Sukiyaki buffet & Japanese pasta - Day 4 in Japan: Staying at hotel Nikko Kanazawa

Am so happy that my semester break is here again! Finally able to write about my trip to Kanazawa! After 3 days in Kyoto, we took a shinkansen to Kanazawa in the morning. Even though it was drizzling when we arrived, my frown was instantly replaced with a smile when we got to the hotel. The hotel was actually really near to Kanazawa station and the reason why we got caught under the rain in the first place was because we weren't aware of the underground walkway to the hotel ahaha. (plus we didn't really know where the hotel was located too!) Also there's a pretty nice mall nearby called Forus! 

For our trip at Kanazawa, we stayed at Hotel Nikko Kanazawa. The lobby itself already gave us a good feel and the staffs that attended to our needs were very efficient and polite too! Thumbs up to customer service :') I regret not taking any photos of the lobby though. :(

Similar to the hotel we stayed at in Kyoto, we got connecting rooms again! :D Was super happy to see a bolster on the beds! Even though it's a skinny one haha. 

Even the bathroom area was nice and spacious. This time I didn't have any problems with the shower :) 

Just JP toilet things. Even their toilets are cooler than me lol

Have you ever enjoyed something but couldn't find words to express it? Well, that's my love for Hotel Nikko Kanazawa <3

Throughout and before our Japan trip, we have been monitoring Japan's weather forecast to plan our itinerary properly. Since we already knew that our first day in Kanazawa would be rainy, we opt for more relaxing and indoor activities. Hence, a lot of food :p First meal we had at Kanazawa was at Kamakura Pasta @ Forus. ( 鎌倉パスタ )

 I ordered this sukiyaki gyuniku pasta which if I did not recall wrongly was a chef recommended dish. Definitely no regrets on this as it tasted really good!

I didn't manage to take a close up shot of the carbonara but it tasted really good too! Unfortunately I can't recall what pasta were the other two. Apart from the part where the top one had some lemon flavour to it. All the pastas on overall were pretty good though! Do pop by to give the sukiyaki pasta  a try if you come across the restaurant :)

Indoor activities...indoor activities...Our main plan for Kanazawa was to go for Shirakawa-go so since day one was rainy, we opt for Myōryū-ji a.k.a Ninja-dera instead. A.K.A again, Ninja Temple. We got there via cab from our hotel and before visiting this temple we had already pre-booked our reservation via the hotel. Since photography is prohibited in this temple, these were the only photos we were able to snap. I think this temple is recommended to those that are interested in traps and historical architectures. What we did was first we had a short briefing of rules and regulations in the hall area then we were given a handbook in english. The reason why we had this handbook was because the tour was a strictly no english translating tour. Nonetheless, it was still quite fascinating to see how ninjas hide from their enemies. There weren't many taxis in that area so after the tour ended, we actually took a pretty long walk to the shop lots that we had passed by during our ride here. Cause shop lots had a higher chance of getting a taxi haha. 

After a quick wash up, we went back to Forus for dinner haha. This time we had a steamboat buffet that also serves snow crabs for an additional cost. The restaurant was call Organic Food Buffet Harvest.

I'd suggest further cooking the snow crab in the sukiyaki broth for a while cause it tastes better that way haha. So happy to sukiyaki in Japan! Glad that it wasn't too big of a difference from the Sukiya in Malaysia!

 I'm not sure if the lights were part of the Christmas illuminations but I have a soft spot for fairy lights!

Best thing I love about Japan is their super cute fun size 'short' cups. Wanted to bring one back as memory though! :( 

Bamboos and Tori gates - Day 3 in Japan: Arashiyama & Fushimi Inari, Kyoto

This was my last day in Kyoto so it was more like a chill day. The only place in our travel itinerary on that day was Arashiyama so Fushimi Inari Shrine was more like an impromptu place to visit because me and my sister hasn't been there before. My mom and aunt already visited that place during their previous visit to Japan.

Arashiyama's bamboo grove gives off a nice and relaxing atmosphere. The occasional rays of light peeking through the tall standing bamboo plants also gave a nice touch to our photos. Selfie-ing there also prettier ok. 

See, told you the lighting was perfect.

After taking enough shots at the bamboo grove, we made a stop at Tenryu-ji Temple. I'd say this is another must go place if you're around the area. I mean, might as well right?

see see seeeeeeeee. The rays of light gives off some magical feel right?

to me, traveling to countries during their fall-winter season is the best time ever. especially when you're experiencing summer all year round in your own country. The scenery you're able to absorb and savor is just simply beautiful and at times you'd just wish to preserve it and bring it home with you. I guess that's where cameras came into the world to help mankind preserve precious moments in their life.

So happy to find this little beautiful on the ground to bring home with me! Picked this up under this very beautiful tree near the bridge. (I'm not sure whats the name of the bridge but this was the place that got us side tracked)

The whole reason I said we needed a portable wifi was because I want to see what geofilters are there all over the world and look at this kyoto one, it's so cute and pretty! On the side note, although Arashiyama seemed like a small town, while being distracted by other breath taking places around in the area, it took us awhile to navigate our way back to the station. When we did, we were starving and quickly made our way back to Kyoto station's Isetan for ramen. Lunch hour in Japan = queue every where T_T

 I didn't take down the name of this restaurant but the reason we chose to eat here was solely because 1. they were using the 'machine ordering system' that my sister wanted to see how it worked and 2. the queue wasn't as bad as the other ramen restaurants on that floor. Taste wise I'd say it's not bad, the broth was pretty nice for me but the beef tasted a little too salty for my liking. Oh and it also came with bottomless uncooked eggs haha.

If you ever visit this restaurant, don't get their gyoza though. Their pan fried gyoza dumpling was served with sour plum powder and half a lime. I wouldn't recommend trying this because the gyoza skin was all stuck together and it was a little mushy on the bottom for my liking. If you're in hopes of trying gyoza, don't let this spoil your cravings. Unless your goal is to try every gyoza you come across in Japan, then go ahead la. This was the first time I had sour plum powder to dip my gyoza in! Quite interesting, I'd say.

Soon after lunch was when we decided that why not spend the extra time we have to visit one of Kyoto's die-die-must-visit place? Fushimi Inari shrine is like a place tourists visiting Kyoto must go one right? Plus it's really amazing that all of these tori gates were built from scratch with people's bare hands! I mean, there's soooooooo many of them!

Here's a tip, not all takoyaki in Japan tastes good ;_; I wouldn't say this tasted bad but it just didn't give me the heavenly-feel I get when I eat good food.

But look at this shot. Like documentary shot, kan. / w \

We stumbled across this yummy goodness in the mini mart at Fushimi inari! 

Coca-Cola lime flavor gaissss! I don't remember seeing this in KL so we bought one to try and we regret not buying a few more back to the hotel with us. It's ok though, we found it at Tokyo and bought like 4 more bottles.