Japan Honeymoon: Day 3 - From Hakone to Osaka

On the 3rd day of our honeymoon, we travelled to Osaka via Shinkansen reserved seat, which is covered under our 14 days JR pass.

The ride took almost 3 hours and we reached our Air bnb stay around mid afternoon.

Above pictured grabbed from airbnb site. The place is about 10mins walk from subway. The room was spacious for 2 pax with ensuite, kitchen (with appliances), bathtub and washing machine.

Overall, the hubby loved the place so much that for our upcoming Seoul trip, he wanted to stay with airbnb again.

There is convenience store about 5 mins walk from the apartment, and we bought breakfast and prepared it in the apartment the next day.

After settling done, we went to Den-Den Town for some toys and electrical goods window shopping. Not much photos for the day, but we had Buta Don (grilled pork don) at a random shop and it was sooo good!

Also, we came across a shop that sells retro games and it brought back alot of memories.

Picture taken from taiken.co

At night, we went to the famous Shinsaibashi & Dotonbori area for dinner. The place is a food paradise, you can find the osaka specialty here, from takoyaki to Kushikatsu (fried skewers) and famous Pablo cheesecake here. Where to eat? Just follow the queue!

We were too full, on all 3 days we were at the street, so we did not managed to eat any of the foods there :( even Pablo,  but luckily we did had our taste of Pablo Cheesecake in Tokyo (I will share in another post).

We got confused, as there is Shinsaibashi and Dotonbori, even up till now I am confused. But, after some research, Shinsaibashi is for shopping and Dotonbori is for food and where the famous landmark, Glico running man is located.

We spent about 10mins looking for this o.O

Also, if you are near the area, remember to drop by Don Qoijote (it's a one stop shop where they sell everything from food to appliance. Just look for the 'penguin'!

Picture from google.com 

We did nothing much on our 3rd day, just explore Osaka and back to our apartment to rest.

The next few days at Osaka, we went for buffet (IKR, go travel, die2 also must eat buffet) & visited Kyoto! Stay tuned!

Japan Honeymoon: Day 2 - Hakone (Part 2)

As we are trying for baby, we went to the famous Baby Tree at Hakone Jinja Shrine. After reading about how Cheeserland and QiuQiu touched the tree and got pregnant, we die2 have to go and touch also..but alas, I only have food tummy post 6 months of touching the tree :(

We alighted at Motohakone-Ko and walked for approx. 10mins to Hakone Jinja Shrine.

There is a place for you to wash your hands before entering the shrine, I think you start with holding the ladle with your right hand, then pour the water to your left, then switch and lastly use your right hand to wash your mouth. Voila, instructions from a noob :)

Another flight of stairs to reach the baby wishing tree...

Another wash before the mighty tree..

BEHOLD...the mighty 'Baby Wishing Tree'...

Looks just like an ordinary old tree, but I supposed we did not managed to absorb the 'baby making power' from the tree.

After purchasing some amulets, we went to tour the place. Zen is the only word to describe the place. 

Overlooking Lake Ashi.

Overall, both of us really love the place a lot as it is really peaceful and beautiful, will definitely be visiting again!

We rushed back to our Hotel - Mount View Hakone for dinner.

Dinner spread wasn't impressive, there was udon, sashimi, crab claw, tofu, fish, rice and some veges. But I guess for RM990+ per night, it was ok as there's dinner+breakfast+futon bed :)

Fresh sashimi for dinner.

We prepared for our private onsen (hot spring) session, priced at 2000yen (RM76).

There's a nice view from the open onsen. The tub is basically a small round tub with milky hot spring water. The water was hot, but with the wind blowing, you will get used to the temperature very soon.

Breakfast the next day. Loved the pork sausage, crab soup and the coffee...

The ryokan was spacious with nice fluffy futon beds. The only cons is there wasn't any shower in the room, so we had to go to the public hot spring on the Lobby level.

Apart from the public hot spring, there is also a private hot spring for family (no charge), and the difference with those that you have to pay is that there is no view. So, use the onsen as much as you can during your stay!

And that's the end of our Hakone 2d1n trip. We will definitely include Hakone in our next trip to Japan again, or at least any other place in Japan with Ryokan + hot spring experience!

Japan Honeymoon: Day 1 - Arrival at Tokyo, Narita Airport

As mentioned previously, we flew ANA Air, ticket price was ok, approx. RM1,350 / pax. Departed at 7am (local time) and we touched down at 1500 (Japan time - 1 hour ahead of Malaysia).

The perks of travelling full service airline, in-flight meal & free booze :)

His American breakfast.

Mine - Asian Burger with rice.

Once we touched down, we went to get our pocket wifi and JR Pass. You can exchange your JR Pass at Narita Terminal 1 station - ticket office or JR East Travel Service center. Just walk in, and the friendly staff will guide you in filling the forms and exchanging the pass.

We bought the pass, as we wanted to travel to Osaka and all the way to Hokkaido :)

We took the airport transfer to town and then subway to our 1st night accomodation - Flexstay Inn Higashi-jujo. The guesthouse location is good, situated 2 mins away from train station and there is 2 convenient mart located within 1 min walk.

4,400 yen (RM172) for 1 night stay with private toilet. Small room but with good location. After checking in, we walked to the quiet street nearby hunting for dinner.

It was quite chilly, although it was summer.

Bought some street food from Oba-san. Was too hungry, didn't managed to snap a photo of the food.

The street was quiet but there were quite a number of eateries and we settled down for ramen and fried rice.

The menu - i guess the place's specialty is Tsukemen, but since it was our 1st night, we need to budget a bit, not sure our cash is enough for the rest of the trip. So we ordered the ramen+rice combo at only 600yen (RM22.80) with free drinking water.

Portion a little small, but it was just nice for us. Fried rice was flavourful, ramen broth was good and it was perfect for the weather.

After the meal, we have a short stroll around the old street, and there was a small market by the corner of the street. We bought sashimi back to our room, but ended up cooking it in kettle. Too chicken to eat the raw fish as we are not sure if it is safe to eat.

But found out that if the packaging is with an artificial leaf, by right it is safe to be consumed raw. ;p

We then went to bed early as we need to make a move to Hakone the day after. Stay tune for our 'zen' Hakone trip and also a visit to the 'Baby Tree' at Hakone.

13 days Japan Honeymoon with JR Pass

After our simple & small wedding at the beautiful and peaceful Enderong Resort at Janda Baik, we packed and are ready to go for our honeymoon at Japan!

It was quite a last minute plan (the honeymoon, not the wedding!), as we need to calculate all the budgets accordingly before deciding whether or not to have a honeymoon.

At last, we decided to just go ahead, as money can be earned back, but honeymoon is once in a lifetime....excuses! And as I am writing this, we are planning for our upcoming South Korea Winter Trip!!!

This will be a short & sweet summary of our not-so-summer trip to Japan. Will update in details soon!

Here's a rough itinerary & cost of our Japan Honeymoon in June 2016:

Cost
Based on 100yen = RM3.80
Flight Tickets (ANA Air) for 2 pax : RM2,757.80
JR Pass (14 days) for 2 pax              : RM3,447.48 / 92,780 yen
Pocket Wifi (Ninja) - 4 Days            : Free with ANA Ticket Promo
Pocket Wifi (Pupuru) - 9 days          : RM263.44 / 6,912 yen
Hotel (mostly guesthouse)                : RM3,388.64
Meals, Transport, Souvenir              : RM 7,524.00 / 198,000 yen
TOTAL                                            : RM17,381.36 

Basic Itinerary
Day 1            Arrived at Narita Airport, Get JR Pass, settled down at Tokyo
Day 2            Travelled to Hakone, Pirate Ship, Hakone Jinja Shrine
Day 3            Shinkansen to Osaka, Den Den Town, Shinsaibashi
Day 4            Kyoto - Fushimi Inari Shrine, Arashiyama Bamboo Groove
Day 5            Osaka Castle, Tempozan Ferris Wheel, Shinsaibashi (BBQ Buffet)
Day 6            Back to Tokyo - Akihabara
Day 7            Depart to Hakodate - Red Brick Warehouse, Chinese burger & Omu Rice, Izakaya
Day 8            Sapporo - Susukino
Day 9            Farm Tomita - Lavender ice cream
Day 10          Otaru Canal - Suitengu Shrine, BBQ Buffet Dinner (crab fiesta)
Day 11-13     Explore Tokyo City


Thanks for reading! Till the next update..

Thanks for reading!

HK Trip: Tim Ho Wan Dim Sum (添好運)

Tim Ho Wan craze has finally come to KL, Malaysia. And this reminds me of my visit to the original Tim Ho Wan Dim Sum Specialty store in Hong Kong. Since it is located at Mongkok (place where we stayed during our trip), we decided to wake up early and the naive us thought we are early enough. But I read somewhere that the first shop in Mongkok has been closed down since 2013 :(

While queuing, we got bored and so the little mui took an artsy pic of us.

And it is the first and only Michelin star restaurant (cheapest Michelin rated restaurant-that's what I heard) that I had tasted.
When we arrived, there was already a queue and so being the kia-su us, we quickly rushed to queue and by then the shop is not even opened yet. After queuing  for about 15 mins, the shop finally opened but as we were late we did not managed to get a table as the shop is quite small.

The waitress then passed us a queue no and asked us to come bout after 30mins. Since we were so hungry, we just walked in to a random shop nearby to had some breakfast.

Fried Noodles

Zhar Leong (炸樑) & porridge

Ngong Ping 360 & City Gate Outlet

After filling up our tummy with breaktfast at Kam Wah Cafe Mongkok, we proceed to our next destination, the Big Buddha @ Ngong Ping.

Old Mongkok Street

Cable car tickets can be bought from the hostel that we stayed, Ah Shan Hostel or you can buy the tickets online from Ngong Ping 360 website, here.

We took the MRT to Tung Chung station, to board our Crystal Cabin for our appointment with the Big Buddha. Going up the hill we took the Crystal Cabin, where you can have a 360 degree view during the whole ride.

Nothing much to see along the journey - trees, sea & bird.

When we arrived at our destination, the wind got stronger, but that didn't stop us from snapping pictures. Apart from the Big Buddha, we also met with TVB stars.

I think they were filming for some Chinese New Year greetings, as when we were there it was very near the CNY.

Breakfast in Hong Kong @ Kam Wah Cafe, Mongkok

On our second day at Hong Kong, we woke up early, as you can see all the shop's not opened yet. Semangat ma...but the sis's face already looking tired....

On our way to our traditional Hong Kong breakfast, we walked pass the 'Goldfish street'. Really alot of gold fish lo I tell you...

We ate at this particular cafe "Kam Wah Cafe" in Mongkok, only a street away from the place we stayed. Apparently, the cafe is famous for its Polo bao/Pineapple Bun but when we tasted it....

It's not that bad, the bun is crispy and soft on the inside, but the pineapple taste, we find it tasted artificial.

Famous HK Polo Bao : How to eat it (as thought by the sis)- As it is thick and crispy, biting into it will cause it to crumbles easily. Hence, a fork is provided, what you have to do is use the fork to press the bun flat so that it is easier to eat.

Love the strong tea aroma.

Jolie Nana Boutique

Hi all. Million apologies for the absence. Work has been taking up alot of my time.

And when I'm not working, I'll be managing my new found online store-Jolie Nana Boutique Why Jolie Nana and not any other names?

I don't know too, just hoping our stock will help to make all girls pretty. For those who doesn't know Jolie Nana is the French word for pretty girl.

Come over to our FB page to support us.

Skater Dress with Lacy Back (RM49)

Pretty in Lace (RM36)

And when I'm not doing the above 2, I'll be dreaming of travelling all around the world. But with the recent competition between airlines, it is actually benefiting us the consumer.

To me it is more travelling #happy#, which also means no $$. I know I have not been updating on my HK trip, promise will do so once I'm free.

Have taken tons of pictures during the trip to be shared with all. But just got no time to edit it all. Sorry sorry..

Ending this post with stinky tofu girl with her yummy-licious HK Stinky Tofu. buhbye~

Off to Hong Kong We Go

I've always wanted to vising Hong Kong, it must have been all the TVB series that I've watched since my childhood. Always wanted to try 細蓉 (sai yong),咖哩魚蛋 (curry fishball), 臭豆腐 (Smelly Tofu), Porridge, HK Egg tart and a lot more.

Being able to visit HK (12-17 Jan'13) is really a dream come true and a true gastronomical adventure. And also what made this trip so enjoyable and interesting is because I went with all my favourite people in my life.

And I'm now documenting all the details of the trip in my blog, so that I'll be able to read back and help reminds me of all the wonderful memories of our trip.

We of course travel the affordable way, which is Airasia, tickets were bought a year before our trip which costed around RM400, which is dirt cheap comparing to other airlines.

Our in-flight food, Chicken Rice & Mushroom Soup.

Japan Trip

Today marks the end of the Airasia's Free Seat Promo...and that reminds me of my abandoned Japan trip post....with that I bring you a few more photos from our Japan trip last year...

Look at the mountains of people at the Shibuya crossing...really is people mountain, people sea...and also the famous Shibuya 109 in the background

And I can cancel 'eating sushi in Japan' from my to-do list...but we are too poor during the visit we dare not order too much...sad case...

Tokyo Disneyland 2

Welcome back!! As promised, this post will be the 2nd part of the Tokyo Disneyland trip that I went last year...so enjoy...

The only ride that we went for that day-basically just a ferry ride with nothing to do.

After strolling the park for a while, we got hungry, and we decided to eat at this fast food chain-reason being because all other places are so crowded and we were so hungry that time.

Ordering the food isn't a problem because there's pictures for us to pinpoint to the cashier.

1,600 yen for 2 sets of fast food meal...lemme count .... which is equivalent to RM 64!! (estimate, calculated based on the rate when we went). OMG!!!