the river was the monkey park iwatayama. but if you wanted to go there, some people suggested to start early. i think if you want to go to the park, you should do the bamboo grove the other day. but it was totally up to you. we didn't go to the monkey park as i've seen some video and i think my husband wouldn't like it. i think this route is better for sightseeing. anyway, we had no other plan initially, and it was about 11 am. i thought about getting lunch, but when husband found out that arashiyama was pretty close to kinkakuji, he decided to get a taxi and go to kinkakuji as this was the last day at kyoto. so better enjoy it to the max.

do you see the bridge?

tenryuji temple

today we were going to do another walk tour. we were following this guide from insidekyoto (check it out here). when i was planning our holiday, i totally had no clue since i haven't been to arashiyama before. and the only thing that people kept posting was the bamboo grove and kimono forest, but i didn't see anything else. so at first i didn't know that tenryuji was in in arashiyama area. when i read the guide, i decided we could follow this one.

the pond filled with lotus at front

the main hall

the guide was pretty easy to follow because you can see the picture where you should go next. husband said we could do it, so we followed it. since we were from kyoto station and using JR line, we ended up at saga arashiyama station. outside the station was the scenic train station. if you wanted to just sit and watch, this is a good option to enjoy the scenery. we didn't ride it, but i guess the train would be similar to the one at peak hongkong, with clear glass window and roof so you could see your surrounding. the train only takes 20 minutes, and you could go back using the boat. the boat ride, however, is a different story. they said it could take up to 2 hours, so that's the reason why we skipped the train ride.

this is the main hall from the inside. you could take a peek

we walked for quite a bit before finding the main gate. according to the guide, there was another gate, so make sure you check the picture. the pictures were accurate, probably the difference was the plants. they grew of course, but all the signs were still the same. we then walk for a short bit and found the sign to the ticket office. first we chose to go to tenryuji and then after finding the ticket booth, we paid for the garden only. it costed 500 yen. you could also see the main hall, but the guide said it was okay to skip it, so we skipped it.

the garden was indeed very beautiful. though it was sunny, but the plants made a good cover from the sunlight so it was not as hot as fushimi inari. sometimes we could even feel the wind. the pond was very clear, and you could sit at the long bench to enjoy the view. oh, the ticket was for one time visit only, so made sure you enjoyed the garden before moving on. if you walked under the bigger trees, you should use bugs repellent because under the shade it was quite dark so mosquitoes were flying around happily.

the garden map
the red label was the north gate

the ground was pretty easy for kids and older people, but if you wanted to exit from the north exit, there were some stairs and it was quite slippery because of all the tiny stones covering the steps, so you might want to consider that. you can see in the video about the steps i was talking about. when you saw the map of the garden, you could see that the road was looping around, so no matter which one you chose, you might walking in circle. since we wanted to bypass the bamboo grove, we walked uphill and then straight toward the north gate. you could also walked from the bamboo grove then entered the garden from the north gate. i would say that this place is suitable for bringing kids and older people. the view was very good and the ambience was very serene. really a good place to relax and enjoy the nature. you could bring stroller, but you might have to fold it when you take the steps toward the north exit. i didn't go to the toilet, so i couldn't inform anything about it, but there were toilets available. we spent probably about 30 minutes in the garden and it was enough for us.