We planned to visit both pavilions (Kinkakuji and Ginkaku-ji) on this day but rain changed our plans significantly. We didn't get to see the Ginkaku-ji (silver pavilion) as it started raining really hard after we left Kinkakuji so we ended up relaxing at the mall.

Sun, Dec 22, 2013 (Day #13)

I woke up a lot earlier than the time that I had set on my alarm. However, my boyfriend was still sleeping and I didn't want to disturb him. So instead of doing nothing around the hotel room; I decided to go across the street to eat at Yayoiken again. It's so great that they serve meals 24/7; love it!!

Yayoiken (lunch)

It's open 24-hours a day.

Plastic models of the food outside of the restaurant.

pork cutlet meal set.

Yayoiken has multiple locations throughout Japan, and is a great place for a quick meal. It's a restaurant chain where customers select their meals and pay using a machine. The prices are amazingly affordable and the food actually tastes really good. My fried pork cutlet meal was ¥900 and came with thick cutlets, white rice, miso soup, tofu, and hot tea. There is also a rice cooker at the front, so customers have unlimited access to rice.

Backpacking and staying in hostels was never an option for us. We knew from the start that we were unable to do that as we have never done it before, and that I couldn't fit everything in one mid-sized backpack (haha). Therefore, we opted to stay in only hotels throughout our 3 weeks in Japan ranging from 3 to 4.5 stars. It was rather expensive as we moved around a lot from city to city (a total of 10 different cities), so luckily there were a few affordable lunch options available.

I went back to our hotel after eating, and got ready to explore Kyoto.

Kinkakuji

Map of the Kinkakuji grounds.

The entrance fee for each person is ¥400.

Doesn't the scenery surrounding the Kinkakuji look magnificent?

Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion) is a gold-leaf covered Zen temple in Kyoto, and is one of the more popular tourist attractions in the city. The three-story structure stands in the water and one can see its golden reflection in the water. 

Address: 1 Kinkakuji-cho, Kita-ku, Kyoto, Japan
Hours: 9 am to 5 pm (daily)

 Fee: ¥400 (each person).
Transit: Take the Kyoto City Bus #101 or 205 to the Kinkaku-ji Michi bus stop.

It started raining quite hard when we left Kinkakuji, so we decided to head back to Kyoto Station to have an early dinner. The rain really dampened our plans to visit the district of Gion and see Geisha, and eat dinner in the area. I was rather sad about this as I was looking forward to checking it out.

Porta Mall [udon] (dinner)

Porta Mall is an underground mall located beneath Kyoto Station. There are plenty of shops, cafes and restaurants inside of the mall.

Udon restaurant (unknown English name) inside of Porta Mall.

Shrimp tempura udon (¥848).

Cold udon set (¥839).

This was the first time that I have tried cold udon, and I am not a fan. I actually ordered it by accident as I thought it was fried chicken (hot) udon but it wasn't. I didn't like the udon noodles so I just ate the fried chicken as at least that was warm. I don't often waste that much food, but I really couldn't swallow the (very) cold udon noodles.

Lotteria (dinner)

As I didn't eat my entire dinner at the previous restaurant; we stopped at the Lotteria inside of the mall. Lotteria is a fast-food chain in Japan and has hundreds of franchises in East Asia.

Cheeseburger combo (¥550).

Vie de France

Last treat for the night was two baked goods from Vie de France. They were near closing so the selection was quite limited.

Twist stick cinnamon (¥137) and chorizo sausage with tartar sauce & cheese (¥168).