Showing posts with label Nara. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nara. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Osaka/Nara/Kyoto : Japan Kansai-Kanazawa-Kinosaki Drive - Part 1


2 Autumns ago we decided to bring J to Japan for one good holiday before he starts primary 1. Our HK friends joined us for this trip as they always wanted to travel around Japan with us as we speak Japanese and can order nicer food and bring them around with more ease.

The plan was to meet up in Osaka, pick-up the car and then make a quick stop in Nara before checking-in to Kyoto. From there we will travel to Hida-Takayama, Shirakawago, Kanazawa, Kinosaki, finally a quick detour to Takeda Castle before returning the car in Osaka. The total distance traveled for this trip was at least 1,000km.



Day 1
We took the afternoon SQ flight to Osaka-Kansai as Grandma is with us on this trip so we want to take it as easy as possible. By the time we reached Kansai Airport, it was already 9pm. By the time we reached Namba it was already past 10pm. Our HK friends met us at the station and walked with us back to the hotel. Along the way I grabbed a few snacks from Dotonbori before the stalls closed for the night~

Gyoza to fill the tummy~

What's Osaka without takoyaki?

Dotonbori late at night~
This trip we stayed at Ibis Style Osaka. it's around 15 minutes from Namba Station and located near enough to all the action @ Dotonbori.



Day 2
Early next morning we had breakfast at the hotel, and the restaurant for the hotel was on the top floor of the building and it was a glorious morning~ The buffet spread was decent enough for a business hotel but the queue can be pretty long!



Monday, March 21, 2016

Japan-Kansai Trip 2016 - Day 2

Day 1 was about recovering. The overnight flight, the shock of not bringing the Intl License and the long journey to our hotel.

Day 2 was the real start of our trip~ this trip was one which I wanted to show J some of the wonderful sights in Japan and not many places better than Nara to do that!


We started off by taking the 2+ hour train ride back the opposite direction towards Osaka. 



From Tennoji station it was a change and another 40+ minutes to Nara... Gotten ourselves the bus-pass that gives us unlimited rides on the local bus system and off we went to find our hotel. After checking in and leaving our luggage we took off to visit Todaiji


Had lunch at a soba place near Todaiji.


Then off we went to play with the roaming deers ...


Then more food...




The grandeur of Todaiji never fail to awe me. This and Kiyomizuderu are probably the 2 things I wanted to show J the most during this trip.

After Todaiji we had a few hours before the illumination display so we roamed around Nara and found ourselves some sushi!








After filling our stomach we walked towards Nara Park where a really special light show was waiting for us~





After a cold and long walk we proceeded to the bus-stop and went back to our hotel.

I felt that the one day in Nara, though short, was really wonderful and really brought us to a world filled with history, nature and mystic~ 

Next stop Kyoto!

Posts from this trip:

Friday, January 15, 2016

Kansai Drive 2016!


Photo of a deer in Nara taken from my last trip back in 2013

Air tickets booked...
Hotel reservations done...
Rental car voucher obtained...

I think we are ready for a holiday to Kansai region soon~ My first trip back to the region after my last visit in 2013 to Kyoto, Osaka and Nara. This time round we hope to do a drive around the region and hopefully cover places we've never been to before.

Day 1 - Shirahama
Day 2 - Nara
Day 3 - Kyoto
Day 4 - Arima Onsen
Day 5 - Osaka
Day 6 - USJ

A bit of onsen on days 1 and 4, a bit of sight-seeing on days 2 and 3, a bit of fun and shopping on days 5 and 6. I think the balance is pretty good and I hope I can show little J some of the magnificent sights on offer~ I've found some interesting links below which should help me plan the detail itinerary...

Takeda Castle Ruins
http://www.city.asago.hyogo.jp/0000001275.html

Driving Guide to Osaka
http://car-me.jp/articles/3035

Driving Guide to Kansai
http://car-me.jp/articles/3287

Any suggestions will be much appreciated~