Archive for December 2016

2-Day Course for Osaka Two-Day Amazing Pass 2016!

12/30/2016 01:32:00 AM 0 Comments A+ a-

I've been trying to think about what I could write for my two-day pass usage in Osaka, but it's so much for me to write in detail that I wished to leave the details in my next post, and summarize my itinerary in a single A4 paper. I hope it will be helpful to some of you!

For those that wonder if you wanted to continue viewing the photo... I'll just say that I've saved a little more than 10k yen with the pass! Of course, you aren't obliged to follow my schedule but feel free to check it out!

Let me know if you have any suggestions too! :)

Details in the next post as follow, so see you next time! ❤

Day 1: Click here to read Day 1
Day 2: Click here to read Day 2

p/s: You might need to click into the photo to view the details better.

My course with 2-Day Osaka Amazing Pass

One Day in Nara

12/22/2016 07:37:00 PM 0 Comments A+ a-

In my previous post I've talked about how horrible it was for me to be lost outside my own room for a long period of time, so yes, it disrupted my sleep cycle and my body automatically snoozed the alarm clock and I woke up really, really late and have been doubting if I should really go to Nara.

Then the other side of me was all "F**k this, just do it" and I ran all the way to the train station after making sure that I grabbed the things that I needed, headed to Namba and switched to Kintetsu.

Also boarded the express train and arrived Nara in less than an hour and bought Calpis! Calpis is sold in my home country, but Calpis in Malaysia tastes a lot thicker compared to the Japanese version. I personally prefer the Japanese version, though. The Malaysian version feels like you'd get tired of it after gulping down the entire bottle (or maybe it's just me). 





As many have known, Nara is very, very famous for having many deers going around, from parks to tourist areas and even to their streets. The closer you are towards the Nara park, you would see more deers! 

I walked my way from Kintetsu's Nara station to Kofukuji (It's also spelt as Kohfukuji, apparently) at first, and I've already been seeing deers on my way there. 


Hello, you cutie.


When I was on my way to Kofukuji, I realized that they have a giant place that is in reconstruction, as well as having a booth for fundraising towards the reconstruction. However, in the following photo are the places that you could enter. There's also a museum too. If you enter the eastern golden hall only, you'll pay 300 yen. If you enter the museum only, you'll pay 600 yen. However, if you purchase tickets for both place at once, you only pay 800 yen instead of 900 yen!


The eastern golden hall with the pagoda of kofukuji

Since I wasn't able to take photos of the indoors, I'll explain about what exists within the buildings itself! In the museum, there are artefacts that are dated back to the 14th century. Most explanations are in Japanese language, though there are some that are in English. There are also beautiful wooden sculptures too. I assumed that the most important sculpture is the one that is on their posters, which is the sculpture of the four-faced buddha sculpture. As for the eastern golden hall, you can see many different statues of buddha and 12 types of guardians. When I was in the hall, there weren't many people, so I took some time to sit down and look at the statues closely for the details. It was quiet and peaceful, so it's rather relaxing.

Later on, I walked out from the Eastern Golden Hall and walked towards Nanendo, which is about only 3 minutes of walk. I also took some time to look at the red leaves on my way there from another route and the view was beautiful.

Nanendo

In Nanendo, I also offered my prayers and spent 200 yen for omikuji. Here, they also offer stamping on notebooks for a small amount of yen. I've also heard about things such as using the 5 yen coin or 50 yen to pray for better luck, especially in terms of relationship (for friendship, business, or love..) from meeting new people, so I made a prayer with a 5-yen coin too! Hopefully it'll bring me some luck when I start my career. c:


I forgot where this was but I think I took it on my way to Nara National Museum...

Though I actually had a couple more places to visit during my day in Nara, but since I headed out really late I just decided to walk past while petting each deer that came to me. They are all nice and cute, but their furs aren't as soft as I imagined ;w; 

Oh! Speaking of the deers, you can see many merchants around anywhere that you can sight a deer that sells this cookie called "Shikasenbei". "Shika" means deer, and "senbei" literally means fried biscuit. You can get a stack of the cookies for 150 yen and feed the deers! Usually, the deers that had enough of food would be around grass areas and taking a rest, and those who are not feeling full enough would start wandering around tourists and hoping that the tourists would feed them something. 

The deers that I've encountered are all gentle and adorable, and they would also bow to me when they wished that I give them food too! Though I also witnessed from afar an incident where there's this tourist from China tried feeding a deer and right after the deer took the shikasenbei, it immediately ran away while his second attempt of feeding almost resulted him getting kicked, so yes, not all deers are cute and some of them can get really aggressive. 
Almost reaching Ukimidou

So I continued walking through the path along the Nara National Museum and wanting to visit Kasuga Taisha, I saw a signboard that writes Ukimidou (浮見堂) so I headed there instead of Kasuga Taisha to see what kind of views I could get, and I found myself some stairs and went my way down to see a lake with an observatory. I was lucky to also witness a photoshoot of a couple for their marriage! 


Photoshoot ongoing

Then I walked towards the wrong direction thanks to my hopeless GPS but I finally arrived Kasuga Taisha! The path to enter Kasuga Taisha is very, very long. Along the way into Kasuga Taisha, I saw many banners celebrating their temple-moving (遷宮 /Senguu). Senguu in the past happens when the emperors or shoguns build a temple and on every 60 years, the temple will be burnt down and reconstructed. However, right now, the reconstruction of the temple is seen as a waste of resources and it destroys the existing building that is seen as cultural heritage, so right now, after every 60 years, they will be carrying the statue body of the god from the temple's main hall towards outdoors, then move it back into the temple's main hall. It's a great ceremony!


Celebrating Kasuga Taisha's 60th Senguu

Along my way, I also see many groups of children practicing for another performance too! Most of them are practicing how to walk while carrying very lengthy poles (with adult supervision, no worries) and I think they are really impressive! I also think that people around here work really hard on cultural heritage and take pride of it! I don't think there is a very encouraging environment for cultural heritage in Malaysia that is publicly made like how I've been seeing in Japan, but Malaysia is working towards preserving cultures too! I really hope that one day, instead of saying that I'm a Malaysian Chinese, I'll just say that I'm a Malaysian.

To enter Kasuga Taisha, you will also be finding yourself climbing up to slopes and seeing many many stone lanterns lining along the way. Inside of Kasuga Taisha, you will find a lot of beautiful bronze lanterns, like there are really a LOT of them! You can lurk around the outer area for free, but if you wished to enter, make sure to enter before 4:30 pm after paying 500 yen of entrance fee. From December to February, Kasuga Taisha is closed on Mondays to keep that in mind too!


Path towards Kasuga Taisha


If you have some time to spare, you can also drop by the Kasuga Taisha Shinen Manyo Botanical Garden, but from what I've read online, most of them are dedicated to wisteria flowers that blooms during spring. There are about 250 types of plants so if you'd like to drop by, I don't think it would be a bad experience.


Kasuga Taisha

You make a payment here to visit the inner areas

Some of the pretty lanterns

Before I leave Kasuga Taisha, I also managed to see two Miko that are dressed up with an accessory on their hair, I'm not entirely sure if it's an outfit for a performance since it seems like there are performances coming up soon enough _(:3J

Oh they also have a place where you could see wisteria but it's not the season so you can only see dried roots :'D

Since I was short of time, I didn't visit the botanical garden. I took some time resting near the deer-like hand-purifying fountain and there's this cute deer that wouldn't stop bowing to me for food but I ran out of shikasenbei so I kept petting it instead and kept saying that I'm sorry because I ran out of food and I didn't even have lunch for myself because I stuphed and never buy myself lunch ;w;


You cutie ;w;

Anyways, after petting with the cute deer, I decided to run my way to Todaiji because it's almost 4pm and it takes about 15 minutes of walk to enter Todaiji.


Never forget to take a pause and look up to the sky

I used to sprint a lot during my school days, and every time when we had this annual marathon event in school, I'd like to look into the skies while running. I usually sprint in the very front so I didn't really fear about running into people, but to be honest, looking into the sky during a morning or evening marathon eases me a lot and I don't feel as tired. Though in the end I didn't actually win any marathons because I can only sprint for the first parts, but sprinting wears my legs out very quickly so I never bothered to continue running and walk towards the end point instead, as long as I get my mission cleared I'm done for the day lol 

And apparently that's how I happened to arrive Todaiji 20 minutes before closing time. On my way from Kasuga Taisha to Todaiji, there are also a row of souvenir shops (that are ridiculously expensive for some of the items) and also many deers. The closer I am to Todaiji, the more deers I see. That's because Todaiji is near the Nara park! :D

There's also a museum for Todaiji, but since I ran out of time, I only visited Todaiji itself. 



Can you see a samurai's face from Todaiji?

Todaiji acts as a landmark of Nara, and there were reconstruction works going on so I was only able to enter the main hall, called Daibutsuden. Daibutsuden = Big Buddha Hall. There lies the big buddha that is about 15m of height and his open hand alone is already the height of an average person!

Giant Bronze Buddha Statue
By the Buddha's sides, there are two Bodhisattvas statues. In Buddhism, Buddha are people that have achieved the state of enlightenment and is free from reincarnation, but bodhisattva are those who achieved enlightenment but decides to return to the normal life of people to aid those who are on their path towards achieving the enlightenment. I'm not good in explaining about these despite being born in a buddhist family, I'm sorry that I'm not very religious T_T

As you walk through the path, you will see models of the evolution of the building of the Todaiji, and also seeing some of the artefacts such as the types of roof tiles being used as well as some explanation on the type of material and wood, and then you can see more statues.

There's also a wooden pillar that has a hole near its base. It's said that the hole of the pillar has the same size as the giant buddha's nostril! If you could actually squeeze through the opening, you will be granted enlightenment in your next life. However, I am not petite enough to go through the nostril, so I gave up trying and made my exit.

When you step out of the main hall, on your left you could see another statue that it's said that if you rub the area of the statue, then rub the same part of the area on your body, the illness on that part will be cured. Because I had a fracture on my left leg during March and it hurts from time to time, I touched the statues on his legs and touched my ankle. Not sure if it works, but I just did it regardless.

I hopped on a bus that charges me around 210 yen (or was it 240 or 260? I can't really remember) to get to the Kintetsu station. The bus stop stops somewhere around Konishi Sakura Dori, so I thought of going through it since it's near the train station, so I bought my lunch + dinner at about 5:40pm, had a quick bite, and went to Animate Nara.


All Out!


I didn't spend in Animate Nara, to be frank. Somehow, I'm not sure if my memories served me wrongly, but I actually thought Animate Nara has a different pricing for their goods. The branch is small, but well-decorated. Animate Nara also won awards as one of the best-decorated Animate branches! On the day of my visit, they have two Tsukiuta standees for Yoru and You, but I'm not entirely sure if I could take a photo because the staff were there and I was shy to make a conversation on that day itself. Moreover, the standees were also close to the UtaPri corner that has stated "no photography" so... I didn't. Since it's a small branch, I didn't actually stay for too long. I lurked around the drugstores, bought nothing, and went back to Namba. 

On the other hand, another friend of mine that has visited Japan went to Kobe and asked me if I wanted to tag along for the illumination festival. I felt so tired when I was already in Kasuga Taisha so I ditched the plan to Kobe and lurked around Namba for the street illuminations and some okonomiyaki instead. 


Choo chooooo


I was recommended by the friend to try the okonomiyaki in Yukari, and this round, I ordered the mixed okonomiyaki for 1200 yen + tax. Initially, I thought I might not be able to finish it but I did. I also went YOLO and ate it with mustard and I'm now addicted to adding mustard towards any okonomiyaki I eat.


Mix Okonomiyaki in Yukari Sennichimae

When you are eating in Yukari, you might want to be mentally prepared that you might be sitting at a space where people would smoke right beside you and you couldn't actually do much about it. Also, if you needed mustard or tabasco sauce, you needed to request it from the staff that are working there. Yukari also offers plain water and would refill for you if your cup is around half empty too. If not mistaken, they have a menu in English. Initially they asked me in Japanese on whether I would like to have an English menu, I responded in Japanese and hence... I happened to get the Japanese menu lol.


MUSTAAAAAAAAAARD

I strayed around Namba, but this time, I lurked around Marui mall and Takashimaya, then headed to Haginochaya station to buy food from Tamade and headed home for a long soak and prepare for the following day.

My following two days are designed to abuse the Amazing Osaka Pass! I might need to take some time to write about it but I'll try my best. :D

Until next time!

Moving from Kyoto to Osaka!

12/19/2016 01:25:00 AM 0 Comments A+ a-

I've finally written so much that it's already my last day in Kyoto. No words can explain how much I love the city, the people and my guesthouse. Though there would really be many places that I'd love to drop by next time because my pace in Kyoto was a slow one that I didn't actually visit Arashiyama (because Arashiyama is actually a place that requires a lot of walking, which was one of my concerns as well). I have only passed by Toji and Kyoro's Aeon rather than entering both of the buildings, so I would put those in my to-do list when I visit Kyoto next time!

I took my time to have my final breakfast of noodles and onigiri that I bought, then tidied my bed space and headed out upon leaving my luggage on the sides of the room. I thought that I'd still have some time until afternoon before departing to Osaka since my check-in time is about 3pm, so I decided to re-visit the imperial palace of Kyoto since I missed the entrance time a couple of days ago.

As usual, I got my one-day bus ticket, hopped onto a bus to Shijo Omiya to change to another bus to stop in front of Doshisha University (where their students' choir group actually came to my university for student-exchange purposes). I walked and looked around, then walked to the imperial palace.


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I wanted to take some time to explain that the kanji in Chinese actually means the F-word that I can't stop laughing on my way to the Imperial Palace of Kyoto

When I recalled how I actually missed the entrance time by only a few minutes, I saw the above coffee shop that is called "Kan" but because my mood was a little bad, I read it in Chinese "gan" and started laughing at it instead. It isn't open by the day I visited the imperial palace again, which is a little sad because I was thinking of dropping by for a cup of a not-so-coffee-ish coffee. ヾ(*｀⌒´*)ﾉ yudodistome

Also, the good news about the imperial palace of Kyoto is that, you no longer need a reservation to enter the palace grounds, so I never did! However, if you would like to have a tour in English, you can head to their office and make a reservation, then show up if you want to. I was lucky enough to be able to enter the palace, and just in time, there is a Japanese tour group so I just tagged along to listen to some of the tour guide's explanations (and also busy looking around).



Rest Area

Of course, before you enter the palace grounds, your bags will be checked. Since I was only bringing a very tiny slingbag, my bag was almost not noticable but I surrendered my bag for checking regardless. There was this scenario that I find a little funny between me and the officer, the conversation was in Japanese so it's a rough translation:

Officer: Did you come barehand? 
Me: Actually, I do have a bag... *surrenders bag on table*
Officer: Would you mind showing us what you have in the bag?
Me: Sure, here's my sunglasses, my umbrella, my pocket wifi and its powerbank..
Officer: *nods*
Me: My powerbank... my eyedrops...
Officer: *nodding*
Me: My mirror, my USB... And another powerbank
Officer: So many powerbanks www
Me: Ya I would panic if my phone run low on battery w
Officer: Okay you can pass and enjoy your visit!
Me: lololol ok thanks ﾌﾞｩｰﾝε=ε=(o*・ω・)o


Once you have passed the security check, you will be given a visitor's tag and find a rest area towards your right. You can rest there after circling the palace grounds. So I tagged along the tour guide and walked through the palace while he explains about the usage of the buildings, the meaning of the drawings and how the guest rooms are used depending on the type of guest. I don't really remember most of them so... Have some photos :D


I wonder what I was trying to do while taking this photo



Click to view the photo in full :D





I'm not sure why, but I like this photo




The entire tour took me about 1 hour and 10 minutes. And after taking photos and walking around the gardens, I left the imperial palace after returning the visitor's tag and headed back to my guesthouse at 1:30pm and checked out. 

I dragged my bag to Shijo Omiya to board the Hankyu line to Umeda station. Another friend of mine, Yuu-tan lives a station away from Umeda station and she explains that most locals would call the Osaka station area as Umeda, but for the Osaka station, it's run by JR and Umeda station is for the Hankyu line. The station buildings were really huge that I got so lost inside.

I arrived Umeda at 2:40pm and my host actually agreed to pick me up from there after hearing that I sprained my ankle, but a stranger pointed me to the complete opposite direction when I asked for directions (I was supposed to meet my host in Umeda station's Kinokuniya) that I walked all the way to the JR station and went ??????? but then I also saw the tourist's information center so I kind of went "heck it, I'm gonna get my 2-day Osaka Amazing pass and ask for proper directions again" so I finally managed to find my host :'D

My host, Haruko is a really sweet person! She and her husband run a personal business, and they fetched me all the way from the station and sightseeing around Namba before dropping me off in my room. I had my own room that is really, really large and it was so comfy (though I really missed my guest house in Kyoto because mochi has my love). I was also briefed about the area, the stations, the stores around and given a sheet of paper in case I got lost. 

I took my time resting in the room and charging my devices, then headed out to Namba station and walk to Den-Den town - It's like the Osaka's Akihabara. Sadly, the shops here close as early as 8 or 9pm so I didn't get to see very much, but I managed to grab some okonomiyaki from Yukari!


When you exit Namba station

I thought that the night is still young and Kotobukiya is closed earlier than I anticipated, so I walked to Namba to look at the illuminations. There are many indie groups or singers performing on the streets! Some of them also make posters and placing CDs for those who are interested in buying their songs. :)


Den Den Den Den Town _(:3J 

I also walked into Ebisubashi to look at the surroundings, and they have so many shops and it was very, very crowded. Probably because it was a weekend.


Ebisubashi

Along Namba, you will see many trees that are well-lit! The entire street is full with illuminations so I jokingly told Yuu-tan that it'd be great if I could date someone right away just to watch the illumination lololol and she ended up agreeing with me X'D


Illuminations in Namba \o/

More illuminations

I forgot where I was but look at this majestic golden dragon

I went back around 11pm since the station was not very far from where I live (somewhere around Tsurumibashi), but when I got back, it was really, really dark and my GPS failed me so hard that I didn't know how to go home. I remembered how I walked from one point to another trying to search for proper signal but my GPS just refuses to work for me.

The shops around me were all CLOSED. The streets were eerily quiet and I didn't know what to do but to continue walking and hoping that someone passes by so that I can ask for directions, but my luck was horrid that every cyclist I met cycled away from me pretending that they heard nothing. I panicked even harder because it's getting really, really late, and I am still stuck outside when the winds are getting stronger and my phone's running low on battery and I forgot to bring a USB cable when I head out so there's no way for me to charge my device either.

I managed to walk through this covered tunnel full of shops and everything's closed. Then there's this lady that suddenly came out from her shop decorating things for Christmas and I just ran my way to her and going "すみません、あたし、ちょっと迷子になちゃったの…" and she immediately went "ararara..." and showed me my way home and I'm just trying to hold my tears and thanked her so many times and ran my way back to my room (T_T)

By the time I got home, it is almost midnight.


Dango

On a side note, I also got these from a convenience store and since I plan to visit Nara, I thought of bringing them with me to Nara but I ended up eating those for supper lol

And yes, my following day will be a short day trip to Nara!

Will update when I get the time to! :D

Until next time~ ☆

Silver Pavilion and Animate Cafe Kyoto!

12/18/2016 02:29:00 AM 0 Comments A+ a-

I didn't really know how I should write about this day and I was busy on other things, and now when I finally got the time to write, I'll just write however my muse wants me to uwu

So on my second last day in Kyoto, I went out with my dear friend Komori from Osaka! To think that it's the second last day, I've been really grateful that I have a very, very soft pillow in my guesthouse. It's so soft that I wanted to carry it home so badly but I can't _(:3J

I named the pillow as mochi because it's green and it is so soft and so round and ahhhh basically a piece of mochi - except that it isn't sticky. 


Meet mochi!

Upon having a light breakfast and a short chit-chat with my dorm-mate that is checking out today, I hopped onto the bus to Shijo Matsubara to meet Komori! He came all the way from Osaka, so he arrives in Matsubara station via Hankyu line so that it'll be convenient. :)

We then hopped onto a bus from Shijo Matsubara, all the way to Ginkakuji (or Jisho-ji). We were dropped off a few metres away from the Philosopher's path and took a nice photo of it. It doesn't have much leaves on anymore, since the winds were strong on these few days, but it's still a unique scene. :)

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Leaf-less Philosopher Path


The philosopher's path was not as long as I've anticipated it to, or maybe it was also because we were talking that the walking doesn't feel like it's going to take forever. One of the perks when you aren't travelling alone, I suppose? :D


Okay there're actually some leaves on the tree


After walking through the philosopher's path, we walked a little more to enter the silver pavilion! The entrance fee to Ginkakuji was 500 yen, and upon the entrance, you can go to a corner to buy omamori. If you like to collect stamp prints, there are many temples that offers to stamp your notebook with a stamp from the temple with a fee of approximately 300~500 yen, depending on the temple you are visiting. 

Because my stupid brain was thinking that the building will be covered in silver like how Kinkakuji (golden pavilion) would be covered in gold, I was wondering why I'm seeing a wooden building upon entrance...



The kannon-den itself

Then later on, we saw this grey area, which is a uniquely beautiful sand garden and I was pondering so much until I realized that there's a label saying that it's Ginsadan, which literally means silver sand and I was like, OHHHH OMG SO THAT'S HOW IT'S CALLED SILVER PAVILION and later on I realized that it's also because the initial plans for the building is to have the kannon-den covered in silver foil on the exterior, something like Kinkakuji. 

#okayiamstupidindeed


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The silver sand garden with the Kannon-den

As you walk along the path you'll see building structures that looked like a house, that's actually because there was a shogun named Ashikaga Yoshimasa initiated the plans in construction as a villa and had plans for the place to be used as a Zen temple after his death. According to what I've later read online, he only acted as a shogun for three years and died because he fell off from a horse. (Ouch...)

And later on we also walked up to a path of trees and looked around the scenery while I was trying to see if Kyoto Tower would be in the sightings but the answer was NOPE (You can see it from Kiyomizudera though!) so we took our time walking down again, only to realize that there's a stone torii that I wanna take a silly photo at so we kinda walked back to where we entered and Komori helped me to take my silly picture. (Thank you so much ♡)


(Y)

Oh, and about the silly picture? Ain't letting you to see it here. Leave us some privacy, please. X'D

After visiting the Ginkakuji, we took our time deciding what to eat, because I'm not too certain about what I'd like to eat because Japan has so much of nice food and my inner Libra would not allow me to choose in a short time, I allowed Komori-san to take his pick. He said that he likes soba a lot, so we decided to head to a soba noodles house and I childishly suggested that I wanted to eat noodles on a tatami so... we did! :D


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Lunch of the day

Back in my home I'd have places where I can buy hot noodles, so I ordered cold soba with two onigiri that costs about 950 yen, it also comes along with tea. I actually took a photo of our food but phone decided to troll me so hard that I lost the other photo and all I could remember that my dear friend ordered hot noodles with rice, which also comes with tea. It was something something teishoku and I don't remember the full name ;w;

The food taste well! I forgot the restaurant's name, but it was just on the way out from Ginkakuji with a large panel of food display, so I'm sure that you can find it too :D

And after our meal, we walked on the opposite side of the philosopher's path and I saw peach-flavored ice-cream that I glued my eyes on it, so I tried excusing myself and buy the ice-cream, but Komori was so nice that he joined in and paid for my part too even though I have mentioned that I'll pay him back (he actually was the one that paid throughout the trip since the entrance tickets and I was trying to return the money I'm just- ;;;;) but he's all "It's my country, so I should treat you." and I'm just ｡･ﾟ･(´□｀*)･ﾟ･｡ｱﾘｶﾞﾄｫｫｫ and "Please visit my country so I can treat you too!"

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Mixed flavored ice-cream: Peach, Matcha and Vanilla

We also tried waiting for the bus on the opposite side of the road, where it's filled with many ginko trees! Ginko trees are like, everywhere in Japan but they are really, really beautiful when it's autumn where everything turns yellow. There was this strong gush of wind that almost sent leaves to our ice-creams, though. Almost. (｡･m･)ｸｽｸｽ

Not being entirely sure if there was a bus delay, we walked further along the opposite side of the philosopher's path to take a bus back to Matsubara and we see each other off in the Hankyu station after I learnt about how to get to Osaka using the same railway on the following day (｡･ｗ･｡ )

Later of the day, I spent my hours shopping in Matsumoto Kiyoshi because there's an offer on cosmetic products and I tested on so many things on the back of my hand for hours because I was so indecisive on which blusher I should get and the orange ones look really nice on my skin, somehow, but there are so many of them around from different brands so my face was like (ﾟ口ﾟ; howdoIchoose

and later of the shopping haul I went to Kyoto station, but this time, to shop underneath the station itself rather than going upstairs. Under the Kyoto station, there are many places for food and also beautiful Christmas decors! I also looked around for souvenirs and my legs decided to send me a "I'm worn out, pls rest" message so I decided to rest around the giant Xmas tree in the Kyoto station.


One of the cute Christmas decorations under Kyoto station

I took some time resting in the staircase area  (where it actually gets a little wet if it rains) to find out that the staircase changes the colors constantly, and it also writes 'Welcome to Kyoto' but I lost all of the beautiful footage that I took, which was really sad for me. They also had a Kyoto eAR app that you can download and position it with the Christmas Tree or Kyoto Tower for the best effects, where it will deliver you a Christmas message! You can also video-record it.

Later on, I walked to Kyoto Avanti to visit an Animate branch, but I didn't really find things that interested me over there except for a few things that I could get as a present for my friends back in Malaysia. I also managed to adopt another Sousuke mini figure that my collection is one step closer to completion! Though there are a few that I didn't actually get because of space and design issues uwu


Hello Animate Avanti Kyoto

I also took some time walking around Avanti to realize that there are little shops that sell kimono and its accessories. I went to take a look with hopes to find something matching my current set, but my luck was bad. However, the store owner told me that they also have a branch in Osaka and gave me a 1000 yen coupon that I could use it in the Osaka branch if I had the chance to drop by, but somehow I didn't manage to get the time to drop by their Osaka branch because I was dead tired.


In Kyoto Avanti


Later of the day, the winds started to get stronger and I realized that I might be late if I don't get to Animate Kyoto, so I walked my way back to the Kyoto station and hopped on a bus back to Shijo Matsubara (yes I visit there very often I know too).


Kyoto Tower at night

Since it was also my last night in Kyoto, I thought of taking some time to look at their busiest areas after my slot in Animate Cafe. 

And apparently, I arrived 30 minutes before my given time slot. 


Animate Cafe Kyoto - Theme: Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru

The theme of the Animate cafe this round is for the online game series Touken Ranbu! It's recently animated and titled as Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru. Later on, it'll be another series for Touken Ranbu animated by Ufotable and Ufotable's PVs are just making me to cry each time because they are so beautiful ( ///////)

Because there are actually customers occupying the cafe space in another time slot, I was asked to come back 10 minutes before my given time. So I lurked around to look for kimono accessories (but once again low luck) and headed back to Animate cafe. 

For this theme, the assigned timeslot is only 30 minutes. Sounds ridiculous, but it isn't really that ridiculous when the menu items are all drinks, except for Uguisumaru's, where his has a tiny slice of cake with gold foil on it. So you can definitely get them into your stomach (or at least, that was my case). 

Before your given time slot, you'll be lining up by a side, and you'll be requested to show your confirmation message on your Anicafe webpage (if you don't have internet then screenshot it or something) and if you are a foreigner, please make sure to bring your passport for identity identification. My Animate account name was in kanji, but somehow, because my passport only shows my English name, it does make the process a little harder but it is understandable so I got my number safely!


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My given number

After getting a number, you will be given a brief explanation (in Japanese) about how the cafe works, where you will also be given a basket, and allowed to look at the merchandises and decide if you'd buy them (of course I'd grab some stuff duh lol) and pay at the register while ordering your food when you make your payment. If you are a member of Animate, be sure to show them your barcode or your card as a member to earn 5% of points from the merchandises! 

Basically, after your payment, you are required to sit according to your given number. Some of the seats require you to sit with other customers and thankfully it wasn't my seat because *can't converse* 

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How could I not take a selfie when I'm here, though?

Also, on each food menu you'll get a coaster, and I actually ordered three menu items, 500 yen each. Throughout the thirty minutes you can just gulp them down or if you needed them to be taken away, please tell the staff before you make a payment so they can pack it properly for you behind the scenes. 


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My Anicafe order

My order came very quickly, and I forgot to take a good picture before drinking Imanotsurugi's menu item, but his menu item is a grape-flavored yogurt drink with a small dango. 

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Uguisumaru's menu item

For Uguisumaru's menu, it's a cup of green tea (not matcha but I'm not too sure what it is...) and it also comes with a small piece of butter cake with gold foil on the top. (It's edible, no worries). 


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Hanamaru's Cappuccino

My nightmare: coffee. I completely forgot about the menu item being coffee and I feel really, really sleepy after gulping it down. My body works like it is building resistance towards caffeine. _(:3J

Oh and after eating our stuff, we can see customers starting to open up their blind boxes (I didn't get them, too risky for my wallet) and started trading around. I actually liked Uguisumaru a lot (Though my favorites are Taroutachi and Juzumaru, but they aren't in the merchandise series) so I changed my Yamabangiri with a girl that has a Uguisumaru coaster. 



I summon my sword men!

Above the cafe you can find yourself being in a store that sells everything TOUKEN RANBU. They had a torii, a place with lanterns, and also a place with the bell where you summon the swords to gather. There's also a place where you can get really creative and write to deliver your thanks to the anime team, which most of us actually drew something or gave up drawing. I had Uguisumaru chibi on my drawing and I've been lurking there to decide if I should get the merchandises ;w; 


Behind me contains lanterns with everyone's symbols

There's also a playing of voices where no recording or photo-taking was allowed near the area, where Kashuu and Yasusada would be welcoming you to the Touken Ranbu store and trash-talking about you being at home all the time and it's so rare that you are going out to buy stuff. I FEEL OFFENDED. Jks I love my swords okay maybe except one or two

I was pondering so hard and I could not decide which pattern that I'd like, and I started to think that if I'd get one my other sword babies would be sad because I didn't pick them so in the end... I did not get anything and fled. ﾋﾟｭｰｯ!≡≡≡ﾍ(*ﾟ∇ﾟ)ﾉ

And because I'll need to check out on the following day, I just looked around Matsubara for the illuminations and reminiscing how much I loved kyoto, and went back to my guesthouse to get drunk (jks I wasn't drunk) to get a nice sleep because...

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3% alcohol, peach flavored and it tastes so nice
I had a roommate that snores. :'D


And that's all for my current update! Next post would be my visit to the Imperial Palace of Kyoto and Osaka! :D

Until next time! ★
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