From Cherry Blossom to Snowy Mountains...TR Apr 2016

rbjhan · Apr 13, 2020

Kyoto City Museum of Art is next to Heian Shrine.
A Monet Exhibition was on, lucky!

Went to Osaka for dinner and some shopping. That's one good thing about having a JR Pass.
Why did I go all the way to Osaka? Coz there's no good gyutan restaurant in Kyoto...

*In thoery with a national JR Pass one can take the Shinkansen to Osaka, however that stops at Shin Osaka Station, which is not close to anything. So I opted for a limited express train instead and went straight to Umeda.

End of Day 4.

rbjhan · Apr 14, 2020

Day 5
Went to Shiga Prefecture.

Mitsui Outlet Park Shiga Ryuo

Not going to bore anyone with my shopping, let's jump to lunch.

Omi Beef 近江牛

rbjhan · Apr 14, 2020

Finished shopping around 2pm, seeing there was time left, I decided to go to Hikone (not to be confused with Hakone)
Main attraction of Hikone is of course the castle.

It is located on a hilltop.

And their mascot, Hikonyan, a white cat wearing samurai helmet. Apprently rival Kumamon in terms of popularity.....

*Hikone castle is one of only 5 original castles that's been designated as national treasure - the others are Himeiji, Matsumoto, Inuyama and Matsue.

rbjhan · Apr 14, 2020

Top floor of the main keep

Great views of Lake Biwa and surrounds

Genkyuen Garden located just outside the castle inner moat

rbjhan · Apr 14, 2020

Back to Kyoto Station it was 6pm, I went to have afternoon tea at Nakamura Tokichi...strange timing? No no, all perfectly planned. Dinner time was the only slot you don't have to queue for this!

Kyoto Tower

Dinner was pushed to 9.30

Yayoiken again..

rbjhan · Apr 14, 2020

Day 6
Nishi Honganji 西本願寺, a UNESCO World Heritage Site (Part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto).

No idea what kind of ceremony this was... but it was cool

* Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto includes 17 sites in Kyoto and surrounding area:
Kamigamo Shrine
Shimogamo Shrine
Toji
Kiyomizudera
Enryakuji
Daigoji
Ninnaji
Byodoin
Ujigami Shrine
Kozanji
Saihoji
Tenryuji
Kinkakuji
Ginkakuji
Ryoanji
Nishi Honganji
Nijo-jo

Amazingly I've only been to 11! Aagghh long way to go...

rbjhan · Apr 14, 2020

Met a friend for lunch at Sangencha

She lives in Melbourne too but we have met quite a few times overseas.

Made the lunch reservation for myself first. Later she planned her trip and realised we both would be in Kyoto this day, so she called to make another reservation, and told them we wanted to be seated together. We thought we would both be at the counter, instead they gave us a private dining room upstairs.

Menu

Starter, scallop, red daikon and octopus

Soup, tai (seabream)

Sashimi

Grilled trout

rbjhan · Apr 14, 2020

Hassun.
The chef showed up with a box, said something in Japanese, we were still trying to figure out what's going on, he opened the box and spread sakura petals all over....wow

Chawanmushi, steam savoury egg custard

Rice and miso soup

Dessert

Sakura mochi

Only 6000 Yen!

rbjhan · Apr 14, 2020

Stroll along the river in the afternoon
Ichi no funairi

Ippodo Teahouse, my go to place for matcha.

Dinner at an Izakaya on Kiyamachi Dori

rbjhan · Apr 14, 2020

Day 7
This had been the fluid point of the entire itinerary since the beginning. I was going to Takayama, then Toyama, then HanayomeNoren…It actually remained open till the day before. Finally decided to visit Takayama as it’s predicted to be sunny and full blossom! Unfortunately it also meant I would have a very busy day going Kyoto – (Nagoya) – Takayama – Toyama, 5 hours on trains!

No time for lunch, bought ekiben at Nagoya station.

Arrived at Takayama about 1pm, put luggage in a locker and went to town.

rbjhan · Apr 14, 2020

It's totally worth it though, most beautiful sakura of this whole trip!

Sakurayama Hachimangu

rbjhan · Apr 14, 2020

Took the 5.15pm train from Takayama, finally arrived at Toyama about 7pm.
I was in desperate need of proper food. Went straight to KitoKito Market inside the station building,

Shiroebitei specialised in local white prawns.

I had the sashimi don. YUMMM

*Shiroebi, is only found in Toyama bay. The restaurant has a shop in Tokyo Station, other than that you won't find it outside Toyama.

rbjhan · Apr 14, 2020

Hotel Wakyu
Accidentally stepped onto the tatami in the reception area for one second and staff made a big fuss over it, after I apologised. Not happy.

They were trying the “Japanese style business hotel” thing, just like Onyado Nono but not as nice...Main difference is the height of furniture methinks - once I lower my centre of gravity, it is very difficult to get up again ;( I need a proper chair to sit on, not some little stool on tatami…

At least it's right next to JR Toyama station.

And breakfast was good.

One last thing, the female onsen is really just a Jacuzzi (2 max I'd say), luckily for me there was no one else around. But as I was leaving 4 ladies came in, I wonder how they got on...

I don't recommend this one.

rbjhan · Apr 15, 2020

Day 8
This was a Sunday.
The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route opened the day before, I thought it would be wise not to go on a weekend, so planned a day in Toyama.
Originally I wanted to bike around Toyama City. That went out of the window the moment I stepped outside my hotel. Holy sxx_ that was some crazy wind! As a Melburnian I am not easily intimidated by wind, but this was STRONG, blow you off the road kind. So I took the tram to Toyama Glass Museum instead.

Foreign tourist gets 2 free tram rides, nice.

The Glass Museum/City Library was totally my cup of tea.

Designed by no other than Kengo Kuma.

Toyama Kirari / Kengo Kuma and Associates

Completed in 2015 in Toyama, Japan. Images by Yi-Hsien Lee Photography. Toyama Kirari is located at the heart of Toyama City. It is a building that integrates a glass art museum, city library, and a local bank. A...

www.archdaily.com

Morning tea in the museum cafe.

rbjhan · Apr 15, 2020

Toyama Castle, sadly not original. The whole city was bombed to the ground during WWII.

Lunch was in a sushi train place, but I ordered my dishes off the menu, rather than taking plates off the belt.

Allegedly one of the most beautiful starbucks in Japan....

Again on this list.

リージョナルランドマークストア｜スターバックスコーヒージャパン

スターバックスコーヒージャパンの店舗を、住所・最寄駅・現在地などからお探しいただけます。

store.starbucks.co.jp

rbjhan · Apr 15, 2020

There is a free observation deck inside Toyama City Office, very nice place to spend an hour looking over the city from above. Only problem that day was that the whole building was swinging in the wind…I knew it’s supposed to move like that, still nervous!

Cut the day a bit short as I had enough of the wind. All in all Toyama is a nice city and I probably would like it better had it not been for this weather.

rbjhan · Apr 15, 2020

Dinner at Izakaya.

Sliced daikon and edamame.

More gyutan

Abalone and mushroom

rbjhan · Apr 15, 2020

Day 9
Finally the Alpine Route! I planned the whole trip for this...
Bought this ticket at JR Toyama Station, which covered the whole alpine route from Toyama to Shinano Omachi.

But the trains were not JR - confusing I know! Went to Dentetsu Toyama station next door, and exchanged the ticket to this. The Japanese love for actual physical paperwork is beyond me....

Overview of all different transport on the Alpine Route.

rbjhan · Apr 15, 2020

There are very limited accommodations on the Alpine Route itself, most people would be doing a day trip.

Best place to stay overnight is Murodo, that's where the giant snow wall (Yuki-no-Otani) is. Hotel Tateyama is directly connected to the Murodo bus stop, the others (Murodo Sanso, Mikurigaike onsen, Raichoso, etc) are all some distance away...I didn't fancy walking in snow, booked Hotel Tateyama back in Oct 2015 - prepaid in full as well, 26K Yen iirc.

Since I’ve managed that booking (pad self on the back), I could afford to start the day late thus avoiding the worst crowds. (must be really late as even the staff at Dentetsu Toyama asked where I would be spending the night...my guess was if I said Toyama or Nagano they'd tell me come back early another day...)

Bought sushi at Toyama for lunch.