Japanagon: KYOTO Part 1

I left Osaka with a broken heart. I was trying to just look forward, look ahead on our next stops, but I can't seem to leave our place just yet. Anyway, my plans is to go back for the other things and places in this city in 2 or 3 years, super bitin pa ako I had to drag myself outside and leave this door. I was thinking of our daily Lawson breakfasts when we left. :p

From Osaka, we took the Japan Railway which took us around 30 minutes to get to Kyoto for just 540 Yen (Php 200). We brought all our luggages with us, and although ang laki nila, it wasn't super hassle and was actually a pretty normal thing in Japan. Everyone looks mobile, everyone looks ready to go.

Everything looks VSCO-ed in Kyoto, the view during our walk to the hostel is either in A6 or HB1. To prove my point, these 4 pictures are unedited and have no filters!

After several detours and asking for directions, we finally saw our place, the Hostel Guest Hyakumanben Cross. Super nainlove na naman ako.

This is just the worst part, and that's it: We had to go up to the third floor to get into our room... WITH our maleta na mas mabigat pa ata sa amin ni Ate combined! The receptionist's assistant though was super helpful (and strong!), she helped us carry everything.

Welcome home! The friendly vibes of our third floor hallway:

Common but very clean restrooms, with separate shower and toilet area:

The simple wash area, made beautiful by the hostel's natural lighting:

In our floor, there are two common rooms with 2 bunk beds, one is an all-girls room and the other is co-ed:


Ate, arranging her things in the cabinet. You can store your personal things and valuables in the provided padlocked wooden cabinets (one per head), or just keep everything in your maleta (like me, haha, since 2 nights lang naman kami there).


I like the wooden bunk beds here, I love my space! Super comfortable, each bed had curtains, night lamps, sockets, and a secret side cabinet.






I changed clothes before we headed down again to check out the kitchen / common room. Internet here is by floor, and super fast.

No wonder it is clean and well-maintained, shoes are not allowed inside the hostel. They situated several shoe shelves upon entrance.

Ate was planning our day's itinerary at the dining table.


We prepared our food and drinks here, may toaster, ref, coffee maker (free coffee and bread), but we also made sure to clean up after.

And then we were out-and-about again! Sulitin na ang araw! Welcome to a world that looks as if it came straight out of a Murakami novel:

Aside from getting ANY plate from whatever rolls by the conveyor belt, you can also make special orders (para fresh) via this high tech touch screen sorcery that shows their complete menu + price list.

They also have desserts, drinks, soups, etcetera.


Selfie muna! Haha! Your touch screen orders will arrive via the TOP conveyor belt. Sa totoo lang, hindi na ata nila kailangan ng waitress! 

Ahhhh! My mayo-corn, tamago, and egg--I think I had 2-3 plates of these, each. After eating, plates were conveniently disposed in that silver thing at the side of the table, which will automatically count the number of plates you've consumed + your bill. Again, payments were made at the counter before exiting the restaurant. 

Flowers were just starting to blossom.

Every walk and every corner super ganda. Light leeks in pictures come out naturally.


Vendors and cafes lined the streets:

Matcha "hawhaw"?



A homey-version of UCC coffee shop:




Free taste is Ate's thing, hehe:

We got an ice cream cone before turning around and headed back. I had the Cherry Blossoms flavor, while Ate tried the famous Black Sesame. Ang sarap nga ba ng ice cream, or ang sarap lang ng feeling of having an ice cream while strolling this place?

Ginshadan, Ginkaku-ji's sand garden, carefully formed to symbolize Mount Fuji.

The Kannon Hall, and the pond that makes it photogenic (with the reflection effect). Although known as the Silver Pavilion, napansin ko na hindi siya color silver IRL. The original plan pala was to cover it in silver foil, but hindi natuloy. 

Nonetheless, it is still a sight to behold. I also enjoyed the nature walks surrounding the temple. Kung blogger friends ang kasama ko dito, OOTD pa more! Haha.

When nighttime fell, we sneaked our way to Gion.

We took several turns, and made the right decision to enter this small alley, leading to a cold and quiet place...

Right place and right time? Maybe! Thank you for the warm welcome, Kyoto!