My family loves traveling to Japan for the holidays. This time, I went to Kyoto, Nara, and Ise with my mom and her friends. Totally a ladies' trip! We met up with my mom's Japanese friend there, so we got to experience a lot of local culture and learnt a ton.
Fushimi 伏見
This little town is on the outskirts of Kyoto, and it is also where our hotel was. We didn't need a 5 star extravagant hotel since the time spent in the hotel was minimal. This area is famous for sake making, so we visited quite a few sake breweries.
Teradaya Inn 旅籠 寺田屋
Famous historical site that is converted into an actual inn you can live in. It is a traditional Japanese house, and you can still see sword and bullet scars on the wood when there was armed conflict!
Stream that was used to transport goods from Osaka to Kyoto, also the reason why this area is a wine making area.
Yes, sake soft serve!
Matcha is a special drink that is used to serve guests.
Homemade dinner! Thank you auntie :)
BBQ. Enough said.
I'm such a fail. I have no idea what the restaurant name is. But they have amazing wine and tapas. Sometimes, you don't have to eat Japanese food in Japan. They have good western food too!
Our last night in Fushimi (last night of the trip) consists of multiple orders of bar food. That's right. We went to a bar thinking it was a restaurant, and just ordered like we were ordering tapas. Clams were fresh and steamed with sake; spaghetti sauce with mentaiko sauce is phenomenal; and who knew curry risotto can be so good?
This chewy snack is from Ogurasansou, a popular Japanese souvenir shop filled with all kinds of snacks and sweets. I bought a matcha dorayaki, and I love it so much. Pleasantly surprised by the chewy texture it has because of the mochi that is incorporated. I wish I bought more!
Nara 奈良
We traveled to Nara for a few hours on way to Ise. We went to Todai-ji, the famous temple where deers roam freely around and let you feed.
Ise 伊勢
A famous hot spring and pearl area, Ise is full of history and culture. We stayed at an onsen (hotspring hotel) and learnt the traditional Japanese way of praying at shrines. Due to respect of shrines, I did not take any photos. It is important to me that I respect other cultures while I am in the country. I think it's just basic manners.
Some amazing packed sushi on the train to Ise. Literally best sushi I had in the whole trip. Kyoto is not a seafood area because it is far from the sea, so seafood is usually not served as sashimi, but pickled and prepared in various way. So good.
Kaiseki at the onsen hotel both for dinner and breakfast served in your room.
I just cannot resist.
Some snacks along the street towards Ise Grand Shrine. Mochi balls. Yes.
赤福 Akafuku is a product of Ise that consists of a mochi (pound rice cake) covered in a generous amount of sweet red bean paste. Perfect amount of mochi with red bean paste so it's not too sweet or bland. Only downside is that it is quite messy to eat as you cannot really hold it between your fingers.
We stayed at the Shima Kanko Hotel The Classic on our second night. Another historical building, the hotel used to be a coveted vacation accommodation for the Japanese. Part of the original building has been preserved as an exhibition. The dinner and breakfast at La Mer Classic, the hotel's French restaurant, is pretty good. I can definitely tell that the food is less heavy and oily as most French dishes are, which is probably because of the Japanese influence. Nonetheless, quite good food.
Along the canal near Ise Grand Shrine.
Found a Western style decorated restaurant for lunch around the Ise Shrine street. It's mediocre. Tomato sauce not tomato-y enough, curry is not bad. Pork cutlet is crispy outside and juicy inside.
xoxo
Safe travels!
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