Some Tips for Osaka and Kyoto

General tips:

Get the Icoca / Haruka Card. It has a 2 way airport Transfer worth 4000 Yen and 1500 Yen balance on your card, 500 Yen deposit for the card for only 4000 Yen. The Airport Transfer can drop you off at Kobe, Kyoto or Osaka. The 1500 balance can be used for local train services in the said areas. Shoud you decide to refund the 500 Yen deposit, there is a small charge of about 210 Yen deductible from the deposit.

 Trains are always on time. Be sure to arrive earlier than departure time.

Ask a lot, the people there are all friendly. :)

Kyoto:

There are numerous temples in the area, be sure to select which of them you want to see try to travel in a linear way. some of the more popular temples are: Kinkakuji (Golden Pavillion), Ginkakuji (Silver Pavillion), Fushimi Inari Shrine (temple of thousands of Torii Gates) and the Kiyomizu Dera (The oldest and biggest Temple). There are other temples in the area, you just need to know what you want to see. 

Food:

Budget: Nakau Restaurant, there's one just across the Kyoto Station

Market: Nishiki Market, this is where you'll find almost everything available to eat. Try their tofu donuts and green tea ice cream.

Rotoyaki: there's a restaurant inside the Kyoto station. it serves good sushi at a reasonable price of 137 Yen per plate. 

breakfast: Go to any convenience store and buy some onigiri, try their salmon onigiri.

To go around kyoto, it is more useful to use their buses as trains are rare. A one-day bus pass is 500 Yen, with this you can go to almost all the temples in Kyoto. 

Go to Gion to look for a Geisha. They tend to roam around during the night.

Osaka:

Sightseeing: 

Osaka Castle for some history and culture. 

Doutonburi as a road of restaurants and stores, you can find almost anything there or its surroundings, as well as the glico running man.

The Umeda Sky Building is also an attraction. you can go to the upper levels and see Osaka from a different perspective. There are also shops located within the area. 

Food:

The restaurants at doutonburi serve good food. For great okonomiyaki and takoyaki, go to the restaurant under the Glico running man. For great ramen, go to Ippudo Ramen near Shinsaibashi. 

Transportation is relatively easy. just use a 1-day train pass for 500 yen and your good to go, except for your night life, as train service end around 11-12 midnight. Take a taxi thereafter.