Day 5 – Jobless in Japan: Exploring Kyoto

This is Day 5 of my jobless trip to Japan. I have been bumming around for 1 week and the withdrawal syndrome is really catching up on me. The typical me will be trying to check on my email every 2.5 seconds or so, but given that I have quit from my current job, I don’t really have an email to check. In reality, I do have my previous work email but as I am on a long leave before my last official day, I should not be checking on my email as I do not want to do any work outside of my jurisdiction 🙂

Today – is about taking it easy. Rather than going round and round, today is about chilling, finding local food and wasting time. In fact – I think I only got out of the hotel about 10+ (excluding my usual morning walk). The objective today is head to the market and makan!

 

To go to the market, I need to take the subway from Kyoto Station. As the subway is ran my the municipal council, I am not able to use my JR Rail Pass. The cost of taking the subway from Kyoto Station to Shijo (I think!) is JPY210. It is very near – just two stops away.

When I got to the Kyoto Station – I noticed the escalator going up, and up and away! Similar to Osaka Station, the escalator heads up to a Sky Garden. The last time I went up on Osaka Station, the wind was so strong. On the Kyoto Station sky garden, the temperature seems ok. Well – the weather was pretty ok. Not cold at all.

The staircase to Sky Garden

(Should use the staircase instead of escalator?)

Nishiki Market

Nishiki Market is the main market in Kyoto. I am not particularly sure if it is also for locals, because from the types of shops and the people that goes to the market – seems like its mainly tourist!

There are some great food in Nishiki. As usual – my eyes can’t get away from the best soft serve in the world (Cremia!?!). But whether its fate or not, I was able to skip Cremia and enjoy the local food instead. Few notable ones:

Soy Doughnut – it is much cheaper here in the market in comparison to Arashiyama and… a lot less oily!
Potato and Butter Croquette – ah yummy. Potatoes and butter is a match made in heaven. Well – you can never go wrong with butter innit?
Grilled Fish Cake – pretty yummy. Say no to processed food?

Shirakawa-Minami Dori

This is an old school street that is quite pretty. I think I have been here before, but could not really remember. The last time I was in Kyoto was about 3 years ago. And it was more of _bang bang bang_ type trip. It was a day trip and more to visit the Fushami Inari. As I was a novice to Japan then, spend most of the time travelling by foot (lol).


<<insert Shirakawa Minai Dori Gallery>>

Food I ate today!

In addition to the food in the market, following are some of the food that I ate!

Don – finally

Heavenly dessert from Sir Thomas Lipton Cafe

Royal Custard Pudding

Uni Pasta

OMG…

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