Friday, August 12, 2011

DAY 14: I'VE GOT SOME GREAT ADVICE FOR THOSE OF YOU NOT IN JAPAN: COME TO JAPAN

breakfast:
i was really excited about this one! it looked so fluffy and dough-y...but it was filled with a super strong weird cheese! 

bummer! we normally like all cheeses, but this one was too weird.
but it was okay because we were riding the shinkansen (bullet train) today, and that means we get ekiben (train lunch boxes)!
luckily, we only took 1 suitcase to kyoto. our hotel is holding the others :) so handy!

hanging out at tokyo station for a few minutes while we get our ekiben and drinks for the train ride

here is an example of a shinkansen ticket. we have the japan rail pass, so all our shinkansen rides are included! which is great because these rides are sort of like a plane, so their prices are high too! about $100 for one way from tokyo to kyoto (a 162 minute trip!)

here's car #14 (our car). they clean it after it arrives so it's perfect again for new passengers.

looking down the platform


here i am at my seat! lots of leg room! 

see? about a foot from erik's knees to the back of the seat in front of him

the windows are nice and big too

and you put your luggage up top like a plane too

ekiben! YUM! i always look forward to shinkansen rides because of ekiben hahaha...so yummy and fun to do

i asked to be on the mt. fuji side when getting tickets (since you pass mt. fuji on your way from tokyo to kyoto) but it was hiding today...ah well. maybe on the way back! 

well, 162 minutes later we were at kyoto station :) took a taxi to our cute tradiational townhouse and we are IN LOVE WITH IT! omg....it is SO. CUTE and PERFECT!!!! it is a part of the Machiya Residence Inns of kyoto, and this specific one is called Shikokuan Machiya Residence Inn (http://www.kyoto-machiya-inn.com/shikoku/). here are a ton of pics of it!






this is right after you walk in the door. so it's actually on the INSIDE (and air conditioned) but it looks like it's still on the outside! i love this part! this is where we take off our shoes before going in


past the curtain, you see this!

and here is our cute family room!


kitchen attached

other view of the family room


our rock garden




here is one of our bathrooms

the toilet is separated from the shower/bath room, which is really nice! and check out this awesome deep bathtub! it's cedar and the whole room smells AMAZING because of all the cedar in it!!!

in japan, you shower first, and then get into the bathtub, so here is the little shower station where you sit :) 

going up the traditional old style stairs which are small, and steep.

we have an entertainment room! with a big tv! hahaha...it's cozy


this house is over 100 years old, and this wall that is facing us is from the original home :)


same with this post in the bedroom

and our bedroom! so cute!


big closets

walking outside, here is our tiny alley street!

and this is right behind our house!!!! amazing! we're both so happy we rented this

we walked around some more because i was really excited to see my favorite river again...it's the big river that runs through kyoto and its so gorgeous






cute houses and restaurants along our walk...i love kyoto!

we made our way to dinner...okonomiyaki!!!!! hiroshima style! since we aren't going to hiroshima this time, i still wanted hiroshima okonomiyaki!!! so i looked up a place, and it was delicious! it's called "kamu - hiroshima style teppan grill"
watching them make the layers and preparing it!









finished!


and the owner took our pic with my camera...


and then he took our pic with his camera! a polaroid!

so nice of him!!! :D the food was absolutely amazing, and the people were so nice too.
afterwards, we knew about this because the owner of our townhouse posted about this on facebook a few weeks ago! it's a star festival! you write wishes on paper and attach them to trees so your wish will come true. it's legend is based on a sad romantic story about two constellations. hikoboshi and orihime were in love with each other but their destiny only allowed them to meet once a year. one summer evening.
it was AMAZING to see all this! so of couse i took a bajillion photos! haha...














as we walked further down the river, the lights changed from being on trees, to being in bamboo "globes". just as cool!!!







what an amazing first night in kyoto!!!! 

6 comments:

  1. just wow to everything. thanks for taking so many pictures and letting us share!

    Love,
    mom

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  2. Beautiful photos! And, the house looks amazing!

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  3. I loved the townhouse you got here in Kyoto- how did you find this place?
    Oh, how I miss those narrow alleyways! With the vending machines too- haha.

    The star festival looks amazing. So beautiful! Those were some incredible photos, Jacqui. Kamogawa looked just how I remembered it to be.

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  4. we found it randomly by searching hotels on agoda.com! we kept looking for places and different ways of splitting up our time in kyoto, and this house was only available for 2 nights, and that was one of our random searches! so we got it, and omg sara...you MUST come here next time you come to kyoto!!!!! it's AH-MAAAAZING. we dont want to leave it! lol...so cute and traditional and just perfect. and the location is perfect too!

    glad you like the photos! :D

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  5. I like your advice! ;) Coming to Japan is a great idea.

    Bummer on the cheese bread! It looks tasty, at least.

    What a beautiful townhouse! I love the entrance way. The cedar bathroom sounds lovely.

    Twin beds! Reminds me of the old tv sitcoms where the husband and wife slept in separate beds. ;)

    Kyoto is gorgeous! Based on your pictures, it looks like an area that would be very high on my list of places to visit.

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  6. lol about the twin beds! i know what you mean...luckily the owner of the house said he didnt care if we pushed them together hahaha, so we did.

    and yeah, i really love kyoto :) it's so traditional and gorgeous. so many things going on in all the tiny alleyways!

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