Showing posts with label Kyoto. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kyoto. Show all posts

Kyoto Coffeeshop Hunting: % Arabica Kyoto Higashiyama

 

Pertama kali berkenalan dengan % Arabica adalah saat saya dan mr.husband mengunjungi Arashiyama. Lokasi % Arabica di Arashiyama berada di tepi sungai, sehingga view dari coffeeshop sangat indah.

Di Kyoto, tepatnya area Higashiyama, % Arabica juga mempunyai sebuah kedai mungil. Walau kecil, namun selalu dipenuhi pengunjung.

Lokasinya tidak jauh dari Starbucks Ninenzeka yang sudah saya tulis sebelumnya. 

% Arabica Kyoto Higashiyama

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Starbucks Dengan Tatami di Higashiyama Kyoto

 

Saat itu kami liburan ke Kyoto pada musim panas. Selain ingin mencoba makan mie dari air yang mengalir (Nagashi Somen) di Hirobun, kami hanya ingin menikmati Kyoto dengan santai.

Setiap hari kami mengunjungi coffeeshop, termasuk Starbucks Ninenzeka Yasaka Chaya di daerah Higashiyama, Kyoto. 

Starbucks  yang berlokasi di daerah yang dipenuhi bangunan tradisional Jepang di Kyoto ini, memang lain dari yang lain. Di dalamnya terdapat area tatami, katanya ini Starbucks pertama di dunia yang dilengkapi dengan tatami.

Starbucks Ninenzeka, dikeliling toko kecil bernuansa kayu

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Trekking in Mount Hiei, Followed By Taking The Eizan Ropeway And Cable Car


After our visit to Enryakuji Temple, we continued our journey to go back to Kyoto. From our research, we had to take the Eizan Ropeway and Eizan Cable Car. But to get to the ropeway station, we had to walk through the forest of Mount Hiei.

We left the Enryakuji Temple complex after our visit to the training hall which is called Hokke So Ji-in. The first sign we saw was this, stating that we needed to walk 1.4 km to the Eizan Cable Car Station. Ok, let's start the trekking :)

Don't worry you can read the English part of the sign
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Day Trip From Kyoto Part 2: Visiting Enryakuji Temple at Mount Hieizan


Enryakuji temple is located at the eastern mountain range of Mount Hieizan, miles away to the northeast from Kyoto. It is a quite Buddhist temple, and one of the most important monasteries in Japanese history. Up to now, it is one of the largest and most important temple in Kyoto.

It was founded in 778 by Saicho, the monk who introduced Tendai Buddhism from China to Japan. It became a Unesco world's heritage site in 1994, and as a Japan Heritage site in 2015. This peaceful mountain complex is a great alternative to escape the crowded temples in Kyoto, especially during peak period.

The ticket to Enryakuji Hieizan, cost us JPY700/person

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Daytrip From Kyoto Part 1: Going to Mount Hiei - Enryakuji Temple, Using Sakamoto Cable Car


Visiting Kyoto in early summer time, made us think that it was a great idea to put a little bit of hiking also in our itinerary. Mr.husband proposed to do a trekking to Mount Hiei, and to visit the Enryakuji Temple.

I have never heard of Enryakuji temple before, but when I saw the place on the internet, I know that I would fall in love with this kind of serene temple with less crowd.

We decided to go to Mount Hiei from Kyoto using the Sakamoto cable car and our daytrip will be continued from Mount Hiei to Kibune, to try the Nagashi Somen. Our route was perfect as it will be ended at Eizan Line, the line which we should take to go to Kibune Station. But of course you can do it on the other way, starting from Eizan Line to Sakamoto Cable Car.


The Sakamoto Cable Car is in red color

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Itinerary Liburan ke Jepang 7 Hari 6 Malam: Osaka, Hiroshima, Kobe dan Kyoto


Tulisan ini berat untuk dimulai karena akan membuat saya kangen dengan libur lebaran saya dan mr.husband ke daerah Kansai dan Hiroshima:D Tapi untuk membuat rekap, menuliskan memori, dan siapa tau bisa memberikan inspirasi untuk teman-teman yang sedang merencanakan liburan ke Jepang, mari kita mulai :)

Kami baru membeli tiket sekitar bulan Maret 2018, untuk libur lebaran bulan Juni 2018. Proses pembelian tiket juga dimulai dengan minta ijin kepada kedua Kiddos dan orangtua saya di Bandung yang akan dititipkan Kiddos selama mereka libur lebaran. Alhamdulillah ijin kami dapatkan, tapi dengan tambahan permintaan dari Kiddos: mereka kalau ke Jepang ingin main salju lagi! Iya, aamiin ya Nak.

Kami kemudian membeli tiket Air Asia dengan rute Bandung-Osaka PP via Kuala Lumpur, yang manurut kami harganya masih masuk akal. Harga tiketnya PP Rp 6,5 juta, sementara itu tiket SQ saya intip harganya PP sekitar Rp 15 juta, berangkat dengan Silk Air dari Bandung, transit di Changi. Harga tiket melambung tinggi, karena kami pergi malam hari, pada lebaran day one.

Pada hari H, kami menerima sms pemberitahuan dari Air Asia bahwa connecting flight kami dari Kuala Lumpur mengalami keterlambatan 2 jam. Sehingga kami yang awalnya transit hanya 2 jam menjadi total 4 jam. Yah, belum apa-apa udah drama.

Alhamdulillah safely landed at Kansai Airport

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Visiting Kyoto in Summer? Let's Try The Nagashi Somen at Hirobun Restaurant in Kibune


Just few days before our departure to Osaka, I saw on youtube people having what so called "Nagashi Somen". "Somen" is very thin noodle, made from wheat flour, serves as a cold noodle in summer. While "Nagashi" means "flowing".

I searched on google that the most famous restaurant serving Nagashi Somen is Hirobun in Kibuneguchi. We visited Kibune previously in winter (you may want to check my post in this link), and this time we had a chance to visit Kibune in summer.

Nagashi Somen is served between May to September, and we decided to have it a try during our summer trip to Kyoto.

The Hirobun restaurant at Kibune
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Arashiyama For The First Timer: Things You Should Know


On our second visit to Kyoto, we finally managed visiting Arashiyama. This very touristy district is located on the western side of Kyoto and it took about 45 minutes by train (including the transfer and also the waiting time).

We took Hankyu Railway from Kawaramachi Station, which is located near our hostel, Centurion Hotel Cabin & Spa. But of course you can take other train to go from Kyoto to Arashiyama.

It was our first visit to Arashiyama, and we would like to share our experience to give you the ideas of what you should know and what to expect from your first visit to Arashiyama.

Arashiyama early in the morning (about 8 am)

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Mencari Salju di Kyoto Hingga ke Kibune


Sudah saya ceritakan pada posting sebelumnya, bahwa tujuan #weekenddijepang kami adalah untuk mengejar mimpi melihat Kyoto ditutupi salju. Dari awal Januari, kami pantau IG mengenai Kyoto, dan deg-deg-an melihat Kyoto betulan tertutup salju pada pertengahan Januari 2017. Akankah kami beruntung melihat Kyoto bersalju?

Mendekati hari keberangkatan, tidak ada tanda-tanda kota Kyoto bersalju, kecuali di daerah utara. Kemudian mr.husband melihat di IG mengenai Kifune Shrine yang heits dengan tangga tertutup saljunya. Silahkan klik deh link-nya, keren pake banget!

Demi kesuksesan mencari salju di Kyoto, kami pun memasukan Kifune Shrine ke dalam itinerary. Yang pada akhirnya merupakan highlight dari kunjungan kami ke Jepang pada bulan Januari 2017.

Kami harus berjalan melalui jalan berbukit yang dipenuhi salju selama 20 menit, karena bus sudah tidak beroperasi. Hingga akhirnya kami tiba di bawah tangga Kifune Shrine yang walaupun tidak terlalu tebal tertutup salju, namun tetap terlihat syahdu menjelang malam hari.

Our walk from the station paid off with this view
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Why Nishiki Market Kyoto Should Be On Your Itinerary


Oooh I love market! Especially in Japan, where the market is super clean and offers culinary experience. When we visited Tokyo back in December 2015, we went to Tsukiji Market. But we didn't have time to visit Nishiki Market in Kyoto back then.

Nishiki Market was on the top of our itinerary when we re-visited Kyoto in January 2017. For this purpose, we even book Centurion Cabin & Spa Kyoto which is located 5 minutes away from Nishiki Market.

Still considering whether a visit to Nishiki Market is well worth it? I will tell you why Nishiki Market in the heart of Kyoto should be on your itinerary.

The crowd at Nishiki Market
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Pengalaman Menginap di Hotel Kapsul Centurion Hotel Cabin & Spa, Kyoto


Salah satu cita-cita saya dan mr.husband adalah mencoba menginap di hotel kapsul di Jepang, demi kekinian dan juga karena memang penasaran. Sebelumnya mr.husband sudah pernah menginap di The Pod Hostel Singapore, jadi sudah sedikit merasakan. Ohya, udah baca satu-satunya posting di tesyasblog yang ditulis mr.husband? Klik link ini, mengenai review The Pod. Duh, maaf OOT deh jadinya:D

Seperti biasa, tugas mencari penginapan selalu diserahkan kepada saya. Jadi mr.husband hanya geleng-geleng kepala ketika dua minggu sebelum keberangkatan saya katakan, "Kita pindah hostel yuk, ini lebih murah (tetep ya money is mrs.wife's consideration) dan lokasinya di Gion".

Sebelumnya, kami sudah memesan free cancelation twin room di Piece Hostel Kyoto Station melalui situs booking. Kami sudah naksir Piece Hostel sejak Meidiana dari geretkoper menulis review Piece Hostel Sanjo. Jadi rasanya bahagia banget berhasil memesan salah satu hostel paling laris di Kyoto. Eh, udah begitu kami cancel! Semoga saja suatu saat nanti kami akhirnya bisa menginap di Piece Hostel. Aamiin.

Menginap di hotel kapsul Centurion Hotel Cabin & Spa memang lebih sesuai untuk itinerary kami yang akan sering menggunakan kereta dari daerah Gion. Dan ternyata lokasinya tepat di jantung pertokoan Gion, tiba-tiba aja gitu ada hostel padahal di kiri dan kanan adalah toko dan restoran Sukiya. We were surprised! Tentunya kejutan yang menyenangkan:)

Located at the heart of Kyoto, perfect!

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Halal Ramen in Kyoto: Gion Naritaya


Even in Indonesia, one of the biggest country with moslem population in the world, I rarely find halal ramen (I mean, the certified one). So before going to Kyoto, I tried my luck and type in google: "Halal Ramen in Kyoto". Google leads me to a place called Gion Naritaya.

I search how to get to Gion Naritaya from our hostel Centurion Cabin & Spa, as we planned to drop off our backpack at the hostel before exploring Kyoto. And it's a 20 minutes walking distance, so we put it as a late lunch plan, after snacking at the Nishiki Market.

In reality, we had to walk quiet far, but with a cold winter weather and the beautiful sight of Gion, I wouldn't mind at all. We stopped here and there and after a 30 minutes walking from Nishiki Market, we arrived at Gion Naritaya.

A small restaurant for Halal Ramen in Kyoto

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Our Coffee Trip in Japan: From Kyoto, Arashiyama to Osaka


We have been following instagram accounts of some of the coffeeshop in Kyoto and Osaka, so we put visit to the coffeeshop in our itinerary as well. But along the journey, we found very interesting coffeeshops that we could not resist to try.

The crisp weather in Kyoto and Osaka fit best our coffee trip in Japan. We walked a lot, so having a hot cup of coffee was what we needed to warm up our body.  

Started from Kyoto where we planned to visit Kurasu, to Osaka where we planned to visit Mel Coffee Roasters.



Kurasu Kyoto

Located few minutes away from Kyoto Station, Kurasu is the first coffeshop we visited. It is a small but lovely coffeeshop, near APA Hotel Kyoto Ekimae.

The crowd at Kurasu


We met the two baristas Ayaka-san and Misako-san who made me a delicious Cafe Latte. We introduced ourselves and told them that we knew Kurasu from instagram. "Aaah ya, many Indonesian used instagram!" Misako-san told me. Yes, so true:D
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Cara Naik Kereta JR Haruka Dari Bandara Kansai Osaka ke Kyoto


Semakin lama, saya sebetulnya semakin malas membuat rencana perjalanan atau itinerary yang detail. Apalagi kalau hanya pergi berdua dengan mr.husband. Kadang, pergi tanpa itinerary menawarkan lots of surprises: the bad ones and good ones.

Begitu juga ketika merencanakan liburan ke Jepang. Baru dua minggu sebelum berangkat, saya dibantu mr.husband membuat itinerary. "Membantu" dalam arti mr.husband mengantar saya ke kantor, sehingga sepanjang perjalanan saya bisa membuat itinerary *halah.

"Kalau aku yang buat, nanti kamu aku ajak hiking terus" begitu alasan mr.husband yang ketika saya tagih, tidak juga membuat itinerary. Akhirnya saya menyerah dan memulai riset bagaimana cara naik kereta dari Bandara Kansai di Osaka ke Kyoto.

Dari berbagai pilihan yang mengharuskan kami transfer (ganti kereta), akhirnya saya yang malas ribet ini (baca: princess wanna be), memilih naik JR Haruka. Kereta yang dalam waktu 75 menit akan mengantarkan kami dari Bandara Kansai di Osaka ke Kyoto, tanpa berganti kereta. Saya akan tulis cara naik JR Haruka dari bandara Kansai ke Kyoto, step by step ya.

Suasana stasiun kereta di Terminal 1 Kansai Airport


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Itinerary 4 Hari 3 Malam Di Jepang: Kyoto Kobe Osaka


Beginilah kira-kira yang kami lakukan ketika cita-cita melihat salju di Kyoto matching dengan tiket murah Garuda Indonesia ke Osaka, namun tidak match dengan jumlah hari cuti yang tersisa:p Akhirnya kami pun memutuskan weekend di Jepang pada saat liburan hari raya imlek 2017.

Tentu saja hashtag #weekenddijepang yang kami share di akun instagram @tesyasblog menuai komentar, "Gila ya weekend-nya di Jepang" Hehehe.. Percayalah, kalau cutinya ada, kami memilih tidak memainkan hashtag tersebut. But on the other hand, kami memastikan bahwa dengan hanya 2 hari efektif yaitu Jumat dan Sabtu, kami bisa mengunjungi 3 kota yaitu Kyoto, Osaka dan Kobe.

Kunjungan pertama ke Kyoto, membuat hati kami meleleh. Aduh bahasanya lebay banget ini, tapi seriously we fell in love with every corner of Kyoto! Lihat aja beberapa postingan kami tentang Kyoto sebelumnya di link ini, pasti teman-teman juga setuju bahwa Kyoto is way too beautiful!


Foto ini menurut saya sih "Kyoto banget"
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Nara Deer Park - Day Trip From Kyoto


Nara Deer Park which is easily accessed from Kyoto was on the top of our Japan's itinerary. Going to a temple having hundreds of deers will be awesome for our Kiddos' experience.

We decided to do a day trip from Kyoto, and as we had learned that we could take a train from JR Inari Station to Nara, we planned to go to Nara after our visit to Fushimi Inari.  


I told mr.husband that from what I read, we should not take a local train from Kyoto to Nara, as it will be stopping in 21 stations, and add a 25 minutes extra to our journey to Nara. 

Waiting a JR local train at Fushimi Inari Station
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Why You Should Visit Fushimi Inari With Kids


What is the most famous shrine in Kyoto? I would answer Fushimi Inari, with its thousand of red Torii Gates. I have seen so many pictures of the beautiful red trails of the Torii Gates on websites as well as on instagram. Still, it left me with one important question: is Fushimi Inari a kids friendly temple to visit with kids?

Yes we had to walk up to the shrine and walked through thousand of Torii Gates, but along the way we stopped and found many interesting things for our Kiddos: from petting some cats to getting stamps at Fushimi Inari!
We had seen lots of things, enjoyed our visit, and took many pictures with the Torii gates (this below picture is one of my fave). 

I am going to share with you, why you should visit Fushimi Inari with kids.

A family picture taken by mr.husband at the Torii gates

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Higashiyama District, Not To Be Missed When Visiting Kiyomizu-dera


After an impressive visit to Kiyomizu-dera, it was time for us to enjoy the mochi and ice cream along Higashiyama District, the lane full of snakcs, souvenirs, restaurants and crafts between Kiyomizu-dera and Yashaka Shrine.

It's a beautiful lane, all the buildings are made froom wood, I felt like walking through a movie scene.


Welcome to Higashiyama District

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Kiyomizudera Temple, The Most Beautiful Temple in Kyoto


There are so many beautiful temples in Kyoto, but number one on my bucketlist was Kiyomizudera Temple. "You should go to Kiyomizudera and eat free mochi along Higashiyama District", my colleague told me.

Beside the temple, I read about the busy lane, which is called Higashiyama District. The lane is packed with souvenirs shops, mochi sellers, and matcha ice cream sellers ((Wooow matcha ice cream, I am comiiing!)).  

I have also seen many pictures of Kiyomizudera temple before going to Japan, and fell in love with it. We put our visit to the temple on our last day in Kyoto, and with it's beauty, I am sure this temple should be in your Kyoto's itinerary as well.


The Kiyomizudera Temple is amazingly beautiful!
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