So I booked a 3-night stay in a hostel on Booking.com. The International Guest House Tani House was cheap enough (6000yen for 3 nights, about £30) and had good reviews, so I went with that.
To get to Kyoto from Ichinomiya I took the train to get to Nagoya and then rode the Shinkansen (Bullet train). It was expensive compared to the normal trains (another 6000yen each way) but still better than British Rail prices haha (and better service/cleaner trains!).
The best part of travelling in Kyoto is the bus service. It can get pretty crowded, but basically the buses have a flat rate of 230yen for adults (just over £1) and you can stay on the bus as long as you want. It was a 40min journey from the Kyoto station to the Tani house (which took me a while to figure out, as google said to get the bus from the Emmachi Bus Station, but confusingly here, normal bus stops are called 'bus stations'. So I wandered around for about 30mins looking for a big bus station building...) and yeah, the cost was still only 230yen. You also pay as you get off the bus, and the machine gives change! I wish First would take a look at this...
On the first day I took the train to Jujo and followed Google's directions to the glorious Nintendo HQ buldings. My heart skipped a beat when I could see them over the other buildings, haha!
After being told I wasn't allowed in to either building (well I had to at least try!) I decided to grab some lunch from the restaurant across the road from them. While I ate (about 12ish) some employees came as well! I wish I'd been brave enough to chat with some of them, but I don't trust my Japanese level that much yet and I didn't want to bother them. If it had been Miyamoto of course I would have jumped at the chance to talk to him!After that thrill ride, I returned to the main part of Kyoto, and visited the Kyoto Tower. There so many gift shops and souvenir stands I could feel my wallet emptying by just entering! I got a few trinkets, then relaxed in Starbucks. They do an excellent 'crunchy toffee' latte here just now, with cornflake sprinkles. It's pretty tasty!
The next day I went to visit the Kinkaku-ji, the temple with the Golden Pavilion. It was a cloudy day, so my pictures weren't great, but it was still great to learn about the temple and do fun things like get my fortune told and taste some good mochi! I also visited some of the surrounding shrines.
After that, I visited a nearby Cat Cafe, Nekokaigi. It was so relaxing, and the cats were super-cute and really soft! I think many people in Japan bathe their cats, and you can really tell the difference!
I will definitely visit Kyoto again. While I did achieve my two primary goals, there is so much more to see there. I fancy going around the Christmas period, but we'll see!
