I’m sharing my last Japanese post! We had the most magical time in Kyoto. We’re excited to share more details with you if you’re considering adding it to your travel list.
More posts about the great time I had in Seoul and Tokyo:
Summary of Seoul
Korean style head spa experience
Summary of Tokyo and why I love Japan
And Tokyo eats + girlfriend chooses
Summary of Kyoto, bamboo forest, monkey park
While we were in Tokyo, many friends told us to take the Shinkansen and explore nearby areas. Okinawa, Nara, Kyoto, and Osaka were especially recommended. I think I mentioned in a previous post that I was scared to plan this trip, and that adding another itinerary felt a little too taxing for my brain. One of my friends told me that I would regret going to Tokyo and not seeing Kyoto, so I decided to make it happen…and it became the highlight of my personal trip.
While Tokyo is full of bright lights and skyscrapers, Kyoto feels more like a peaceful, cinematic Japan. Think lantern-lined streets, temples, and geishas.
The Shinkansen was such an amazing experience – we were traveling at 200 miles per hour, but it was very comfortable and much more fun and hassle-free than traveling by plane –
(Mt. Fuji!!)
And before I knew it, I was checked into a hotel in Kyoto.
I stayed at Gion Elite Terrace, which I booked through Amex Travel (
There was also an oxygenation bath that injected small oxygen bubbles into the water. These claim to remove free radicals (great for anti-aging), improve skin texture, keep your skin warm after bathing (so you don’t feel cold after bathing), and help you sleep. All of this turned out to be true. I was considering purchasing one for the bathroom remodel and mold remediation we are doing, and it’s a casual 27,000. It’s cheaper to fly back to Japan and use it there (lol).
We spent our first night exploring. Gion is truly breathtaking and we saw so many cute shops and restaurants as we crossed the bridge.
(The dress is here!)
(We saw a nutria in the river, which is clearly an invasive species, but we all loved him)
For dinner, I ate at Pontocho Shabu Shabu Sukiyaki Kiraku, which I found on Tabelog. It’s a restaurant review service used by locals (it was also popular in Korea), and friends say anything above 3.0 is great. They didn’t lead us astray.
Shabu-shabu is like a Japanese hot pot, where a pot of broth is placed on the table and vegetables and meat are cooked in it. There are different sauces to dip into and multiple courses. We had Wagyu beef, Kobe beef, and lots of delicious vegetables. She then made noodles for Liv and Pilot and used the soup to make egg soup (gluten free option) for me and P.
The next day we woke up early and headed to Bamboo Park. This was one of my favorite places of the entire trip.
We were surrounded by bamboo. It was a very green and peaceful place. We hiked to Arashiyama Monkey Park. Monkeys roam freely there. One kept walking inches away from my feet!
We spent the rest of the day shopping and had Engine Ramen for lunch. There was a gluten free ramen option and that was it. Very flavorful and satisfying. I’ll be dreaming about this ramen until I get home!
The next day we returned to Ginza, where we spent another day and night, completing our trip.
I still have Japresion and am doing everything I can to find a little piece of Japan here. I think one of the things I love most about trips like this is not necessarily the location (although in this case the location was truly breathtaking), but the undisturbed time with my family, the opportunity to slow down, and spend more time walking and being in nature. Spend less time scrolling and more time having fun. I feel like I’m being annoying about how much it changed my life, but this trip really affected me on a soul level. It was something I had never experienced before, and it was meaningful to see how tradition and modernity can coexist, how everyone in Japan takes great pride in their work, and how communities act for the benefit of others rather than selfishly. It’s been a month since I returned home, and I still think about it every day.
Thank you for reading about our adventures!! What have you been up to this summer? Do you have any fun trips planned?
Shit
Gina
