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Follow me on Instagram for more pictures and stories: @BrinaGoesJapan
Guuuuuys guys guys!
I finally have some time on this Shinkansen train to Hiroshima to write the first real post!
First of all - I'M SO EXCITED! After 2 days it still feels surreal to be here but at the same time it feels weirdly familiar. Seriously I feel super comfortable here and can't even point my finger at the reason.
But let's start at the beginning.
The night before my flight was basically sleepless because I needed to spontaneously reschedule some of my plans. The cherry blossom forecast was announcing the full bloom for a little later than initially calculated (weather after all is never 100% predictable) but I still wanted to see Kyoto in full bloom.
Long story short - I did take a nap for an hour and when I got up at 5am to be at the airport 2 hours before my flight I felt terrible but also excited and nervous. It is not recommended at all. Turns out though that this was actually perfect timing because my flight started at 10 am in Germany with one stop in Frankfurt to finally arrive in Osaka at 8.30 in the morning.
Because I was so very tired I was able to sleep on the plan like easy peasy and got up in time for a nice breakfast before arriving at the airport.
Some things I can definitely recommend though, that made this flight a real pleasure:
After getting off the plain I had several thing on my list, that needed to be done:
1) Exchange the JR Pass voucher I got in Germany into the real thing.
It was pretty easy, fist finding the JR shop which I did after asking at the info panel. There was a long line but it only took like 15 minutes to get the ticket. The nice guy at the counter also reserved the first seat for my ride from Osaka Airport to Kyoto.
2) Get internet access.
I already got my SIM card in Germany so I followed the instructions on the manual and made sure to keep my old card somewhere safe. No complications whatsoever - this was the part I worried most about I guess since my travel plans rely heavily on google maps and google drive.
Btw. so far I did not experience any issies with my SIM and I would highly recommend getting one. Took like 30 bucks and I feel so flexible and ready to tackle anything because of it. I could imagine my first 2 days being very stressful without a good internet connection so consider getting one - seriously.
3) Get money.
Finding an ATM wasn't difficult. I just walked around at the station for some minutes and switched the ATM menue to english.
4) Reserve seats for all the major train rides in advance.
I was a little later than I calculated and did want to get my first already reserved seat to Kyoto so I just took the train first.
It is possible to reserve seats at JR Stations/Shops in general so after I arrived in Kyoto I just hopped into the shop there and got help from a very friendly employee.
Now this took quite a while becaue the list I prepared was long. I did plan through my whole trip until Tokyo and it turns out this was the best idea I could have had because a lovely couple from England next to me was trying to reserve a seat to Hiroshima the same day and they were all out already even though it was early in the morning.
I got almost all of the reservations I wanted except for the way back from Hiroshima but of course it's always possible (though not as comfortable for a long ride) to get onto the non reserved seat cars).
5) Get a SUICA card.
Turns out you can only get SUICA cards in Tokyo. Lol. So I got a ICOCA card instead which is way nicer anyways since it has a platipus printed on it ;)
6) Get to the hotel.
Weeeell. Now this was interesting. I picked a Bus that I wanted to take and followed google maps to the Bus Stop. The bus station is right in front of the Kyoto Station but the Bus stop seemed to be somewhere else, not too far though. But when I got there, there was nothing. So I asked strangers for the bus stop - nobody spoke english but pointing at my phone with the station name was all the communication needed. A couple brought me back to the main station but even though they really made an effort it did not get me to the correct bus stop. In the end I cought one of the station service employees and she showed me where to go.
I honestly gotta say though riding a bus is not a that much fun if you're carrying luggage. Just don't do it if you can avoid it. At the hotel I asked the staff about the best way to get to the station and they highly recommended using the U train instead so I just removed busses from the google maps search. Easy as that.
After I checked in and checked out my cute hotel room (I will make a special post, writing about all the places I stayed at after the journey) I went to see Nishiki Market. I heard it's the place to get great street food im Kyoto and it's basically around the corner.
Nishiki Market is great! I arrived pretty late, I thought it closes at 5 but it was open till 7 and I got oh my so many delicious things:
Tamago Yaki (Egg Omlette)
Super soft and very hot - so super yumny.
Soymilk Crocette
Suprisingly creamy and amazing - could have eaten more of those.
Strawberry Daifuku
Yeah guess what. Amazing. Sweet sweet strawberry on top of Red Bean filled Mochi.
Steamed Matcha Cake
Also filled with Red Beans and really nice, not too sweet.
Soysauce Dango
Glutinous rice, simmered in Soysouce. Nooooomz.
Roasted Chestnuts
Gaaawd yes. Awesome.
Don't ask - of course I ate them all!
Nishiki Market very busy and great for buying souvenirs as well. There are a lot of cute shops where you can buy everything from spices to handkerchieves. Handkerchieves are a thing here - get them. Most of the time public bathrooms don't offer papertowels so they come in handy... ;)
Afterwards I went on a stroll through the surrounding shopping area where I got some more sweets like:
Matcha Mochi (warm this time which made it 100% more awesome).
Matcha Cakei (Baumkuchen from Japan and honestly it's so much better than the German version in my opinion. Did I mention Kyoto is the City of Matcha? Well it is so I gotta eat everything Matcha here. There's a specific point for it on my To Eat List. Yep.
And while munching on those I found myself walking into the Gion area (Teahouse / Geisha district) just when it started to get dark and the bcrowds seemed to disappear, which was a nice change. Those traditional wooden houses and now mostly closed shops are so beautiful, I was struggeling with realizing I'm actually in Japan. Somebody pinch me please!
And then out of nowhere a real Geisha or Meiko walked out of one of those houses and seriously after 2 seconds vanished again into another one. What! A perfect evening!
On my way back to the hotel I stopped at Yasaka Shrine which I will be visiting wrapped into a wonderful Kimono at some point later this week but seeing the Shrine after sunset with very few people around is something I can totally recommend. It gives you this silent mystical feeling.
I headed back into my hotel room and fell asleep asap. It was such an amazing day.
Follow me on Instagram for more pictures and stories: @BrinaGoesJapan
Guuuuuys guys guys!
I finally have some time on this Shinkansen train to Hiroshima to write the first real post!
First of all - I'M SO EXCITED! After 2 days it still feels surreal to be here but at the same time it feels weirdly familiar. Seriously I feel super comfortable here and can't even point my finger at the reason.
But let's start at the beginning.
The night before my flight was basically sleepless because I needed to spontaneously reschedule some of my plans. The cherry blossom forecast was announcing the full bloom for a little later than initially calculated (weather after all is never 100% predictable) but I still wanted to see Kyoto in full bloom.
Long story short - I did take a nap for an hour and when I got up at 5am to be at the airport 2 hours before my flight I felt terrible but also excited and nervous. It is not recommended at all. Turns out though that this was actually perfect timing because my flight started at 10 am in Germany with one stop in Frankfurt to finally arrive in Osaka at 8.30 in the morning.
Because I was so very tired I was able to sleep on the plan like easy peasy and got up in time for a nice breakfast before arriving at the airport.
Some things I can definitely recommend though, that made this flight a real pleasure:
- get a really nice neck pillow. Not the inflatable ones, not the ones that try to get away once you've fallen asleep. A good one.
- get a sleeping mask. I was really able ignore things around me because of it.
- get ear plugs. Really really helpful as well.
- ask the staff for a blanky or better check in advance and bring one yourself if the airline does not provide one.
- bring warm socks. My feet were rather cold, it was okayish still but next time I'll male sure the cold air circulating on the floor (it was very watm otherwise on the plane) won't bother me.
- order your special meal in advance. Since I'm a vegetarian I made sure to pick a suitable meal off the airlines website beforehand
After getting off the plain I had several thing on my list, that needed to be done:
1) Exchange the JR Pass voucher I got in Germany into the real thing.
It was pretty easy, fist finding the JR shop which I did after asking at the info panel. There was a long line but it only took like 15 minutes to get the ticket. The nice guy at the counter also reserved the first seat for my ride from Osaka Airport to Kyoto.
2) Get internet access.
I already got my SIM card in Germany so I followed the instructions on the manual and made sure to keep my old card somewhere safe. No complications whatsoever - this was the part I worried most about I guess since my travel plans rely heavily on google maps and google drive.
Btw. so far I did not experience any issies with my SIM and I would highly recommend getting one. Took like 30 bucks and I feel so flexible and ready to tackle anything because of it. I could imagine my first 2 days being very stressful without a good internet connection so consider getting one - seriously.
3) Get money.
Finding an ATM wasn't difficult. I just walked around at the station for some minutes and switched the ATM menue to english.
4) Reserve seats for all the major train rides in advance.
I was a little later than I calculated and did want to get my first already reserved seat to Kyoto so I just took the train first.
It is possible to reserve seats at JR Stations/Shops in general so after I arrived in Kyoto I just hopped into the shop there and got help from a very friendly employee.
Now this took quite a while becaue the list I prepared was long. I did plan through my whole trip until Tokyo and it turns out this was the best idea I could have had because a lovely couple from England next to me was trying to reserve a seat to Hiroshima the same day and they were all out already even though it was early in the morning.
I got almost all of the reservations I wanted except for the way back from Hiroshima but of course it's always possible (though not as comfortable for a long ride) to get onto the non reserved seat cars).
5) Get a SUICA card.
Turns out you can only get SUICA cards in Tokyo. Lol. So I got a ICOCA card instead which is way nicer anyways since it has a platipus printed on it ;)
Weeeell. Now this was interesting. I picked a Bus that I wanted to take and followed google maps to the Bus Stop. The bus station is right in front of the Kyoto Station but the Bus stop seemed to be somewhere else, not too far though. But when I got there, there was nothing. So I asked strangers for the bus stop - nobody spoke english but pointing at my phone with the station name was all the communication needed. A couple brought me back to the main station but even though they really made an effort it did not get me to the correct bus stop. In the end I cought one of the station service employees and she showed me where to go.
I honestly gotta say though riding a bus is not a that much fun if you're carrying luggage. Just don't do it if you can avoid it. At the hotel I asked the staff about the best way to get to the station and they highly recommended using the U train instead so I just removed busses from the google maps search. Easy as that.
After I checked in and checked out my cute hotel room (I will make a special post, writing about all the places I stayed at after the journey) I went to see Nishiki Market. I heard it's the place to get great street food im Kyoto and it's basically around the corner.
Nishiki Market is great! I arrived pretty late, I thought it closes at 5 but it was open till 7 and I got oh my so many delicious things:
Super soft and very hot - so super yumny.
Suprisingly creamy and amazing - could have eaten more of those.
Strawberry Daifuku
Yeah guess what. Amazing. Sweet sweet strawberry on top of Red Bean filled Mochi.
Steamed Matcha Cake
Also filled with Red Beans and really nice, not too sweet.
Glutinous rice, simmered in Soysouce. Nooooomz.
Gaaawd yes. Awesome.
Don't ask - of course I ate them all!
Nishiki Market very busy and great for buying souvenirs as well. There are a lot of cute shops where you can buy everything from spices to handkerchieves. Handkerchieves are a thing here - get them. Most of the time public bathrooms don't offer papertowels so they come in handy... ;)
Afterwards I went on a stroll through the surrounding shopping area where I got some more sweets like:
And then out of nowhere a real Geisha or Meiko walked out of one of those houses and seriously after 2 seconds vanished again into another one. What! A perfect evening!
I headed back into my hotel room and fell asleep asap. It was such an amazing day.
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