mshuiling : Day 1 & 2 of 9 in Japan: Itami Airport/ Osaka International Airport, Togetsukyo Bridge, Unagiya Hirokawa

Apart from Korea, the next country I would like to visit is Japan and I'm extremely glad to leave my footstep in Osaka and Kyoto with my family this year. I should not feel embarrassed when my secondary schoolmates realized that I do not own a passport. Yes.... I didn't have the luxury to travel till the age of 18 - it was a school trip and I could use my PSEA account. Otherwise, my first overseas trip would be 2 years later lolol.

Anyway, I'm not experiencing post-holiday syndrome now as we went during the Spring season (early to mid April 2017). Everything that I mention here is accurate as at April 2017.

Air tickets

We grabbed hold onto Japan Airlines (JAL) promotion for SGD666/pax from Singapore to Osaka - change of flight at Tokyo.

We landed in Itami Airport (formerly known as Osaka International Airport) about 8.00pm local time. There are 2 airports in Osaka - Itami and Kansai airport, whereas the latter serves international airlines. JAL only stops at Itami, I think... Please correct me if i'm wrong!

Once you've cleared the custom, follow the directions leading to Osaka Monorail. Turn right and walk straight until you see an overhead bridge. Go up the escalator and you should reach Osaka Airport station. Please click here for more details of the train station map.

As we are staying near Shin-osaka station on our first night, we had to transfer to Kita-Osaka Kyuko Railway at Senri-Chuo station. This also applies to those who are heading towards Osaka/Namba/Umeda station.

The link above is user-friendly as you can click on certain stations with more than 1 railway and the website will show you directions on how to successfully transfer to another railway. Do note that the train system in Japan is very complex and you will definitely need to do your homework first before the trip. Second point to take note is to be prepared to spend on transportation as a mere 4 train stations already cost ~SGD4 per pax (applicable to Osaka Monorail).

We got lost at Shin-Osaka station as the station holds a combination of Japan Railways (JR) and other private railways. I've completed my homework in advance but to no avail. We were trying to figure our way to the Airbnb apartment and a local student offered to help us! I'm so glad that most Japanese are friendly and they are willing to go the extra mile! He brought us to the exit which we wanted to find and we felt so embarrassed as he wanted to accompany us. We thanked him for his hospitality and asked him to leave politely so we will not waste his time...

Finally we are done for the day and we roamed around the vicinity for supper.

We are loving Osaka's family mart! You can simply spend most of your time buying their instant food and even toiletries. ^^

I could still remember our excitement the next day. The above photo was taken at some unknown park right next to our apartment. This was my family's first experience of cherry blossom season and we love it!!!

Getting to Kyoto from Osaka

Some points to take note when you're taking train in Japan:

Find a machine that is tourist-friendly - allows you to choose the medium of language
Figure out the amount to pay for your destination
Choose the accurate amount from the machine and you'll get your ticket

We are heading from Shin-Osaka station to Kyoto station via JR Kyoto Line. Hence, we could only purchase our tickets right outside JR entrance (there are 2 entrances at Shin-Osaka). I could not remember the exact amount but it is definitely lower than 500yen. We had ample time before the next check-in so we did not choose to take their bullet train aka Shinkansen. For example, the ticket cost 450yen to Kyoto station and we had to select "450yen" instead of selecting the train station. If you pay more than what you need, there won't be any refund so please take note. I don't know what happens if you pay less than what you need LOL chances are you can't exit the station and the service staff will attend to you shortly...

Another important point to take note: Certain trains will skip some stations. My recommendation is to google the train type i.e. JR Kyoto Line on wikipedia. The Special Rapid Service trains stop at stations marked "S". We took the Special Rapid Service to save a wee bit time and the journey took less than 30 minutes.

And we are finally here at Kyoto station!

Kyoto Tower

Opposite JR Kyoto station

As it was inconvenient for us to travel from Kyoto station to Shichijo station (our next Airbnb apartment), we took a 15 to 20 minutes walk to reach Shichijo, of course with mini breaks in-between due to cherry blossom and for my parent's sake.

Thanks for being my model haha

The Kyoto Airbnb is awesome and we loved the apartment most as compared to Osaka's. However, the accommodation in Kyoto is not cheap... We stayed 2 nights for SGD500ish. We had to rush to our (supposedly) next destination - Arashiyama Bamboo Grove and Togetsukyo Bridge.

There are more than 1 Arashiyama stations but different railway companies so it does not mean that my suggested route is accurate. We alighted at Hankyu Arashiyama station and honestly it was quite a challenge to find the bamboo forest.

I wanted to visit this forest:

However, the google map shows another destination - a monkey forest. ARGHHH so my recorded directions are already wrong!

Nobody told us about it and guess how I realize my mistake???

Thank God that my brother was thirsty and I shared my umbrella (it was drizzling) with him. While waiting for him, I chance upon this poster in the family mart. We were at the bottom right - highlighted in red so the walking distance to the desired bamboo forest (and not the monkey forest) is too far for my parents to reach and it was too rush for us to reach the bamboo forest before sunset.

We tried to walk there but the weather was not merciful enough and we had to u-turn for our dinner.

However, we managed to walk pass the Togetsukyo Bridge although I am very disappointed as the highlight of Kyoto's itinerary should be that bamboo forest and I couldn't get there... I'm aware that the forest is opened 24h but the locals said that I can't get any decent photos as it would be too dark to enter.

We settled for our dinner at Unagiya Hirokawa (opposite Tenryuji temple). The queue was horrendous and we waited for almost 2 hours just to get a seat.

This bowl of unagi don (small) cost 2,100yen and it is overpriced as compared to Singapore. Free flow japanese tea and plain water. A point to take note here is that you can only order ONCE. They do not allow customers to have a second order except for beverages. Please make your decision wisely before you submit your order.

Verdict? NOT WORTH THE WAIT.

Yes the unagi is very tender and I love the special sauce on top of the rice. I love their washroom too. However, I believe the quality at Nanbantei (located at Far East plaza and Chinatown point) is of the same quality at Unagiya Hirokawa...

Nevertheless, you may access their english website here if you have 2 hours to spare just to get the typical unagi don which you can find it easily in Singapore...