Yoshikawa Ryokan Part 2 & Fushimi Inari

Awkward couple picture lol We took a stroll around the interior garden after breakfast our last day.

I figure I will post our Kaiseki and traditional Japanese breakfast on the next post, and focus on some scenery pictures from Yoshikawa, and talk about our hike up Fushimi Inari.

View from our room in the evening <3

Super awkward selfie time!

 Poor Kitsune was unable to fit into any of the sandals that were provided for him to wear. They were so small on him! He tolerated the pain, but had a hard time walking.

Poor Kitsune Paws!

Handsome Kitsune lounging on his futon <3

Waiting to head down to breakfast in our little reading nook

Enjoyed wearing the cotton Yukata provided for us <3

So, we went off to climb Fushimi Inari and see the sunset from the top of the mountain. Fushimi Inari was perfect for Kitsune, because it was full of foxes! Tons of Kitsune guardian statues, and the tourist trap stalls were full of Kitsune figurines etc. Super fun to see!

Just about to enter the shrine

Map of the Shrine

The pillars were enormous! This is the shrine you always see on TV of people wandering through the really close Torii, their vivid bright red color shining in the dim sunlight. In reality the place is really fascinating, but definitely not very red. Much more of an orange color. Some spots were reddish, but have to say all those pictures you see are VERY saturated lol. Lots of tourists, so it was difficult to get good pictures. Even so, I wish I could have captured the feeling you get walking through the tunnels.

Handsome Kitsune and adorbs Littlebear!

So the first few Torii tunnels you walk through are not super close together. There are plenty of larger gaps between them so you don't really feel enclosed.

Then you enter the Torii section that is always shown for tourists. The beams much closer together, and the feeling of walking through a cool portal of some sort hits you. I really wish my pictures could show the feeling of being there. I took a bunch of video, but I am trash-sauce at video taking apparently T.T I will try to edit them once we are back home.

View of the close Torii tunnel

 Once you exit the Torii tunnels, you wander around following the paths through graves and random shrines. Further up the mountain, you re-enter the Torii tunnels, but nothing super close together anymore. The further up you climb, the thinner the crowd becomes.

My camera battery started to die at this point, so I had to plug it into my power bank and wait to just take the sunset pics we were hoping to get.

Have I mentioned this shrine is on a mountain? And you have to climb a BAZILLION stairs? Have I mentioned how much I HATE stairs? No? Well, I abso-frickin-lutly HATE stairs lol They are my nemesis.

Know Kung Fu Panda? That whole scene with Poe and the stairs? Yeah. That's me. Ugh

The air was cold, but half way up the mountain Kitsune and I were so sweaty and boiling that we had to strip out of our jackets and keep climbing in our t-shirts. Yeah....we got some strange looks.

Mid point pic of Kyoto before sunset

 Unfortunately we arrived at the shrine a bit late in the day, so we didn't really have a lot of time to hike up the mountain if we wanted to catch the sunset. So we were hoofing it which made those bloody stairs all the worse T.T  When we reached this mid point and the crowds were pretty thin, I was so pooped and told Kitsune this was good enough. I don't want to keep going (it was all stairs from that point on practically) but Kitsune bolstered me up and convinced me to see the hike through. I'm glad he did because the scenery of Kyoto at the top was stunning. There were like 3 people there with us, so it was quiet. We rested and watched the sun shimmer over Kyoto through the clouds.

Top overlook of Kyoto

So...here's the funny part. Our legs were tired, we were still jet-lagged, and we still needed to hike down the mountain. There weren't really any people to follow, and the signs weren't very good at telling us where to actually go. So when I saw 2 people heading down a hill, instead of the very steep stair case off shoot, I said "Lets follow them!"

Then they turned around and came back. Saw us and warned us the slope got really steep and they weren't sure if that was the right way to go. So, Kitsune and I turned around to follow them again, but I really didn't want to hike back up the hill we had already gone down, nor did my knees want to handle really steep stairs. 

So we kept heading down the hill.

And after quite a steep downhill trek, we encountered a barrier across the road. Neither of us could read the signs, so we had no idea if we could actually head onward, or if it would be really bad. 

I was tired, and totally NOT hiking up the extreme slope we had just climbed down. So I donned my "I'm an idiot tourist face" and figured I would just play dumb and apologetic if we got in trouble.

Thankfully, we ended up in a residential area. Unfortunately, we had no clue where we were.

We ended up quite far from the shrine, and luckily Kitsune's phone had signal and was able to GPS us to the closest rail stop.

We had quite the adventure, and honestly, even with all the aches and pains and tiredness we felt, I wouldn't change a thing. If I am going to get completely lost in a foreign country, I wouldn't want to be with anyone else other than my Kitsune. <3 

Yoshikawa Ryokan part 1 & Chisou Inaseya (for Chicken Sashimi O.o)

Yoshikawa Ryokan, is a wonderful place to stay. Definitely want to stay there again when we go back to Kyoto someday <3

We arrived in the evening, around 7pm. Dropped our stuff off, had some tea, and asked if they could secure us a reservation for dinner at Chisou Inaseya. Dinner was secured at 7:30pm, and we quickly finished up checking in and headed out.

Unfortunately, my stomach had been bothering me since before we left San Francisco. Because of this, I had no appetite, and felt completely unable to handle meat.

The whole reason to come to this place was to try their Chicken Sashimi. T.T

Kitsune was disappointed in my stomach, but tolerated the fact that I was unable to really contribute in eating a lot.

Chicken Sashimi Spread. All different cuts, and parts of the chicken.

Interesting grain on the chicken. I only tried one piece from the middle portion.

Honestly, Chicken Sashimi is kinda whatever. There really wasn't much difference from a typical white fish sashimi. There was a slight chicken flavor, but overall was a bit bland. Glad we were able to try it, but not something I would bother seeking out again.

 

 

We drank several different Nihonshu (sake) at the waiters recommendation. Kitsune and I each had something different and shared. A few bottles I wasn't quick enough to capture. I think we each had 3 different glasses of Nihonshu.

Lotus root and chicken ham salad

I did feel able to eat light foods, vinegar-ed preferably. Not pictured are the assorted Japanese pickles we ordered as well. Those pickles were soooooo good!

The Crispy Lotus Root and Chicken Ham Salad was super tasty. The tomatoes were juicy, the chicken ham was really flavorful (I couldn't eat much of that, because my stomach hated me). The whole thing was lightly vinegar-ed and so good.

We headed back to our Ryokan, quite tired, and found that they had laid out our futons for the evening. Kitsune was thrilled with these futon mattresses. They ended up being his favorite from the whole trip :D

In true Japanese style, you sit on the stool, fill the bucket with water, and douse yourself. You wash with the water off, quickly, and then rinse thoroughly. Once clean, you then step into the tub.

We took a shower and uncovered our prepared bath for a bit of a soak before bed. The tub is not drained, you just cover it up when finished, then replenish the displaced water with hot next time you soak.

Tea set that is set out each evening for after meal

The room we were given was on the second floor, and it was simply stunning. We were upgraded surprisingly, the room was spacious and super comfortable. The views of the interior garden were absolutely gorgeous! Littlebear completely approved :D

We both slept wonderfully that evening. Due to jet lag, we were up quite early, but enjoyed a leisurely morning before we were brought down to the private dinning room for our traditional Japanese breakfast.

 I was still a bit unsure how things worked, so felt uncomfortable bringing my camera and phone for the first breakfast. Once I realized photos were welcomed, I made sure to bring them both next time we went down to eat.

First Blog of 2019!

Aaaaaahhhhhhhhh..............

Our Asia trip this year has been so amazing. Lots of new experiences, warm memories, and new friends. 

It also has been pretty non-stop. So. Very. Tired. lol

Now, we are in Hong Kong and staying put for more than 2 days. As such, I can finally take a moment to start to record our experiences!

Littlebear and Fae waiting for our flight in Polaris Lounge

After spending a few days with our friends Debbie and Dave in San Francisco, we chilled at SFO Polaris Lounge while we waited for our midnight flight to Hong Kong.

We stayed on the bottom level, watching the planes and just relaxing. The upstairs was where the food was available. Polaris is a beautiful and comfortable lounge.

Singapore Business Class

Singapore Airlines has always been one of our favorite airlines to fly. The service is so wonderful, very friendly. This was our first time to fly in Business on Singapore, and frankly, I think it is my favorite of the few we have tried. 

The seats are super comfortable, very spacious, and the IFE screens are really big! Kitsune and I felt so blessed and amazed to be able to fly up front. As is our custom, we presented chocolate to the flight attendants to thank them for taking care of us on the long haul flight.

The flight attendants were so appreciative, and even came by to give me two new bears!

New Singapore Bear Friends!

The seats were actually comfortable enough in their lie flat state that I was able to sleep on the flight <3 

After landing in Hong Kong, we went to Club Bauhinia to shower and chill until our next hop to Osaka.

Our flight to Osaka (Kansi International Airport), unfortunately, was not terribly pleasant. Children next to us took their shoes off, and the whole cabin stank of wet feet. Ugh. For a flight that was only 3ish hours long, it felt soooooo much longer.

We then took the Haruka Express to Kyoto, for our 2 night stay at Yoshikawa Ryokan.