The Siamese Cat Blog: Destination Unknown: Part 13

In Kyoto we stayed at Il Verde Kyoto Hotel near the Shoseien Garden. The first thing we did after checking in was walking to the nearest 7-eleven and buying some delicious snacks. The convenience store snacks in South Korea were not as good as the ones in Japan. There is a curry bread that we are obsessed with. It is similar to a Finnish lihapiirakka but the filling is much tastier.

Our room at Il Verde Kyoto Hotel

Some delicious snacks from 7-eleven.

On our first day in Kyoto we visited Kyoto Gyoen National Garden and Kyoto Sento Imperial Palace. Mjau, the guard looking through our purse called us cute! It was nice and relaxing walking and sightseeing. The weather was much more pleasant than in South Korea. We spent the rest of the day walking around the city. We came across a Disney Store! We did not know they had one in Kyoto, we thought the only ones in Japan were in Tokyo. There was also several interesting small stores and second hand shops. We think we might prefer Kyoto over Tokyo.

Kyoto Sento Imperial Palace

Kyoto Gyoen National Garden

We took a day trip to Universal Studios Japan in Osaka. We were very excited to visit this Universal Studios as they still have the Jaws ride and the Jurassic Park rides based on the original movies. They had also recently opened Super Nintendo World so we were extra excited! Not as excited as if we were going to Disneyland, mjau. First thing we did was getting a timed entry ticket. Then we went on Jurassic Park - The Ride and The Flying Dinosaur. The Flying Dinosaur was one of the most intense rides we have been on. It was a bit scary but also fun as we did not see the track so we could not anticipate the twists and turns. It felt like we were truly flying. However we would not go on it more than once as we felt a bit queasy afterwards.

First visit to Universal Studios Japan

Entering the warp pipe to Super Nintendo World!

Si ordering our food!

Lunch at Kinopio's Cafe

Mjau, visiting Bowser's Castle!

Peach's Castle

We walked around the different areas a bit before going to Super Nintendo World. It felt a bit crowded but it was also very immersive. Peach's castle was one of the highlights. The Mario Kart ride was fun although our butler complained that the helmet you have to wear was a bit uncomfortable and heavy. We enjoyed Yoshi's Adventure more. It was relaxing to enjoy the view and music. We had lunch at Kinopio's Cafe. The theme was fun. We got the Super Mushroom Pizza Bowl and the Goal Pole Cake for dessert. After walking around the shops (where we found out Boo is called Teresa in Japan) we left Super Nintendo World.

We were watching the Waterworld stunt show when the thunderstorm began. They closed the show when the villain had the upper hand so the heroes lost in this show! We were stuck inside the shops for an hour while it was raining before they opened up the rides again. The Jaws ride was fun and Au really enjoyed Big Bird's Big Top Circus in the Universal Wonderland Area. We got cute Hello Kitty Plushies as souvenirs. The Hollywood Dream rollercoaster was also very thrilling. We got an amazing view of Osaka. You got to select your own soundtrack to your ride. We picked Osaka Lover by Dreams Come True each time as it was so fitting the first time.

Our Hello Kitty plushies! They had them in our favourite colours!

Tucked in for the night, cuddling our plushies.

On our remaining days in Kyoto we mostly walked around the city to different parks and shrines. One day we visited the Yasaka Shrine and the wonderful surrounding park. We also went hiking up Mount Inari with the iconic tunnel of torii. We found several vintage and second hand shops while exploring the city, unfortunately they mostly sold clothes and not toys for us siamese. We also went to a shop that sold second hand kimonos. Mjau, how we wish someone would make kimonos in our size for us to wear. The cafe scene was a bit of a disappointment. We had hoped for cute cafes with interesting pastries, however we mostly saw cafes that sold kakigori. We came across Sir Thomas Lipton that had interesting cakes, however we would have preferred a cafe instead of restaurant seating, mjau. We tried a piece of the fig mousse cake. Very light and tasty.