From Nara, it's a northwards drive to Kyoto of about an hour.
Kyoto is a lovely place. Previously the capital of Japan for over a thousand years, there is so much history and charm to this place. While not urbanized like Tokyo, you will appreciate the ambiance of the place especially if you are into things like samurais and ninjas.
We booked an airbnb in Kyoto that is run by a family that has a sushi restaurant downstairs.
Link here. I really liked this place so much. Not only is it of a central location, there was free parking and half price sushi (for one meal only) at their restaurant. A large supermarket also exists 5 mins away.
They even entertained our request to try fugu (puffer fish), which my dad wanted to eat. Preparing fugu takes immense skill as the fish contains a deadly poison that must be removed carefully. Honestly it was a strange taste for a fish - had a crunchy texture and half the time you feel like you aren't sure what you are eating.
Credits http://animalia-life.com/
Since we spent the morning and afternoon at Nara, by the time we reached Kyoto it was almost dinner time. We headed to a nearby ramen shop called Ippudo that's quite famous but expensive in Singapore (double the price). Surprisingly, the soup tastes similar to the one in Singapore, but the noodles are way better. This makes me thankful that I can still eat Japan standard ramen at home anytime I want instead of having a insatiable ramen fix.
We also headed to a knife shop on the way that I have been wanting to go. If you cook, Kyoto and its nearby cities are famous for producing superb quality culinary knives, probably from the days that they produce samurai swords. During my research on which shop to go to, I settled for a shop called Shigeharu. This is the oldest knife shop in Kyoto (800 year sold) that makes everything by hand. Bought a carbon steel Santoku knife from here and he even engraved my name on it. Cost me like SGD$120 but when I received it I felt like I was receiving a part of history.
The next 2 days we visited places like Kiyomizudera, one of the most celebrated temples in Japan. On the way up to Kiyomizudera is quite a touristy but pleasant shopping district.
These are the temples that were there, but after a while they all look the same to me.
We had lunch near Kiyomizudera, a nice restaurant called Yoshimura Kiyomizuan that is known for their soba. I'm not a super fan of soba, but I have to say that it tasted pretty damn good. There were several dipping sauces for the soba that I'm not familiar with, so quite an interesting experience here. They even sell their soba so that you can buy home.
If you have ever googled Kyoto before, you would have seen those huge red gate like looking things flooding your search. These are located at Fushima Inari Taisha, which translates into 100 shrine gates. Each gate is contributed by a business (usually), so the bigger the gate the more $$ that business donated to the shrine. It's quite a hike up to the top of the shrine, but a pleasant one nonetheless especially with the cool Jan weather.
Shrine gate at the top
View from halfway up the hike
Next is Nishiki party, which is nicknamed Kyoto's pantry. Well it's pretty decent, but I find that the big 4 Taiwanese night markets are actually bigger. Items are pricey so you will probably only buy a few items. But they do have quite an assortment of selection, ranging from dried goods to fresh food. There's also quite a nice kitchenware area around there that you can shop.
Rice shop in Nishiki market. Bought some pricey rice to bring home to try (1kg for SGD$16). When it came out of the rice cooker it was sooooo shiny and soooo good. You can practically eat it plain.
Another place worth visiting is the Arashimaya Bamboo Forest. If you google it, it looks really nice. But when I went there it felt totally underwhelming. Literally just rows of bamboo that gave me an eerie feeling. After a quick walk I wanted to get out of there.
