When visiting the Kansai region, Kyoto definitely deserves more than just one day. We started the morning in Osaka Station for breakfast. During our trips to and from the trains, we noticed this food court that looked pretty good, so we headed there for the morning. I was craving omurice, which is one of my favorite Japanese dishes. Albeit I was pretty hungry by the time we got there, but that omurice was spectacular. It came with a fried cutlet and a delicious Demi glacé.
My mom opted for ramen and my dad had a rice bowl. The food court was in the Hanshin building, one of the other private train line operators. After breakfast, we briefly explored the Hanshin supermarket next door. The format of the store is quite different from western supermarkets. Each group of foods had their own small stations with their own attendants and checkout. This seemed unnecessary but I guess it provides more jobs. One notable thing was just how expensive fruits were in Japan. There were apples that costed $5 each!
Our first destination was Fushimi-Inari Taisha, which is one of the most famous attractions in Kyoto with its iconic thousand red tori gates. We took the JR Osaka Loop a few stops to Kyobashi and transferred to the Keihan Line which got us right to the temple. The shrine is dedicated to the Fox god, so there were many statues and imagery of foxes. Even though it’s my second time here, it was just as beautiful. Since we were starting our day here, we had a lot more energy to climb up the mountain.
On the way down, there were plenty of street food vendors selling local delicacies. There was one yakisoba stand that smelled really good so we got one. It was pretty tasty and a nice snack before lunch.
While there were plenty of other temples in Kyoto, we were ready for something a bit more modern. We took the JR line into Kyoto Station. Kyoto Station is one of my favorite places in the city because it’s such a huge juxtaposition to the traditional shrines and temples that makes the city so famous. It also has a very unique architecture and is massive, spanning 11 floors, several malls, and 36 train platforms.
We went up to the rooftop terrace to relax, enjoy the sunshine, and take in the views of the city.
The Kyoto Tower was also right next door.
After that, we went down into the mall for some shopping and food. After checking out the various selections, we decided on this restaurant that specializes in rice broth. They have various rice dishes topped with different meats and fish. Then there’s this teapot that is filled with broth which you pour into the rice bowl. It was a unique experience and pretty tasty as well.
We bought some matcha desserts from the specialty shops in the mall and then decided to call it a day. We took the JR line back from Kyoto Station to Osaka in just 28mins. This was the third different route we took connecting the two cities. Since my dad loved that Katsu place so much from the first day, and it was so close to our hotel, we got some take out from there for dinner. This concludes the Kyoto leg of the trip, which I felt was a good balance of seeing all the important sights while keeping it relatively chill.
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