This is my blog of Kyoto and Osaka Japan prior to returning to Singapore. (Completed March 14, 2019 on Silk Air flight from Chiang Mai Thailand to Singapore with final touches back at apartment in Singapore. Cambodia, Singapore, Bali, Vietnam and Thailand to come!)
As I mentioned in the last blog for Toyko we have found that having a good private guide is often the best way to go. We took this approach in Kyoto when I diligently searched for guides on the Japan Triplelights.com site. We corresponded with guide Lisa Watanabe several times before traveling and she put together a great schedule in Kyoto and Osaka including getting us to the gate at the Osaka airport for our return to Singapore.
I will recount some of the trip, including photos, but here is my review of our visit to Kyoto and Osaka. See the 7th review down that I issued (at least that is where it was today) labeled “Lisa leads the way in Kyoto.”
https://triplelights.com/japan/kyoto/review/5172
Her email also is lisa@timetraveljapan.com just in case she isn’t with Triple Lights (although many of their other guides there also get good reviews.) We warned her that we may be sending referrals so just mention Jim and Susan Hollingsworth and my sprained ankle and she will probably remember us!
Sunday January 27, 2019
After following Lisa’s advice and checking into the super-convenient Hotel Granvia located at the Kyoto train station, we decided to try that Que Pasa Mexican restaurant in Kyoto that I had read about in the Toyko newspaper. It was a bit of a taxi ride and for a while we thought the driver was lost but he made it and we went in and met the owner Ryota Kurakowa (age 28) (on the left) and his assistant. An Uber Eats motorbike driver was also there picking up an order and several Americans were eating there alongside Japanese friends.
They were very enthusiastic about the new business and were super-impressed when I jokingly told them we’d seen the newspaper review article that morning in the Toyko paper and decided to jump on the Shinkansen (bullet train) for the 2.5 hour ride to Kyoto yo check out Que Pasa! The guacamole and chips and burritos and margaritas were actually quite good so we enjoyed them as our first meal in Kyoto.
And when we told Ryota about the article he was very pleased since he only seen it online and while we were there he called his father who went out and bought a couple of hard copies of the newspaper so if you ever get to Que Pasa in Kyoto I wouldn’t doubt that one of the articles could be framed and on the wall.
We also met a couple of interesting characters there including a guy named Jay Crystall who told us he’d lived in Kyoto for around ten years but was from New Jersey. He apparently owns a school there and had just written a book called “Lovesic in Kyoto” with a ghost writer named Kathryn Lennox.
I keep googling the book and Jay Crystall but it must not be out yet. But he does have a few music videos out there. Not exactly my style but he does have a pretty good voice! Good luck on the book Jay.
Here is a map with directions from the Hotel Granvia in Japanese to Que Pasa. (I’m not yet on commission there but hope people will try it!) Lisa said she would!
Monday January 28, 2019
Our guide Lisa met us at 8 am in our hotel lobby and off we went!
Our first stop was the beautiful Kinkakuji (Golden pavilion) Shrine with its brilliant gold trim.
This was one of Susan’s favorite places and in the gift shop she kept admiring a print of the Shrine. After Susan bought a small magnet, I surreptitiously bought the print and we hid it in Lisa’s backpack for the next two days and put it in my suitcase on the Osaka subway. I was able to get it back to Singapore and kept it hidden until Valentines Day when I gave it to her as a present. She was very pleased and surprised. I would strongly recommend going to the Kinkakuji Golden Pavilion if you ever visit Kyoto!
After the Golden Pavilion we went to a place called the Bamboo Forest. It was very impressive as were stories about how it grew about three feet a day!
Following the Arashiyama bamboo forest, we went to another shrine that also had a UNESCO World Heritage garden called the Sogenchi Gardens which was very beautiful.
After this we went to a small town that had a nice shopping street by a river. The first picture is an owl and cat forest where we passed on having coffee with live cats and big owls! The third and fourth ones were from a “food model” store where food vendors can purchase plastic models of their food to put in the window. They really help when you can’t read the menu. 
We also had some green tea ice cream and some bamboo ice cream along the shopping street. Pretty tasty.
Following this we kept taking trains and walking and walking and walking! I was really dragging and Susan kept saying “look ahead” and “keep your head up” and Lisa kept saying “only ten more minutes, only ten more minutes.”
Well those “ten minutes” turned into 18,606 steps for the day.
We finished at the famous Nijo-jo Castle, right before they closed. Lisa shared how the Shoguns ruled the castle and how there were different meeting rooms to greet the Shogun ruler, depending on the visitor’s status.
That evening we took Lisa’s suggestion and went for fried pork tenderloin in Kyoto. It was really delicious and they even had a special cut which I tried but Susan said it tasted like her “normal” version.
There are several locations for Katsumara restaurants including one in “The Cube” at Kyoto Station but we went to the Main Shop based on Lisa’s recommendation and it was great. Here is a review and some photos:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/foodicles.com/best-katsu-japan-katsukura/amp/
The next day we got up early and checked out of the hotel and met Lisa at 8 AM for our train ride to Osaka which is about an hour from Kyoto. Lisa explained along the way that she had grown up there so she was very familiar with the history and how to get around.
In Osaka we visited the Osaka castle, Kuromon Ichiba Market, and the Dotombori shopping street. For lunch we had the delicious “Shabushabu” which consisted of dipping and swirling thinly sliced beef into a flavorful hot pot but only long enough to say “Shabushabu.” It was a lot of fun and tasted very good.
Just like Kyoto we put in a lot of steps in Osaka (over 15,000) so I had a pretty good week on my “MyFitnessPal” step counter.
As promised Lisa took us right to our gate in Osaka and was going to visit her mother in Osaka that evening. She plans to get married to a guy from California next year so we hope we may run into her again and If she keeps doing tours we would love to do another one with her! Thank you Lisa and best to you in the future!
End of Kyoto and Osaka blog! Cambodia is next big destination!
Jim Hollingsworth
(March 14, 2018)
Singapore Travel Blog 