I took a bus from Kiyomizu-dera back to Kyoto Station, and arrived at the station around 7 pm. It was already dark but I thought it was still too early to go back to the hostel.
It was a tiring day. I had walked all day long! Realizing that I only had onigiri for lunch, I decided to splurge for dinner. I had dinner at one of the nicest sushi restaurants at the station, and afterwards walked around inside the city's main transportation hub.
Coin lockers are aplenty. Convenient for day-trippers
Kyoto Station is actually an attraction itself. The giant futuristic glass structure is actually a new building, built in the 90s, which explains its contrast with the old temples and shrines in the city.
It was built to commemorate the 1200th anniversary of the foundation of Kyoto as the Heian capital. Wahh.. looks like every century, there will be a new building built for the celebration. For 1100th anniversary, they built Heian Shrine.
Other than being the city's transportation hub, the station also doubles as a shopping hub. I took pleasure in window-shopping (budget trip!) at the 10-storey Isetan Department Store, Porta Underground Shopping Mall and The Cube Shopping Mall.
In addition to the malls, there's an observation deck as well as a skyway. The open air observation deck is located on the top floor of the station building. Take the escalators or climb those stairs to reach there.
observation deck area
Strangely, I was the only person up there. Perhaps views from the deck are not that pleasing.
view from the top floor of the station
From the observation deck, I walked down to the 11th floor for the skyway.
Walking through the skyway was fascinating as I got to see the station below from its glass windows. I saw the stairs changed colors, and some words appeared.
Amused, I spent almost half an hour sitting at the stage in front of the stairs, squealing excitedly everytime the stairs changed colors. #easilyamused
Anyway, please don't forget to visit the Tourist Information Center on the 2nd floor of the building.
Although I already brought Lonely Planet Japan with me for the trip, I paid a visit to the center just to check out if they had any interesting activities or information not mentioned in the book. The staffs there were really helpful too.
I walked back to my hostel after grabbing a cup of hot chocolate from the nearby Starbucks. Another walking trip awaited me the next day.
It was a tiring day. I had walked all day long! Realizing that I only had onigiri for lunch, I decided to splurge for dinner. I had dinner at one of the nicest sushi restaurants at the station, and afterwards walked around inside the city's main transportation hub.
Coin lockers are aplenty. Convenient for day-trippers
Kyoto Station is actually an attraction itself. The giant futuristic glass structure is actually a new building, built in the 90s, which explains its contrast with the old temples and shrines in the city.
It was built to commemorate the 1200th anniversary of the foundation of Kyoto as the Heian capital. Wahh.. looks like every century, there will be a new building built for the celebration. For 1100th anniversary, they built Heian Shrine.
Other than being the city's transportation hub, the station also doubles as a shopping hub. I took pleasure in window-shopping (budget trip!) at the 10-storey Isetan Department Store, Porta Underground Shopping Mall and The Cube Shopping Mall.
In addition to the malls, there's an observation deck as well as a skyway. The open air observation deck is located on the top floor of the station building. Take the escalators or climb those stairs to reach there.
observation deck area
Strangely, I was the only person up there. Perhaps views from the deck are not that pleasing.
view from the top floor of the station
From the observation deck, I walked down to the 11th floor for the skyway.
Walking through the skyway was fascinating as I got to see the station below from its glass windows. I saw the stairs changed colors, and some words appeared.
Amused, I spent almost half an hour sitting at the stage in front of the stairs, squealing excitedly everytime the stairs changed colors. #easilyamused
Anyway, please don't forget to visit the Tourist Information Center on the 2nd floor of the building.
Although I already brought Lonely Planet Japan with me for the trip, I paid a visit to the center just to check out if they had any interesting activities or information not mentioned in the book. The staffs there were really helpful too.
I walked back to my hostel after grabbing a cup of hot chocolate from the nearby Starbucks. Another walking trip awaited me the next day.
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