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AhPek Biker - Riding Adventures
Japan 2024: Day 1 KL-Kansai-Kyoto: Welcome to Japan!
Kyoto, Takayama, Osaka, Japan Day 1: 28th March (Thursday)
This is page 1 of an 8-page blog, Click Here To Go To Title Page.
| Go to Other Days | D2: Arashimaya >
1. Traffic Directions!
Traffic in Japan is right-hand drive, so drive/cycle on the left. The same thing applies when crossing the road, take note of the direction in which traffic is approaching!
2. Clearing Immigration & Customs
To clear Immigration & Customs fast, foreign visitors can do an online registration at the "Visit Japan Web" page and register their details online. Those in the same family can register together in one form. Upon successful registration, a QR Code will be issued, share this QR Code to the phones of each member. This QR Code needs just be shown at both Immigration & Customs, and one will be whisked through as long as one has nothing to declare.
3. Getting to and around Kyoto.
Kyoto & the surrounding Kansai locality is a favourite tourist destination and many airlines fly directly to its international Kansai International Airport (KIX). We flew Air Asia from Kuala Lumpur to Kansai and bought our tickets 2-3 months earlier to take advantage of early booking for cheaper fairs. On arrival at KIX, from the Japan Rail Office on the first floor, we bought the ICOCA Travel Pass for the Kansai region (ie Kyoto, Arashiyama & Osaka) which allows for travel by train & local buses in the locality.
Tickets for the JR Haruka Express from Kansai to Osaka or Kyoto can be bought online via Klook which will issue vouchers. These vouchers can be redeemed for the actual tickets at the vending machines JR ticket gate at Kansai Airport.
For those who want to consider alternative transport click on the "Travel Between Kansai & Kyoto" link.
Tickets for the JR Haruka Express from Kansai to Osaka or Kyoto can be bought online via Klook which will issue vouchers. These vouchers can be redeemed for the actual tickets at the vending machines JR ticket gate at Kansai Airport.
For those who want to consider alternative transport click on the "Travel Between Kansai & Kyoto" link.
4. Route & Traffic Conditions
Today's places of interest were just around Kyoto's downtown (Kawaramachi), the Kamo Riverside & the Gion district, we just walked around.
5. Weather
In late March, daytime weather in Kyoto ranged from 17°C to 22°C and night time ranged from 4°C to 13°C.
6. Communicating with Each Other
When travelling in a group it's important to be able to communicate with each other, especially if one gets lost from the rest. We bought online 15-day 10Gb Japan Go! prepaid sim cards from Hello 1010. 20Gb cards are also available. The cards were delivered 5 days from the order. Alternatively, those using Maxis can opt for their Multi-country Roaming Pass.
7. Communicating with Locals
Except for those involved in the tourist industry, most Japanese don't speak English. Install Google Translate or Naver Papago apps to communicate. It will be good to pick up some basic Japanese phrases.
8. Places & Things of Interest
Enroute were several places of interest, some of which we visited and others we did not for lack of time (Note: click on GPS coordinates for a directional map to respective places):
- Kyoto Tower (ニデック京都タワー) (GPS: 34.98752, 135.75925).
- Ichihime-jinja Shrine (市比賣神社) (GPS: 34.99398, 135.76472).
- Ichihime-jinja Shrine (市比賣神社) (GPS: 34.99398, 135.76472).
- Kawaramachi (GPS: 35.00169, 135.76896).
- Tatsumi-jinja Shrine (辰巳神社 (辰巳大明神)) (GPS: 35.00570, 135.77436).
- Gion (祇園) (GPS: 35.00378, 135.77724).
- Tatsumi-jinja Shrine (辰巳神社 (辰巳大明神)) (GPS: 35.00570, 135.77436).
- Gion (祇園) (GPS: 35.00378, 135.77724).
- Maruyama Park (円山公園) (GPS: 35.00355, 135.78052).
- For those keen to cycle around Kyoto, bicycle rentals are available at Rent-a-Bike Kyoto Miyabiya (レンタサイクル 京都みやび屋) (GPS: 34.99239, 135.76019). Click here for a Guide to Cycling in Kyoto.
9. Food
b. Breakfast:
Snacks from Lawson (GPS: 34.43685, 135.24274) at Kansai Airport Arrivals.
c. Lunch:
Mixed Chinese & Japanese fare near Gihan Hajimedo (魏飯吉堂 京都タワーサンド店) (GPS: 34.98750, 135.75954), Kyoto Tower Sando Food Hall.
Snacks from Lawson (GPS: 34.43685, 135.24274) at Kansai Airport Arrivals.
c. Lunch:
Mixed Chinese & Japanese fare near Gihan Hajimedo (魏飯吉堂 京都タワーサンド店) (GPS: 34.98750, 135.75954), Kyoto Tower Sando Food Hall.
d. Lunch desserts:
Pancake with Matcha ice cream at the Pancake Room (パンケーキルームのロゴ) (GPS: 34.98752, 135.75932), Kyoto Tower Sando Food Hall.
Pancake with Matcha ice cream at the Pancake Room (パンケーキルームのロゴ) (GPS: 34.98752, 135.75932), Kyoto Tower Sando Food Hall.
e. Dinner:
Cheese ball starters, Prawn Tempura, Grilled Wagyu Sirloin, Grilled Mackerel (Saba Shioyaki) 鯖の塩焼き, Unadon (Grilled Eel Rice Bowl) 鰻丼 at Sobar (GPS: 35.00422, 135.77433), in Gion.
Cheese ball starters, Prawn Tempura, Grilled Wagyu Sirloin, Grilled Mackerel (Saba Shioyaki) 鯖の塩焼き, Unadon (Grilled Eel Rice Bowl) 鰻丼 at Sobar (GPS: 35.00422, 135.77433), in Gion.
f. Dinner Desserts:
Mochi from Fukueido - Japanese Mochi and Jelly Desserts (福栄堂) (GPS: 35.00394, 135.77302).
Mochi from Fukueido - Japanese Mochi and Jelly Desserts (福栄堂) (GPS: 35.00394, 135.77302).
g. Alternative Dinner Place:
10. Stay
Days 1-3: One 3-pax suite & a 2-pax room at My K House; booked much earlier through Booking.com.
11. Navigation
Geo-tagging of places of interest was done via Google Maps and FaceBook. Alternatively one can use MapMe.com, (it's offline but one will have to pre-download the maps of the relevant areas).
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PRELUDE
Wow! It's been more than ten years since I did a 2013 cycling tour in Japan. It was my first overseas cycling since retaking up cycling. It was a compact 8-day cycling tour of Tokyo, Kamakura & Hakone. From that tour we did learn how to pack our bikes to take on board planes, and also how to pack light for cycling!
This time around, my family will be taking a non-cycling tour (actually there was some cycling involved, legs got itchy, yah...) of Japan to the Kansai & Hida regions, covering Kyoto, Takayama & Osaka. We were there to catch the cherry blossoms blooming..... hopefully!
___________________________________________________________________________This time around, my family will be taking a non-cycling tour (actually there was some cycling involved, legs got itchy, yah...) of Japan to the Kansai & Hida regions, covering Kyoto, Takayama & Osaka. We were there to catch the cherry blossoms blooming..... hopefully!
From Malaysia, we took a late-night flight to Kansai but will not be visiting Osaka yet (that will be for later) Instead we took a JR Haruka Express train to Kyoto - that's where we will start our tour.
(Click here for the Kuala Lumpur-Kansai Airport-Kyoto Route Map. Zoom out to see Kansai Airport & zoom out even more to see KLIA)
Instead of writing afresh, I am linking to my day-to-day Facebook postings during the trip and embedding them here with some brief comments where necessary. Some additional photos are added for emphasis. (NOTE: Click on respective posts to link to the FB post to read in more detail. If you can't see the posts, please log out from your Facebook first)
The night before (ie on the 27th) the four of us (Lynne, me, Neeks & Ping) had checked in for our red-eye (1:55am) Air Asia flight from Kuala Lumpur to Osaka! We are all pepped up and eager to go!
The night before (ie on the 27th) the four of us (Lynne, me, Neeks & Ping) had checked in for our red-eye (1:55am) Air Asia flight from Kuala Lumpur to Osaka! We are all pepped up and eager to go!
But first, we grabbed some quick bites from FamilyMart at Gateway KLIA2. Interestingly, the FamilyMart chain originates from Japan, so we were experiencing the country even before we left Malaysia!
9:25am (Japan Time) - after a 6-1/2 hour flight (we managed to sleep for most of the way) we arrived at Kansai and within 30 minutes we had cleared both immigration & customs. Pre-registration to get a QR code at the "Visit Japan Web" page helped speed up the process (this can be done prior to departure from your home country). We just flashed the QR code for the officers to read on their scanners and we were through. After the overnight flight, we were hungry and grabbed some snacks from the airport Lawson outlet.
Time to head for Kyoto? No, not yet though. First, we had to purchase our ICOCA Travel Pass for the Kansai region from the vending machines just outside the Japan Rail Office at the first floor. We also had to redeem our JR Haruka Express tickets from the vouchers issued by Klook.
All on board the JR Haruka Express... it's a cute train with "Hello Kitty" as its mascot which can be seen painted onto the outside & inside of the train! From the Kansai Airport Station, we boarded the train and headed straight for Kyoto Station bypassing Osaka. It's an hour and a half train ride.
12:00 pm: At the Kyoto Station we happily met up with our other son, Kev. He had come to Japan several days earlier but had landed in Tokyo. From there he took the Shinkansen Bullet Train to come meet us.
The airport sandwiches didn't last long, we are now famished. Fortunately, just across from the station is Kyoto Tower, below which is the Kyoto Tower Sando Food Hall. We had a mix of Chinese & Japanese fare from the different stalls and dined just opposite the Gihan Hajimedo outlet.
Finished off with this nice pancake dessert from the Pancake Room. Just love the Matcha ice cream and the mini mochi-on-a-stick that came with it.
We could have opted to take an Uber Premium Van to head for our homestay; but the weather was nice - a bit overcast and cooling - so we opted to walk the 3 kilometres.
We could have opted to take an Uber Premium Van to head for our homestay; but the weather was nice - a bit overcast and cooling - so we opted to walk the 3 kilometres.
Along the Rent-a-Bike Kyoto Miyabiya, it would be cool to cycle around Kyoto. My itchy cycling legs made a mental note of this.... hopefully can have the time.
Passed by the Ichihime-jinja Shrine, which got us all excited - it's a beautiful temple - but the solitary blooming sakura tree sticking out prominently tempted us to stop for photos.
We stopped by the Kyoto Riverview House to collect our hotel keys, and Alex (one of the staff who's from Bucharest) will walk us there and set us in.
Passed by the Ichihime-jinja Shrine, which got us all excited - it's a beautiful temple - but the solitary blooming sakura tree sticking out prominently tempted us to stop for photos.
We stopped by the Kyoto Riverview House to collect our hotel keys, and Alex (one of the staff who's from Bucharest) will walk us there and set us in.
But this vending machine, at the entrance, got our attention for a while, guess our walk had made us thirsty. A lot of nice drinks here, but I would recommend the Suntory Strong Zero, it's a Chūhai of a whiskey-lemon combo, subtle but with a strong oomph that kicks in later.
My K House, our home in Kyoto for the next three nights. It's like super cosy and comes with a fair bit of amenities - including a washing machine and clothes dryer ..... and Geta (wooden Japanese clogs) ... hahaha.
My K House, our home in Kyoto for the next three nights. It's like super cosy and comes with a fair bit of amenities - including a washing machine and clothes dryer ..... and Geta (wooden Japanese clogs) ... hahaha.
At the balcony overlooking the city - Kev, here wearing a bright red Happi, a Japanese Traditional Clothing.
Must say he's Happi-ly wearing his Happi 🤣😂🤣.
After a good, short rest it was time to head out to explore Kyoto.....
and then it started drizzling.
We had brought our raincoats, but then Kev through his experience in Tokyo mentioned that no one in Japan uses raincoats! Fortunately for us, the hotel had umbrellas to let us (in fact most hotels have umbrellas, and plastic sheaths to slot them into when one returns them).
We had brought our raincoats, but then Kev through his experience in Tokyo mentioned that no one in Japan uses raincoats! Fortunately for us, the hotel had umbrellas to let us (in fact most hotels have umbrellas, and plastic sheaths to slot them into when one returns them).
So off we went, with umbrellas proudly opened and joined the...
"UMRELLA SOCIETY"!
The drizzle did not deter us, in fact, we had a nice walk along the Kamo Riverside towards Gion. Although we just saw one flowering sakura tree, we did thoroughly enjoyed the walk.
"UMRELLA SOCIETY"!
The drizzle did not deter us, in fact, we had a nice walk along the Kamo Riverside towards Gion. Although we just saw one flowering sakura tree, we did thoroughly enjoyed the walk.
We headed for Hikiniku to Come, a well-recommended eatery but there was already a very long queue, AND they had a policy of no reservations no place; one can't make reservations through the phone or SNS. So making reservations for this place is not easy! But there is an online booking link.
We approached five other eateries but the answer was a simple "No reservations, no eat".
Are we destined to have dinner at 7-Eleven/FamilyMart? Fortunately, this place called Sobar took us in and managed to cram the five of us into a corner ..... no complaints though as the food here was rather good. We had Cheesy-Tofu combo starters, Prawn Tempura, Grilled Wagyu Sirloin, Grilled Mackerel (Saba Shioyaki) 鯖の塩焼き, Unadon (Grilled Eel Rice Bowl) 鰻丼.
Deep-fried Cheeeesy-Tofu combo, our fav order seconds!
A good evening loop around Gion to walk off the dinner.
It had been a long day of flying from Malaysia; but we didn't feel tired, this exciting and eventful first day perked us up!
おやすみ
(That's "Oyasumi", Goodnight in Japanese)
(For more photos of the Day 1, Click Here)
おやすみ
(That's "Oyasumi", Goodnight in Japanese)
(For more photos of the Day 1, Click Here)
This is page 1 of an 8-page blog, Click Here To Go To Title Page.
| Go to Other Days | D2: Arashimaya >
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