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