Last day to explore Kyoto~ Before I start my journey to Kyoto, got some light snacks from Lawson. After yesterday’s really good pizza and cheese steamed bun, decided to try another cheese bun flavour - Japanese curry potato, really good as well, never had a spicy steamed bun before! Love that stretchy cheese! Also got an egg salad sandwich and shrimp mayo onigiri. Really love how you are allowed to dine in the trains through your long journeys, saves a lot of time and for me, helped to cut down the boredness.
First stop for today was Good Time Coffee, a cozy black-white-wood themed cafe. Decided to pop by here after spotting their pretty strawberry custard sandwich on Instagram! Unfortunately, it wasn’t strawberry season so they aren’t selling it. Got their tamago sandwich instead, which was uniquely topped with some shoyu jelly!
Next, I headed to Kyoto Imperial Palace. This was the former ruling palace of the Emperor of Japan and the residence of Japan’s Imperial family, as Kyoto used to be the capital city of Japan. Fortunately, there was an English guided tour going on, so I stood beside them and listened to the guide’s explanation as well.
Following after was to an award-winning gyoza place called Chao Chao, it is known to be the best gyoza place in Kyoto! They do gyozas in so many flavours, even sweet flavours like cinnamon apple! Love how they allow you to order just 2-3pcs per flavour, so you can try more flavours. As a single diner, I went for the “set of 4 flavours” which includes 2pcs each of signature pork gyoza, shrimp and pork, curry and pork, and scallion and pork. I also ordered 3pcs red chilli pepper and pork gyoza, and an appetiser - boiled marinated quail eggs. Everything were amazing and I guess my favourite amongst the 5 flavours will be the shrimp and pork!
It was almost sunset - the sun sets around 5:30pm, so I really had to rush my way to the next destination, Higashiyama Street. It’s like a food street and you can find lots of matcha creations here! Before that, I popped by a nearby matcha cafe called Higashiyama Saryo to get their “crystal mochi”, available in matcha and kinako flavours. Not quite sure what the snack is called, but the outer layer is like a translucent mochi instead of the usual white, thus I named it “crystal mochi”. The filling was matcha / kinako paste with a fresh cream center. I bought them frozen so I only ate them when I was back in Osaka. The snack was really soft yet chewy, really good!
Back to Higashiyama Street, it was super crowded! I went to Kiyomizu Kyoami first to get their popular giant cinnamon choux puff called Yatsuhashi Chou. Got the matcha flavour one, it was generously filled with creamy matcha custard! It was quite difficult to shop around here as it was really packed, so afraid that people will knocked onto me and I go dropping my snack! Along this street, I also got a matcha steamed bun and matcha warabimochi to try. The steamed bun was good but nothing too special, just matcha flavoured lotus paste. For the warabimochi, it was my first time trying it and it has such an unique texture! It’s a little chewy like mochi, yet it has a jelly kind of mouth feel, really interesting. It was completely dark by now... Just took a stroll, enjoy the breeze and slowly exiting the crowded street.
Made my way back to Osaka and went to this okonomiyaki place that was featured in Netflix’s Street Food! This place is called Fue and the chef featured in the show was Goshi Yusuke. The shop was started by Goshi’s grandparents with his grandmother’s special okonomiyaki batter. It is now run by him and his father. I had the ebitama okonomiyaki, which is with shrimp and pork, and it was done up by the father. This is my first time trying an okonomiyaki so I wasn’t quite sure where the benchmark should be, but it was amazing anyways. I mean it must be real good to be able to feature on Netflix right? The “pancake” consists of the batter, cabbage, carrot, scallion and whichever meat you choose. It is then brushed with okonomiyaki sauce, drizzled with Japanese mayonnaise, and topped with seaweed and bonito flakes! And that’s it for today!
Exchange Rate = SG$1 : ¥79.30
Day 8 Expenses
Lawson:
- Egg Salad Sandwich ¥228
- Shrimp Mayo Onigiri ¥150
- Jap Curry and Cheese Steamed Bun ¥130
Good Time Coffee:
- Tamago Sandwich ¥700 (after tax ¥770)
- Latte ¥480 (after tax ¥528)
Chao Chao:
- Set of 4 flavours Gyoza ¥600 (8pcs, after tax ¥660)
- Chilli Pepper and Pork Gyoza ¥300 (3pcs, after tax ¥330)
- Boiled Quail Eggs ¥280 (after tax ¥310)
Higashiyama Saryo:
- Matcha Crystal Mochi ¥200 (after tax ¥216)
- Kinako Crystal Mochi ¥200 (after tax ¥216)
Higashiyama:
- Matcha Steamed Bun ¥300
- Matcha Cream Puff ¥300
- Matcha Warabimochi ¥300
Fue: Ebitama Okonomiyaki ¥990
TOTAL: ¥5,428 = SG$68.45
Previous Expenses: SG$2,384.60
Current Total Expenses: SG$2,453.05