Being Allured By Honshu - Day 2

        A good night’s sleep truly works wonders. The bed at Japaning Hotel LiV Ranrokaku was really comfortable and I woke up well-rested and rejuvenated. Derrick came back from his sunrise pursuit, happy with his shots of Arashiyama’s Bamboo Grove, and was ready to join me for breakfast that was provided by the hotel. The friendly receptionist soon knocked on our room door to deliver our breakfast boxes, which consisted of a medley of rice, tofu, tamago (fried egg), pickles, mochis (Japanese sweet rice cakes) and goodness-knows-what-they-are.

Literally having breakfast in bed

        We checked out early but left our luggage at the hotel so that we could still go out and explore Arashiyama. Tenryuji Temple and its beautifully-landscaped Sougenchi Garden were what we had in mind. The ¥500 admission fee was a small price to pay for the stunning momiji (Japanese maple trees) that offered endless photography opportunities. We were truly in autumn wonderland.

Tenryuji Temple (天龍寺) was built in 1339 and is now registered as a World Heritage Site.

Its gardens are beautifully landscaped and the vibrant autumn colours are a real delight.

Autumn Wonderland

I was behaving like a Happy Snappy Jappy.

        Our hotel receptionist helped us to call for a taxi (¥820) to take us to the Saga Arashiyama station where we made use of our ICOCA cards for the very first time. A simple tap on the reader at the entrance gates was all we needed to do; it certainly saved us the trouble of fiddling with the ticket machines. We soon found ourselves back in Kyoto Station (¥240 deducted from the ¥1500 amount in the ICOCA card). Although Kyoto Station is enormous, locating the right exit to get to our hotel was not difficult because of the homework I had done on the Internet beforehand.
        Hotel Hokke Club Kyoto is conveniently located just opposite of Kyoto Station and I’m really glad I decided to stay here after weighing many other possibilities. Although it was too early for us to check in, we could leave our luggage at the hotel and were free to start exploring Kyoto. To nurse our rumbling tummies, we headed for JR Isetan inside Kyoto Station. We were keen to try 551 Horai’s butaman (steamed pork buns) and shumai after reading about them in a blog. The stall is located in Basement 2, JR Isetan’s Food Paradise. Oh my! They were indeed delicious!

Long queues in front of this 551 Horai stall is a norm

Food replicas on the shelf to help customers point out what they want when language is a barrier

Derrick also ordered these amazo-dango (meat balls in sweet and sour sauce)

        From Kyoto Station, we made an 8-minute journey on the JR Nara Line local train to get to Inari Station (¥140 deducted from ICOCA card). We were there to visit the awe-inspiring Fushimi Inari Shrine, an important Shinto shrine in Southern Kyoto and was also one of the locations featured in "Memoirs Of A Geisha". It is famous for its 10,000 vermilion torii (traditional Japanese gate), which lead the way into the wooded forest of Mount Inari. Walking past these endless orange columns and climbing the 12,000 steps evokes an exhilarating feeling and can be equated to a good gym workout.

Fushimi Inari Shrine (伏見稲荷大社) is just in front of the Inari Station

Each of these torii was donated by individuals or companies.

This shrine is dedicated to Inari, the Shinto God of rice.

Lovebirds at Fushimi Inari

Tugging the bells

       

Sunset colours in the sky as we were leaving Fushimi Inari

        After we had our fill of the attractive gates, we headed back to Kyoto Station. Knowing that it's brimming with eateries, we decided to take advantage of that. We explored the 11th floor of JR Istean and finally picked Mollette for dinner. Derrick ordered an omelette rice paella with five kinds of mushrooms and two additional Vienna sausages, while I conveniently had a bit of everything in my Ladies' Set - salad, au gratin with small shrimp and bacon, sautéed salmon, fried scallop, omurice (rice wrapped in omelette, similar to Malaysia's nasi goreng pataya), dessert and drink. Our dinner came up to ¥3294 for both of us.

For people who have a hard time making up their minds on what to eat, the Ladies' Set comes to the rescue.

My omurice with seasoned cod roe sauce (¥1620)

Derrick's omelette rice paella

My yummy green tea cake and orange juice

        The two lovebirds strolled up to Kyoto Station's Sky Garden after dinner to enjoy night views of Kyoto and then descended the long flight of steps that were illuminated with Christmas lights, whilst enjoying the Christmas carols that were being played and the huge Christmas tree that was beautifully decorated. Christmas appears to be an integral part of life in Japan, despite Shinto and Buddhism being the two major religions in Japan.

Dancing lights on the steps

Seeing a Christmas tree always brings a smile to my face

Kyoto Tower all lit up

        Back at the hotel, we found that female guests are given the privilege of choosing 2 gifts from a wide array of Ladies' Presents. I chose 2 packets of Yuzu Bath Powder so that Derrick too could enjoy a relaxing soak in the bathtub. I really love these little luxuries that Japanese hotels provide. Hotel Hokke Club Kyoto also has a water dispenser at the lobby, from which we can obtain hot and cold jasmine tea, premium green tea as well as my favourite houjicha tea. Needless to say, that thrilled me to bits.   😍

Presents to delight the ladies

The water dispenser with my favourite houjicha

Being Allured By Honshu - Day 1

        Ohayogozaimasu! Our Cathay Pacific flight touched down at Osaka’s Kansai International Airport at 6.20 a.m. and our 2-week adventure in the Land of the Rising Sun began. Clearing customs and immigration was a breeze. Next, we made our way to the JR West Office located at the Kansai Airport train station. We needed to get our pre-booked ICOCA cards and discounted Haruka tickets (¥2000 for ICOCA and ¥1600 for Haraka). This was a very good deal; otherwise a Limited Express Haruka ticket from Kansai to Kyoto costs ¥2850

My sweet Hello Kitty  & Osaka Castle  ICOCA card...chose the Wind & Thunder Gods design for Derrick

Helpful info to assist travellers

After passengers alight from the Limited Express Haruka, cleaners get in to clean the carriages.

On board the Limited Express Haruka No. 6 to take us from Kansai Airport to Kyoto Station

The cold yet tasty pork cutlet sandwich

        Whilst waiting for our 7.55 a.m. train, we popped into a 7-11 kiosk on the platform to grab pork cutlet sandwiches (¥368 each) to be eaten during our 80-minute journey. And that was our simple, convenient yet tasty first breakfast in Japan. Punctuality is really something we Malaysians need to learn from the Japanese. The train departed right on time and arrived at Kyoto Station at 9.34 a.m., as scheduled.
        Instead of exiting Kyoto Station, we transferred to the JR Sagano-Sanin Line to board another train bound for Saga-Arashiyama Station. Our Haruka ticket enables us to travel all the way to Saga-Arashiyama for free. It seemed like Arashiyama was on everyone’s agenda because the train was packed with visitors headed there. The station and streets of Arashiyama were extremely crowded, making our task of lugging our luggage to our accommodation a rather difficult one. Fortunately, we managed to locate our Japaning Hotel LiV Ranroukaku, albeit with a few wrong turns. We were warmly greeted and it was a pleasant surprise to find our room ready for us even though we had checked in ahead of time. Unlike many Japanese hotel rooms which have hardly any room to swing a cat around, our room was spacious and comfortable.

Tourists exiting the Saga-Arashiyama Station in droves

        Trying to find a spot for lunch was also difficult as there were hordes of people milling around and long queues outside restaurants. We were drawn to a tiny cafe along a small side street. It sure was nice to sit by the counter and watch our yakisoba (fried soba noodles) and negisaki (a kind of Japanese pancake) being cooked.

Yakisoba, Japan's answer to our chow mien

Adding bacon to the negiyaki, a thin savoury pancake

Appetising yakisoba ready to be served to us

Our negiyaki with lots of bonito flakes

        After lunch, we wandered around Arashiyama, ooh-ing and aah-ing at the glorious koyo (autumn-coloured foliage). We just could not get enough of the vibrant colours, and were mighty glad that we had arrived in Arashiyama at the peak of the koyo season.

Red sky

My darling and I with the glorious autumn leaves

Blending in with the momiji (red maple leaves)

        Arashiyama’s famed Bamboo Grove, on the other hand, was a bit of a letdown. It was a struggle jostling among the horrendous crowd, and we could not wait to squirm out of it. Derrick returned the next morning before sunrise and it was way better. However, it still was nothing much to shout about.

The not-so-idyllic Bamboo Grove

Nonomiya Shrine near the Bamboo Grove

        We got ourselves some snacks and ice cream to eat whilst weaving around the streets of Arashiyama. I especially loved the houjicha ice cream. Houjicha is roasted green tea and its distinctive aroma has always been my favourite ever since I first tasted houjicha creme brûlée at Maiale in Ipoh.

Our crabstick and hotate being torch flamed on the grill

Really yummy houjicha ice cream (¥350)

         As it was late autumn, the sky soon turned dark (sunset was around 4.30 p.m.). So we crossed the Togetsukyo Bridge to return to our hotel. Togetsukyo Bridge or Moon Crossing Bridge is a landmark of Arashiyama and offers great views of the autumn foliage. Back at our hotel, I managed to persuade Derrick to shed his inhibitions and to try Japan’s famous public bath in his birthday suit. He loved it!

Crossing Arashiyama's Togetsukyo Bridge

        Finding dinner was a problem in Arashiyama as almost every eatery closes early. We ended up having some udon and light snacks from the kiosks outside Randen Arashiyama Station. As we were really exhausted from the lack of sleep whilst flying the previous night, we hit the sack early.

Being enchanted by the Kimono Forest at Randen Arashiyama Station

Finding Vietnamese Gems in Australia

          Although I have never been to Vietnam, friends and relatives who have been there and have stayed in or visited Australia attest that the best Vietnamese food can be found in the land Down Under. Thanks to the recommendation of my cousin, Yee Yan, I led my travel partner, Angeline, to Dzung (Yong Kee) for a really yummy bowl of pho when we visited Melbourne in 2013. Then in 2015, hubby's cousin, Michelle, chose Vietnam Restaurant in the suburbs of Adelaide as the venue to meet up with a mutual friend. I can still remember how superbly exquisite the barbecued chilli lemongrass quails were, in addition to their other mind-blowing dishes like the skewered minced pork balls, special seafood salad and crispy pumpkin with salted egg yolk.  
           So during our New South Wales trip in December 2017, I made it a point to search for Vietnamese food again. Both TripAdvisor and our Airbnb hosts in Kiama pointed us in the direction of Hanoi on Manning. And we were suitably impressed with the food.

Located at 10, Manning Street, Kiama, this restaurant serves fabulous authentic Vietnamese fare

            We were there for lunch on our second day in Kiama and I ordered their hu tieu xao du bien, which is stir-fried flat noodles (very much like our local koay teow) with mixed seafood, chilli sauce and green vegetables. It appeared to be a very simple dish but the taste was incredibly good. Hubby enjoyed their com xao do bien, which is stir-fried mixed seafood and mixed green vegetables served with jasmine rice.  

Ravenous for my hu tieu xao du bien

Looked like a simple dish, but it was oh-so-tasty!

Derrick's com xao do bien also looked ordinary, but its taste was remarkably yummy.

             We loved the food so much that we immediately made reservations for dinner that night. Yes, this restaurant is so hugely popular that reservations are required if you plan on going for dinner. True enough, it was a full house that night. This time, hubby and I shared their goi cuon (fresh rice paper rolls with prawn, chicken, rice vermicelli and fresh herbs served with homemade hoisin dipping sauce). My suon heo mat ong (pork cutlets marinated with honey and coconut juice) was so scrumptious and it must have looked appetising too because the patron at the next table asked me about them. Hubby's ga xao xa ot (stir-fried chicken with lemongrass and chilli) was equally delicious.

Pretty paper rolls

Poised to enjoy my goi cuon

Succulent suon heo mat ong

                   Guess what? When we returned to Kiama for another night at the end of our New South Wales visit, we went back to Hanoi on Manning for our final New South Wales dinner! That's how sumptuous the food is! The amazing taste of the rice noodles that I had on the first occasion was still lingering in my mind so I went for that again. And it was as good as I remembered it to be. Hubby chose the tom xao dau hoa lan (stir fried king prawns with snow peas, shiitake mushroom and ground black pepper), which was another incredibly delicious dish!

A mouth-watering feast of pho (Melbourne 2013)

             Hanoi on Manning, thanks for helping to make our Kiama trip a memorable one!

Such an enjoyable dinner at Vietnam Restaurant with Michelle, Tim and Mabel (Adelaide 2015)