it is a little complicating to travel around Kyoto but it is definitely cheaper than many other cities as you can ride on the bus as much as you want for only 500yen.

note: the buses in Japan are quite different from Seoul and other places. you get on the bus from behind and pay in front. for the day pass, just get in front and tell the bus driver and make sure you prepare 500yen! I am not sure how to ride on it normally because apparently the fares are all different depending on where you’re riding. so if you’re riding for more than 2 bus rides or a far one, the day pass would be best. and later on you can just flash your card (showing the date) to the drivers and enjoy unlimited rides! will blog about that next time! and pay another 500yen and you can take unlimited subway/train as well! but we only opted for the bus as we don’t take the subway too much.

however, we took the train there!

the unique seating system in Japan. different in almost every line. amazing.

Arashiyama Station! let’s get outta here shall we?

but but but the station is so pretty! very.. rustic and old school.

and chairs that look like wheel chairs wth.

Hankyu Arashiyama Station. there are SO MANY LINES in Japan. I wonder why they can’t combine them all in one company. =S. but Hankyu is the more expensive one I think. a short trip would come up to a lot of money. I didn’t even want to count how much I’ve spent on transportation =(. but I am sure I spent over RM600 in the 2 weeks since I went to Nara and Kobe as well as a few times down Osaka. it is even more expensive than Tokyo as I’ve remembered. asked my friend and he said it is because there are more people in Tokyo so they can charge them cheaper. makes sense I guess.

and finally, Arashiyama!

had to take a picture with all these signs. but why did they make it so hard ro read pfft.

the view’s super pretty =3.

like super. I went there during Christmas but it still felt like Autumn. ah, just love Japan’s weather. it is so

it was so silly of me to ask my Japanese friend to take me to both Arashiyama and Togetsugyo Bridge because Togetsugyo IS in Arashiyama. and it is also on the way to the Bamboo Grove.

totally unrelated but it is so funny how Japanese people are friendly to pigeons while Koreans get so scared of them and freakout whenever a pigeon is near. I have always thought that Korean girls look very.. dumb when they gave such big reactions whenever a pigeon is near but apparently they believe that millions of bacteria magically spreads in the air whenever they spread their wings. =_________=. mmhmm.

anyways, back to Togetsugyo Bridge! super pretty bridge no? I normally prefer the modern looking ones but this one is simply breath taking. especially in real life.

the view from the bridge!

the mountains are so pretty U_U.

happy girl is pretty =D.

SH looked like some serial killer haha. totally destroyed my picture!!!

the other side of the bridge!

the stretch of shops; very Kyoto-ful.

spam.

the shops here are really pretty. and expensive pfft.

and this building is very popular for their sweets and all.

don’t know what it is called but you can take the train to somewhere from here too!

pickle shop. I think. they are everywhere and that is probably the only Japanese food I hate. PICKLES. love Korean pickled food but hate hate hate Japanese ones T_T.

love Japanese souvenir shops. they are not particularly expensive but they are bloooooody blooody bloody cute.

and those rich green tea soft-to-keu-rim ice creams are heavenly!

there are other snacks as well and cafes above if I am not wrong. but definitely not cheap.

initially I thought these trains are just for show but they moved!!! I guess it doesn’t require any fee since they had no counters for it.

these… poles? are so pretty! =3.

DANGO! these expensive rice

some heavenly looking dango in 3 flavours. normal, black sesame and matcha! and that addictive gooey sweet sauce.

eyeing on it already hahahaha.

the expensive parfaits and desserts served in some very Kyoto-ful way.

and another thing which I was absolutely addicted to in Japan. Warabi Mochi. these are super duper soft Mochis which melts in your mouth upon every bite. =3.

and some sakura rice mochi thingy which wasn’t bad but it is just.. alright for me. not a fan of those leafy stuff.

okay lets go!

and so we continued walking.

and got hungry so I got another matcha ice cream ^^. every shop have their own taste but they are normally all very awesome!

I hope I can read Japanese Kanji or Chinese really. but my friend told me to stand there so I did. =D.

we then paid 500yen to get into this beautiful garden. except 500yen is a little too much of a price to pay.

it was really pretty but stupid weather! T_T. it rained like 2-3 days straight when I first went there. sigh. spoiled my trip. because of the rain I could only visit one place per day.

basically this is all. not recommended to visit this garden unless you have a lot of money hahaha.

the view was pretty good but I preferred Ginkakuji (the silver pavilion)

or maybe because they are still reconstructing one side of the garden hence it became much smaller.

part of the garden.

those Zen lines! spent 2000yen (RM60) for that umbrella. so tiny but very pretty. pfft.

because it was raining and I was so frustrated

look at those Kois! but other than that, look at the background. it felt like as if a deer would pop out from somewhere. absolutely pretty. so far I’ve only seen beautiful views like these in Kyoto. ahhh <3. Korea, Y U NO HAZ DIS.

and another picture. I was so engrossed with it I kept staring at it while resting at the benches in front the pond. =3.