3 June 2016
The best way to get to the Shijo area from Kyoto Station was by subway. The Pasmo card could be used. Just tap the card on the IC card reader to enter the subway station gates and tap again at IC card reader the destination’s exit gate to get out. The right fare would be calculated and deducted automatically from the store value Pasmo card.
The Daimaru Department store is connected to the subway station at Shijo and that was our first stop. We wanted to check out the Anello backpack that originated from Japan and was the latest craze back home.
From Daimaru, Nishiki Market was just a short walk away. It is a narrow, five block long shopping street running parallel to Shijo-dori. It is lined by more than one hundred shops and restaurants selling local stuff. For me, this was more interesting than a departmental store like Daimaru.
The market is sometimes known as the "Kitchen of Kyoto." Fish, meat, dried foods, side dishes and vegetables are sold.
We liked the matcha ice-cream sold at a matcha shop. It was thick and full of green tea flavour, unlike those soft-serve ice cream commonly found along the streets.
Kyoto, in the beginning of June, was warmer and more humid than the rural areas of Japan.
The Nishiki Market is a covered market, which made the visit very pleasant on a hot day or on a rainy day. We took our time to check out the various interesting items on sale at the market.
Students seemed to like a fruit cocktail made from fresh grapefruit, laced with rum and other alcohol. A drill-like machine punched a small hole at the top of the grapefruit and then the metal scrapper went inside the fruit to mash things up. Spirit of choice were then added. A refreshing fruit cocktail, for 700 Yen.
At the end of the Nishiki Market is the Teramachi area, where the Tenman-gu shrine is located. A torii gate across the whole street marked the approach to the shrine’s entrance. After going through the entrance, lined with sake barrels, there was a purification trough on the left and a statue of an ox on the right.
Both locals and tourists were seen saying a little prayer and of course, snapping plenty of photos.
Nishiki Market closed at 5.30 PM but streets perpendicular to the Nishikikoji Dori, such as the Teramachi Dori were lined with clothing stores, drugstores and stores selling all sorts of ware. These shops closed later.
We went into a store selling plenty of Anello backpacks and bought two for the daughters back home. Prices in Japan are controlled and the prices quoted in departmental stores and boutiques were the same. This shop provided tax-free shopping for tourists if the receipt exceeded 5000 Yen. Unlike many countries, claiming tax free refunds at the airport when leaving Japan is fast and easy.
We visited few drugstores to buy Japan made muscle soothing creams and Japanese branded cosmetics. Some of these items are not available where we lived and some were cheaper in Japan.
From my research on the Internet, there was a popular ramen store near Teramachi area called the Ichiran that typically had long queues of waiting customers. We went early to beat the dinner crowd but still had to queue for about 15 minutes to get into the main door.
Like most ramen shops in Japan, meal tickets were sold from the vending machine. Select what you want, plus options to add an egg, additional pork, spring onions, seaweed etc., put money in and out comes the meal tickets. Here at Ichiran, there was a customisation form that we filled in to indicate how we like our noodle cooked e.g. strength of soup flavour, how spicy etc.
For first timers like me, I just picked ‘medium’ or ‘regular’ for most items, and ‘little’ for the red chilli sauce.
Once done, it was more queuing inside the narrow corridor to wait for an empty seat or cubicle in the case of Ichiran. There was an electronic notice board, with LED lights to indicate the location of vacant seats, much like what we could see in some car-parks back home.
We requested for adjacent seats so we could eat together as a couple. There was a staff who ushered us to the next available seats. Ichiran is a place where you eat your ramen and leave. It is not a place for social dining!
The cubicle is small, narrow and has little legroom. At each cubicle, there is a window, through which we passed the meal tickets to the staff behind and then wait for the order to be served. The window is low such that we could not see the staff serving our meal, just their hands. Cups are stacked on a shelf above the window and we could get water from a tap at the corner of the cubicle.
While waiting for my meal to be served, I took a photo of my travelling companions who happened to be seated in cubicles one row behind me.
The food came quickly and once served, a bamboo curtain was dropped and we were left to eat our ramen in peace.
The ramen, like most ramen in Japan, was delicious.
If we wanted refills and other add-on like a beer, a form could be filled and placed on the marked spot on the table. Music would sound and a staff behind the curtain would pick up the order form.
Overall, having ramen at the Ichiran is a good, one time experience as a tourist but I don’t think I would visit again. While the ramen is tasty, the dining experience is not good. There are plenty of restaurants in Japan serving delicious ramen and yet provides customers with a comfortable dining experience. I would go for those.
As we leave the restaurant, we saw a long queue of waiting customers. They were mostly locals and tourists from Hong Kong, Singapore and other Asian countries.
Would they came back again the next time?
I wonder.
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