Osaka Day 3 (Kyoto)

I woke up feeling horrible and almost skipped Kyoto. I so glad I forced myself out of bed because Kyoto is amazing. Just amazing. I knew that one day would be nowhere near enough time so I just picked a few things I knew I'd really enjoy. This basically added up to 6 temples and one vegetarian restaurant.

I walked to 3 temples that are fairly close to Kyoto Station:
They were lovely and almost completely empty making them even lovelier.

After that I picked up a bus pass and headed to The Golden Pavilion. Gorgeous. I really think I picked the best time of year to go because the leaves are beautiful.

After this another bus ride to the Silver Temple. Nothing silver here but it was by far the most beautiful place I've been to in Japan. I had the same reaction to it that I had to Angkor Watt and The Parthenon. I would love to come here again.

I needed a break from the bus so I walked to this vegetarian restaurant I heard good things about. I was so pleased that I found it (some redemption from that fiasco in Taipei) but when I got there it was closed for 40 minutes. So, not admitting defeat I went to another temple nearby:
The food at this place was so yummy. It's so nice being in a restaurant where you can eat anything on the menu and for it to be good!

I was zonked so got back on the bus to go to the station. I must say going from Osaka-Kyoto-Osaka is pretty easy, cheap and fast. I was on the second fastest train and it took less than 30 minutes. And I managed to sort it out on my own.

I have one more day left then back to Korea!

Osaka Day One

It started off with a flight on a budget airline. I thought since the flight was only 1.5 hours it wouldn't matter. The pilot flew and landed like he was a Seoul bus driver. This is not a good thing.

I found the public transport and my hotel pretty easily. I was so hungry that I went right into the first restaurant I saw. There were two guys working and they couldn't speak any English. Not that they should but in Asia I'm kind of spoiled. Also it has been so long since I've been in a place where I could not communicate with words. I managed to pantomime, "no meat" and luckily he knew the word for beer. It was yummy!

I checked in and then went a wandering. It was too late in the afternoon to see museums or temples. I walked to a spa/sauna. It was very swanky. I've been to many public bath houses but this was my favourite. There were many pools (indoor and out) to choose from as well as themed rooms. I was not a fan of the salt steam room. Imagine having every cut on your body rubbed with salt simultaneously! I took my time enjoying the place as you get to stay as long as you like. I grabbed a toothbrush thinking I would use it without paste as I didn't notice any around. As I started brushing I started foaming! What is this technological innovation I never knew about?! I thought I had rabies for 5 seconds.

Afterwards I went off looking for more food. I got to cross another thing off my list (the first was going to an outdoor bathhouse). I went to a sushi belt. I had never been to one before. It was so good!

I thought since I was going on no sleep I would head to the hotel. I saw a bar called, "Owl" on the way home and just had to stop for a drink. I met two locals who loved me and bought my drinks! We communicated in a mixture of 4 languages. This is why I love to travel so much.