Tag Archives: Gion

Japan 2022 Day 4 – Kyoto / Tokyo

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We started off the day by checking out the Starbucks at the Gino District, where you can drink / eat Japanese style (ie sitting down on the floor). Here are the details :

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/11/25/starbucks-gion-district/

We the taxied it back to Kyoto Station, where again I did get some McDonalds, and then caught the Shinkansen train to Tokyo (Shinagawa station). The train was 2.5 hours. I felt a bit nauseous at first, but got used to the high speed.

After getting to Shinagawa station, took one of the JR trains to Shibuya station. Our hotel is actually connected to the station (as the name, JR East Mets Shibuya, would suggest).

After getting settled in, we went to a close by conveyor belt sushi place in Shibuya (which was very close to the Shibuya scramble, which was super busy, as pictured below).

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/11/26/katsumidori-seibu-shibuya/

After, we headed towards Shinjuku for some nightlife fun. First stopped by Golden Gai (so I could compare it to the burning man experience). Lol, the bars there are super tiny, but really fun. We went to one where the owner made a really good music video about Shinjuku.

Then we checked out Shinjuku Nichome. Basically you go to the local convenient stores (7 eleven, Lawson, etc), drink some seltzer or hard liquor, and then bar hop. We went Arty Farty, Dragon Men, and King.

Ended the night taxiing it back to the hotel.

Japan 2022 Day 3 – Kyoto

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We checked out of our hotel in Osaka (Hotel Intergate) around 11am and headed to Osaka station to catch our 12:30pm JR-west train to Kyoto station (picked up an onigiri for the train ride!).

After getting to Kyoto station, we dropped our bags in our hotel, Henn Na Hotel (they were pretty strict with only allowing check in after 3pm).

After dropping our bags, we tried this McDonald’s out at JR Kyoto station:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/11/25/mcdonalds-jr-kyoto-station/

From there, we took the JR-west train to the Fushimi-Inari-Takisha shrine (which I’ve been to before). On our way back to the hotel, we also stopped by the Tofukoan Temple (I spelt it this way last time I was here, but it’s actually Tofukuji Temple). Although this time around we could find the Zen Garden.

Afterwards, we went back to the hotel to rest for 2 hours so that we could get ready for a night at the Gion District.

We took the JR-west and subway to Gion (see the end of this post about the train systems here).

We started at the area where you may see Gesiha’s. We went to the following speak easy, and then the following restaurant for dinner (we were trying to find a spot for Kobe beef, but they all basically stop serving at 9pm. Good to know for next time!):

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/11/25/bees-knees/

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/11/25/abusan/

Afterwards, we tried to clubs, both in the Gion district (they are supposed to be the best ones in Kyoto). One was World Kyoto (would not recommend. They kept playing Michael Jackson and Bruno Mars with bad transitions). The other one was called Kitsune Kyoto. I would go back here since they played 2012 top 40 edm (ie Zedd, Hardwell, etc). One thing to note about the entrance fees of the clubs is that they give you a drink ticket, which is basically the price of what a normal drink would be).

We then taxied back to the hotel.

A couple notes about the transportation system in Kyoto (ie getting around):

Taxis: calling them through Uber is hit or miss (ie wait times are sometimes long, or they cancel). You can usually try and flag one down faster than getting one through Uber.

For Kyoto, there are three types of trains in the station: Shinkansen, JR-west, and subway (aka the local metro). To get around Kyoto (ie to Gion or the Fushimi-Inari-Takisha shrine), you would use a mix of the latter two types of train (Google maps is your friend to find out which ones to use). And for the latter two, Suica is fine for payment (love Apple for iterating it with the iPhone).

For the Shinkansen, that is supposed to be for really long journeys (and it is fast). Typically you need to buy two types of tickets (one is the basic ticket, and the other is the limited stops ticket). When purchasing the ticket, you will have the option to add the limited stops ticket as well (I guess some people may not need it since they have a monthly pass limited stops ticket) You can buy the tickets at either the stations using terminals, or buy online (however if you buy online you still need to pick up the ticket at a terminal using the credit card you purchased it with. Also. each Shinkansen train has a name, ie Nazomi, and a specific number. Use that name and number to find which platform you should go to at the station by looking at the monitors. You can also find the platform via Google Maps by searching for the train routes (and specifying the date/ time your train leaves (although platforms are subject to change).

Kyoto

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The first stop I made was Kinkaku-ji Temple. The temple is a world heritage site, and overall, very scenic. I also picked up a souvenir that I’m gonna give to mom and dad.

  
  
After, I headed to Ninjo-jo Castle. It is huge! Both the inside and outside take a bit of time to walk through to fully appreciate.

   
   
  
After, I headed to Kyoto station where I was going to meet up with my tour group. The station is huge (I’ll post about it separately).  

 

Before meeting with my group, I wanted to try a restaurant called Kyotofu (since Kyoto is known for their Tofu). However, because it was a holiday (its Hatvest day), all the restaurant’s had a line. So I ended up eating something at 7 eleven :/.

In my tour group, I met 3 other people from SF. So basically 25% of the tour was from SF lol.

The first stop my tour group went to was a small Temple called Taikoan.

  
Apparently there is a difference between temple and shrine. One difference is that the temple deals with the here and living, while a shrine deals with the afterlife. Also, the way you pray in a temple is one bow after you ding a bell. In a shrine, before ringing the bell it’s 2 claps, then ring, then 3 bows (and I think a couple more claps?).

After, we went to a really popular temple called Tofukoan. 

    

The following pic is suppose to represent the Big Dipper. Also, a little odd fact… dragons are considered water animals in Japan.

   
The following pic is a picture of a zen garden. Didn’t really find my Zen though.   
  
  
The next pic is a pic of me standing in front of a San-mon. It means three (something). You’re supposed to enter it before praying at the temple (the picture before this one).

  

Before heading to the next stop, we tried some local Kyoto Pasteries. It was basically rice paste and redbean.

  
  

After this temple, we went to Fushimi-Inari-Takisha shrine.

  
   
 
   
   
To climb and walk around the whole shrine takes approximately 3 hours. Also, the writing on the back of the gates are basically a business card (people pay several thousand yearly to have their names on gates).

The last stop we went to was Gion. Unfortunately, there was no Geiko’s or Meiko’s (Meiji is a Geiko intraining, and Geiko is a Kyoto Gaisha, as Gaisha is the word for ones in Tokyo).

   

After Gion, I checked out Pontocho with two of the people in my tour group that were from SF (Kenny and Amanda). 

  
 The following ally pic is a place where several bars are located that my tour guide recommended (and the pic after that is the bar he said to go to. Unfortunately none of the bars were open at 6pm. They open at 7pm, so I didn’t stay to have a drink).

  
  
After Pontocho, I was super hungry (and cold) so I ended up checking out a Ramen place on the way to the bus stop, which would take me to Kyoto Station).