If you have not read my Part 1 of our adventure in Kyoto, read it here. The first day in Kyoto spent familiarizing the route and trains to and fro from our apartments. It was slightly easy as we have learned some of it back in Osaka.

2nd day was raining but we had umbrella. It was freezing cold and temperature was around 7 degree. We had 4 layers of clothes over our body. We also bought a lot of coffee on that day too through vending machines. I just loveeee their vending machine.

We covered a few places in Kyoto on the 2nd day. Main attractions to be exact but slight difficulties in locating the Arashiyama bamboo grove.

Our first destination was the Fushimi Inari shrine. It was about 45 minutes journey by train from our apartment. 

Fushimi Inari is the most important of several thousands of shrines dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. Foxes are thought to be Inari's messengers, resulting in many fox statues across the shrine grounds. Fushimi Inari Shrine has ancient origins, predating the capital's move to Kyoto in 794.

Our final destination of the day was the Arashiyama bamboo groove which took us about an hour from Nijo castle. 

If you love nature, then I suggest that you put Arashiyama grove as your first destination in your Kyoto itinerary. As we arrive late evening, the place was a little dark. Best time to go is mid morning or afternoon. It is shaded with bamboos so don't worry about the sun. If you're lucky, you may get a glimpse of geishas or maiko which me and Juan did :-) 

Kyoto is a place where the old and new era collided, You can see old buildings from the Edo century blended in with Japan's modern architecture. It's amazing to see the building still standing strong and how they take the effort to preserve it.

We checked out from our Osaka apartment and continues our adventure to Kyoto. It takes about 2 hours and 45 minutes. No pass were purchased during out stay in Kyoto. We bought tickets individually from ticket machines.

I would say that Kyoto is a mix of the old and new. Modern buildings collide with the Edo age architecture. It's exciting to see 2 different generations in one place. Our apartment is situated nearby to Nishi-Muko train station. It takes about 20 minutes walk to our host place. 

This time, I chose to stay with the host and her husband. Reason because I wanted to experience the day in and day out activities of the local. My host is a part time music teacher. So expect to have small kids coming over to have their piano lessons in the morning. She has 2 kids, a boy and a girl. Her daughter studies in the Philippines and her son works in Tokyo. She don't speak English but we used sign language to communicate. She was kind enough to borrow us her bicycles so that we don't have to walk in the cold to get to the train station. Some host will provide bicycle for their guest. This is provided in the itinerary when you book via AirBnb.

Half of our evening in Osaka on our 1st and 2nd day were spent dipping feet in warm water. It was excruciating walk and 2 days of pain and torture to our feet. But I think I lose weight #mylemakhasgone

Kidding. Berjalan 10km tapi mengkedarah macam orang tak makan setahun. Japanese authentic food is sooooo fresh I tell you. Who can resist. It took us a few days to get used to the walking, climbing stairs, walking down the stairs, walking up the escalator, bumping into human traffics. There were so many unexpected roadblocks. 

Anyway, our 2nd day of Osaka trip was spent in Universal Studio Japan which I think worth going the 2nd time. We arrived around 12pm. The closing time for USJ is 8pm. Please book your time slots for the Harry Potter park. We took the 4.30pm. We have roughly around 3 hours to kill. Entry is not allowed without reservation and it's free.

All the food served in USJ are NON HALAL so please bring some snacks along for Muslim travelers. we purchase the tickets before hand from JTB travel that costed around RM250 x 2 pax. You can purchase at the USJ counter but be careful during their school holidays, summer break, spring breaks and other major holidays. The lines can be long but they're fast. So it's up to you. I advise that you start exploring the place the moment the operation hour starts. The waiting time for some of the rides are like forever. We skipped many of it cause our Juan's main aim was the Harry Potter 5D rides. I shut both eyes throughout the ride. Call me #scarycat all you want, I don't care.

Expenses of the day:

Temmabashi station to Higeshi Umeda station 360 yen
Osaka Sattion to Nishikujo station 320 yen
Nishikujo station to Universal City 180 yen
Harry Potter wand 3800 yen x 2
Butter beer 1100 yen #gilasedap
Dinner 3780 yen
Universal City to Nishikujo station 180 yen
Higeshi Umeda to Temmabashi station 360 yen

*Osaka pass is an option for you unless you plan to visit many places, then consider getting it