Kyoto - Fushimi Inari and Uji

On our first full day in Kyoto, we headed to Fushimi Inari on the train.  I knew we would need some cash for the food stalls there, and the easiest way to get cash is from the 7 Eleven ATMs. I love the look of the yen. 

When we got off the train at Fushimi Inari station we popped into a couple of shops as Melissa was buying lots of beautiful postcards to take home. 

It was busy as usual, but once we started walking up through the shine, the crowds started to thin out. 

Jalen creeping behind Harri and Melissa. So funny!

There are always a lot of people dressed in kimonos at the shrines, which I love. 

We walked about halfway up and decided that was far enough as I wanted to head to Uji which was a short train ride away.  Before we jumped on the train, we grabbed food and I found this cute little area where Jay and I got some oysters.  The food is always so much cheaper than home. 

Uji is the between Kyoto and Nara and is the matcha capital of the world. It was only about 20 minutes from Fushimi Inari.  It was such a pretty city along the riverbank. 

It had lots of cute matcha shops.  

Melissa ended up buying some matcha from this shop for her friend back home. The owner was telling us that his shop had been passed down many generations, and he had served royalty and many famous athletes and actors. He loved showing us photos of all the famous people he had served and was so proud of his shop. 

The reason I really wanted to go to Uji was to see Byodoin Temple which is a World Heritage site founded in 1052 and is featured on the 10 yen coin. It was so beautiful. 

Jalen creeping again! 

When we headed back to Kyoto the boys were keen to go to the Pokémon Centre. They're always so busy and you often have to line up or take a number outside and wait for your turn to go in. 

We were so tired after six full days of walking and being flat out, but we were still loving everything.  We had started putting an 'oh' on the end of everything we would say, because the Japanese do that a lot with English words like 'cardo' for 'card' (credit card) so we would say things like 'I'm hot-o', 'I'm tired-o'. This video makes me laugh as Jalen is going to get a 'snack-o'. 

We had been trying to go to a sushi train since we arrived and they are also so busy at night, but we finally decided to just sit it out and wait for about a half an hour to get in and it was lots of fun.  The ordering screen had games that we could play. 

Jay was so excited to win a prize, but we accidently left it there! 

Melissa isn't very adventurous with her food and just wanted lots of plain rice.  Luckily, she likes gyoza which got her through the trip. 

We ordered so many plates and drinks, but it was so cheap compared to what we would've paid at home. 

Without fail our night would always end up with us grabbing treats from a konbini.  We often went to 7 Eleven as Melissa, and I loved the creme Brulé ice creams which you could only get there. 

When we got back to our accommodation the boys had fun unboxing what they bought at the Pokémon Centre earlier.  Jalen cracks me up. 

We knew that the next day was going to be very rainy, so we planned lots of things to do indoors. 

Kyoto - Gion District

We left our hotel at Tokyo Disneyland and caught the train to Tokyo station, so that we could catch the Shinkansen (bullet train).  On our first trip we were able to buy our tickets at the station and get reserved seating, but this time we were only able to get non-reserved, which meant we weren't guaranteed a seat or a seat together.  Luckily, we were able to all grab a seat and close together. 

Part of the fun on the Shinkansen is that you are able to eat on the train (you can't eat on regular trains) and can buy the most amazing bento boxes at the train station. 

We love the Shinkansen - it feels like you are on a fancy plane, but it's even better as you have so much space, can put your luggage on the racks above you (if they aren't too big) and the ride is so smooth. It also has toilets on the train and is so clean. 

Apparently, Mt Fuji is only visible 100 days of the year, so we were so lucky to see if from the Shinkansen on the way to Kyoto. 

Kyoto isn't as easy to get around as Tokyo and Osaka, and we weren't keen on jumping on a crowded bus with our luggage after we arrived at Kyoto Station, so we decided to just walk the 20 minutes to our accommodation. It wasn't bad as it was all very flat. 

Our accommodation in Kyoto was a 100-year-old house in the Gion district.  It was very cute, but the stairs were extremely steep, and it was hard to get our luggage up and a pain to go up and down (especially if you needed to use the toilet in the middle of the night, which was downstairs). 

Jalen, Kobe and I slept upstairs, and it was Jay and my first experience sleeping on futons, which actually wasn't bad at all. 

I was so excited to be in Kyoto because I knew that we would be catching up with Simone and Simon and their family again.  They had already been in Kyoto for a couple of days, so we organised to meet up at the Yasaka Shrine which was close to our accommodation. 

It was so good to see them again and to hear about how their trip was going, and what they thought of Japan. 

We had a lovely time catching up and wandering around Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka which are pedestrian only streets with preserved traditional wooden buildings. 

It was a great time to be there together, because it was getting close to dusk and it wasn't busy at all. During the day there are usually so many people there. 

I love being there at night as the streets look so pretty. 

On our first trip to Japan Harri bought Melissa a mug from this Starbucks store.  Melissa was keen to go and check it out and bought her mum a mug from there too. 

We could walk back to our accommodation, and I love that you always feel safe, even walking around at night. 

Melissa and Harri were sleeping downstairs and had a cute little room. We were looking forward to exploring more of Kyoto in the morning. 

Tokyo Disneyland

 Melissa had a few things on her bucket list for Japan and going to Tokyo Disneyland was one of them. We went on our first trip and loved it and love them parks, so we didn't mind going again.  

We lined up with the rest of the crowd about an hour and 15 minutes before it opened and knew to grab the fast passes on our app as soon as we scanned in.   There were a few rides that we didn't want to miss including the Beauty and the Beast ride which is definitely worth paying for a fast pass for. 

The park was busy, but not terrible and we got lots of rides in during the day. 

Jalen was loving his cowboy hat that he bought :)

Of course we had to try all the popcorn. 

Beauty and the Beast is the most incredible ride, and I knew it would make Melissa cry.  I feel so emotional when I'm on the ride, especially hearing the singing in Japanese. 

We didn't realise on our first trip that you could actually go inside the castle (we just thought you could walk through the middle of it, but it was all outside). It was so beautiful inside. 

The light parade and lightshow at night were both absolutely incredible. 

We had such a fun day and stayed till about 9:30 pm when the light show finished.  Melissa felt so emotional and cried on the monorail as we left. I'm so glad we could all go back and experience it with her.   We were all very tired, but happy and needed a good nights sleep after a busy few days.