very excited to be coming to japan - expect it to be completely different from what we've seen till now.
Day 1: overnight flight to Osaka, then cab to Kyoto ( mistake!!!too expensive shouldveytaken the rrain). Checkin to Kyoto Tower Hotel (nice). Then went to Kiyomizu -dera temple. Beautiful location atop a hill. Ate green tea ice cream, bough speaking hello kitty cat and other spuvenirs. Walked down to Gion town - quaint walk along beautiful shops and restaurants. Everyone tired from the walking ( very hot in Japan) so back to the hotel. Headed out for a drink to a japanese pub ( girls had dinner there) and then went to have dinner at a japanese restaurant ( cucumber and soyabean sushi and sake!). Sake very strong- was way too sleepy after that.
Day 2: everyone was fresh after a good nights sleep. We took the train to Arashiyama( using our Japan Rail pass) and walked to the Bamboo forest. After that we started walking towards the Togetsukyo bridge and strolled into several beautiful shops. Love the beautiful shops and designs here. Went into a shop devoted to chopsticks and the girls chose two with winne the pooh ( disney design) and got their names engraved on them. We then went to the Tenryuji temple site which has a UN heritage garden ( absolutely breathtaking) and had a vegetarian monks lunch at the temple restaurant. Never had so many vegetables cooked in such different ways! The girls were extremely picky and ate mosttly the rice but the hubby and i enjoyed the lotus flower, eggplant, green pumpkin and beetroot and ginger salad and many more vegetables! After a heavy lunch we set out on our walk to Togetsukyo bridge. Moods were getting bad as it was very hot so we took a quicj glance at the bridge and then took a taxi to Kinkakuji temple complex. Its called the Golden Pavillion and the view of the golden temple against the water is just amazung. Lovely garden to walk through. Back to the hotel for a siesta break(parents) and TV break (kids) but mainly to get away from the sweltering heat. In the evening we took the train to Inari to go to the Fushimi Inari-taishu Shrine. Lovely red coloured poles marking the long walk up the hill where the main shrine is. We made it halfway and then turned back as the kids were too grumpy. Still halfway not too bad and got a good sense of the place with the crickets chirping the sounds by the mountain the stray cats and the beautiful red poles providing a canopy cover. Just lovely. Then train back to Kyoto tower. The girls had a mac dinner and then we went to the skybar on the 13th floor of our hotel for a couple of drinks. I had some amazing G&T made with Kyoto gin. Quite a tiring day - we walked 11.4 km!!!
Unfortunately the night was not so good. S got the vomiting bug from A - A had vomited in singapore a few days back and again on the plane ( on me! Luckily i had carried a pair of shorts in the hand luggage for myself). S was vomitung throughout the night and so Day 3 morning i to,d the hubby to go with A to Hiroshima (2 hours train journey) while I stay at the hotel with S to help her recover. So here i am with some free time to update my blog. Wishing S a speedy recovery and hoping to take her for a short visit to the aquarium after lunch if her stomach holds ( she slept all morning).
Will update you!
Day 1: overnight flight to Osaka, then cab to Kyoto ( mistake!!!too expensive shouldveytaken the rrain). Checkin to Kyoto Tower Hotel (nice). Then went to Kiyomizu -dera temple. Beautiful location atop a hill. Ate green tea ice cream, bough speaking hello kitty cat and other spuvenirs. Walked down to Gion town - quaint walk along beautiful shops and restaurants. Everyone tired from the walking ( very hot in Japan) so back to the hotel. Headed out for a drink to a japanese pub ( girls had dinner there) and then went to have dinner at a japanese restaurant ( cucumber and soyabean sushi and sake!). Sake very strong- was way too sleepy after that.
Day 2: everyone was fresh after a good nights sleep. We took the train to Arashiyama( using our Japan Rail pass) and walked to the Bamboo forest. After that we started walking towards the Togetsukyo bridge and strolled into several beautiful shops. Love the beautiful shops and designs here. Went into a shop devoted to chopsticks and the girls chose two with winne the pooh ( disney design) and got their names engraved on them. We then went to the Tenryuji temple site which has a UN heritage garden ( absolutely breathtaking) and had a vegetarian monks lunch at the temple restaurant. Never had so many vegetables cooked in such different ways! The girls were extremely picky and ate mosttly the rice but the hubby and i enjoyed the lotus flower, eggplant, green pumpkin and beetroot and ginger salad and many more vegetables! After a heavy lunch we set out on our walk to Togetsukyo bridge. Moods were getting bad as it was very hot so we took a quicj glance at the bridge and then took a taxi to Kinkakuji temple complex. Its called the Golden Pavillion and the view of the golden temple against the water is just amazung. Lovely garden to walk through. Back to the hotel for a siesta break(parents) and TV break (kids) but mainly to get away from the sweltering heat. In the evening we took the train to Inari to go to the Fushimi Inari-taishu Shrine. Lovely red coloured poles marking the long walk up the hill where the main shrine is. We made it halfway and then turned back as the kids were too grumpy. Still halfway not too bad and got a good sense of the place with the crickets chirping the sounds by the mountain the stray cats and the beautiful red poles providing a canopy cover. Just lovely. Then train back to Kyoto tower. The girls had a mac dinner and then we went to the skybar on the 13th floor of our hotel for a couple of drinks. I had some amazing G&T made with Kyoto gin. Quite a tiring day - we walked 11.4 km!!!
Unfortunately the night was not so good. S got the vomiting bug from A - A had vomited in singapore a few days back and again on the plane ( on me! Luckily i had carried a pair of shorts in the hand luggage for myself). S was vomitung throughout the night and so Day 3 morning i to,d the hubby to go with A to Hiroshima (2 hours train journey) while I stay at the hotel with S to help her recover. So here i am with some free time to update my blog. Wishing S a speedy recovery and hoping to take her for a short visit to the aquarium after lunch if her stomach holds ( she slept all morning).
Will update you!
