Hello Japan - Day 1

As soon as we touched down in Japan, I was greeted by the summer warmth that hugged me hello. My nostrils were instantly filled with that familiar sweet smell of Japan with a hint of sanitizer cleanliness. Fond memories of my last trip came flooding back to me and I had to keep pinching myself as it felt so surreal. I am in Japan!!

My friends and I went straight to the vending machine for some Black Boss (cold black coffee in a can). This is pretty much the only coffee I drank on my last trip because coffee in Japan isn't great and can be quite expensive. However, I had grown to love the boss and now prefer it. The coffee was soon followed by some Onigiri (rice balls) from one of the stores at the train station. The plane trip took a lot out of us, so we really needed some quick sustenance before we jumped on a train to Tokyo station and then another train to Kyoto.

When we arrived in Kyoto, we went straight to Iori Ebisuya-cho Machiya (traditional wooden townhouse) that will be our home for the next four days. It is a hundred year old house and pretty much in it's original state; it's incredible. We will be sleeping on futons and tatami mat floors, which will be really comfortable... However, we have a really beautiful bathroom with a Japanese cedar bath tub (smells amazing) and an amazing little garden.

Day 1

So, if today was anything to go by, our trip with be heavily focused on eating. I already knew this, but I somehow needed reminding. Anywhere you go, you are pretty much guaranteed a fresh and tasty feed, even the convenience store food is pretty darn good. David Chang raves on about Lawsons convenience store (I will review later) and that is saying something. So we spent most of the day eating, shopping and eating, then some more shopping.

Where I ate/drank:

 

Train/station food - The Japanese really know how to do good food, even station food can be quite good. Being the world's tenth most populated country and having a culture of eating out, food retail is in high demand. Therefore, many operations are able to sustain a high turnover, keeping food fresh. 

The convenience store - Eating sandwiches out of a convenience store goes against everything I used to believe in but I had a revelation. It is possible... Only in Japan.
You can also get ready to eat edamamae, delicious salads and Onigiri. Onigiri, is a great rice ball snack that comes in a a variety of different fillings. You can seriously live off these, if you are on a tight budget, equivalent to a couple of bucks. My friend had put me onto these last time round and I will be forever grateful.
P.S You can also purchase beers are only a couple of dollars.

Nishiki Food Market - is a traditional Japanses Market, Nishiki Market meaning "the Kitchen of Kyoto"! There was soo much food! We ate from many different stalls, snacking on Takoyaki, soy donuts (which were surprisingly delicious), fish cakes (these were a bit full on, we called these the dense numbers), and some old school shaved ice with different flavoured cordial. 

Yorum's bar - I had gone to this tiny 8-seater sake bar on my last trip to Kyoto and had such an incredible experience that I had to go back. This time was just as good with Yorum, the bar owner, walking us through countless ridiculous sake and explaining each one in depth. This was complimented by delicious bar snacks, such as shishito peppers, assorted pickles, assorted cheese (tete de moine, Brie and manchego, which surprisingly goes really well with Sake, who would have thought!) and the best haloumi I've ever had. If you want a great sake experience, you must visit Yorum, just make sure you get there early to snake a seat.