Original Post – 21 Days Onsen Hopping Itinerary plus more
Hello, I previously posted my 21 day itinerary on reddit. I wrote this for my future self to reference back on but I'm making this public for anyone interested to read. Below only contain my diary from Day 1 to Day 3. Reddit won’t let me post past my Day 3 even though it is under 40,000 characters, so I need to make a new post on the rest.
Post format – Each day starts with the updated itinerary, follow by my diary with google map links to all of the destination.
My travel videos are posted on Instagram at EstherTravelDiary for anyone interested to watch. I cannot link it here due to reddit "no self promotion" rule. All of my travel videos from Day 1 to Day 7 are now posted as of 09.20.2024. I will be uploading the rest of my travel videos for Day 8 to Day 21 whenever I can.
• Day 1 – 10.21 Sat & 10.22 Sun
[X] fly to Osaka airport KIX
[X] Arrive at 8PM, 2hr to Nara home by 10PM- the 1hr faster bus has been suspended
Day 1 Diary:
I don't think I ever want to fly any other airline when going to Japan except purely with Japan Airline because their service was top notch, friendly, and food was actually GOOD. I never had good food on an airplane until then. JAL even provided real silverware, not the flimsy plastic ones. Their seats were also very comfortable. The whole experience of flying with them was just great. I flew back using American Airlines to America and the experience was not good at all. The food was not good and seats were not comfortable at all. I regretted not booking a JAL or ANA flight back home. I do think a big part of what makes Japan airlines service better than American airlines is due to culture. I definitely prefer how JAL flight attendants speak and handle passengers, they are less aggressive, more friendly and professional. From now on, I will definitely fly TO and FROM using Japan Airline, or maybe even ANA, since both are international airlines by Japan.
Arrived 7PM at Osaka KIX, took 2 hours transportation by train/buses to reach my home in Nara at 10PM. Total travel time 26 hours. I was very tired, jet lag, and had severe motion sickness from the trains and buses more so than the airplane. Motion sickness medicine & sleeping pill does not work for me, it makes me nauseous and then hyperactive instead of drowsy. Instead, I suck on this Lemon Ginger Lozenges Candy when I feel sick and it is what helps me. I also use Motion Sickness Armband during travel, it is the only thing that works for me so far along with the candy in my mouth.
• Day 2 – 10.23 Mon – Osaka – staying home in Nara
[X] Leave by 10:00AM, 1hr15min to Micasadeco & Cafe for lunch, get there by 11:20PM – always wanted to try fluffy wiggly pancakes!
[X] 8min walk to Uniqlo Osaka – GU store inside, one of largest store with multiple floors – already got my list of items to buy
[X] 1min walk to Rebekka Rabbit store for rabbit goods – a MUST visit for bunny lovers like me!
[X] 24min bus to Dotonbori for the below food – also I'll be eating whatever looks good while leisurely strolling through:
[X] Dessert – Lord Stow's Bakery for egg tarts
[X] Snack – Daiou Cheese Jyu-en-Pan for cheese cake, there's 3 location –second local, third local
[X] Dessert – Mattari-Purin Dotombori for pudding
[X] Dessert – over macaron for cute bunny shape macarons, infront of Sanrio Gift Gate store
[X] 12min walk to Kuromon Ichiba Market for street food – cheaper than Dotonbori but mostly seafood
[X] 50min bus to go home Nara
Day 2 Diary:
I wore my black strap silky dress. Weather was 66F-69F, cool but very sunny so I was sweating while walking. I was going to go to A Happy Pancake, but after a redditor commented on my itinerary that Micasadeco & Cafe is better, I decided to go there instead. And I was very glad that I did because the pancake was so good! It was the best and fluffiest pancake I ever had. I would definitely go again. I got there around 11AM, there was no wait, but after I sat down, the place got full and the people after us had to wait. The location I went to was tiny so if you go at 12PM you may need to wait. The pancakes are made fresh after it is order so it takes about 20 minutes for it to be ready. After 20 minutes, I got my pancake, and it was definitely worth the wait! 10/10.
I took a train afterwards to Uniqlo Osaka, did some shopping there, and decided not to go to Don Quijote due to how crowded it was at that area. I will be going to another Don Quijote location that is out of the city on another day so this wasn't a must do on this day.
I walked to the Rebekka Rabbit store afterwards. Even thought the store was small, there was so many cute rabbit goods to look at that I ended up spending an hour there. I actually didn't want to leave but I had to. This was one my favorite store to visit during my trip because of all the rabbit goods. I'm so glad my friend had mentioned this place to me, I wouldn't have found out otherwise! It was like my happy place. I was not allowed to take photos inside so there is not video on it, but I did a video on my shopping haul. Luckily no one else was there when I went so I was very happy I could slowly take my time to browse and not get in other people's way. The owner was very nice too. I received a cute mini pink shopping bag with my purchase and a cookie to celebrate their store's 4th Anniversary. I spent about 18,821Yen (was $126) and I had to hold myself back from buying more! It's a bunny lover heaven…
I took another train to Dotonbori for snacks. It was SUPER crowded. I didn't stay there long. I got my food, ate it, and left within 30 minutes. I wouldn't go back again but don't mind the outer parts of it where it wasn't as crowded, which was where I got my food. I'm glad the food I wanted to try were on the outer edge of Dotonbori so I didn't have to walk through the middle parts of it. Here's what I had:
Lord Stow's Bakery – 10/10 better than the Chinese egg tarts I had in America. Would get again.
Daiou Cheese Jyu-en-Pan – 8/10 cheese was sweet with no other flavor, outside is crispy like waffle with no flavor, so overall taste was basically a sweet cheesy pastry. While it was fun to eat, I did got tired of it after I ate half of it. Still, I enjoyed it. Good to try at least once.
Mattari-Purin Dotombori – 8/10 This was good but I think the famous pudding from Nara call Mahoroba Daibutsu Pudding is far more superior in texture, flavor, and taste. So I will not get it again.
over macaron – 7/10 overall too sweet, it just looks cute for picture, I would not get it again.
There was a Cinnamoroll Cafe right next to over macaron. I will be going to the Cinnamoroll Cafe Tokyo so I only stepped in to take pictures. I didn't order anything. Right infront of it was a Sanrio Gift Shop too so I took a look there as well. This one is larger than the cafe in Tokyo with a reservation system for the special room upstairs, next time I will go back for it.
Kuromon Ichiba Market – a few minutes walk to this market from Dotonbori. I didn't eat anything there since they had mostly seafood so I wouldn't visit again.
Went home for Japanese home made meal.
• Day 3 – 10.24 Tues – Kyoto – staying home in Nara
[X] left 9:30, 1hr30min to Fushimi Inari Taisha for 2 hour hike
[X] 35min bus to Ichinenzaka Hill, Ninenzaka, Sannenzaka:
[X] cafe – The Unir coffee senses for coffee, coffee pudding, & fruit sandwich – can sit on 2nd floor
[X] gift shop – Studio Ghibli Shop
[X] snack – 月下美人 for dango
[X] dessert – Apple Pie Lab for apple pies
[X] dessert – Matcha House for matcha sweets – one person sit down to reserve seat, other go order
[X] snack –Fujinami for matcha sweets
[X] gift shop – Studio Ghibli Shop
[X] snack – Malebranche Kiyomuzuzaka for matcha cookies
[X] snack – Kawakatsusohonke Kiyomizuderasandoten for cucumber pickle stick
[X] Kirakuan Okamoto Sanneizaka for cream croquette
[X] 果物と野菜のお店 なかじん for shin muscat grapes
[X] on way home, stop by Porta Mall near Kyoto Train Station & explore stores at Yamato-Saidaiji Train Station at Nara.
Day 3 Diary:
So silly me completely missed 10.25! I didn't even realize it until this day when I noticed my "Wednesday" was missing! haha. So I ended up with an extra free day while staying in Nara. I decided to explore Kyoto both days. I divided the original itinerary for Kyoto into two days.
I slept in a bit and didn't leave until 9:30AM. I needed to find something else to fill in the morning so I chose to visit the very popular touristy area Fushimi Inari Taisha. I didn't intend to spend that much time there, but I ended up hiking up and back down for 2 hours. I was wearing a light silk beige dress, weather was about 61F, overall cool weather but the full sun out made it feel super hot! I was sweating a lot and wished I brought a hair clip. I was just glad I dressed super light with only a fanny pack! It was good exercise and I enjoyed the hike up. The lower areas was very crowded, and most people don't hike all the way up to the top, so I was able to take some nice picture without the crowd near the top. But the view from top was underwhelming in my opinion so I wouldn't want to visit again. There are shops up there, and there seem to be locals living there. I saw old people carrying large bags up there as they walk past me. My favorite part was rinsing off my hands with the shrine's chouzuya, the water was so cool and refreshing.
After hiking back down, I took a bus to Ichinenzaka Hill, Ninenzaka, & Sannenzaka streets for lunch at The Unir coffee senses. Their fruit sandwich was sold out so I was very sad. I ordered the egg sandwich instead, it was very delicious. 10/10. I had their Americano coffee (Colombia EL Diviso Farm Ahi species Lactic), however I prefer my home coffee so I rated it 6/10. I sat on the second floor to rest as I ate. Service was really good though, the employees there were very nice. This was a great place to sit down to rest a bit before continuing your day. The inside of the cafe had a relaxing and chill vibe. I would go again to hopefully try their fruit sandwich next time. The other stores on my list to go to are all in the same neighborhood, all within a few minutes walking distance. Here's the snacks I ate there:
月下美人 – 10/10 of all the dangos I had during my trip, the dango from this shop was THE BEST. I highly recommend and would get it again! I actually miss it a lot. There is area to sit inside if there is room.
Apple Pie Lab – 6/10 I don't like it because the apple inside was not apple slices but filled with apple sauce instead. I was disappointed about that so would not get again.
Matcha House – 1/10 I would never go back here again. The negative reviews on Google were accurate. I mainly do not like it due to their policy where they force you to go reserve a seat, despite there being many open seats inside and outside, which don't make sense because there is no system in place for you to actually reserve the seat unless you are going with another person who can sit on that table to reserve it as the other goes to order. So the only way a single customer can order is if they leave their items at the seat, with risk of it being stolen. It just didn't make sense. I didn't go alone so it wasn't a problem for me, but the people working there were not very friendly at all. The first thing the girl over the counter said to us was "Go reserve a seat," assuming we didn't read the sign outside that said so before we enter. The atmosphere there was not very pleasant. I ordered the matcha tiramisu, matcha green tea, and matcha ice cream. I thought everything was way too bitter and matcha was very strong, I ended up with a slight headache from the matcha. I had matcha drinks and ice cream before, but I guess the matcha in Japan is that much stronger so it is just not for me.
Fujinami – 2/10 I love warabi mochi so I wanted to give matcha warabi mochi flavor a try. I regretted trying it… too bitter for me… would not try again. The regular warabi mochi was delicious though, 10/10.
Malebranche Kiyomuzuzaka – 2/10, got some matcha cookies, also did not like this…
Kawakatsusohonke Kiyomizuderasandoten – 1/10 – got the lemon flavor cucumber pickle stick and I deeply regretted it. This is my least favorite snack to try. I like pickles but definitely not this one! I would avoid it. My pain is your gain.
Kirakuan Okamoto Sanneizaka – 8/10 preferred potato or curry croquette instead of cream version, it was still very crispy and fresh so I liked it enough to finish it.
果物と野菜のお店 なかじん – 10/10 I stumbled on this shop on my way out. Their long line attracted my attention to see what they were selling. Turns out it is a small store selling high end luxury fruits. I heard about the expensive shin muscat grapes so I got a cup to give it a try and WOW it was the BEST grapes I had. I really loved it! It taste sweet and outside isn't as crispy as the grapes in America so it is softer. So depending on level of sweetness and how crispy you like grapes to be, some may or may not like it. I would definitely get it again though.
There's two Ghibli store location at this area so I went to both to do some shopping. This one is bigger with more stuff than the the other store. Both stores had different decor though so it is worth checking them both out. One of my favorite finds was the Mystery Totoro Crystal Box. My sister and I had so much fun unboxing it. We got a jade green and pink crystal. The tiny Totoro crystal is so cute! I also went to Peter Rabbit Cafe and Sumikko Gurashi bubble tea shop. I didn't buy anything to eat there, only went for a look. All of these shops were so cute that I spent some time at each just browsing and taking pictures.
Overall I had a lot of fun browsing, shopping, and eating here. It was very crowded in the afternoon, full of tourist, but I still enjoyed it. I would go back again for the shopping & food.
On my way back, I stopped by the Porta Mall near Kyoto Train Station and had dinner at Kushikatsu Daruma – Kyoto Porta. I got some doteyaki, it is a beef tendon that is cooked for a long time. Had it for first time and I liked it surprisingly. It had good flavor. Also got some fried vegetable skewers, which were all good. 10/10 for everything. Would go again.
After reaching Yamato-Saidaiji Train Station, I stopped by the the underground department store to buy the expensive Shin Muscat grapes before heading home. The smallest bag was 2,000Yen (about $14). They sell larger bags for as much as $100! Expensive but worth it in my opinion.
Day 4 to 21 to be continued…
by Sakura95996