Speed traveling: Kansai in five days or less!

After a series of "speed traveling" posts, I thought I would attempt to (theoretically) condense our 9-day Kansai trip with toddler in tow, to a much shorter version for the solo traveler (or those traveling without little ones).

Here's how to see the best of Kansai in half the time needed compared with what we did. For the details of each sight, check out the specifics in my "Kid in Kansai" series.

Day 1: Kuromon Market (lunch), Osaka Castle, either Shitennoji or Sumiyoshi Taisha, Dotonbori (dinner). Overnight in Osaka.

Day 2: Himeji and Kobe (or replace with Universal Studios in Osaka). Overnight in Osaka. Check out of Osaka hotel the next morning.

Day 3: Nara half-day (leave luggage at the station locker), then onward to Kyoto (Arashiyama, Tenryuji, Bamboo Grove, Kinkakuji). Overnight in Kyoto.

Day 4: East Kyoto (including Kiyomizudera, Sannenzakai, Ninenzakai, Ishibe Koji, Maruyama Park, Shoren-In, Chion-In, Nanzenji, Path of Philosophy, Ginkakuji). Then Pontocho and Gion in the evening. Overnight in Kyoto.

The lovely Ishibe Koji

Day 5: Fushimi Inari, Uji (if you like green tea), then back to Nijo Castle and some shopping at the Kyoto Station area thereafter. Take a night flight out, or overnight in Kyoto.

It's possible! :)

Kid in Kansai: How to nail Kansai with a toddler in tow (Part 8)

As most of the key sights were done, Days 8 and 9 were extremely relaxed compared to the other days.

Day 8 was spent at Nijo Castle (accessibly by bus). The castle is quite different in architecture from the Osaka and Himeji castles, and the interior of the main castle has been renovated (complete with mannequins) to tell its history.

Nijo castle

Thereafter, we proceeded to the futuristic-looking Kyoto Station, which houses Isetan, Suvaco and other shops. 

The evening was spent at Takashimaya and an evening stroll at the super cool Potoncho district. (I did say it was a relaxing day).

The next day, we decided to do some geisha-spotting, though it's known to be tough.

We started off at Potoncho as we knew there was the Kamogawa Odori (geisha dance at the Pontocho theater) going on. The little one had already said he did not want to watch the dance after we showed him a poster (perhaps it is the white-painted faces?) so we could only try to wait outside for a glimpse. We were there one hour before the performance and could only see people queueing to get in, so we left.

As we walked down the street, suddenly, we saw one maiko (trainee geisha, obvious due to the colour and style of her kimono) came walking past us quickly... probably rushing to get ready for the performance!

Five minutes later, a second maiko went past us, probably also rushing to get to the theater. So we saw not one, but two maikos. Not bad. (By the way, we did not had much hopes of seeing a full-fledged geisha as they do not usually do these dances).

We went to the lovely Gion to walk around a little, and queued forever at the fabled Tokuya - a traditional dessert shop serving warabi mochi. While we were queueing up, we saw a third maiko - not sure where she was going - so we pretty much had a good day at the maiko-spotting exercise.

Gion

Tokuya serves seriously good warabi mochi, but the wait is also seriously scary. Even before it opened at 12pm, there was already a long queue snaking around. 

In the afternoon, we went for a stroll near the Kamogawa river, which was really nice with buskers singing, birds flapping and the waters rushing over huge stones.

So that wraps up our nine-day Kansai trip!

I also wanted to share a few important phrases for non-Japanese speakers. Do note that my Japanese level is conversational at best, so there could be some errors below... but I used these on this trip and the Japanese had no problem understanding me.

• Kodomo no isu ga arimasu ka? (Is there a children's chair available?)
• Eigo menu ga arimasu ka? (Is there an English menu?)
• Ichinichi kado o ichimai kudasai (One one-day card / pass please. For two, substitute "ichimai" with "nimai". Kids under three go free.)
• Omizu o-ne-gaishimasu (Water please. Warm = Atatakai. Cold = Tsumetai)
• O-kanjo o-ne-gaishimasu (Bill, please. But this usually only happens at sushi bars, as most other restaurants will already place the bill at your table and you can pick it up and proceed to the cashier to pay)
• XXX wa dochira desuka? (Where is XXX place?)
• XXX ni wa dou yatte ikeba ii desuka? (How do I get to XXX? Or a more accurate translation is, what do I do if I want to go to XXX?)

Hope you find this series of Kansai posts useful!

The complete itinerary:
Day 1: Osaka (Kuromon Market, Osaka Castle, Dotonbori)
Day 2: Osaka (Shitennoji, Sumiyoshi Taisha)
Day 3: Kobe, Himeji (Himeji Castle, Mount Rokko, Harbourland)
Day 4: Nara (Todaiji, Kohfukuji, Nara Park)
Day 5: Kyoto (Arashiyama, Tenryuji, Bamboo Grove, Kinkakuji)
Day 6: Kyoto (Kiyomizudera, Sannenzakai, Ninenzakai, Ishibe Koji, Maruyama Park, Shoren-in, Chion-in, Nanzenji, Path of Philosophy, Ginkakuji)
Day 7: Inari, Uji (Fushimi Inari Taisha, Byodoin Temple, Kaiseki)
Day 8 & 9: Kyoto (Nijo Castle, Kyoto Station, Pontocho, Gion)

Kid in Kansai: How to nail Kansai with a toddler in tow (Part 7)

After Day 6, everything else was a breeze. Day 7 was devoted to the Southern area - Fushimi Inari Taisha (shrine) and onward to Uji, the green tea capital of Japan.

Fushimi Inari Taisha is accessible via train, and just a few minutes walk away from the station. This was one of the most beautiful and memorable sights of Kyoto and definitely not to be missed, even if time is short.

Comprising hundreds of orange-red shrine posts, painstakingly mounted one after the other, it's hard to take a bad picture of this beauty. The trick of course, is having to wait for a moment where there is no one standing in the picture. A scene in Memoirs of a Geisha was filmed here too.

Fushimi Inari

Kid alert: Surprisingly, this place is not difficult with a child. Yes, it is a mountain (maybe more of a hill), and there are steps. But these are very gradual and almost hard to notice as you're busy admiring or photographing the site. You also don't need to climb all the way up unless you feel like it (since it's one orange pole after the other).

The city of Uji is a 20-minute train ride away from Inari on the JR line. The main heritage site there is Byodoin Temple, but for us, the green tea cafes were the main draw while the temple was more of a by-the-way.

Byodoin

Once in the temple compound, there is a nice flower garden and landscaped pond which makes the site worth visiting. On the road to Byodoin, you will see tons of green tea shops lining both sides of the road, with the smell of roasted tea in the air. The most famous ones are Nakamura Tokichi (there are two - both with shops and cafes - on that road) and Itoh Kyuemon (the Byodoin branch only has a shop, while the main one near the Keihan station has a shop and cafe). Be prepared to wait for long if you want to eat at the cafe!

Kid alert: Byodoin Temple is about a 15 to 20-minute walk from the JR station. It's even further if you approach from the Keihan station.

After Byodoin, we made our way to the Itoh Kyuemon main outlet (shop + cafe), which is a 15-minute walk, over the bridge near to the Keihan station.

Kid alert: Do not expect much options for mains here - there were only three when we went (hot chasoba, another hot version with some fish, and cold chasoba). The desserts are its main highlight, especially the green tea parfait. Be prepared to wait for long, once again, but you can while away the time by shopping for green tea products (Itoh Kyuemon special edition Kit Kat, daifuku / mochi, cheesecake, Swiss roll, langue de chat biscuits, puddings, and lots more). It's VAT-free for tourists. Itoh Kyuemon was in Singapore briefly for the Rakuten Japan Gourmet Festival.

By the way, there is also an Itoh Kyuemon shop (no cafe) opposite the Kyoto Station. Nakamura Tokichi (shop and cafe) is also in the Kyoto Station Suvaco shopping mall. The queues for Nakamura Tokichi cafe are not any shorter than those at Byodoin.

Itoh Kyuemon

After that, we made our way back to Kyoto to rest as we were going to have kaiseki for dinner!

We chose Kiyamachi Sakuragawa for our first taste of kaiseki in Kyoto as it was just a 3 or 5-minute walk from the hotel. We had asked the hotel concierge to make a reservation for us the day before, and also as part of a kid alert, this is what we would recommend on "how to ace a kaiseki with a toddler in tow":

1. Have the hotel call up to reserve unless you speak fluent Japanese

2. The restaurant will usually ask you to set a budget in advance. In Sakuragawa's case, they had a 10,000 yen and 15,000 yen menu to choose from

3. Ask if the restaurant can accept kids. Sakuragawa said yes, but they do not have a children's menu. They said that the child can share from the parents' meal, meaning we only had to pay for 2 adults set meal. Great!

4. There are unlikely to be high chairs. Sakuragawa has about 10 counter seats (which are high chairs, you could say) and one private room with four chairs. They kindly said they could provide cushions to elevate the child, though in the end, ours was tall enough so it was ok.

5. If your child is picky with food, go somewhere else to fill his tummy first before going to have the adults' kaiseki. Kaiseki takes about 2 hours (about 9 courses), so the kid has to eat before, or eat at the kaiseki. Thankfully, ours is not fussy with food and he liked the green tea tofu, tempura, shrimp rice, fried fish, salmon and soup.

We had a really good time at Sakuragawa. The food was very creative and delicious, and the manager and chef could speak some English to explain what the dishes were. 

Kaiseki at Kiyamachi Sakuragawa

When the hotel concierge called up for a reservation, they said they only had counter seats left, which we thought was okay. But when we got there, the nice lady manager showed us to a private room for four, which was even better considering that it was a two-hour affair and the counter seats were full with Japanese businessmen anyway.

All in all, we enjoyed our first Kyoto kaiseki very much, thanks to Sakuragawa. It's also located on a very atmospheric street, which made for a lovely pre- and post-dinner walk. Highly recommended!


The complete itinerary:
Day 1: Osaka (Kuromon Market, Osaka Castle, Dotonbori)
Day 2: Osaka (Shitennoji, Sumiyoshi Taisha)
Day 3: Kobe, Himeji (Himeji Castle, Mount Rokko, Harbourland)
Day 4: Nara (Todaiji, Kohfukuji, Nara Park)
Day 5: Kyoto (Arashiyama, Tenryuji, Bamboo Grove, Kinkakuji)
Day 6: Kyoto (Kiyomizudera, Sannenzakai, Ninenzakai, Ishibe Koji, Maruyama Park, Shoren-in, Chion-in, Nanzenji, Path of Philosophy, Ginkakuji)
Day 7: Inari, Uji (Fushimi Inari Taisha, Byodoin Temple, Kaiseki)
Day 8 & 9: Kyoto (Nijo Castle, Kyoto Station, Pontocho, Gion)

Kid in Kansai: How to nail Kansai with a toddler in tow (Part 6)

Day 6 was dedicated to the Eastern Higashiyama area. Let's start off with a kid alert right away.

Kid alert: The itinerary covers a walking tour of about four to five hours (including a stop for lunch). It covers a number of key sights and while you can "break" it up into two days, it makes more sense to cover it as one long stretch. This was probably the most tiring day of our itinerary (along with Himeji). Walking, climbing and carrying will no doubt provide a fantastic cardio-strength workout, with a positive side effect of being able to eat a lot without growing fat.

We started off with the Kiyomizudera (via bus, as usual), which has to be approached via an uphill climb from the bus stop. If needed, stop for a soft serve ice-cream (hojicha, macha, sakura... choose your flavours!)

After Kiyomizudera, we proceeded downwards to Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka, picturesque flights of steps with quaint shops on both sides. Don't miss Ishibe Koji, probably one of our favourite places in Kyoto - a picture-perfect lane lined with traditional houses. This whole process should take about 30 minutes if you're fast, or more likely an hour, if you want to take lots of photos.

The atmospheric Ishibe Koji

We then made our way to Maruyama Koen (park), a little Japanese-style park which is popular for sakura-viewing, for a brief rest. The little one will be glad to be out of the carrier (if he was in it) for a little stretching of his legs.

After the park, we made our way for a quick photo stop of Chion-In and Shoren-In temples, which were on the way to Nanzenji, which is a 20 or 30 minute walk away (slopes included).

Nanzenji

At this point, mama and papa should have been thoroughly worn out by now, and perhaps the little one is asleep in his carrier. (By the way, our recommendation is to use a carrier instead of a pram - there are just too many flights of stairs and pebbled pavements at the Kyoto sights). Walk along the Path of Philosophy towards Ginkakuji, the last of today's destinations. The path is not short - about 30 minutes in total - so try to stop for lunch along the path. 

We chanced upon a signboard that said it served udon. It was a lovely find - a little "hidden" shop serving wonderful hot and cold soba. Only later did we realise that it was a place that we had shortlisted as "to go". The shop's name is O-men - they had an outlet near Sanjo station as well, but this one seemed more atmospheric. They have the traditional tatami seats, which was very good for our well-worn legs. Altogether, a fantastic respite from the walk!

The highly-recommended O-men. Pictured here is their seasonal set.

After being suitably recharged, we made our way to the final destination of the day - Ginkakuji. Do not expect a silver version of Kinkakuji - this was is wood all the way, but the design is a replica of the gold version. Take a short hike up the hill for a great view of the temple.

Where's the silver in Ginkakuji?

After this, we made our way back to the hotel for some serious resting. In the evening, you can walk around Teramachi Dori street and if you're early enough, check out the Nishiki market.

Western-style desserts can also be found at the Lipton Cafe on Sanjo Dori.

Kids will enjoy the strawberry shortcake (top) while the adults will like the matcha sponge cake with kuromame black beans.

The complete itinerary:
Day 1: Osaka (Kuromon Market, Osaka Castle, Dotonbori)
Day 2: Osaka (Shitennoji, Sumiyoshi Taisha)
Day 3: Kobe, Himeji (Himeji Castle, Mount Rokko, Harbourland)
Day 4: Nara (Todaiji, Kohfukuji, Nara Park)
Day 5: Kyoto (Arashiyama, Tenryuji, Bamboo Grove, Kinkakuji)
Day 6: Kyoto (Kiyomizudera, Sannenzakai, Ninenzakai, Ishibe Koji, Maruyama Park, Shoren-in, Chion-in, Nanzenji, Path of Philosophy, Ginkakuji)
Day 7: Inari, Uji (Fushimi Inari Taisha, Byodoin Temple, Kaiseki)
Day 8 & 9: Kyoto (Nijo Castle, Kyoto Station, Pontocho, Gion)

Kid in Kansai: How to nail Kansai with a toddler in tow (Part 5)

Onward to Kyoto!

Depending on where your hotel is, you can take a train to Kyoto Station, or Sanjo which is the City Centre. Our hotel, Kyoto Royal Hotel & Spa, was a five to ten minute walk from Sanjo station.

In Kyoto, nearly all the sights are accessible by buses, rather than subways, which makes the One-Day Bus Pass invaluable at 500 yen (unlimited rides for a day), since each bus ride, regardless of distance, is already 230 yen.

The hotel concierge had a very handy map detailing all the major sights and the buses which serve them, plus where the six bus stops around our hotel were.

Kyoto's sights can be roughly divided into Western (Arashiyama), Northern, Eastern (Higashiyama), Southern and Central.

We decided to tackle the Western Arashiyama area and Northern in one afternoon.

After a 20-minute bus ride, we reached the Arashiyama area where Tenryuji and the Giant bamboo groves were housed.

Upon embarking at Arashiyama, you will see a very picturesque sight of a river and bridge, with the mountains as a backdrop.

You can buy a ticket to enter Tenryuji, and the north exit leads directly into the giant bamboo grove - a tranquil and beautiful forest of bamboo three or four times the height of an adult.

Arashiyama: Tenryuji and the giant bamboo grove

Kid alert: This place is generally nice for kids, especially the giant bamboo grove. A lot of walking is needed though, so be prepared to carry the little one quite a bit here.

Kinkakuji (not to be confused with Ginkakuji) is a lovely gold-covered temple sitting atop of a lake amidst a landscaped garden. We reached there after taking two buses from Tenryuji (very tiring!), but the view was worth it. 

Kinkakuji, resplendent in all its golden glory

Kid alert: Nothing much for the kid to do here but ours was entertained by a series of selfies with the temple as the backdrop. The ubiquitous pebbles were once again here thankfully.

Not to forget.. the meals! A very good katsu-don place can be found at Sanjo Dori, a pedestrian-only covered shopping street. It's sort of next to the Lipton Cafe - sort of, because you can see a poster with katsu on it, and next to it is a narrow alley that leads to the restaurant itself. The sets come with free flow shredded cabbage, barley rice and miso soup. Kiddy sets are also available and come with a cute kiddy gift. Perfect for young and old!

Fantastic katsudon at very reasonable prices

The complete itinerary:
Day 1: Osaka (Kuromon Market, Osaka Castle, Dotonbori)
Day 2: Osaka (Shitennoji, Sumiyoshi Taisha)
Day 3: Kobe, Himeji (Himeji Castle, Mount Rokko, Harbourland)
Day 4: Nara (Todaiji, Kohfukuji, Nara Park)
Day 5: Kyoto (Arashiyama, Tenryuji, Bamboo Grove, Kinkakuji)
Day 6: Kyoto (Kiyomizudera, Sannenzakai, Ninenzakai, Ishibe Koji, Maruyama Park, Shoren-in, Chion-in, Nanzenji, Path of Philosophy, Ginkakuji)
Day 7: Inari, Uji (Fushimi Inari Taisha, Byodoin Temple, Kaiseki)
Day 8 & 9: Kyoto (Nijo Castle, Kyoto Station, Pontocho, Gion)