Eating my way through Japan on a budget! (Day 2)

For Day 2, we started the day riding the JR train to Kyoto. Travel time was approx 30 mins and we found ourselves in Kyoto JR station. The Ryokan (traditional Japanese hotel) we booked in was a 5-minute walk away. We passed by a McDonald's store. Compared to what we have back home, this store is small and has no customers. You will see more people in noodle stalls at the train station! Since yours truly was in need of a serious caffeine fix, we hopped in and ordered. I got the usual Sausage Mcmuffin and coffee. Then I saw Bacon and Potato pie. Hmmm....wala nyan sa atin! It was the regular Mcdo pie crust with mashed potato with bacon bits inside. I wish they offer this back home. This will be a hit for us Bacon lovers!  Approximate breakfast cost: JPY 500 (php 225).
 

After checking in at Ryokan Kyoraku, we headed of for our first stop: Kiyomizu-dera. Being newbies, we got off at the wrong stop and went down in front of Myo-hin Temple.

ano daw?

We took a quick peek, took some pictures and foolishly decided to walk to Kyomizu-dera. We did not know that going to the temple would involve more than a kilometer of walking uphill!


















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Finally, we have reached the temple. The place was packed with people. It's a Buddhist temple built in 798AD but has undergone lot of reconstructions and restorations.  Judging by the throngs of people it is indeed one of the most visited sights in Kyoto.

On the way down we decided on some snacks to sustain us in our sight seeing. We passed by a place that sells green tea drinks and green tea cream puffs. Talk about green tea overload! The drink was JPY 150 and the cream puff JPY 300. Quite expensive by peso standards.

Out of curiosity, I tried on pickled cucumber (JPY 100). Unlike our pickles, this one was just immersed in brine, with no sour taste. No bad, but you won't exactly find me craving for this!

window kitty cat display

expensive chestnuts

Next stop was the nearby temple and pagoda. There were some chestnuts on sale for snacking. It was a bit expensive and we were still full from the green tea snack and skipped it.

 

We were hoping to see some geishas as it was already afternoon and we were near the Gion district. We were not disappointed  as we saw two geishas praying in a nearby shrine. We took pictures discreetly and never asked them to pose. In fact it is reputed that some of these geishas even have body guards to prevent people from taking their pictures!

entrance to Ninomaru Palace

After this we proceeded to the next itinerary: Nijo castle. Initially built in 1601 and completed in 1626, it is just like most of the castle in Japan, under went reconstructions as fire , typhoons and wars have typically caused destruction to parts of the castle. It was home to Tokugawa Shoguns as it is the place of the imperial court. It is surrounded by a moat and beautiful gardens. Ninomaru Palace is at the center of this massive area.

Ninomaru gardens

Ninomaru Palace

Honmaru Palace inside Nijo-jo (castle)

  









 Honamaru Palace was constructed at the late Edo era and was the enthronement banquet place of Emperor Hirohito in 1928.

ringer hut sign in Japanese

Its the end of the day and our poor tired and aching feet demanded some rest and our stomach called for dinner. We have skipped lunch . That green tea snack made us really full!. We passed by this place  along the route of bus 205 called Ringer hut. Again, we resorted to pointing at pictures in the menu and crossing our fingers we have ordered well.

 We ordered this noodle dish not knowing what it was. It was a delightful surprise to find out it was cold soba noodles. It was pretty funny at first easting a cold savory dish but the taste kind of grows on you.

 The usual tasty Ramen.

 Yummy gyoza. We ordered two of this.

The only reason why I knew the place is called Ringer Hut : a wall mural. Total cost of the food for three people appox JPY 2500 (php 1100).










So after this meal we decided to do some shopping and called a day. We needed our rest for another hectic japan day!