The Lee Family's Travel Blog: Shinkansen aka Bullet Train

06/13/2018 Thursday

Itinerary:

Shinkansen
Shinjuku
Hilton Tokyo Hotel

After breakfast, we took a taxi to Kyoto Station to take the Shinkansen to Tokyo. While at the station, we saw a lot of police officers again and realized that the ex Emperor of Japan was also taking the Shinkansen back to Tokyo and there were a lot of people waiting to see him.

After a little over 2 hours, we were back at Tokyo and had to transfer to take the metro to Shinjuku Station. It's a little confusing with Japan's metro lines as there are many of them, so we had to ask several people before getting on the right train. Finally, we were able to get to Shinjuku station and took the hotel shuttle.

It took a long time to check in as the hotel was full of guests. After putting our luggage in our room, we went to the lounge for some afternoon tea. Our room was fairly big but the beds were really small for the 4 of us. My parents had their room next to us which is very convenient.

After afternoon tea, we venture out to Shinjuku station.

Look at the crowd.

We walked around to find some place for dinner and saw an owl cafe.

06/10/2018 Monday

Itinerary:

Breakfast at Hotel Sardonyx Tokyo
Shinkansen aka Bullet Train from Tokyo to Kyoto
Shinkyogoku Shopping District
Nishiki Market
Snoopy Chaya
Sawawa Matcha
Cupola Sanjo
Gion

We had breakfast at our hotel, before buying some snacks as we will be taking the Shinkansen aka Bullet train to Kyoto.

Since it was drizzling, we decided to take a taxi from our hotel to Tokyo Station to take the Shinkansen. I had already bought the Shinkansen ticket online so we just need to pick up the tickets. There are different versions of the train and I bought the most expensive one (Nozomi) as it has the least number of stops and will take about 2 hours and 21 minutes from Tokyo to Kyoto. Our train ticket is only valid for 7 days, so we have to return within 7 days. It was pretty expensive but we wanted to experience the Shinkansen as it's known for their speed and comfort.

After 2 hours and 21 minutes, we finally reached Kyoto Station. Our overall experience was not impressed as we have taken the high speed rail at Taiwan and it felt as fast at the one at Japan. Also, it was much cheaper in Taiwan. Japan’s Shinkansen might be the top of the line train 20 years ago but it definitely felt outdated now compared to other Asian countries.

We took a taxi to our hotel and it was about 15 minutes away from the train Station.

After checking into our hotel, we walked to Shinkyogogu Shopping District which is right across from our hotel to check it out and have lunch. We found a ramen place and decided to try it. We had to select our food at the vending machine in the front of the restaurant and after paying for it, we have to give our tickets to the waiter and soon after, our food was served.

After lunch, we continue shopping in the Shinkyogoku district.

Next, we were at Nishiki Market which is a narrow 5 block long shopping market where they sell traditional Kyoto food. Here are a video as we walk inside Nishiki Market. And another video.

While at Nishiki Market, we saw a very cute dessert place selling Snoopy themed products.

Across from the Snoopy themed cafe, we found a place selling Matcha (Green Tea) dessert named Sawawa. We bought some ice cream and Matcha snacks to bring home.

There was signs posted everywhere to not eat while walking, so we were careful to stop at the corner to eat. It was a weird rule as why would they sell food in an open container but not allowed us to eat while walking. If that's the case, then food should be put in a closed container.

After finishing our food, we went to Cupola Sanjo before heading back to our hotel to rest.

After sending my parents and kids back to the hotel as they were tired, my husband and I decided to venture out to Gion which is the most famous Geisha district. It was about 20 minutes walk from our hotel. Here's a video.