Japanese Food - Nishiki Market, Fushimi Inari, Arashiyama

¥100 = RM3.80

Nishiki Market, Kyoto
Nishiki Market was one of the must-go streets for food. However, I found that the ratio of ready-to-eat food against other stuff was a little too low. I arrived there in the later part of the afternoon.

Tamagoyaki. Taste like plain omelette. What else do you expect? Rated 5/10

This piece of fritter tasted good. ¥180. Rated 8/10

Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto
I didn't expect to find food stalls at Fushimi Inari, as I did not read about it before flying to Japan. In any case, there were not many food stalls around.

The stall advertised the beef as Wagyu Steak

It was tough and chewy. Not worth the ¥500. Tasted ok but texture was a definite no. Rated 3/10

It looked prettier than it tasted. ¥500. I have great expectation of Japanese food and was disappointed with the taste. Nevertheless, it was still worth 6/10

Arashiyama, Kyoto
There were restaurants, souvenir shops and other businesses at Togetsu Bridge northern end. The northern end is also where JR Saga-Arashiyama Station is located.

The restaurant is on the first floor (2nd floor in American English)

It was fried fish. I didn't know that. I have no idea what this dish was called. With a raw egg in the rice, it was quite tasty. At ¥1,620, it was the most expensive meal I had. I would rate it 8/10

Day 2: Fushimi Inari and Hiking Mount Inari

19th October 2018 (Friday)

Fushimi Inari and Mt. Inari Trek

This morning, I would be going to Fushimi Inari and Mount Inari. For breakfast, I had gone to 7-11 to buy some food. I was not sure where the bus stop to Kyoto Station was and had asked the 7-11 cashier.  She had kindly walked out of the store to point to me Higashiyama Yasui bus-stop. It was opposite 7-11 and a few meters to the left. The time was 6:40 a.m. The bus arrived before I had time to finish my breakfast.

At Kyoto Station city bus terminal, I found a place to sit to finish my breakfast. After finishing my food, I somehow managed to find the Pedestrian Walkway to the south side, which I tried so hard to find a day earlier and failed. I could not remember how I found the Pedestrian Walkway but I think I was looking for dustbins to throw away my food wrappers and skewer when I saw the staircase to the Pedestrian Walkway.

I walked to the south-side in search of JR Nara Line station. Nara Line station is situated on the south-east of Kyoto Station at Hachijo East Side. I didn't know at that time that I could reach JR Nara station from the main Central Entrance on the north side of Kyoto Station, after passing through the ticket gates.

At what should be the Nara Station, I did not see the ticket vending machine for JR Nara trains. I only saw the Shinkansen ticket vending machine. When I saw people buying tickets from a small counter, I went there to ask. The officer spoke good English. I could buy the ticket from him. As I walked to JR Lines (Hachijo East Side) ticket gates, I saw the JR Nara train ticket vending machine which was on the wall just before the ticket gates to the platform. I think it was also at this time that I saw the ICOCA logo on some of the ticket gates. Why didn't I notice this earlier? I could have just used my ICOCA card. I have forgotten why I purchased the ICOCA card in the first place.

At the ticket gates to Nara Line platform, a notice said it was only for tickets with white back (after checking my videos/ photos back in PNG, the notice saying "Tickets With White Backs" actually referred to the lane for wheel-chair bound passengers to access the platforms). My ticket has black back. I was confused. There was an office beyond the ticket gates. I went to tell an officer stationed there that I have a ticket to Inari Station but it was not white back. He didn't say anything and asked me to proceed. I asked him whether the platform was 7, 8 or 9 one level down while pointing to the stairs but he pointed me to the steps going up. I nodded my head but was still unsure. Should I go down because I had read that JR Nara trains depart from platforms 7, 8 and 9 or go up one level as advised by the train official? I hesitated but decided to walk up. A train was waiting there. I stepped in. There was an elderly lady there and I asked her whether it was going to JR Inari Station. She responded in good English, saying that she supposed so, and that was why she was there. She must be a visitor herself! I was only a little reassured. I looked around for signs that this train was indeed going to its final destination of Nara.

As the train moved out from the station, I noticed the ticker display on the train showing that it would be going to Nara. Inari Station was on one of its stops. Now, I was totally assured that I would not end up somewhere.

Click on the picture to view the high-resolution/ full-size map

At Mount Inari, I was surprised at my level of fitness. The round trek to Mt. Inari would take two hours. It is 233 metres high and 12,000 steps far. Even though I exercised more, I did not expect myself to be able to reach the summit (N34.96704° E135.78560°). I was sweating a little only and only a little out of breath. I did take a break to rest at the landing below Yotsu-suji Junction (N34.96903° E135.78121°) and that was the only rest I had.

I knew that to climb Mt. Inari, I had to exercise more. I learnt my lesson in Laos. The 60 metres (?) climb to Luang Prabang Pak Ou upper cave, Tham Theung, was so exhausting that I had to stop and rest a few times. I was sweating non-stop and out of breath by the time I reached the cave. The climb to the 100 meters (328 steps) Mount Phosi in Luang Prabang was equally exhausting that at the ticket desk a short climb from the base, I had to take a long rest before proceeding with the climb to the summit.

At that time, I had taken my exercise lightly. This time, I jogged about two kilometers three times a week consistently two month before my Japan trip.