Travel blog 2015 : Japan v3.0 [4] · Tokyo half-a-day ·

Wee! So I put the whole Kyoto trip in the previous post. The next day (i.e Day 5) we will be heading to Tokyo, to kacau my sister (miss her liao), and while on the way to Tokyo, we were supposed to meet Zerky in the Shinkansen. But things did not go as planned......

That morning we took the Shinkansen at around 9+am. Zerky flew from KL to Nagoya and will board the same train as us. Well, we did meet on the train. But the problem was, I told the officer at ticket counter that we would like to get to Shinjuku Station (I did not know that Shinkansen doesn't stop at Shinjuku). So the officer arranged another free transit from Shinagawa to Shinjuku Station. Zerky's ticket allows him to go to Tokyo Station (which is another freaking huge station).

=== Soooooo, our Shinkansen tickets only valid up to Shinagawa station, so we HAD to get down the train and leaving Zerky on the train travelling to Tokyo Station (all this while I thought the train was going to bring him to Shinjuku station so we said we'll meet him there.)

But what the heck, when we finally realized that we ended up at different stations, we freaked out (kind of). HAHAHHAHA! It's funny recalling back now. But anyways, WE FOUND HIM. We went to Tokyo eki and looked for him. ahahahhaha. funny shit.

**Shinkansen stops at Shinagawa and Tokyo Station. But apparently the officer can arrange a free local subway ride to your desired destination. You just need to follow and board the trains as indicated on your ticket.

Lost kid Found.

Hello Nihhon-jin, minna sama need to work on your Ego (English).


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Soooooo we finally arrived at my sister's place at 2/3pm ? LOL (we planned to get there before 1pm). As my sister was staying at a kind of outskirt area so it takes at least 30minutes train ride to get to her place from Shinjuku.

Put down our stuffs and headed out for super late lunch at Ootaya. First time here and I LOVE THE FOOOOOOOOOOOD. TOO SMALL PORTION LAAAA

After having our lunch, the sky was getting dark again. 3 of us quickly went to catch some tourist spots before it's too late. hahahah!

First stop : TOKYO TOWER

still beautiful. I still love this tower over Skytree.

While they were busy looking at the toys..

I was actually panicking about my First Professional Examination Part I as the result was to be released that day at 5pm Malaysia time.
So I kept the portable wifi on and kept on refreshing my mailbox. And nothing came up. I was fking stressed and OMG, I can't tell how emotional I was at that moment.

FINALLY,

Stupid IMU, Forever Delay. I only need to see that one word because i really don't want to repeat second year again. LOL

(*FYI, just last week, I passed my Part II as well! WOOHOO!)

And I was happily jumping. HAHA!

There was nothing much at Tokyo Tower if you are not going up to the observation deck (which i haven't been too). Only a few restaurants and shops downstairs.


Next we headed back to Shinjuku since it was already (quite) late. Walked around a few streets..

Went to buy the legendary cheese tart from BAKE at the station mall

Met up with sister at the train station near her house and we went for my favorite Japanese curry don @ COCO!

my favorite croquette! コロケ　

Look at this two

One thinks that it's too spicy and another one thinks he ordered the wrong thing (not nice one ahahhaha)

Zerky trying to separate his rice from the curry. HAHAH 

you laugh. look at your own plate :P 

Went to buy some groceries at Seiyu and then settled down at Fuda 202. Having some party going on here¬ Cheese tart and edamame party HAHA!

KAMPAI! To Fuda 202!! 

Seductive or not?? Nyum nyumsss. I had one that night and it was like HEAVEN to me. so rich. and the base. omgggggggggg I would love to have one RIGHT NOW

It was a simple yet tiring day. Cause we traveled ! HAHHA 500+km leh. no play play. 

Went to bed after partying as we needed to catch an early bus to Fuji Mount the next day. 

お休み！

-- End of Day 5, 20150112 --

Travel Blog 2015 : Japan v3.0 [3] · Kyoto ·

And then.........
Time for Kyoto.
It's my second time in Kyoto and.... STILL MY FAVORITE CITY IN JAPAN. Unlike Osaka, I don't think I will ever want to visit Osaka again. But i would totally love to go to Kyoto again!


Took an early train ride from Shin-Osaka (新大阪) to Kyoto station, We took the JR Kyoto Line, a special rapid train which takes about 30 minutes.

First thing first, drop our bags at K's House Kyoto. It is located near Kawaramachi Street (河原町通) - Can be reached by taking bus #4, #17 and #205 from Kyoto Station (right opposite to Kyoto Tower). Anyways, if I was travelling alone i would just walk. Probably take only 10minutes from the station. Eh but wait, before boarding the bus.... Must must must go to the information counter/ bus pass/ ticket counter and get your unlimited one day bus pass. It is a real deal in Kyoto because in Kyoto, 95% of the time you only take buses. The pass cost JPY500 for one day per person. Also ask for a bus route map from the officer! 

Alright so after we put down our stuffs in K's House, move on to some of the temples!

Well.... nothing much to do in Kyoto, just temples. HAHA!

Our first stop is Kiyomizudera - my favorite favorite temple in Kyoto hahaha

Kiyomizudera Temple (清水寺) - Located east to Kyoto station, reachable by bus #100, #202, #206. #207. Get down at Kiyomizu-michi 清水道, follow the road sign and you'll need to walk uphill before reaching the temple.

 

They say if you can lift all 3 items here you'll be blessed. (p/s they are real heavy)

There are two stones like this on the other side of the shrine. They are called 'Love Stones'. They say if you can walk from one stone to another with your eyes closed and without assistance, your love will be blessed. HAHAHA!

After walking one round...... time to get down the hill. Along the way there are many souvenir shops and snacks and.. Mr richard's eyes caught by this pau.

 Beef pau JPY420. but one pau costs rm12 better be good.

he's hungry.

IT WAS GOOOOOOOOD. i didn't take the after biting look but OMG it's good. RM12 worth trying once. HAHAHAH

stopped by at one of the restaurants along the way down to have lunch. Yums i love my soba <3 but maaa. Soba and rice. lol too much carbs

And then we went up North to explore some other things other than temples.
We were around Oike Dori Street 御池通, while looking for the Kyoto Post Office and the museums. Love this street!

Here's the Kyoto Post Office la. looks so naisss

After that we also went into the Museum of Kyoto. Just a quick view of everything on first floor. ahahhahaha because, we needed to find the Kyoto International Manga Museum!!

And here it is. lol. looks like a primary school compound.

Well, im not a Manga reader so I have no comment about it. Richard was excited. All the Mangas are in this museum but too bad, they are all in Japanese. They only keep the English version for a few series. nananna. Ooh there's also a Manga drawing camp/ class offered here. 

It's getting dark again. We got nowhere else to go because other temples close at 5pm. Left with only this signature Fushimi Inari Shrine (伏見稻荷). This is the one temple that opens 24hours. butttt that's what they said. It was so dark and there was no light. Can't see shit in the dark -.-

These are so beautiful during day time. Need more lights man.

Another quick stroll and ciaozzz. Ohh and eventhough they say it's opened 24hours, the staffs or the souvenirs stalls owners will not be there. But they still 'selling' their stuffs. They list down the prices and put a basket for the visitors to pay for the stuff. Welllllll, it's Japan. 

Since it's dark, that means it's time for dinner! We simply go to a Thai restaurant nearby K's house as it's indicated on the map provided by the hostel. hahaha! 

The restaurant is called KinKhao Thai Restaurant. It is located on Shichi-jo Dori Street 七条通, right before Kamo River. Across the river there's a McD.

Phad Thai

Tomyam noodle

With stir fried kangkunggg. miss our kangkung so much. need belacan though. hahahaha!

Introduce to you, our new friend from Hong Kong, Caleb. He was travelling alone and he was just 18. wtfff. i mean, he can't speak Japanese at all and he's travelling in Japan. that BRAVOOOORY

Went to Kinkakuji 金阁寺 the next morning after having breakfast buffet at K's House. JPY680 and not much choices. but uhm 680 in Japan u can't really get good food so ahh eff it. HAHA!

Yeap it's gold pleated.

And then we head off to Arashiyama 岚山. An area I haven't been to. We were meeting Chia Sik there and we got off at the wrong bus station. HAHA! 3 lost kids.

These people are having.... Taekwando camp at the riverside. Their legs are in the water. Brossss, it's winter. omgggggg #perseverance #dedication  

And here's the bamboo forest we were looking forward to.
Too bad we were there for the wrong season. It was winter and it's not as green as you see in the photos below. I edited them. HAHAHAH (Confession) However it has a huge coverage so it's definitely worth going geh!

This is the view inside Tenryuji 天龙寺 which was located within the bamboo forest.

Tried these sticks. We think it's nice because it was winter. They were served HOTTTT

That's the end of our Arashiyama tour. Head back to the city and visited Nijo-Castle 二条城. It was originally built as the residence of the first Shogun. It takes up about 250,000 metre squared, well-preserved and left me with WOWs.

ah pek, apa masalah? 

I love this castle leh. All the gardens look so pretty! 

Started to rain, or drizzled. And thennnn Chia Sik brought us to Gion 祇園. He said this is a street where we'll see people walking around wearing Kimono or people with Maiko make up. But it was late and winter and drizzling so we didnt really see any. 

It's Dinner time again! Had my ramen at the Ramen street. This time we tried the famous Hakata Ramen (博多一幸舍). Too much pork.

AND THANKS TO OUR ONE DAY TOUR GUIDE CHIA SIK!!

--End of Day 4, 20150111 --