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