Before our flight schedule, we had to meet 2-3 times just to finalize our itinerary. We were weighing our options whether we should do the trip on our own or be on a guided tour. In the end, we decided to forgo the tour and just explore on our own. Each of us got a day or two to research on which places to go to and how to get there. I got the first two days, which was how to get to the hotel from the airport and the Kyoto day tour. Upon researching, doing a 1 day tour of Kyoto on our own proved to be a difficult task. We even thought of getting a tour but unfortunately we didn't have enough time. 

Anyway, our flight from Manila was at 3:20PM and we got to Osaka (Kansai) Airport at 7:55PM. There was an hour difference from Manila which was a surprise to me because I thought Manila and Osaka has same time zone, apparently not. Haha, this reminded me of my seminar tour to Singapore which is also ahead of Manila by 1 hour.

Back to Kansai. Upon getting off the plane, we were met by unfamiliar surroundings, much more by the unfamiliar language. We just followed most of the passengers of the same flight and found ourselves passing the immigration and looking for the train ticket office where we will buy our Haruka and Icoca card.

While 3 of my other travel mates had their money changed, 2 of us asked for direction from the information counter. We were told to go to the Ticket Office for foreigners (sadly I can't remember the name of the actual office). I'm not sure if the airport exit is the same for other airlines, but from where we were, we just had to go up a floor, turn left over the overpass to get to the train ticket office which was at the far end of the station. You'll find is easily since it's beside the ticket machines.

We bought our one-way Haruka pass ( special pass from Osaka to Kyoto) and ICOCA Card by presenting our passport and the Y3,030 payment.

Here's a breakdown of the ticket price: 
• Kansai Airport Express Haruka 1,000 yen (USD 10.50). Airport to Kyoto Station (Haruka)

• From Kyoto Station change to Subway Karasuma Line. (ICOCA Y1,500) Kokusaikaikan side > get off at K09 Shijo Station. Exit 22 7 min. walk to hotel.

• Y500 is like the handling fee of the Icoca card. 

Please disregard the italicized words unless you're going to the same hotel us ours. (Mitsui Garden Hotel Shinmachi Bettei)



After getting our passes, we boarded the Kansai Airport Express Haruka and tried our best to relax a bit and study our course to get to our hotel. The travel from Osaka to Kyoto took about and hour and a half. 

Now, the first hurdle that we had to go through. STAIRS. Stairs upon stairs upon stairs. I don't have issues with stairs, mind you. But going up the stairs with a heavy luggage on tow and no idea where to go is just torture. We even had to take a u-turn and go down another stairs because we went the wrong way. But the 7 min.! That "Exit 22 - 7 min. walk to hotel" is a lie. A LIE. Ok, you can probably get to the hotel within that time frame if you don't have any luggage or if you were briskly walking. But if you were on the same boat as us, then I'll be straight and caution you beforehand. Looking for the hotel was hard. We even went to the wrong hotel because apparently there were two Mistui Garden Hotels in that area.

But bless our poor souls, feet, and rumbling tummies..and our dying luggage tires! A nice lady walking her dog spotted us and asked us were we were headed. Thankfully, we were on the right intersection and the road to the hotel was just where we stopped. She only had to point out the way but she even offered to walk us there. The hotel didn't seem like a normal hotel from outside and there were no English name of the hotel so finding it on our own was almost an impossible feat so we were truly thankful.


We loved the hotel! It was not that big but the ambiance and aesthetics were beautiful. It was traditional in a modern kind of way and we just couldn't be mad about it being hard to find. The reception area was empty when we got there, it was almost 11PM, I think. But after a few seconds, a receptionist shows up. He was nice and speaks good enough English for us to understand each other, we asked if there were tours that we can join for Kyoto and he offered to call the Tourist office for any schedule in the morning. (Although we were not able to get a tour, it was really nice of him to ask around for us. Then again, I'm probably just not used to all the tourist service thing and that's considered the normal thing to do. Haha).

After leaving our stuff at the hotel, we went out to try to get some dinner. Along the way we saw a fast food type restaurant and went there. Their ordering system was very new to us! There was a vendo-like machine near the entrance, you'll see the food that the restaurant is offering there and you choose which one you like. Insert the money to the machine and then you'll get something like a food stub and give it to the servers. After few minutes, your order will be sent to your table. It was quite efficient and different.


I wasn't in the mood to eat a heavy meal so 2 of us decided to buy something light at the Family Mart.

It was comfortable walking around, even at that time. There were still people eating in a bar or restaurant. It felt safe.

This was, by far, the most hectic and tiring trip abroad I've been to. Partly because we decided to go there on our own without tour and no one in our group can speak Japanese fluently, unless my cryptic and beginner level of Japanese language is considered useful. (Thank you anime, thank you J-dramas - you have been thoroughly useful - at some point anyway xD).
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This was only day 1! I'll update this entry and include our itinerary and will post about our tour in my next blog entries. ^^

Ja ne~