At Home in Kyoto #NicGoesToKyoto
7 months after the trip, here we are continuing the Japan 2020 blog 🤦🏻♀️ hahaha! I've been occupied with a lot of things, both important and useless matters-anyway, I'm just rambling here, let's proceed with the blog.
After a 7-hour sleeper bus from Tokyo, we have arrived in Kyoto, at 5 in the morning where everything seems all closed, and you can't even see a nearby 7Eleven to grab a coffee. Good thing though we got dropped off at the Kyoto station where we saw a McDonald's that was about to open!
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| Sige kuya, ipush mo yan ☝ |
The first thing we saw was McDonald's, however, when we got nearer we noticed that there's already a line build-up. For some reason, Ken and I also had a weird realization that we should at least give an ounce of effort with our first meal in this lovely city. Since I was craving big time for fluffy Soufflé pancakes, and Ken wants good coffee, we headed to Hoshino Café which is just 10 steps away from McDonald's.
Pretty much like McDonald's, people are starting to line up in front of Hoshino Café as it prepares to open its doors to us, the hungry mob. I don't know, but I noticed that Japanese people LOVE to line up for food! Well, I couldn't blame them, 99% of their food is 😗👌.
Pancaaaakes!
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| Haggard ka gh0rl? |
From the Kyoto station, it took us 2 kinds of trains to reach our next destination:
When I booked our hostel via Booking.com I did not anticipate that it will be quite far from the main hub in Kyoto! However despite its distance from the city part of Kyoto, surprisingly we enjoyed the fact that it's located in the more countryside of this city. Unlike in our place in Tokyo, where 500 meters away we can see a full mall complete with a Uniqlo inside, the only commercial thing you'll see within the 500 meter radius of Kyoto Tsukiusagi is a grocery store.
Despite having 2 train rides getting here, we still arrived in our hostel really early I blame Japan's efficient public transportation ugh hahaha! Initially, our plan is to rest for a bit, drop our luggage in the hostel, freshen up, and off we go explore Kyoto, since our check-in time is at 3 P.M., and lo and behold we arrived in the hostel at 9 A.M!
Luckily, when we arrived we were informed that whoever was booked the day before us did not arrive, so they let us check-in early! The moment we got in our room, we ended up napping! HAHAHA!
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| I took over the top bunk, since Ken was having gout attacks and can't climb the ladder hohoho hahaha! 💁😅 |
Once again, our room is tiny but very cozy! Hahaha! No complains about this though, because whenever I travel I don't need the luxury of a huge space, since when I travel I spent like 30% of my time inside the hotel/hostel/apartment, and usually it's spent either sleeping or taking a shower only 🤷 As long as I have enough space to lay down my luggage in the floor, I am good.
Also, much like our previous hostel in &And Hostel in Minamisenju, we don't have our own shower and toilet inside our room. I don't know about how hostels are in other countries, but staying in one in Japan is 󠅓👍😘👌 Despite not having our own bathroom in our room, you can assure that the communal showers and toilets are spotless and clean! Also each shower has it's own cubicle that you can lock, so even after cleaning yourself you have enough space to dry up and put your clothes on, which means you don't have to walk back to your room wearing just a towel.
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| Surprisingly cute outfit combo |
We woke up from our nap at 1 P.M., famished, so we decided to put our coats on, and venture to the great unknown- the nearest grocery store! HAHAHA! On our way to the grocery store, we get to have a feel of what provincial Japan looks like. Unlike in Tokyo where from afar you could still see some mid-rise buildings, in that part of Kyoto we were at the tallest establishment we could see was a public school!
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| BEST ORANGE JUICE! |
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| Country Ma'am = SOFTEST AND YUMMIEST COOKIE EVERRR! |
I must say nothing could ever rival the QUALITY of Japanese groceries and convenience stores! Whether you are in a city or province, their groceries are packed with the best food items that will make your heart flutter with so much joy! In our quick trip we were able to buy the yummiest and freshest meals, along with a variety of breads, biscuits, and snacks!
But what made cry for joy are the drinks we bought! I got myself a bottle Sangaria Strawberry Milk Drink, and a frickin' large bottle of Bireley's Orange juice! These 2 are my ultimate staples whenever I go to Japan (Aside from my beloved mochi icecream huhu), that I make sure I get to drink these two whenever I am in Japan, because they are soooooo gooooood! Just thinking about 'em makes me wanna cry a little huhuhu!
After devouring some of our food, Ken's gout started to worsen, which made us decide to cancel all of our plans for today and actually stay in the hostel for the rest of the night. At first I got sad because I was itching to explore as much as I could, but then I realized that we do need to pause and recuperate- and duh, Ken needs this rest, got no choice there hahaha! Also we still have the next day as a full day to check out what Kyoto has to offer ☝
Good thing though Kyoto Tsukiusagi has a common room with a huge television and a classic family computer console! We were able to play some of the classic games we grew up playing, like Doctor Mario. Aside from that they also have...
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| Jengga! |
Basically that's how we spent our 1st day in Kyoto, at 'home', resting, playing board games, and doing laundry hahaha! Thank God for all the ¥ 100 coins that spilled all over the floor of my bags hahaha!
Love Always,
Nicole ❤
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