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My Japan Diary - From Osaka to Kyoto

December 30, 2014
Day 6 - We checked out from Hotel Monterey Osaka today. Today's weather is less cold than the last few days at about 12 degrees celsius. We realized that this hotel's check out time is 11am! Luckily we realized at around 10 plus.
Took the JR line from Osaka station to Kyoto. About 15 stops and 45mins to reach Kyoto. Costs us 560 yen each. In the train...
Reached at about lunchtime so we decided to have lunch before check in. Was hard to decide what to eat so we basically tried to choose something which we haven't had yet. Decided upon Kushiya Monotagari (Kushiage). It is located at Higashi-Shiokojicho 590-2, Kyoto Yodobashi Bldg about 10mins walk from Kyoto station. The place is quite packed with lunch crowd perhaps because there was a wide selection of dining options there. The concept here is quite interesting. It is self-service deep frying of skewered finger food where you are free to dip them into batter and panko crumbs before placing them in the heated oil in front of you. Price is charged per pax for a dining period of 70mins, you pay only 1700 yen to get a free flow of skewered food, salads and other cold dishes, rice, soup, desserts and drinks (excluding beer). I was elated. Bags and jackets can be placed beneath the chair so as to prevent them from smelling like they just came out from an oven. I love that they have plentiful of my flavourite vegetables! Pumpkin, eggplants and sweet potatoes were cooked so thoroughly with the hot oil. We get to enjoy the sweetness of these root vegetables in no time. They have like 5 types of salads to go with the oily food. It is a fun experience but not exactly healthy. Considering it is winter now, it is still not too bad to have more oily and fat laden food la. Hehe.
After our heavy lunch, it was time to take a breeze walk to Itoya Kyoto Hotel. It is a boutique hotel and thankful for Japan's luggage transportation service, our two huge luggages have already arrived before us. One thing I realized about hotels in Japan is that they have a habit of giving us a set of Japanese style pyjamas on each bed. Everything is prim and proper in this boutique hotel. There is a modern rustic European feel about this hotel that makes it look classy and stylish. Although the room space is not big, it gives a cosy feel for travelers. We had a welcome drink each upon checking in. It even came with a matcha filled waffer biscuit.
Made our way to Nishiki Market soon after since it closes around 5pm. We went there by foot and it took us about 15mins.
It is packed with both locals and tourists. We can hardly walk if we do not elbow and push ourselves through. There is also one thing we learnt here and that is - the Japanese do not give way to elderly. Especially the younger ones who can be really rude. It is a long stretch with a smorgasbord of food, raw and cooked sold on both sides of the street. Immerse yourself into the delicacies of Japanese sweet and savouries. You are bound to find something you have never seen with your naked eyes before. Check out the wasabi roots above, don't they look like some cartoon character?
We also realized that the Japanese are quite Muslim friendly, given that some of their labels had 'it's purely halal' on it. Try their street snacks such as this soybean stick called Yubakichi, soy bean doughnut and also marinated octopus (big, fat and red) Anyway, there is also a Daimaru nearby if you need to get some shopping done!



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