Day 5 : Fushimi Inari - Kyoto

Wearing mask because the wind was really cold!

Let's continue my Japan trip journey! Here is my 5th day in Japan. I decided to go to Kyoto for a day trip since it's not far from Osaka and there were some places that I had never been to before.

I and my parents took the JR Special Rapid Service Train from Shin-Osaka station to Kyoto Station. The fare was 560 yen one way. It's much cheaper than taking the shinkansen . The ride was about 25 minutes long. Only 10 mins difference with Shinkansen (the shinkansen's fare to Kyoto is 2600yen!)

The train's coach was quite old but it' super clean till there's not any single trash or even weird smell. You can tell that Japanese are very clean and tidy~~.

This was Kyoto Station. My first destination was Fushimi Inari. To go to Fushimi Inari, I had to change train and take the train to JR Inari Station. The station's exit gate was exactly right in front of the Fushimi Inari!

I had been wanting to visit this shrine ever since I saw people's posts on Instagram. The torii gates looked very gorgeous in my eyes. During my first visit to Japan in 2009, I also went to Kyoto, but only went to Kiyomizudera. So this time I skipped the places I had been to and explored new places ;)

Fushimi Inari Shrine (伏見稲荷大社, Fushimi Inari Taisha) is an important Shinto shrine in southern Kyoto. It is famous for its thousands of vermilion torii gates, which straddle a network of trails behind its main buildings. The trails lead into the wooded forest of the sacred Mount Inari, which stands at 233 meters and belongs to the shrine grounds. 

Fushimi Inari is the most important of several thousands of shrines dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. Foxes are thought to be Inari's messengers, resulting in many fox statues across the shrine grounds. Fushimi Inari Shrine has ancient origins, predating the capital's move to Kyoto in 794. (source)

• Seifuku Coat - bought in Shinsaibashi, Osaka 
• Plaid shirt worn inside - bought in Dongdaemun, Seoul
• Mustard wavy knitted sweater & Bruno hat c/o Her Spot
• Boots from Forever21 Japan
• Bag from ZARA
• Skirt from Stradivarius

In most of Japan's shrines, they provide this spot to wash your hand and drink water from it.

It's almost Christmas & New Year! I decided to buy this torii miniature to write my wishes and hang it there. Hopefully all of it will come true ^O^

You can also write your wishes and draw the fox's face on this fox card !

The map! There are sooo many torii gates, it might take 2-3 hours to complete all of it. Because our time was limited, we decided to stop in the middle and took our time to have lunch and try their yummy snacks there.

There's a street full of food stalls in Fushimi Inari. You can find crepes, sweets, takoyaki, okonomiyaki, yakisoba, taiyaki, dango, mochi, anddd maaany other kind of Japanese food.

Taiyaki! As usual, Japan's red beans are the best!!

Dango. My mom bought one but she said it tasted kinda bland.

Delicious mochi with fresh ichigo (strawberry) :)

And here's the most crowded food stall , Yakisoba. The queue was very long. The seller cooked a freaking HUGE portion at one time to serve his customers quickier. Even the okonomiyaki seller in front of him helped him to pack the cooked yakisoba... I recored a video of it.. Shall I upload it on my youtube? :)

The taste was delicious, but it's very different with chinese/indonesian's fried noodle. Our noodles usually has a strong sweet soy sauce flavor, but since yakisoba used a different kind of sauce, it had an unique flavor! You must try this when you go to Japan . In 2009 , I tried yakisoba for the first time in Mount Fuji :)

Okonomiyaki, which was fully covered with katsuobushi (bonito flakes).
I and my parents' tongue suit Japanese food very well, which made our tummy (and cheeks for me) got bigger and bigger day by day. lol. 

Thanks to the kind stranger who took this pic of us !

If you're wondering, the torii gates are donated by the visitors. The size of the gate will depend on how much money they donate. The more they donate, the bigger the gate will be! :)

Yay! So happy to tick off one of my wishlist to take photo inside the torii gates!

 *

I'll continue the 2nd part of my Kyoto trip soon! Next destination is GION. 

I decide not to post it in one time because there are just too many photos xP. See yaaa~~!

Less for More

Spent Sunday taking outfit photos with my dad and my mom, then went to eat our favorite Ketoprak for lunch. My friends who usually take my pics were all busy on that day, luckily my dad can take photos very well :D!!

I have soooo manyyy white tops in my closet and won't ever get enough of it. I have many kinds of design of white tops, but this one from LESS FOR MORE is the best one I have so far. The frill part is just at the perfect length.

The top isn't too formal yet not too casual. I can mix and match it with everything in my closet. Next time I'm planning to wear it with my skinny jeans and a statement necklace to make the outfit stand out even more! :)

• Eliza crop top in White c/o @Less4More / Less for More (fb)
• Navy coat from Cloth Inc
• Plaid drawstring shorts from f21
• Gold studded sling bag from zara
• socks from Daimaru, Osaka

This top is also available in BLACK  & ORANGE! Go grab yours from @LESS4MORE before it's too late ;)

Jakarta (Food) Diary!

Things at school have been quite rough this week. I don't know why, but I really feel exhausted and complain a lot because of the extra classes that I have to attend every single day except Saturday & Sunday. I came home around 3.30-4pm , and on some days I'll have another tuitions after I got home from school . So it means moving my ass off the house again and go to my friend's house.

I really can't wait for the national examination, then I'll be freeeeee and ready to burn all of my books. lol. (read: giving away my books to my juniors sounds better tho). I always think that I might miss school later, but I realize It'd only be the jokes and fun I had with my friends, not the lessons......... 

I enjoy learning new things, but I don't really enjoy studying. I feel like I'm being forced. I also feel that Indonesian's education concept is too focused on text books. All we do is memorize, memorize, memorize. It doesn't really matter if we understand the material / not. Even if it's a science subject like chemistry, physics which also have mathematics in it, I must admit that sometimes, I don't understand what I'm currently studying on. So when the exam comes, I only memorize 'the way to solve the question', as long as I got the right answer and high score, and when the exam ends, I'll eventually forget it. We only got so little time for practical activities, when it's actually an important part to make the students understand the lesson fully.

I'm also stressed by my time management. I can hardly have time to take outfit photos for my blog now (I even have school on Saturday until 1.30pm. It means I only got Sunday to take photos without being in a rush). I know school should be my top priority at this time, but I still feel burdened by the endorsement photos I have to do. T_T.

Today, I blog about the photos I took during my stay in Jakarta. If I'm in Jakarta, it's going to be all about korean/japanese food, new cafes at Pantai Indah Kapuk (PIK). Lol xD

The beef tongue and japchae were my lunch at Chung Gi Wa, Dharmawangsa. I and my mom like to eat at this place. The beefs are always yummy! I also like to drink the rice wine (makkeolli) . There's a korean supermarket beside this restaurant. I and my mom will go crazy buying lots and lots of kimchi to stock it in our home, tteokbokki, odeng, and manyy more!

 

I also visited IKEA. It's sooo crowded and most people just look around there like going to an amusement park, without buying anything. lol. And the restaurant's queue was also very long. I was just curious what's inside since I also want to buy furnitures there to fill my new house in Jakarta.

Obligatory shoot at IKEA's warehouse section!

• @jolie_clothing bow cropped top
• cecil mc bee plaid pants
• michael kors heels
• samantha thavasa bag

For pork meat, my favorite place is SEORAE (Pantai Indah Kapuk / The Flavor Bliss) Alam Sutera. I always order their samgyupsal, sundubu jjigae (the besttt in all over Jakarta), and japchae.

Cake a boo! This cafe is also located at PIK. I don't really like cakes, so my main intention was to see the cute concept. I ordered this cake and it tasted sweeet and quite yummy from my tongue ;p. I also love their drinks!

Again... new dessert house at PIK, WooYoo Soft Ice cream. I expected something more, though. When I went there and had the soft ice creams, it was just okay for me.

Schneeballen. This was something like a huge cookie, and to eat it, we had to crush it with this wooden hammer. The texture was too 'hard' .

Aaaanndd on New Year, I had dinner with my fam at Akira Back Jakarta. Everything was very delicious!!

AB Tacos! It's delicious and the tacos has very rich flavorings yet it doesn't taste too "heavy".

 

Crispy Kalbi Roll: very yummy too and the taste's just perfect!! The rice texture was very great, and the cabbages on top didn't taste 'raw'.

Another creative & great fusion roll from Akira Back Jakarta . Very fresh yet yummy taste ! I think it has "magic pop" candy inside it.. Where you'll feel the popping candies inside your mouth.. . So creative yet very delicious at the same time!!. I also ordered red dragon roll and ice cream. Overall they're all very delicious and the service is also nice. Usually I'll feel too full after 3 rolls of fusion roll because those rolls usually have so much mayonaisse / other sauces in it.. But in Akira Back, everything's just so well-seasoned.. Not too light yet not too much!! Thumbs up!!

Lunch & New year's eve dinner two days in a row at my fav place, Luciole bistro at Central Park, Jakarta. I never forget to have a glass of their fruit beer and a plate of seafood spaghetti in spicy asian marinara sauce!

As for our fam's favorite Indonesian restaurant in Jakarta, it has to be Pondok Laguna, Central Jakarta!