Doodles and Travels

Bangkok Solo Trip 30Jun - 2 Jul 2016 Day 3 - Ayutthaya/Thip Samai/Yaowarat Road Part 1

2016-08-27T20:50:00.000+08:00

I planned to visit Ayutthaya over the weekend as I had thought that it would be a good escape from the weekend crowd in Bangkok!

I started off in the morning towards Hua Lumpong MRT which is connected to the Bangkok Railway Station aka Hua Lumpong Railway Station.

Exiting MRT Station

Ticket counters

Station Map

I reached the Railway station at about 8.50am and got a ticket for the 9.36am train to Ayutthaya. It was a 2 hour ride and I got a third class train ticket that cost 15baht (approx SGD 60cents)

I was early and sure that I would be able to grab a good seat. After getting tickets, I went off in search for breakfast and bought a microwavable Basil Chicken Rice from the convenience store before looking for the train.

Train platforms

Ah, this platform

My train!

When I got on the train, I realised that I had been too laid back because all the nice seats were taken and I had to sit on one which was facing the other direction x.x

And so we moved on... Then stopped and suddenly started in the opposite direction back to the station... Then stopped and then the other direction before finally moving off. The long and short of it is that I was still facing the wrong direction. The lucky girl opposite me was a Japanese tourist. She was on her own, and since she didn't look keen to engage, I didnt try to. I just got started on my microwaved Basil Chicken Rice.

When I opened the lid, it was like... Wth this sad pathetic square piece of rice with a dollop of chicken bits?!

But when the first spoonful of rice and chicken bits went into my mouth, it was like... OMG, what's this uber fragrant rice with tender bits of basil chicken?! Totally unlike what it looked like! My judgement could have been impaired due to my hunger but it was definitely the highlight of the train ride to Ayutthaya. Haha.

The cool train conductor

As the train went on, it started to get crowded... And the sun shone in...on my face... And the train moved on... And on.... And on... I fell asleep.. And woke up sticky and bothered with background sound of crying babies and loads of people chattering. And I was still not there yet.

The people sitting beside me were taking turns to sit down and making me feel stressed about taking up one entire seat on my own. Yea I know I shouldn't have to feel stressed about it, but I still did. Knowing that they were looking forward to me and the Japanese girl opposite getting off at Ayutthaya didn't help either.

In any case, we finally rolled into Ayutthaya station and I jumped up! Helllooo Ayutthaya!!! I was here to visit the Historic City of Ayutthaya which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991. Read more about it here.

I had wanted to rent a bicycle to cycle around the Historical Park but had to take a short ferry ride first, a hop actually, to get to it as it was on an island of sorts.

Affordable rental prices

I got a drink at this shop that was along the way to get my bearings.

Thankfully the lady was very nice and provided me with directions. I didn't hang around her shop for long because a bunch of mozzies were attacking me.

Towards the pier/ferry pick up point...

The ferry pick up point

I think it was 5baht to use the ferry.. Or was it 10?I forgot but it was a small sum. I didn't wait long before the boat arrived. We just needed to get to the opposite side.

Onto the ferry/boat...

Reaching the opposite..

There were a few bicycle shops lining the road leading out from the ferry/boat landing and I chose one with young looking staff to rent a bicycle. I didn't have any ID so I paid a deposit and the bicycle arrived. I had associated young staff with young bicycles. But i was wrong, the bicycle was an antique...o well...

The staff provided me with a map and highlighted the recommended bicycle route. We were at the starred circle on the right and so I had to cycle for about 15min along the roads before reaching the Historical Park. The roads were pretty empty but it was still kind of... stressful in an exciting way, especially at the junctions.

I reached my first destination after some navigation: Wat Maha That.

I had to find a place to chain up the bicycle and was told to go over to an empty area behind the carpark. I chose a spot that happened to be muddy and mozzie infested. I also realised that the bicycle chain provided was coated in some oil/dirt/water. When I finally got the bicycle chained up, I wanted to just leave it there forever.

There was a man selling ice cream, and I rewarded myself with one.

Can't rem the flavour but it wasn't that fantastic

So foreigners have to pay a 50baht entrance fee for each of the various temples and locations. I was thinking, the entrance fees added up to much more than my half day bicycle rental.

In any case.. Here's my first entrance ticket!

Onward to Wat Maha That!!

The famous Buddha head!

I was really quite captured by this..

This city must have been quite splendid..

Onward to the next temple: Wat Rajaburana.

It was a pretty small temple, you could climb up some stairs into a small dark chamber. I did not take pictures of the chamber cos I thought it was like abit spooky. Hehe.

Onward to my next destination: Wat Phra Si Sanphet.

Byebye Wat Rajaburana

Stopped to check location

Was nice cycling past this

Abit more cycling along a pretty empty road brought me to Wat Phra Si Sanphet. This one was within the Royal Palace compound and it was more populated so there were quite a few people other than me. You can read about it here.

There were school kids scrambling up and down the steps, and families taking photos. The boys in blue are the school kids on excursion.

I got a nice lady to help me with a photo. She took it very seriously and I got like 4-5 shots at different angles haha, thanks alot Helpful Lady!

The structures were really cool.. I kept imagining how things were like in the past and just couldn't help thinking of 'The King and I' since it's my only reference to Thai History.. Sorry for being shallow lol..

You know when I got home, I realised that this temple was the backdrop for Bon Jovi's MTV for 'This Ain't A Love Song'! I suddenly had a nostalgic fan girl moment and started watching old concerts and videos and was like ' Hey! Ayutthaya! ' when going through the MTV. Check this out!

Richie Sambora at that spot with the three stupas!

You know, Jon Bon Jovi was darn hot and I super loved him! I even dreamt of him once when I was in my teens *Scrreeamm!

Anyway, back to the Ayutthaya trip.. I had my fill of stone structures, temples and decided to return to Bangkok! So onto the bicycle and back to the bicycle shop

Along the roads

I cycled all the way back to the bicycle shop except at a busy junction where I got off and pushed the bicycle cos I was scared LOL. Felt pretty accomplished having braved the pretty empty roads on my own. Hahaha, Pat on the back!

Got on the ferry back to the other side and walked towards the train station.

I asked for a 1st class seat because I wanted a nice comfy ride back, and was told the train only has 2nd class carriage. 2nd class was airconditioned, and cost 245baht. I was thinking... I should have just second classed to Ayutthaya instead of sweating on the train. Haha o well, I learnt!

Trying to get myself within the fan's reach

Train station doggy

Coming coming!

Cushioned seats and AIRCON *Happy!

Full of leg space

You know, you really appreciate the things in life when you have to do without them. If I hadn't taken the 3rd class to Ayutthaya, I wouldn't have been so happy and appreciative taking the 2nd class on the way back to Bangkok. Hahahahaha.

So onwards towards Bangkok for dinner!! I was going to check out Thip Samai Pad Thai and Yaowarat Road, to be continued...

Bangkok Solo Trip 30Jun - 2 Jul 2016 Day 3 - Ayutthaya/Thip Samai/Yaowarat Road Part 2

Bangkok Solo Trip 30 Jun - 3 Jul 2016 Day 2 - Silom Thai Cooking School/Taste Thonglor Endo Sushi

2016-07-31T04:21:00.001+08:00

I really enjoy Thai food, so i thought it would be great to learn how to make the dishes that I love. I researched on a few cooking schools and shortlisted Chef Leez Cooking School near Chocolate Ville (very far away) and Bangkok Thai Cooking Academy @ Sukhumvit.

Chef Leez is very popular and got rave reviews on Trip Advisor. Its group cooking class cost 2200baht and teaches 12-13 items. But I found it too far...

I was going to book a class with the Bangkok Thai Cooking Academy which taught 5 dishes for 1200baht but I chanced upon this Silom Thai Cooking School (STCS) which offered 6 dishes for 1000baht and had good reviews too. It was also located near my hotel, which is the most ideal for my morning cooking class. After I looked at the menu, I decided to book a class with them. I extracted the course menu from their website. It has everything I want to learn!!

Booking was very fuss free as well. I emailed them and received a quick reply and clear directions on how to get there. No deposit was required and payment to be made after class.

So on Friday, I got up (couldn't sleep much actually. Kept waking up every 2 - 3hrs), and set off to the STCS meeting point.

There were quite alot of people gathering at the meeting point and we were divided into smaller groups for the market tour and eventually the class itself. I seem to be the only solo student, and found myself being shuffled from group to group, probably to make up the numbers or for whatever reason. I personally found it irritating after the 2nd time I was shuffled during the local market tour. However I was pleased with the market tour as I might have never entered a wet market in Bangkok on my own.

On the way to market

Chicken Education (Sorry Teacher for the bad photo)

Ginger/lime leaf/tumeric etc (teacher from my third shuffle)

Curry pastes

Coconut and palm sugar

After the market tour, we went on towards the cooking school. First timers will probably not be able to find the school on their own because it is pretty far in from the main road. The school board here:

Going up to the classrooms..

We were given aprons and asked to put our belongings in lockers. I was moved around again, and the fourth (fifth?) shuffle found me with a group of Japanese and a couple from US. I was seated beside the couple, which I found a little awkward... Nonetheless I am appreciative of the snippets of interaction we had while eating the food we cooked.

The class was conducted in air-conditioned rooms (thank goodness) while the cooking was done along the corridor:

Outdoor frying!

Preparing coconut milk

Start of 1st item - Tom Yum Soup!

The first item was tom yum soup. The ingredients are:

Would you believe how easy it was to cook tom yum soup?!?! Put all the ingredients in... O! except lime, add lime after boiling so it won't be bitter!

and BOILLLLLLLLLL

And TA DAH! Tom Yum Soup!

It tasted like awesomeness!!!

Next up, Pad Thai! Ingredients shown below:

Again, put everything in... Crack the egg in... And..

FRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY...

And TADDAAAA Pad Thai!!! Yayy..

I was seriously impressed by how everything kind of tasted good. I mean... Am i a wicked thai chef or what!!! Har! Har! Har!

Next up, the teacher showed us how to make chicken salad. Though i can't remember how anymore... I still remember the taste :D it's alright.

Moving on!! Greeen currryyyy!! Paste first! I took a pic of all the ingredients to keep a record of them, since I couldn't remember the names of the herbs

Cut cut cut mix mix pound pound pound

Pound longer, paste becomes more fine. Pound shorter, the paste is thicker and there will be more things to chew later. After paste making, of cos it's curry making!!! Put ingredients in...

Frrrryyyyyyyyyyy and add coconut milk!!

Major fry/boil/evaporate the curry until it becomes thick... And tada!!! It was SO GOOOOD.

Lastly, the mango with sticky rice! I just have to say that one batch of sticky rice uses way too much sugar!!!!

But.. It still tastes v. Yummyyy!!! Hahah! After finishing the food, I went on out to make payment and took a picture with one of the ladies in my class. Very cool Japanese lady actually, and she agreed to take a pic with me ha ha ha.

Went off out of the school and walked off tog, was kind of fun chatting with someone LOL. After we parted ways, I went off to buy lemongrass on mummy's request and stopped by this bakery called DK Bakery. There were many people outside buying large amounts of bread. My mind (tummy?) went 'good food alert good food alert!!' LOL. And so I joined the queue. A Thai lady beside me taught me to say 'Aroy!' My response of 'Aroy Mak Mak!' gave her some entertainmemt, and brought a tiny smile to the kind of fierce looking store owner. So.. Feeling proud of myself, i bought 2 small pieces of bread. Ha ha ha.

Decided to try this one on the spot...

It's the green kaya one, and LOOOkKKkkK!!! The kaya 在流口水！Hahaha, the bread was very soft and the filling not too sweet.

It was yummy and I liked it alot. I should have bought more.. Like ALOT MORRRRRRE...

Anyway off I went to relax in the hotel since it was so warm and I was sweating buckets.

The market for OLs again

When I entered the hotel room... It was like.. a light shone on me, and I saw cold air and pillows drifting around me! I was so thankful, and i never want to leave it again... So I stoned there till 4.30pm and totally did not go to Yunomori Onsen as per my planned itinerary. But no matter cos I only have myself to answer to Har. HAR. har.

The next thing I had planned to do was to visit The Taste @ Thonglor to eat ENDO SUSHI!! I planned for this because I ate at Osaka Fish Market's Endo Sushi and it was so GOOOOD. I so wanted to eat it again and again and again!!

Since Endo Sushi opened an outlet located at The Taste at Thong Lo, a distance from Thong Lo BTS. Since I was feeling so full from all the eating earlier, I decided to do a 3 bts station walk. From Sukhumvit/Asoke to Phrom Pong to Thong Lo. According to Google Maps, it is a 3.6km, 44min walk = 1.5hrs walk for me.

So off I went on a mission to burn some calories before I ate sushi!!!

On the way to Silom MRT, I came across Eat Me and had to snap a picture. Delayed research informed me that this is a popular restaurant and it serves fusion food. Ok next time maybe?

That's right!

I started the walk at about 5.15 pm from Sukhumvit MRT/Asoke BTS and walked down Sukhumvit Road. There wasn't much from Sukhumvit to Phrom Phong BTS that particularly struck me and so I walked.. And lost water.. And walked...

When I reached Phrom Phong BTS, I had to stop myself from running into Emquartier for the aircon, because I know once I get in... I might not come out again... So... Bye bye Emquartier sob..

On I went.. And came across Rain Hill plaza at about 6pm. I thought it was a beautiful shopping plaza and decided to check it out. It was a Friday evening, and there was almost no one around.

It looked like an Eco-mall, much like Star Vista in Singapore. I was kind of depressed as I was hoping for a respite in an air-conditioned area. Nonetheless, the plaza is beautiful and there were many food options. I also noticed a Karate school or something similar. More details of this plaza is provided at Bangkok.com.

Pretty!!

And on I went towards Thong Lo BTS. At 6.20pm... I finally reached... And there was a market beside the BTS. I had to check it out! It's The Garden of Tfest, as the tentage name says and it's situated at Fragrant Park. It's kind of cool! It has a shopping area and and outdoor chilling/hanging out/eating area with alot of food stalls.

Air conditioned shopping tent! Thank goodness for good strong aircon! I seriously... Just collapsed into the cool air...

Reluctantly exited the air conditioned tent.. Lots of youngsters

Photo booth! Too shy to take a pic there..

And the DJ!!

Food area, didn't check out what food options there were but there were many food stalls around. It's such a good place to hang out!!! Google informed me that this flea market was open from Friday to Sunday, 3pm to 11pm but has since stopped. The last day was 17 Jul 2017! I got the info from the fragrant property website. Haha another delayed research. Hope that it comes back cos I like it. Haha.

After exiting the market, I continued my walk down towards The Taste @ Thonglor to eat ENDO SUSHI!! Actually I was already qte tired, sweating like crazy, aching feet and so on. But I had to move on... Towards.. Foooooooooood.....

Another 25min walk........

As I walked, I couldn't help noticing that many of the signs were in japanese... Or had japanese translation..

This...

This..

You get the picture... Haha.. There were a few shopping / food areas along the road. I tot it felt more upclass and I didn't see many street stalls

Haha, I also came across this! That poster of a cartoon man holding on to fried skewers! That's a well known and well loved Kushikatsu resturant called Kushikatsu Daruma originating from Osaka! RJ and I visited it when we were in Osaka, it's worth a try!

Kushikatsu Daruma's Poster

And finallyyyy, I reached The Taste @ Thonglo and Endo Sushi is on level 2!

Was seated at the counter and given a menu. The place seemed quiet, with counter and non counter seats. Since I was alone, I was given a counter seat. I opted for the various sets at 450baht each. The ones at Osaka Fish Market were priced at 1080yen per set.

Here come the sets I ordered!!!

The first bite of the anago (eel) was like 'yummmyy!!!' but after that things kind of just plateaued.. The uni was borderline creamy and the ika (squid?).. Was so hard!!!! I prob grew an extra muscle chewing it..

I'm not sure if I'm just biased but the toro sushi (though still yummy) didn't taste as good as I'd hoped. Guess.. I just have to go to Osaka again.. Lolols.

On e way out!

It wasn't thaaat late so I thought to drop by the night market at Pratunam to buy some clothes and shoes in order to answer to E's call for clubbing tomorrow night. I was really quite tired and decided to take a cab after like 20 or 30min of walking. The most irritating thing was that the cab went back almost the entire way I had walked. I should have just hailed a cab from the start. Sigh! Anyway the driver wasn't happy with my direction of 'Platinum Mall' or 'Glow Pratunam' and asked for a street name so I had to google for it. And ince we got the address sorted out, i happily stoned in the cab till I got there.

When we reached, there was a sudden huge downpour. I was like wth?!?! It wasn't some slight drizzle loh, it was like someone poured 10 years of washing water down the faraway tree. So I had to stand at the side of some shop and take shelter for a while. But the rain wasn't really getting smaller so I just GOOOoo! Was kind of fun actually. Thank goodness for my cap. People were walking around with plastic bags on their heads. I found it very cute ROFL.

View from the overhead bridge at Central world

Central World

Took these pics outside Central World. I enjoyed myself on this night, walking around in the rain, feeling free, appreciating views that I don't usually see, having fun on my own actually lol!!

Om the way back from Central World, saw the bear exhibit that was around since my last trip in May, so took a pic of them again!

Went back and zz! Wanted to wake up early the next day because I planned to visit Ayutthaya in the morning!

Bangkok Solo Trip 30Jun - 2 Jul 2016 Day 3 - Ayutthaya/Thip Samai/Yaowarat Road Part 1

Bangkok Solo Trip 30 Jun - 3 Jul 2016 Day 1 - Pad Thai/Krua Apsorn/Imax/Mango Tango

2016-07-09T16:20:00.001+08:00

I left house in e morning, and as usual mummy sent me off into the taxi *Thank you Mummy!! When I reached the check in counter, I wanted to swear bacause the queue was so long... Sigh! So anyway I queued, and finally reached the front:

Pretttyyyyyy!!

And huloo Suvarnabhumi Airport!

Find these squat small vehicles so cute..

Stopped by the True telco booth to buy the sim card w data. This is a 7 day option, for 299baht. Unlimited data, though after 1.5GB of data usage, the speed will slow down:

Went on ahead to the Airport Link and took the train to Makkasan station. It's connected to Petchaburi MRT station which I was going to since my hotel was nearest Silom MRT station. Here's the linkway:

And the classic Bangkok traffic

Bought the MRT card at the MRT station so that it would be more convenient. Train prices would be slightly cheaper too. 180Baht with 100baht credit.
All $$ can be refunded at the MRT control stations.

Onward to Silom MRT station! As it was still early, I went for breakfast. I had wanted to visit this pad thai stall at Sala Daeng ever since I read about it on Aroimakmak.com!! The pad thai is situated behind Silom Complex which is right beside Sala Daeng BTS, which is a stone's throw away from Silom MRT. Silom Complex is a rather big shopping centre, with quite alot of options. I entered the front of the complex, walked towards the dept store and out from the back exit/entrance. The view from there is...

Walked straight down the path (alot of foodstalls on the left and right, really 吃不完！）until I saw this blue stall with blue tentage(?)

Entered bravely and ordered 1 pad thai with shrimp.. The place was filled with the lunch crowd from the nearby offices

And Jang jang! The Pad Thai! It was a huge huge hugemongous plate of pad thai and I was stunned like veegetable when it was presented to me. Ok it doesn't look that big here but I assure you it's the biggest portion of noodle I've ever seen in Bangkok.

Zoom up! Love the thin noodle.

Those who like their fried noodles dry will like it. I liked the taste and texture of the noodles. If the wok hei was stronger i would love it more! A very satisfying plate of pad thai and I would return to give it another shot in hope for a stronger wok hei. I sneakily observed that diners went straight to the front after eating and paid less than 100baht to the lady in front. So after I could not eat any further, I went up front and was informed the huge plate of pad thai was 50 baht. *wahhh i like.

And off I went towards my hotel, Glow Trinity Silom. Yap, under the same group as Glow Pratunam, every other Singaporean's favourite hotel. There were stalls open along the streets and I noted that most of the people browsing the area were employees from nearby offices, shopping around during lunch time. I thought that was pretty cool, to have such a market to shop at during lunch.

And after walking around and round and round in and out of the streets and street stalls, I finally located the hotel...

Welcome to Glow Trinity! The staff were very majorly polite and welcoming. One of the front desk ladies went and got me a box of tissue cos she noticed the rivers of perspiration flowing freely down my face.

Check in went smoothly and I was brought to my room. It was like very big loh!! The staff informed me nicely that I got an upgrade. I was pleased to get such a good deal for $50plus per night. However, I didn't really need it since I was alone. In fact, a smaller room might have been cosier?

So big that I might could get lost in it lol. The pillows were soo comfy, I was like.. Totally stoning in the room. Stoning is a luxury one can afford when alone. Hur! Hur! Hur!

Eventually I pushed myself out of the room for tea/dinner and took the BTS to Saphan Taksin Station. Sathorn pier is right in front of the station. My plan was to get to Thewej pier and walk to Krua Apsorn at Samsen Road to eat their crab dish! My research informed me that Krua Apsorn is a classic thai resturant which has delicious food, and the royal family loves it too. I liked this post from eatingthaifood.com on Krua Apsorn.

According to Google Maps, it is a 13min walk from Thewej. But of course it would be a 25min walk for me.

There were a few options at Sathorn pier; ferry to Asiatique, ferry to some hotel, the Chao Phraya Express service etc. There is a tourist boat under Chao Phraya Express, however I personally think there is no need to take the tourist boat unless it makes monetary sense to do so.

According to the above route map obtained from the Chao Phraya Express website, the orange flag CP Express (orange line) stops at almost all the stops the tourist boat (blue line) stops at. I also took a screenshot of the pricing of the tickets off the website:

So I waited for the orange flagged CP Express. It was not crowded at the pier since it was a weekday.

And I got on the orange flagged CP Express to get to Thewej. It really looks like a bus lol!

In a short while, the 'boat conductor' came around to collect the boat fare. I hadn't checked the CP Express website for the boat fare so I did not know the amount to give. I saw people giving 20baht and getting change, so I just followed suit. I got 6baht change.

The ride was comfortable and windy, and I sat there till I overshot my 'boat stop': Thewej by one stop. -_- I had to take the orange flagged CP Express towards Sathorn to get back to Thewej. I had thought the fare was distance based, and 1 stop would definitely cost me less than 10 baht. But i was swiftly corrected by the boat conductor's angsty expression when I gave her 10baht. It was a standard boat fare of 14baht for the orange flagged CP Express.... So anyway, I shoke off my embarrassment and took a pic of the bridge:

Finallyyyyy....

Much clearer pic of the bridge from Thewej pier!

And onwards to Krua Apsorn with Google Map as my guide!

From Thewej pier to Krua Asporn @ Samsen Road

Seems like there is a seafood type of market right outside the pier

It looks kind of closed though..

Walking on, I passed by a long row of flower/plant shops. It was nice and green and I enjoyed the view.

Crossed the river at the turn and had to snap a picture while on the bridge:

Stopped by a drink stall, ordered Cha Yen (Milk Tea). I am glad I learnt how to say Cha Yen since 70% of the roadside drink stalls do not recognise 'Milk Tea'. This big cup was yummy! Took the chance to ask the drink stall boss if I was walking in the right direction to Krua Apsorn. It is so well known that I just needed to say 'Krua Apsorn??' hurhurhur.

There is a girls' school in this area. It's a convent school, and I guessed it because two Sisters walked out of it. Ha ha.

And I reached! It was about 4.30pm, and quite empty. The staff were all relaxing at the side and lacked customer service. But it was quite comfortable for me since I was left to my own devices.

I had done intensive research and had decided to order the crab in yellow curry and the omelette before my flight to BKK. But.. Somehow, when I looked at the menu extract... I changed my mind and ordered the stir fried crab with yellow chilli instead of the curry one LOL. Think i was in the mood for something different.

The crab came quickly! Look at the lumps of crabbbbb.

It was good. Like a very very nice stir fry. The crab was BOOms! Sweet and very satisfying to chew on. The omelette with crab meat was sweet, super thick, soft and juicy! The rice expressed my feeling towards both dishes:

I packed the omelette, the crab and rice I couldn't finish away because I refuse to leave them uneaten. I need to visit Krua Apsorn again! Next time I will eat the yellow curry!

I love you. XOXO.

My bill was about 550baht or so. Totally willing to pay this price for the food I got!

I was supposed to explore the food options around Dinso, Mahanop Road but I was so full that I couldn't imagine eating again. So I decided to just take a walk towards Hua Lamphong MRT to digest my food. Along the way, I could detour slightly to check on some food places I had in my 'To Eat' list. So, following the below route, I started off on the 1 hr walk (LOL)

I thought this shelter was kind of cool!

Cute postbox

Wide roads and traffic on good behaviour

Crossing under the bridge lol

Another river view

These clothes caught my attention as I crossed the road cos they looked so bright against the dull colours of the building

Was slightly apprehensive when I walked into this quiet passageway. A motorbike that appeared behind me surprised me x_x

Surprisingly, the right turn led to an eating place and a pretty looking passageway. I continued on up the stairs..

And across the bridge..

I had detoured towards the Democracy Monument, the round blob of road on top of Krua Apsorn Dinso at the bottom half of the map and started to see flags etc lining the roads and shops

The democracy monument. The four wings of the mounment signify the four branches of the Thai Armed Forces which carried out the coup in 1932 that overthrew absolute monarchy in Thailand. The wings are 24m high to present the date 24 June when the new constituency was signed. A copy of the original constitution is held at the monument.

Honestly, I hadn't known that the monument I passed by was the Democracy monument then. Ha ha ha. I took a pic of it and then researched it later. Nonetheless, it was nice to look back at the route I took and learn something new about it.

Intersection along Dinso Road

Unsure what this building is

Thip Samai (Pad Thai Pratu Phi)

Walked past Thip Samai Resturant, one of the resturants in my 'To Eat' list, and bought a bottle of its famous fresh orange juice. I was too full to attempt a plate of pad thai sadly... So I will have to return to this resturant again.

This orange juice is VERY sweet and has chunks of sweet oranges in it. V. Good ^^! I continued down to Yaowarat Road (another detour from google map) and it had to rain -_-

Speedwalked down Yaowarat and finally reached Hua Lamphong MRT. Transported myself to Siam Paragon. I travelled to Siam Paragon to watch a movie at its cinema!!!! I saw that The Legend of Tarzan started showing on 30 Jun in BKK while I was checking for shows on the airport link.

The deco looks like jellyfish

I managed to book at 8.30pm 3D show at Imax for Tarzan (hooray!) and zoomed off to buy Mango Tango dessert at Siam Square cos I love it haha.

Mango Tango!!

My fav Mango Tango pop up store right in front of Som Tam Nua at Siam Square!!!

Ordered what I ordered the last 2 times, Mango Alohaaaaaaaa

Mango Aloha!!!

I slurped it down very happily. It was very humid and I was sweating buckets while demolishing it at record speed. I should have packed it and brought it into the cinema, guess I'll just have to do it another time. Ha ha ha.

Another pic of Mango Aloha cos I like it so much!

After the Mango Aloha was transported into my tummy, I zoomed back to Siam Paragon. I am embarrassed to say that I got a little lost trying to get back to the cinema. Anyhow, I eventually found it and it was time for The Legend of Tarzan at Imax!!!!

Was given the 3D glasses when I entered the cinema, it was a tad uncomfortable. The seats were comfortable though, and there weren't many people in the theatre. I think I got seats too close to the screen because some of the 3D effects were abit messy.

>>>>>>>>> Fast forward to the end where I review the movie - The Legend of Tarzan. >>>>>> This is a movie that one may not want to spend 400baht (approx $16) on. The plot was quite uninspired, and some of the lines and scenes made me cringe. Other than that, the cool tree swinging, jungle scenery, wildlife, hot bodies (including Tarzan's) and pretty ladies (Only Jane) were pretty entertaining.

It was pretty late by then, so I went off back to my hotel via BTS, got off at Chong Nongsi Station and got ready to zzzzzzz!

Bangkok Solo Trip 30 Jun - 3 Jul 2016 Day 2 - Silom Thai Cooking School/Taste Thonglor Endo Sushi@

Bangkok Solo Trip - 30 Jun - 3 Jul 2016

2016-07-08T19:04:00.000+08:00

You know that feeling when you come back from a holiday and realise that you did not do the 2 or 3 things that you had wanted to do because of schedule clashes or opinion/preference clashes with your travel mates? I am familiar with that feeling since I usually just go along with the flow when in a group.

So I decided to go on a solo trip to Bangkok to do ALL the things I wanted to do. Ha. Ha. Ha.

Tiger had a sale to Suvarnabhumi Airport and I immediately booked a return ticket for 30 Jun - 3 Jul, Thursday to Sunday. I chose those days since many markets in BKK are open on those days.

I wanted to stay a night at the Amphawa Floating Market, a place I had wanted to return to since the first time I was there with SY a gazillion years ago. Kanchanaburi seemed like a possibility, as well as Ayutthaya. As I researched, more options popped up and I had to promise myself another trip to BKK. Ha. Ha. Ha.

In the end, I decided on the below itinerary:

Day 1 - Thursday 30 Jun 2016
Pad thai at Sala Daeng for brekkie
Check in at Glow Trinity Silom
Take the river taxi to Thewet to Krua Apsorn for lunch
Dinso/Thanon Mahanop exploration (did not explore anything though)
Movie & Mango Tango

Day 2 - Friday 1 Jul 2016
Silom Thai Cooking School
Yunomori Onsen (did not make it there though...)
Sukhumvit exploration
Dinner@Endo sushi

Day 3 - Saturday 2 Jul 2016
Part 1
Part 2
Ayutthaya
Dinner
Chinatown
Pat Pong Night Market

Day 4 - Sunday 3 Jul 2016
Jok Prince
Lunch@Chakrabongse
Big C & Central World
5pm leave for airport

I always stay at Pratunam, so this time I wanted to stay somewhere different. It would also push me to explore new areas. I chose Silom since it is connected via MRT and BTS. It would also be convenient to travel to Hua Lamphong when I make the trip to Ayutthaya. While searching for hotel options, I came across Glow Trinity @Silom. It was conveniently located near Chong Nongsi BTS, had gym n swimming pool. Sadly, I did not use the hotel facilities at all cos I was so tired everyday. I also realised that it would be more convenient for me if I had chosen a hotel nearer to Sala Daeng, since the MRT station is much nearer to Sala Daeng BTS.

Expenses
Air ticket - $167
Accommodation -$188 ($50something per night)
Budget -$400

Bangkok Solo Trip Day 1 - Pad Thai/Krua Apsorn/Imax/Mango Tango

Bangkok Day 3 - Platinum Mall/Siam Square /Mango Tango/After U/Asiatique

2016-06-26T18:34:00.002+08:00

I managed to drag myself out of bed again to visit the gym haha, and then off we went to Platinum Mall! Brekkie at Platinum and then the shopping started. We moved fast and managed to clear the shops in a few hours.

YR n I had wanted to celebrate LQ's bday tonight and we had 2 tasks:
1) Buy pyjamas for a PJ bday celebration
2) Buy cake and candles

I loitered around Platinum Mall in search for PJ, but my conclusion is that PJs are unbelievably overpriced in Platinum Mall. Like are you really charging me 450b for this type of PJ?

So I decided to postpone PJ buying to the Siam night market.

And off we went to Siam Square for food. We cut across Central World to get to Siam Square and saw this giant teddy, kawaiiiii~~~

Once we reached Siam Square, I made a beeline towards Mango Tango's pop up store. I prefer to eat there because it's not crowded and there is no minimum order quantity, unlike the main store.! I was looking forward to Mango Tango, cos I really like the desserts there! We were also going to check out After You since it seems very popular.

Mango Tango 120 - Mango pudding, Ice cream and Mango

Mango Aloha - Mango with Milk Sago (my favvv!)

Soooo niceeeee, I should just eat this for lunch. Eating this for dessert is such a waste since I was too full to enjoy it nicely.

After demolishing the desserts, we went on to After You. It looked like there was no queue on the outside ao we dilly dallied. However realised the queue was inside once we stepped in lololo. So after 20minutes of queuing we finally got a seat!

The famous Shibuya Honey Toast

And hmm a cookie dough dessert (Can't recall the name)

The toast was indeed yummy and can be described as a very high quality thick toast. Hurhurhur. The maple syrup honey was the highlight and LQ n YR were drinking it like soup to my internal horror. Exactly this expression:

Lol! The other dessert was so sweet that I thought I might faint. It is pretty though. We also got an hot apple cider which I liked quite abit.

And so after After You (hurhur), we took the BTS to Saphan Taksin BTS to take the shuttle ferry to Asiatique. It was a pretty good place to chill the night away. Although touristy, I was glad we made the trip there!

Decided to have drinks at a nice looking resturant and ended up ordering food.

The food was ok, but we had a great chat over food and drinks! We were so used to seeing each other every day over work however there were so many things we didn't know about each other. It was very nice and I enjoyed this dinner alot, felt that we got to know each other a little better!

In fact I enjoyed dinner so much that I forgot an important thing, which was to ensure that we got a bday cake for LQ's bday celebration.

But so thankfully, we managed to get everything at Pratunam! Cute PJs from the night market, cake from Tom n Tom(s?) and candles from the 7-11 near our hotel (phew). And so we set up everything nicely outside the toilet and gave LQ a supplise!!!!! Hahaha no photos of our PJed selves will be uploaded. Happy Birthday LQ!!

As we would be flying off tomorrow early afternoon, we quickly packed and got ready to zzz, byeee Bangkok!

Bangkok Day 2 - Pratunam /Central world / Big C / Terminal 21/ emQuartier / Artbox / Talad Rot Fai Srinakarin

2016-06-26T18:34:00.000+08:00

Because i wanted to use the hotel facilities, i went to visit the gym in the morning. It's pretty small but nice! The machines were fitted with tvs, which was nice.

While waiting for the lift after gym, noticed the lobby decorations were quite interesting.

Took this cos i liked the colours

And when we were all ready, we started the day with Sabsab Wanton mee! And this is the view after reaching the front of the queue...

*Ter Kar!!!*

We were grouped with two ladies in one table, they seemed pretty friendly in a 'stranger' way, which was nice. When I was here earlier this year, I was grouped with three unfriendly Singaporeans. Having to face them made my meal kind of sucky.

I was actually looking forward to try the 'ter kar' (pork trotter) rice. Since I wasn't eating it alone, we ordered a plate of it to share instead of having it with rice.

The pork lardy wanton mee at the bottom of the bowl, zoomed up version

The 'Ter Kar (TK)'

First bite of the TK was really niceeee. The meat was very tender and full of flavour! But a few mouths later, I realised it's super duper salty without the rice. Will try other places next time I go to BKK.

Saw this at 7-11. It really looks like tokyo banana
Doesn't taste too bad! Tried the mango versiomn
I liked it.

Next up we walked around Pratunam, and in the process getting warmer and warmer.

Pratunam was not fantastic this day. More than the usual insisted on us having to purchase 3 pieces of the same design. 'No mix!' And one shopkeeper added the cherry on top when he insisted we had to buy 3 of the same design with different colours. We couldn't buy 3 black tops of the same design, must be 1 black, 1 blue, 1 yellow. Wth? Seriously?? I mean he had more than 3 colours, so what's the point? Thinking of it now just makes me feel -_- all over again.

After a while, we left and walked towards Central World since the girls wanted to check out Melissa. Looking forward to the completion of the link bridge from Platinum to CW since the path is quite narrow and can get crowded.

On the way, saw people cleaning windows abseil style.

Nah, zoom up one...

Clap. Clap. Clap.

There was a food fair of sorts outside Central World and as we walked on, a piglet walked past. We were like.... Got pig thereeee!

The pig snuffled at my feet, felt soft and sqiggling *hurhur!!!

We walked around Central World abit and left to Big C to do some grocery shopping. Had to buy potato chips!!! Love the Thai Basil and Scallop w Garlic Butter flavour from Lays!! Also got the Number 1 Brand milk tea packets and instant mix,and those seaweeed, dried mangoes, prawn crackers etc.

While browsing the dried goods area, we came across this.

Free samples! The sign introduced it as some coconut candy.

I was wondering if these rolls of rattan looking things were it and then LQ bit into it and said '好像树直’. And we realised, the rolls were actually used to hold the sweets, and had been discarded by people who tried the coconut candy. R. O. F. L. L. C. The candy was actually the brown round thing at e end of the rolls. Omg, i laughed so hard I tot I was going to faint due to oxygen deprivation.

New samples with brown coconut candy inside

To sum up the Big C visit, we bought super alot of stuff, laughed alot and had to take a cab back the 500m to the hotel to deposit the stuff before we set off to Terminal 21.

Terminal 21 is really a place where the shopping mall is more interesting than the shops. Lolol.

I was very impressed by the themed toilets! Had a near brush with disaster when I left my phone in a toilet cubicle and only realised it when I went to the next level of the mall. I raaaaan all e way to the toilet n waited outside the cubicle. I was so worried that I shouted into the toilet for my phone. Thank goodness the lady returned it to me. Luckyyyy!

After various photos, we went off to emQuartier. I was kind of looking forward to it because I've not been there before. Emquartier is located right at Prom Phong BTS station. I love malls that are right beside the train station. That's where malls should be, right beside /on top / below a train station.

And Emquartier is sooooper impressive and hugggee. There are 3 buildings/sections and i really liked its look! We came here for Audrey Cafe and found out the Hokkaido Bake Cheese Tart is here as well. Onward to Audrey Cafe - - - - >

We ordered the Crab and Lobster Bisque Souffle, Mango sticky rice and fried edible flowers (Sorry for making them sound like street food, can't remember the exact names) and the Thai Tea Crepe Keiki~~

Crab & Lobster Bisque Souffle

I don't really understand the souffle, alot of egg white? The bisque was nice though with alot of crab/lobster meat.

Fried flowers

This fried edible flowers dish unexpectedly tasted like fried veggie tempura. Guess I forgot that flowers are plants too. Haha! Nonetheless I enjoyed this dish and the dip was good!!

Thai Tea Crepe cake

Im not exactly a fan of crepe cake, cos when I eat them I think of 30 layers of crepe with cream in between. But! I did enjoy this cake because I didn't taste much cream and the thai tea sauce was rich tasting, not too sweet.

This is a super pretty Mango Sticky Rice dish. The coconut milk became some sort of panacotta that was fantastic!! This was our favourite dish.

We checked out Bake Cheese Tart, not many people queueing, so YR and I got 1 each. It is a good quality cheese tart, and reminded me alot of the Ringo pastry that I stumbled across in Tokyo on Day 10 at Ikebukuro. Light, fresh, high quality!

It was close to evening time so we walked over to Artbox. Ive been especially looking forward to it, so it was with great anticipation that we walked into the venue. The lights were nice, though it was a pity the sky was still bright.

It must be because it was early because there werent many stalls and those that were open were mainly budding artists selling handdrawn cards or hand made items. We made one round and came straight out. I thought there wasn't much to see but as I walked out I was moved by the atmosphere of youth, creativity and passion. ^^ Reminded me of things I forgot. Pity that I walked so fast I forgot to take picture of the inside.

So left with nothing much to do, an inpromptu decision was made to go down to Rot Fai Srinakarin and we hopped onto a cab and told the driver 'Seacon Square' since the market was behind it.

The market was really big, we kind of walked about abit until we finally found the main area. And then.... it rained..... Like...... Sigh!

We sought shelter at a vintage car area:

When the rain got smaller we went to look for food cos super hungry. There were some food stalls so we ordered tom yum, basil chicken rice and something else, I can't recall what. It was a pretty OK meal! I didn't take pictures at all because this visit was totally not a picture taking inducing one due to our 'xian-ness' and the rain. Haha, anyway we went off back to hotel and KO-ed! Tomorrow will be a better day!

Bangkok Day 3 - Platinum Mall/Siam Square /Mango Tango/After U/Asiatique

Bangkok 21- 24 May 2016

2016-06-19T23:05:00.000+08:00

This is my second Bangkok trip of the year! People ask me why I keep going to Bangkok and sometimes I have no answer! I just happen to do that! Lols

This was a somewhat impromptu trip with two of my colleagues and happened because 天时地利人和. It was the first time travelling together and i was excited though slightly worried that we may fall out during the trip. I couldn't be more wrong, because we were all good to travel with. Thanks ladies for the great trip!

Trip $$$$$ (mine)
Air ticket (Scoot) - $226
Accommodation (Centara Watergate) -$150
On trip budget -$400

We booked Scoot to Suvarnabhumi Airport and decided on Centara Watergate @ Pratunam to satisfy the nice hotel toilet people lols.

The flight was a 6.50am flight and we would reach at 9.50am bkk time. I was excited to fly into Suvarnabhumi Airport. It gives me a nostalgic feeling as it was one of the first overseas airports I flew into. It is also connected to the city via a train service. So, Suvarnabhumi Airport.. I Like.

Huloo BKK!

Day 1 - Chatuchak Market / Union Mall / Rot Fai Ratchada

Waited quite abit to check in at Centara Watergate. The lobby looks pretty but the air-conditioning was totally not enough to keep the heat away. I actually perspired.

Lounging area with pond

The girls working hard while i stone

After checking in and some rolling around in the room, we went out and made our way to the BTS towards Chatuchak. It was then we realised that we had to cross an overhead bridge to get to and fro the hotel. When one is tired.... the stairs can really be a bi**h.

On the way to the BTS station, we popped by Sabsab to check out the queue. It's longer than ever.

When I came to BKK 5 or 6 years ago, there was no queue outside Sabsab. We kind of just decided to try the noodles cos it was near our hotel and we tot it was not bad, though I recall thinking that the portion is like.. Small??? Now that 80% of the Singaporeans who visit BKK know of it, the queue gets longer, the service gets fiercer and the portion gets even smaller.

As we were on the way to Chatuchak, we decided to queue another day for Sabsab. Instead, we bought a big Nutella Banana Crepe. It was good and yummy.

It's Big.

The crepe was super crispy and the insides were.. Full of insides lol!! I'll probably buy one again if I go back.

Chatuchak was its usual crowded self but the fantastic thing was that it was quite cloudy and we were spared from the sun. I also got to drink thr Number One Brand Milk Tea at Mochit BTS station. Yay.. We walked about Chatuchak abit, and I went looking for dog collars at Dajie's request.

Finally found the blue camo print one. It had a bell which I didn't want. So i told the shop keeper, I don't want the bell, and he went 'sure!!' and promptly removed the bell for me. Thinking back, I am quite amused at the shop keeper's flexibility.

When at Chatuchak, definitely must eat that coconut ice cream cos it comes with coconut juice (Though they seem to be more tight fisted with the juice now - 1 cup for 1 ice cream only)

And after Chatuchak, it's on to Union Mall.

I found Union Mall very so-so. Some of the clothes are quite special but most of them are overpriced. The best thing about Union Mall is probably the 12baht boat noodles at level 4 and Hollys Coffee's Sweet Potato Latte heh.

We were quite amused that it was so humid outside and yet we were all shivering after eating the giganormoustic bingsoo at Hollys Coffee. Didn't take any good pictures as I was too busy eating and shivering away.

After resting abit, we detoured to MK Resturant within Union Mall because I've always wanted to try the food there. We got the duck and some items for the steamboat. Ok it doesn't look like some only, but it was really less than it looks.

The duck (above pic) was yummy and very affordably priced but, too cold. If only it was served hot, i would give it more points. The steamboat was quite normal but surprisingly the soup became realllyyyyy yummmy at the end of our short steamboat!! The star of the steamboat is confirms the marinated chicken with raw egg. So BOOMS,we ordered another plate.

After the steamboat, really felt like just lying on the floor and stone there. But we had to still move on towards Rot Fai Market (Ratchada). We took the MRT and got off at Cultural Centre stop. The market is just behind the Esplanade Shopping Mall. Just have to enter the front and exit from the back.

Walking along the side of the market

Was really glad we came here, it was v nice! Sufficiently big market to take up our time, and alot of food stalls. Saw a big platter of grill-it-yourself crabs shells prawns etc for 650baht! I also saw quite alot of 100-150 baht tops and t shirts which were selling at higher prices elsewhere.

Food section

It was however, VERY WARM. And this watermelon smoothie really saved the day(night)!

We ended off waiting for a 2nd floor seat at the Holy Shrimp! - A louisianna seafood place.

I was kind of keen on it because the sauce lookes yummy and you can eat the seafood off the table, with your hands! Look at all these people eating off the table with their hands! Hoooray!! We got some prawns and scallops. They were realllyy yummy, happy. I gave Rot Fai alot of points cos I ate yummy seafood with my hands at a very good price!

Now you see it...

Now you don't...

Then it was back to Hotel and KO.

BKK Day 2 - Pratunam /Central world / Big C / Terminal 21/ emQuartier / Artbox / Talad Rot Fai Srinakarin

Japan Day 15 - Tokyo Station Ramen St Rokurinsha / Ueno / Nippori / Tokyo Narita Airport

2016-06-02T00:13:00.000+08:00

It's my last day in Japan! RJ went off to meet her friend and I went off to eat Rokurinsha, tsukemen rated number 1 on Tokyo Station Ramen Street, and the one with the longest queue. HOORAY!

Quiet along Azuma at 7.30am

Towards Ramen Street at Tokyo Station...

Back door of Rokurinsha

Queueing queueing for breakfast ramen at 8.15am

THE Tsukemen!

The broth was super tasty

The noodles were chewy and yummy!

After finishing the noodles, I copied patrons before me and went to add water/clear soup to the thick broth in order to drink the soup. This tsukemen must be taken HOT else it won't be that nice anymore!

After finishing my food, I walked around outside Tokyo Station and found myself in an area with lots of offices and nothing much to see. So i decided to make a trip to Ueno to purchase my Skyliner ticket towards Narita Airport.

36min to airport.

I purchased my ticket from a kind of irritating person, though i couldn't place the reason why i found him irritating. I also purchased RJ's ticket for her. And then i went out to explore Ameyokocho.

Very bustling! With tourists and locals

Haha this kind of looks fusion

I found this street really interesting. There were wet market type of stores selling seafood, fish, meat, vegetables etc and the stall owners were vigorous and loud, calling out, persuading, negotiating etc. There were also many shops selling shoes, sneakers, etc. Thought it was a pity that I didn't make it to the musuem, I should go the next time!!

Came across this escalator at Ueno station. Was very impressed by its shape hurhur, very noob.

On the way back to Ikebukuro, I decided to recee Nippori station, which I was going to go to, to take the skyliner.

No.. No stairs! Went the other way for the lift

To platform 1 for Skyliner!

After I had familiarised myself with the station, I went on back to the room at Ikekuburo and packed the rest of my stuff. Since there was a box of instant noodle left, I ate that for lunch. Was very impressed by the elaborate packaging which allowed me to pour the water out with ease. No noodle was lost in the sink.

Lift the flap numbered (3)

Tada!!!!

Went out for dessert shopping and saw beautiful cakes displayed in the cake counter of a cafe along Azuma.

Wah the framboise, the framboise!

Decided on the berry tart. Looks soo preeeety!

One more time! Berry Tart!

Why didn't I realise this shop was Mutekiya and sold to queue for yummy ramen?!

On the way to the airport, I realised that Mutekiya was very close to our room. I came across a few rave reviews and I am sure I missed out not having tried the ramen here. Sigh! Anyway onwards to the Skyliner!

Lots of leg space and little ppl on the skyliner.

I thought the sky looked beautiful during the ride to the airport

My flighttt!

Fast forward the efficient airport services, comfortable SQ ride, yummy airplane food, non stop in-flight entertainment, and we touched down in Singapore. Was amused by a basin I saw at my void deck.

Doesn't this remind of the slwdding at Gala Yuzawa? Lola.

Dumpling noodle! I missed you!

Souvenirs and food from Japan

I had a great time in Japan!! Love the place love the food, will definitely return againnnnnnnn.

Japan Day 14 - Kita-Senju Asakusa Shibuya

2016-05-30T00:00:00.000+08:00

My second last day in Japan! Gosh! I had wanted to re-visit Tsujiki Fish Market for yummy breakfast but suddenly changed my mind to dine at Midori Sushi, a recommendation from a colleague. It must have been truly good and value for money because the queue was like.....

Damn long loh

Menu looks quite value for money!

RJ opted to eat something else and after a while of queuing, I decided to give up and make the trip to Kita-Senju for the Matador beef ramen that I had wanted to try since reading this post from Ramen Adventures blog. In fact i did all my ramen research at this super comprehensive blog.

On the way to the train station

By Kinokuniya! No books, only food!

Matador Ramen at Kita-Senju

So exciting!!

Finally waited my way inside

Serious slurping going on

Decided to add a beef bowl to my ramen cos it looked yum

Hehehhehe

Big nice friendly bowl of beef ramen!

The beef rice bowl is SO SUPER GOOD!!! I LOVE YOU.

The beef soup was sweet and so piping hot I burnt my tongue on it. The noodles were the type I liked, the bouncy springy smooth ones *heart! *. But I was totally blown away by the beef bowl! It was like I flew up into the sky and beef, egg, spring onions and rice flew all around me on and on and on. SO SO Goood!

After lunch I drank a meiji probiotic drink hoping that it would help me to digest the load of food I fed my tummy and walked around the neighbourhood. Came across a shopping street.

Kawaiiiiii

After some supermarket exploration and more walking, I found myself back at Kita-Senju station and went to explore the huge shopping centre at the station. I was amused and impressed by the cute toilet plan within the toilet.

So cute and considerate

Since there was still time, I made a trip down to Asakusa. Japanguide.com informed me that Asakusa is home to Senso-ji, a famous and popular temple in Tokyo, so off I went towards it.

Seems to be a comedian!

Senso-ji. Super crowded. Most crowded temple I've been to in Japan!

Free green tea. Of course must queue!

Lots of tourists asking ladies in kimono for photos

After touring the temple and its spacious toilet, I went off down Nakamise shopping street as I had taken another route towards Senso-ji.

Photo of Nakamise before I left

If you are feeling like you wish to be around lots of tourists and locals in a festive mood, please go on to Senso-ji and squeeze with the hoards of people in the streets around Senso-ji and queue for the yummy looking food on the weekends.

I did enjoy this temple, very bustling and energetic. Definitely worth a visit!

Nice shop shutters heheh

Junction in front of Asakusa. I find the multiwalk crossing in Japan quite good!

By this time it was close to dinner time, so I went off back to Shibuya to meet RJ and buy the Tokyo Milk Cheese Factory cookies from the Tokyu Dept store!!

Soooo cuteeee

I forgot to take a pic of the TMCF shop cos I was too distracted by the different varieties. The staff was very nice and let us try a few. In the end I decided on the Salt & Camembert and Tomato Basil & Mozzarella. Yummmmyyy.

Salt & Camembert

Task completed! And since we were at Shibuya, there were 2 things to check out: 1) Hachiko 2) The famous Shibuya Scrraaaamble!

According to our research, Starbucks is one of the best places to check out the scramble and soo off we went to Starbucks

All these people are waiting for the scramble

And scramble starts!

Ends....

And the cars move on..

And so we moved on to Hachiko...

Statue and tons of people photographing...

Proof that I stepped into Shibuya lols

Shibuya 109

We were tired and RJ was heavily laden with her wanton shopping earlier so we decided to return to our room. Before entering the train station, we stopped by a souvenir shop before going back to Ikebukuro.. These are so cute and well done!!

Back at our room i did major packing in preparation for my last day in Japan *Sad* I had to rest early because I wanted to eat the super long queue tsukemen at Rokurinsha!

Day 15 - Tokyo Station Ramen St Rokurinsha / Ueno / Nippori / Tokyo Narita Airport

Japan Day 13 - Nara Tokyo Ichiran Ramen

2016-05-04T08:01:00.002+08:00

We were so into the idea of making full use of the JR passes that we decided to do a day trip into Nara from Tokyo to visit the hundreds of deer roaming around Nara Park. We hadn't planned to do that as part of the Kyoto itinerary and since we had days to spare in Tokyo, we decided to go.

Looks so niceee

My beef rice bowl, it was ok

But I wouldn't take a round trip from Tokyo to Nara and back again. The trip takes approximately 5 hours each way, which makes that 10hrs or so in total,and it was just not worth that travelling time for me. It would have been very ok as part of our Kyoto itinerary.

Finally reached Nara

We had intended to walk from Nara station to Nara Park, however it was so cold that we decided to buy the 1 day bus pass for 500yen. It was a good deal because the buses cost about 230 - 240yen per trip.

Once we got off the bus, a few deer were loitering around and watching us carefully to assess if we had food. Once it was clear we had no food.. We were treated dismissively.

Got food?

No? Ignore

Walk right under your nose

Talk to my back

Look at all e deer themed snacks

This looked so good I had to try it

Sadly only the strawberry was good

Deer poooopppp, omg

One of the highlights of the Nara trip!

One of the lowlights of the Nara trip. I almost got an MSG reaction.

Waited a long time under the sun to catch a shot without people walking past

Getting late, time to get back. 5 hrs trip..

This kind of sums up Nara - Temple/Shrine and Deer haha

Saw Malebranche at Kyoto Statiom on e way back. If omly i found it earlier!

Pigeon that made my day at e Kyoto Station

And to wrap off the day, I took a walk to Ichiran Ikebukuro branch for the ichiran ramen! Hooray!

Ichiran Ichiran Ichiran

Ushered to a tiny cubicle with a screen in front

Sneaked a peek under e screens. This is the staff serving behind it!

Finally! My Ichiran Ramen!

I didn't really like the noodles since they were the non springy type. But I really really loved the soup at Ichiran. It's very tasty yet not too salty and overpowering. Thinking of it makes me want to eat it again!

Japan Day 14 - Kita-Senju Asakusa Shibuya

Japan Day 12 - Tokyo Tsujiki Fish Market Ginza Kani Douraku Meiji Shrine Yoyogi Park Harajuku

2016-04-10T22:19:00.002+08:00

Since Tsujiki Fish Market is such a popular tourist destination Tokyo, and there are plans for its relocation, I made it a 'Must Go' for Tokyo. I was not ready to wake up at 2/3am to witness the fish auction so I left the apartment at 9plus am and made my way down to Tsujiki Station for breakfast. RJ did not feel for raw fish and so I went alone. When I exited the station, I just followed other tourists and came to this junction.

I wasn't thatsure if I was in the right place until I saw this shop with the Giant Fish Signboard. LOL

So crowded omg

I seem to be visiting fish markets when it's relatively empty

But there were still activities and people zooming up and down in these

I had a sushi place in mind - Sushi Dai which was highly recommended. So I set off in search for it. Along the way, I saw many good food options and I regretted that RJ was not at the fish market with me. In any case, google maps led me to a row of shops and the first thing i saw was this queue. This must be a fantastic restaurant, but it wasn't Sushi Dai and so I moved on.

After asking some shop keepers, I finally found Sushi Dai - 寿司大. The queue did not look that long so I happily went to the back of the line. But, I was greeted with a note on a stand 'We are no longer accepting customers after this point'. O gosh!! 10.45am with no Sushi Dai! I was too complacent!!

So I went next door to Sushi Daiwa, also highly rated and which had a 4 layered queue in front of its door. I decided to join the queue anyway because I refuse to leave Tsujiki without eating yummy sushi. After 20min of queueing and slowly inching forward, the lady in charge of the queue suddenly raised her voice and was waving her hand specifying 'one'. I guessed that she was asking for a solo customer, which was ME!!! I immediately raised my hand! And the 3 layered queue parted to let me into the restaurant. All around, I heard envious sighs and mutters and I walked in with a victory song playing in the background. Ha ha ha ha ha.

Sushi Daiwa

When I sat down, the sushi chef looked at me and I looked at the sushi chef. He said to me 'Omakase?' And I went 'Hai!' cos I have no idea what other options I had hehehhee.

And the Omakase started!!

2 of these makis were really salty!

The egg was just nice and the uni... AMAZING

Super fresh!

Melted in my mouth!

The Omakase consisted of 7 nigiri, 1 maki, 1 cold egg and 1 miso soup and cost 3500yen. The thing that stood out for me was the superb taste of the fresh items, and the Uni... Was really reallllllyyyy gooooddddd.

Waiting to pay

Bye bye Sushi Daiwa

After I finished up and gochisosamadeshitaed the staff, I was ushered out the back door. Full and satisfied, I continued on browsing the market on the way out to Ginza where RJ and I had agreed on for lunch. Saw these 2 persons filming a man behind these knives and was so curious to see what they were up to.

Ooo, sharpening the knives

If only I werent so full and moving towards lunch

I was meeting RJ at Ginza for lunch at Kani Douraku, a restaurant specialising in crab dishes which we did not get to eat in Osaka. So I took a slow walk to Kani Douraku which was situated at Ginza Nine.

Saw a big bush of beautiful flowers at the roadside

We should have this!! Escalators up the giant connecting overhead bridge. So cool!

Shiseido Parlour. There were goodies on sale in addition to skincare and cosmetics!

Quick and humchi shot inside the parlour

Tricked into thinking Ginza Nine is here, since it's 8 - 10, LOL

Finally at Ginza Nine

Lift to Kani Douraku!

I reached Kani Douraku at about 1, and was informed that the resturant was full. The next available slot would be at 2pm. That was not a good timing because we were there for the lunch sets that were available only until 2pm. So I asked the resturant manager if I could enter the resturant at 1.45pm. Hahah, thankfully he allowed me to and we managed to get the more cost effective lunch specials! Check out the menu at the Kani Douraku Website.

I got the Hana Shizuku set, which is the smallest combination of:

1) Boiled Crab

2) Steamed egg custard with crab

3) Deep Fried Crab (Tempura style)

4) Crab sushi

5) Japanese Soup

The crab was sweeet, the tempura yummy. I wished I was less full because each item was really good. But my favourite was the soup, because it was so tasty though it looked so totally clear. After the meal, we went on to Meiji Shrine and Yoyogi Park. After exiting Harajuku Station, we noted that there was a Shinee concert! Like quite exciting though RJ and I had to ask Google which band they were hehe.

Meiji Shrine

Sake!

We were wondering where he was rushing to heh

After Meiji Shrine, we moved on to Yoyogi Park. There were so many crows there! The sun was setting and the crows were all like all gathering to roost. The cawing and flying around, it was quite omg. I had the urge to cover my head because I know crows could attack a person's head or hair or whatever.

There were a few sakura trees in bloom! When we saw them, it was like we struck the lottery LOL. We spent quite abit of time taking pictures of these pretty flowers at the park.

After Yoyogi, we took a stroll towards the more populated areas of Harajuku. We went on down to a sloping road which was very bustling, in search of Daiso as I was on a mission to purchase stuff for my mom and sis from Daiso.

To cut the long story short, these are the stuff I got from Daiso, and we had to pack the items on our own after making payment.

After Daiso, RJ went in search for a crepe shop called Angel Heart. I was not going to eat crepe, because they were all cream and cream. But the crepes at Angel Heart looked really interesting. There were some that had an entire slice of cheese cake within the crepe, and there were also salad options. So I decided to try the prosciutto and italian salad crepe and I realllllyyyy liked it. Thanks to RJ, I got to eat a yummy thing that I normally would not have tried. The ham, the greens, dressing and crepe went really well together! And the crepe texture was really good.

Try it if you are at Harajuku!

Close to 9pm, I noted that many shops were closed / starting to close. I snapped a quick picture of this shopping centre so I would remember having visited Harajuku and how the surroundings looked like.

Saw this earth display at the entrance of a shopping centre and had to take a picture.

Check out the cute and interesting ice cream descriptions!

Human made

On the way back, we got some Takoyaki from Gindaco. Gindaco takoyaki really tastes good. Sadly it didn't stay long in SG. Tidied up the stuff I bought back at the apartment before settling in for the night!

Sister's fav maggi from Daiso

Japan Day 13 - Nara Tokyo Ichiran Ramen

Japan Day 11 - Gala Yuzawa Snow Resort Tokyo Station Ramen Street

2016-04-10T01:29:00.001+08:00

We got up early today for Gala Yuzawa Snow Resort!!! It's our very first time, uber excites! This resort is very convenient from Tokyo because it has its very own Shikansen station. Using our JR Pass, we happily reserved seats for this trip and got off at Gala Yuzawa station, after Gala Yuzawa Eichigo Station.

Gala Yuzawa Station

The stuff people were carrying on the escalator

Once we entered the snow resort, english speaking staff approached us and provided useful information on ticket prices and the discounts we could get with the JR Pass:

10% discount off ski lesson
10% discount off equipment rental
All day locker rental

Thank you JR Pass!! We paid for entrance and gondola pass and we were in! We had emailed in to book a beginner ski lesson at 1.30pm and decided to sled in the morning then ski in the afternoon. Our equipment rental was like this:

Full day : Ski Jacket and Pants
Half day (Morning) : Sled and rubber boots
Half day (Afternoon) : Skis, boots and poles

For each category, we had to fill up 1 slightly complicated form, and the 10% discount ticket we had could only be used for 1 form. That was kind of irritating but well, it's a business..

Equipment rental on the left, lockers and gondola right ahead

I need to zap something. Give me a target. Now.

In the gondola

View going up, waaaahhhhh

And we are here!

Sledding slope

Sledding was fun! Especially the part where you can just fall off your sled and slide and slip all over the place while going down. After some time, I decided to check off my to do item - a snow Domo-Kun! Can you see it!!

Camo Domo

Before we knew it, it was time to return the rubber boots and sled and go back down to rent the skis.

View going down.. Waaahhh..

We returned all the items with no problem and proceeded with the ski rentals. I found out that the ski boots are really no joke. They are hard, tough and difficult to walk around in. After we struggled into the ski boots, we 'reported' to the ski school booth, which is really just a table, with an instructor behind it. Our instuctor turned out to be a really encouraging and good natured guy from Scotland.

We had to remember the numbers on our skis so that we don't accidentally take someone else's. But I just assumed that someone else's ski beside RJ's was mine and remembered the wrong number. So I took the wrong ski which was immediately reclaimed by another lady in our beginner ski class. She turned out to be a solo traveller from Hong Kong and she's really cool. Respect!

Learning how to turn

Halfway through the lesson, it began to snow! Super cool!!! It was great because I got to experience falling snow, but when it started melting on my head, it became less cool immediately.

Still happy, with the hood on

The beginner class taught us the pose to be in while moving, how to slow down and stop, and how to turn. I couldn't grasp turning but was informed that I'll get the hang of it eventually. After the class, i was keen to try the slope that looked short and gentle (the slope where my ski poles cut across at the pic on top)

RJ wanted to relax and get something to eat but i persuaded her to try the slope once before we go. And off we went together with Ms C (solo traveller from HK) on the ski lift! It was really cool, but we kind of did not pull down the safety bar till we were quite high up. Not intentionally of cos, it was our first time on the ski lift.

When it was time to get off the ski lift, we got up, slid and fell immediately. And RJ said, I think I sprained my foot again. O gosh and we were like in a pile on the ground. After we got up, RJ appeared to be fine so off we went, almost sending each other over a small drop. I veered off the path and managed to stop before the drop, and RJ came towards me and I was screaming like a mad woman, STOP STOP sTOpPPP!! And still RJ came on and crashed into me. Thank goodness we did not continue moving.

Anyway off we went down the slope. Omg, I had thought it would be a small and manageable slope but it was not. It was steep and quite long! And I fell, and got up and fell. Once I fell at such an awkward angle and just could not get up. Ms C tried to get over and help me but really.. We were all 自身难保 on the slope. While I was struggling, RJ had whizzed off uncontrollably down the slope.

When I finally got up on my own, I told myself 'what the heck, don't care, just go!' and off I went! And it was exhilaratingly fast down the slope. When it was too much for me, I just fell to the side, got up and went off again. The last leg of the slope was really cool because I managed to ski down all the way without falling. Wheeeeeeeee!!

Happy after completing the slope

The snowboarders were very cool. Will try that next time, easier to get up

I wanted to try the slope again but RJ did not, so she went off back down to get out of the boots. But when I turned back towards the ski lifts, I saw that it was already closed for the day. It stopped operating at 4pm and I felt lucky that I managed to go down the slope once. So off I went to take the gondola back down to the locker room. I managed to get a gondola all on my own.. So....

And back to the locker room! The ski pants with the suspenders are kind of cute.

Ate an icecream while waiting for the train back to Tokyo.

Queue for the train back

RJ was really tired and her foot hurt so we agreed to have dinner separately. I decided to check out Tokyo station's RAMEN ST!!! When we got to Tokyo station, RJ was somewhat revived and we decided to eat at a udon cum ramen shop at Tokyo Station. I found the ramen light and satisfying!

Yea that's my shadow over the ramen.

After the meal, I continued exploring Tokyo Station and came across Calbee!

Freshly baked potato chips!

Potato Ice cream!

I got a double cheese potato chip very excitedly. But my excitement was slightly over rated. The chips were warm and soft yet crispy. But I found them too salty and I didn't fall over in yummy ecstacy. On I went towards Ramen St!!

KIT KAT Chocolatory!!

So preeeeettyyy

And finally I reached Ramen Street!

Queues for ramen

I think this is the popularity ranking (?)

The queue for the ramen at no. 1 was really long and I did not want to join it. I did not feel like a tonkotsu or anything too oily so I decided to try the most unique looking ramen at Nippon! I selected my choice at the machine, and passed the ticket to the staff. I was then ushered to my seat and given a 'bib' to tie around my neck. I did so, thinking that I probably wouldn't need it.

Waiting waiting

Wow! I love the presentation!

After a short while, the ramen appeared! I really liked it, it came with a smear of chilli paste /sauce at the side which went really well with the broth. The fried lotus roots were really good and so were the veggies. The noodles were super!! Thicker than the usual and they had a really good smooth texture! After I was done, I looked at e 'bib' and there were like soup spatters here and there. Lolol, i totally needed it since I was happily slurping away.

I miss this ramen just by thinking of it. I have to go back and eat it!! Slurp!

There was Daimaru right at Tokyo Station and while looking at wines, plum wines, groceries and stuff, RJ msged that the room key was with me.. And so it was. LOL. So after ramening and getting a yuzu wine from daimaru, I set off happily for Ikebukuro and back to the apt!

Japan Day 12 - Tokyo Tsujiki Fish Market Ginza Kani Douraku Meiji Shrine Yoyogi Park Harajuku

Japan Day 10 - Tokyo Ikekuburo Sunshine City Tokyu Hands Ringo Apple Pies

2016-04-09T19:03:00.001+08:00

Our first day in Tokyo! We decided to explore Ikebukuro and the first stop is brunch. RJ found a highly rated curry place via Google Maps and we set off to look for it. It was walking distance from Sunshine City, in a populated area which looked like a popular lunch spot. Crowded curry eating place buffet style! When we entered, each person was given a plate and directed to a seat. Really liked the vibe here!

The curry was so different from the ones I ate in SG. It was very tasty, and had a somewhat bitter after taste, not too different from that of a citrus. It made me wonder if the curry was orange flavoured. The udon had a good chewy texture and was yummy! RJ and I had seconds of that haha. I had some difficulty finishing the curry as I had taken too much sauce and found it too sweet/salty etc. I thoroughly enjoyed this lunch and how the place was decorated with liberal use of paint.

Sadly, I had a reaction to the food after we moved on to Sunshine City. The heart pumping, malaise, salivating, bodyache type of reaction that comes with consuming over flavoured food. I am still unsure if I am allergic to certain MSG or just certain flavouring. In any case, no more curry for the day!

Sunshine City is home to J World, Namja Town and Pokemon Centre. I was tempted to take a look at J World but was easily deterred by the small entrance fee. I took several pictures at Pokemon Centre for a friend, and I concur, they are cute!

Wah, cute!

Don't know what this is but I found it v.cute

Quite a few shops like this, selling cartoon cutesy stuff.

Waiting for RJ to come out

After walking about the shopping centre, we decided to go to Tokyu Hands across the road.

So nice but so expensive!

The Buddhas, deities, monks stickers are so darn cute

Look at e geishas and sushiii

Really loved the stickers but I had to tell myself again and again that I really do not need them. Sigh! Was amazed by the giant cup noodles and realised that they were kind of like rations in times of natural disaster.

Another thing that I had to convince myself that I do not need. SIGH!

These chalk pastels are so cool!!

RJ went on a shopping spree here buying moulds and craft stuff. I got 2 pairs of socks which I liked as gifts and decided to spend 1000yen on 250g of Modena air dry polymer clay. Hope it's good to use!

The socks so cute lol 500yen!

I won't mention how much was spent at Tokyu hands, just look at that figure on the cash register. LOL.

So after Tokyu Hands, it was time for dinner. Sadly we were both out of sorts and dinner was a silent affair. I kind of liked the dinner place which sold pasta in varying sizes because of the geeky decorations. I assumed the owner of the place was around my age since the posters appear to be from my era.

Days of young Takuya Kimura

Ultraman Astroboy Slamdunk and the likes

Had to comment on the heap of noodles the slim lady in front was consuming. Life is just unfair that way

My small sized spicy tomato pasta

The pasta was like hearty home cooked ones and the noodles had pretty good texture. After a quiet dinner, I thought some alone time was in order. So off we went on our separate ways. I walked around and came across a band performing. They were good! Found out that people do show appreciation for street talent in Japan. It shows they are a passionate bunch!

I passed by a brightly lit shop with a long queue. And my brain commanded my legs to join the queue after I figured it was some sort of pastry. I happily held out my fingers to indicate to the staff walking down the queue that I intended to get 2 and was given a laminated number 2.

Ringo is Apple, so it's an apple pastry!

Warm pastry smell yummyyy

The apple pie was indeed yummy!! The crust was soft and crispy, the apple custard was light and flavourful. It was gooooood. I was happy that I queued up for a yummy thing. I'm such a food motivated tourist.

After that, I went off in search for the Ikebukuro branch of Ichiran Ramen which I had failed to eat in Osaka. Found that it seemed to be located near some 'exciting' looking places and a strip club and noted that there was no queue outside it. As I was too full from the pasta, I decided to return another day and took a slow walk back to the apartment.

When I was nearing, I saw that there was a guy at the door of our apartment conversing with RJ. It was the airbnb guy whom we had rented the room from.The funniest thing was that RJ had a mask on. ROFL and the guy didn't seem to feel that he should give her some privacy. Through the conversation, we found that Mr Airbnb came from China and is in Japan with dreams of entrepreneurship. We concluded the conversation after brief chatting and he went on his way back to his room, which was just a door away.

We turned in soon after in preparation for next day's visit to Gala Yuzawa Snow Resort for ski lessons and my first time seeing big snoowwww!

Japan Day 11 - Gala Yuzawa Snow Resort Tokyo Station Ramen Street

Japan Day 9 - Takayama Shirakawago Tokyo

2016-04-09T12:03:00.001+08:00

Today, we were to check out from the ryokan and visit Shirakawago before making our way to Tokyo. I got up at 6am to use the hot bath lol! I ran into the bath and took my time in the hot water. I thought that I could be getting used to the hot water since it felt slightly cooler this morning. But RJ commented that the water wasn't that hot and wondered if it could be because the bath officially opens at 6.30 instead of 6am. And I knew she was right... I immediately wanted to jump back into the bath.. Sigh!

We went to the Miyagawa Morning Market right across the bridge from the ryokan. Love that sarubobo (that cute red figure! ) The market was quite quiet, probably because most people were soaking in hot baths and or eating breakfast.

There are all sorts of things at this market, but the star was an award winning pudding that RJ bought. It was really good according to RJ the pudding connoisseur.

Would you have guessed it's a WC?

We walked so slowly that we were 20min late for breakfast. Haha, when we reached, the futons were cleared and breakfast was waiting for us.

I was busy eating so not many pictures but again a healthy hearty meal with local specialities. The hoba miso.. Was so gooooodddd. I could just eat it with rice and rice only.

You Rice Best Friend

After brekkie, we speedwalked to the Nohi Bus Terminal which is kind of just beside the JR Takayama station. (The Nohi Bus Terminal is the brownish grey building with green words). There were ticket machines which seem rather complicated. So I went into the office and informed the gentleman over the counter that I want to get to round trip tickets to Shirakawago.

There were buses going to several places, Nagoya, Shin Hotaka, Tokyo, Osaka etc. This is a map from thr very useful Nohi Bus website.

I thought it would be good to explore bus options when we travel lighter in the future. So anyway on the bus we went towards Shirakawago! Shirakawago was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1995 and is famous for its traditional gassho-zukuri farmhouses, some of which are more than 250 years old. The steep thatched roofs of the farmhouses are designed to withstand heavy snowfall, and the whole place so pretty in winter time!!

I came across a picture of Shirakawago in winter time while researching and had to visit. Snow was almost non existent in March but landscapes along the way were beautiful. The bus will bring us to Ogimachi, the largest village in Shirakawago.

When we reached and got off the bus, we were stunned by the wind. It was super cold omg. But it got much warmer pretty soon, with the sun shining brightly.

You know, I really love ice cream in cold weather, but i decided on something hot to warm hands. So I got the beef bun, very beefy.

There was a couple who seemed quite into photography in front of us and they were taking multiple shots just ahead. So i followed suit and the pic turned out well! They were also nice to help us take a picture together hehe.

Snow capped!!

We didn't have much time in Ogimachi, which is one of my biggest regret for this trip. But we went up Shiroyama viewpoint

It was worth the climb and the crazy speedwalk back to the bus stop in order for us to catch the 12.05pm bus as we did not want to run the risk of missing our 3.36pm train to Nagoya. We spent an hour plus here and I consoled myself thinking, I'll come back again!

We returned to Takayama at about 1.15pm and with some time to spare, decided to visit the rice cracker facility - Yume Kojo Hida to grill our own rice cracker. (the white signboard with red words) on the left)

Row of grill stoves/ovens

Demonstration by staff

My finished products!

Grilling our own rice crackers was a fun experience and I was glad we did it. Haha, RJ and I kept joking about how we could settle down as rice cracker grillers or farmers in the area.

We then rushed back to the ryokan which was across the bridge to collect our bags before we set off for the train station.

Bye bye Takayama

Cutest window display of festivities

Mr & Mrs Ryokan who made our stay lovely

I had bought a sampler pack of the goodies from the area earlier and really liked one of them, an apple flavoured crisp. So decided to purchase it from the souvenir shops before boarding the train. The dark one with the red sarubobo was yummy too, almond caramel crisp. Sampler packs are great!

Meal on the train

Setting sun

Tokyo station at 8.15pm

Amazed by the giant vending machines

Dying of hunger, we had a quick meal at Ikebukuro Station. Kitsune because I love the sweet beancurd thing and cos i felt nostalgic for Osaka & Kyoto LOL.

Was amused by the apt description of Takayama on the paper bag

After the meal, off we went towards our apartment at Ikebukuro. Hate it when it's stated '7min walk' when it actually is a '7min sprint' and a 20min slow walk. But we still got to the apartment after some help from the airbnb guy. After some fussing about and tidying up of the room, we settled off to sleep.

Japan Day 10 - Tokyo Ikekuburo Sunshine City Tokyu Hands Ringo Apple Pies

Japan Day 8 - Kyoto Fushimi Inari Shrine Takayama

2016-04-06T21:31:00.005+08:00

I got up at about 7am or so and washed up. Breakfast was the 'popular sushi in Kyoto' wrapped in a leaf. And I really liked it! The sushi rice was more sticky and vinegared compared to the usual. But I like.

You good!

The apartment we stayed in was just a short walk to the Fushimi Inari Shrine and I had a nice peaceful stroll to the shrine.

When I reached the shrine at 7.45am, the food stalls lining the street leading to the shrine were in the midst of being set up. I headed for the gates and went on up to where I stopped before, an area with a pond:

So I continued up the stairs and found an unexpected viewpoint!

Abit more further got me to closs to the crossroad but I realised I was not going to be able to make it all the way up and down again in time to meet RJ and to check out from our apartment.

So I made a left turn towards a pathway without the torii gates had to snap a photo of a very foxy and cozy looking cat. It must be because it's the Fushimi Inari shrine that even the cats look foxy!!

As I walked, I realised that the area appear to be residential.

Now I know why there were people who looked like they were on the way to work while walking though the torii gates.

After some walking, I doubled back to the entrance of the shrine to meet up with RJ. But not before I purchased a postcard, a towel and a figurine cos I liked this shrine alot. I will revisit this shrine the next time. And only from 7am to 9am because it can get crowded with visitors.

Walking back through the torii gates

Foxes are the messengers of Inari, the Shinto God

I reached the bottom of the gates at about 9.15am, and the shrine was getting crowded.

Bustling row of food stalls

My empty tummy commanded me to hand over my money to the takoyaki seller in exchange for 6 big soft happy octopus balls and it was so good in the cold weather.

RJ got a giant crab leg which made her relatively happy

And I got a Sake Ice Cream which tasted very sake-ish. It was a bit icy but the sake taste was really good for me. I also bought the Sake flavoured Kit Kat and it tasted good too! I conclude that sake flavoured items can be purchased in Japan.

Before we knew it, it was time to run back to our apartment to check out and make our way to Takayama!!

The apartment owner was at the building taking care of some matters so he was able to meet us when we checked out. We were happy and thankful for that because he kindly helped us to carry our luggage down the stairs.

Sadly, it was still up to us to handle our luggage towards the train station and beyond lol. The shinkansen to Nagoya had quite alot of leg room and so we sat with our large luggage in front of us for the 40min ride. I was quite comfortable because of my short legs. However the seats on the non bullet train from Nagoya to Takayama were on a raised platform and did not have sufficient leg room for a large luggage. The large luggage storage space on the train was also small and limited to the front and back of the carriage. Luckily the demand for the space was not high, and we did not have to fight for the space for this 2hr 15min ride.

So pretty!!

Random train shot

About 3 hours after we left Kyoto Station, we reached Hida-Takayama. Takayama is a city within the mountainous Gifu Prefecture that has retained its traditional touch. Its historic district is lined with wooden houses dating to the Edo period.

According to the Hida-Takayama website, it's surrounded by rich nature with the northern alps as background. I found it a small, quaint and beautiful place with warm people.

The train station is quite small and you have queue up outside the train gates to wait for your train as you can only go through the gates if your train is the next one or two.

JR Takayama Stn

The very important Takayama Tourist Map

After a 20min walk that felt like forever, we reached Sumiyoshi Ryokan that was to be our accomodation for the night. The signboard is above RJ being relieved that we finally reached.

The elderly couple who ran the Ryokan were very sweet and hospitable! The first thing we were told was that our room is on the second floor. LOL. When we got to the room, a very yummy matcha drink and snack was waiting for us, as well as the resident stray cat

Dinner was served from 6pm to 7pm. So we decided to have dinner at 7pm, and went off out to explore Takayama.

Beautifullll *Heart*

I didn't take many photos since my phone was happily resting in the ryokan. But it was fun and I think I could easily spend a day or two just exploring the entire area. Walking around, I noticed that most of the resturants advertised beef, beef and more beef. There were also several ramen places with beeeef. Gosh! Totally my type of food and not RJ's. Haha, we hurried back to the ryokan for dinner. I recall that usually people bathe and wear the yukata for dinner but I suppose it's not a must :D

Dinner!!

I didn't manage to take pictures of the following courses cos I was too busy eating and feeling worried that RJ didn't eat many items. There was a yuzu flavoured cabbagey meat, tempura, some crabmeat item, o gosh.. I can't remember all the items! Anyway they were all simple, fresh, healthy and tasty.

One thing, their in house plum wine is SUPERB. So good, omg. Shortly after dinner, Mrs Ryokan and another lady appeared to make our beds. In just a super short moment, the table was cleared and the beds came out. The covers were sooo sooftt soo cozyyy *heart*

Ryokan corridor

RJ went off to use the shared bathroom, which I recall was open only from 6.30 - 9.30am and from dinner time till before midnight. When the other bathroom became available, I ran into it and happily used it. I reaalllyy loved the hot bath, realllyyy LOVED it. I thought my skin was going to peel off when it came into contact with the hot water, but I persisted and stayed in it for 5min. Lol.

Shower first!

Soak next!!

Omg, I felt so happy fuzzy and nice after the hot soak. I kept wondering if I should go back and sit in the hot bath again and again and again cos 5min was so not enough. When RJ returned from her bath, I gave in and ran back into the bath for a second soak. Sooo happpyy.

Face with 2 soaks

With the yukatas and feeling clean, a bout of wanton wefie-ing started. I had a deck of cards and insisted on playing cards because that's what people in Yukatas always do in the shows i watched Hahahaha. But there are only so many games 2 people can play so we gave up after a while. We might have made alot of noise because we thought the occupants of the room beside us rapped on the wall to silence us.

We miss the bridge kakis!

Chastised and without much to do, we decided to sleep because breakfast was early. I had also decided to wake up early to do a hot soak again. The futon was so cozyyy, I didnt want to move from it. RJ took a picture of me and I think I look like the hotdog in a bun.

Time to sleep! Tomorrow, hot bath and Shirakawago!

Japan Day 9 - Takayama Shirakawago Tokyo

Japan Day 7 - Kyoto Maica, Kinkaku-Ji, Donguri Kyoto

2016-04-05T08:13:00.000+08:00

*Ding Dong!!!*

Today RJ and I made a trip to Kyoto Maica at Gion to turn into Maikos. HAHAHA. I know I'm so not refined, but! Kyoto Maica can turn anyone into a Maiko. The Kyoto Maica website, a very english friendly website had indicated that reservations should be made 2 days in advance. However, being the slow-mo people that we were, RJ and I had not made reservations in advance. We decided to just go on down to the shop and ask if we could become Maikos on the spot. The shop opens from 9am - 7pm. We reached at about 10.30am and it seemed quiet. But once we stepped in, we realised that it was quite bustling.

RJ settling admin matters while I laze around

Front yard of Kyoto Maica

Kyoto Maica had quite a few options, Maiko, Geisha, Samurai, Oiran and so on. For each type, there were various plans, the basic one would have use of a full wig, 1 studio picture, and 1 hour indoors with free use of your own camera on yourself. Haha, that sounds wrong. The more expensive plans would allow us to go outside and walk about for pictures and came with more prints of photos.

We decided on the most basic plan (Okigaru) which cost 6500yen. Based on our research, it was an economical option for our needs. There was no option to walk outside the studio but it was fine since we didnt really want to walk up and down the streets as overaged Maikos. This plan had use of the full wig, which is less natural since it can look obvious that it's a wig, however, our hair was totally not long enough to be combed into a half wig so that was fine as well.

After providing our sock size, we were led up a steep flight of tiny narrow stairs that you could literally climb on fours into the dressing room. Our items went into lockers first, then phones and cameras into a separate locker before the makeover. Strictly no photo taking. The face went on first, i was amazed by how the white make up went on, and when RJ and I looked at each other, it was like.. Who are you? Then the entire wig went on, and we were sent to wear the kimono we chose beforehand.

O wow, the amount of layers that went on! I was commenting to the geisha beside me that I really don't know how toileting is done with all the layers. But it was surprisingly easy to move about. When you hold the outer layer up, you can run easily. And that's me in the Maiko makeover while RJ was taking narcissistic selfies. LOL

Don't make me take out my chopper

Wanton Wefie-ing

And the circus is starting soon, so please take your seats

It was a really fun experience. I especially like being able to try on the kimono and walking around in it. RJ and I had more fun when the other maikos, geishas and samurais started leaving, and we started our wanton we-fieing. However, i conclude regretfully that I would have never made it big as a Geisha. HAHAHA.

After we transformed back into ourselves, we headed towards the Gion Shijo area for lunch. As we crossed the bridge, i snapped a picture. It's a beautiful area!

We came across Tsujiri and just had to spend our money there. Haha. I stood in front of the cashier for about 2minutes gazing at the multiple options till the staff saved me with 'this is the most popular item'. Thank You Tsujiri Staff. The said item is shown below. The matcha taste was strong, not too sweet and so yummy with the red beaaaaan.

After the beautiful dessert went into our tummies, RJ led us to this udon shop along the main street. I could not recall the name but google informed me that I can call it 'Myoudai Omen Shijo Potoncho' I believe one can call it Omen. Because it was cold, i decided on the hot udon. RJ liked cold noodles, so cold udon for her. Again, I chose the first option which I assumed is the recommended one.

When the first part of the meal came, I was really happy to just look at it cos it's so pretty!! The staff infomed us the greens should go into the soup before we start dipping. Or at least that's what i interpreted.

So pretty!!

Itadakimasu!!! Yes!!

I really really liked this meal. The veggies were sweet, the soup did not give me an MSG reaction, the noodles were chewy, smooth and you could taste the yummy veggie under the tempura batter. Thanks RJ for this meal!

After lunch, we decided to make a trip to Kinkakuji, the golden pavilion since it was one of the places we had wanted to go. And off we went to Saiin station to take bus 205 that stops outside Kinkakuji.

Once we turned in the direction of Kikakuji from the bus stop, I noticed Yojiya, that famous facial blotting paper from Kyoto.

We went in, walked one round and came out. Couldn't stay that long since it was already 4pm and Kinkakuji closes at 5pm.

Towards Kinkakuji

Entrance ticket, 400yen

You beautiful thing!!!

The grounds were not big but the temple was beautiful. We joined the excited photo taking crowd to look for good photo spots
We helped a pretty mom with a super cute toddler to take some pictures and went off to explore the grounds. As we strolled around the garden, I saw a bunch of people taking pictures of the pond and realised there were several fish swimming near the surface, waiting for visitors to feed them. I took a pic as well, but.. really, the result is not worth my effort. Hahaha.

On the way out of Kinkakuji, we stopped by this shop selling rolly dolls that were just so desirable and cute. Really wanted to buy them, but didn't because I couldn't find a good use for them. HAI!!

When we left Kinkakuji, the plan was to visit the Tsujiri Teahouse for dessert and tea. Google map informed us that bus 12 can get us there and so we took it. So far, both buses we took had a standard fare of 230yen regardless of distance. While on the bus, I made the decision to detour to Kyoto Station since it appeared to have Tsujiri, Malebranche and Izutsu Yatsuhashi, all the places I wanted to go. But sadly it wasnt a good decision because I was not able to locate Malebranche fast and Tsujiri closed -_-.

So the only thing I accomplished was to buy Malebranche's Okoicha Langue De Chat - Cha No Ka. Green Tea biscuits with white chocolate sandwiched between. These LDC were created through a collaboration of a tea leaf production expert, a tea appraiser and a master patissier. These are pictures I got from the Malebranche website

So pro!

The biscuits were so crisp with a hint of bitterness and i really liked them. But i found the white chocolate a little too sweet. I could be biased since I do not enjoy white chocolate but if the white choc was less sweet, I will definitely queue up to purchase it over and over again.

Since we were in the midst of a bustling food sale, we purchased some items for sampling. I really loved the Inari sushi i bought, its got sesame seeds inside. Heart!! I also purchased some interesting looking sushi that were wrapped in some sort of leaf. The sign in english said 'this is a very popular sushi in Kyoto!', so i immediately purchased them at 150yen each. I'm so easy to sell to.

By then we were looking for dinner, and RJ found a highly rated okonomiyaki place nearby called Donguri. So we walked there and queued up nicely inside. It was a place of frying, smoke, happy people and yummy food. If you are coming here in cold weather, do wear very little under your coat because its super warm inside with all the hot plates. By tue way, their green tea drinks are Tsujiri which makes them yummy already. But if you like the drinks non sugared, be sure to inform the staff.

This okonomiyaki restaurant serves the items on a frying/hot plate at each table which keeps the food (and us) hot, and allows for some customization with the provided sauces. We ordered a negiyaki, which is a flatter version with green onions, and a yaki udon which was yuzu and bacon flavoured. That udon was really yummmmmmyyyy and would be perfect if it was just a leeeeetle less salty.

Yea that's you, Udon.

By the end of dinner, we were stuffed and had to extract ourselves from the seat. I decided to not wear my jacket on the way back to the apartment because i read that your body will need more energy to keep itself warm and that would, in turn help me to burn up the food i ate. Hurhurhur. And I did it! But probably only cos i was holding my warm warm jacket in front of me. Along the way, we saw a Mount Fuji parking, and took a picture to trick our friends that we were at Mt Fuji at 10pm but i never did send the picture and the friends remained untricked.

Tomorrow will be our last day in Kyoto. I decided to re-visit the Fushimi Inari Shrine because I liked it and didn't realise that there's more beyond the pond that I stopped at the first time we went there.

Japan Day 8 - Kyoto Fushimi Inari Shrine Takayama

Japan Day 6 - Arashiyama Shoraian Kyoto Gogyo

2016-04-03T21:35:00.001+08:00

The futon was so comfortable that I didnt want to get up at all, but I convinced myself to and went off to the toilet. When I came out I happily shut the toilet door and realised that it was actually locked on the inside. O.M.G. I tried all methods including picking the lock. However, I was not starring as Watson in Elementary and did not succeed. RJ was still peacefully zzzing and I hoped she would only wake up after I managed to resolve this situation.

Zzz in scary red light

In the end, I had to contact the apartment holder for help and confess my booboo to RJ who was awake. Thank goodness she took it in stride, and set off to Saga-Arashiyama station to visit the Bamboo Forest and to have a boombastic lunch at Shoraian!

There was an option to take the scenic railway but we decided to skip it and walk over to the Bamboo Forest via Google Map.

Saw this decorated notice board for the area and just had to take this picture because it is sooo cuutteee. It really makes a difference when effort is put into beautifying / kawaii-fying the surroundings. I think Japan is really good at that!

So cute!

On the way to Bamboo Forest

Just before we entered the Bamboo Forest, RJ came across this skincare shop - Black Paint Kyoto. She had used some products from its skincare range and liked them. As they were substantially cheaper in Kyoto compared to SG, RJ bought 3 (or was it 5?) bottles of the cream that she liked. Look at her dazzling and sincere smile below.

And with cheeriness, we entered Bamboo Forest!! I wonder if it was because the sky was overcast that the forest was not as green as it seemed on various blogs and websites! It was still 'Waaaah' and felt tranquil. I could imagine people flying around the bamboo with their 'Qing Gong' HAHA.

By then, it was 2plus pm, and we had to make sure we were on time for our 3pm meal at Shoraian. Shoraian is a tofu restaurant. OK, sorry for making Shoraian sound normal, because it is NOT. So Kyoto is famous for tofu right? And Shoraian is highly rated for its tofu so we decided that Shoraian is a Must Eat. I did not do much research on the geography of Shoraian's surroundings, else I would have realised that it involved some stair climbing down a pebbled / stoned slope beyond this path below. You see that dark dark area? Yesp, that's the slope.

So I hurried down while RJ waited for me to confirm that it was indeed the right way. I eventually met a bunch of girls coming out of a very old-school looking place who confirmed that I was on the right route before I went back to get RJ. By then she was too bored up there, and had started making her way down with her sprained foot. That's her being shocked with her willingness to endanger herself for tofu. the slope looks like nothing, but that's just cos my skill in photography is shit.

Once we entered Shoraian, it was like we were transported to another place, a peaceful, zen and tranquil place where no one made noise above 30 db. The staff led us into the room where our table was, and there were two other ladies dining there. I thought one of them was meditating, until I realised that she was munching, with her eyes closed. So, RJ and I settled down quietly, and waited in great anticipation for our Shofu Set. YAY!

Appetiser - Cold Silky Tofu with a very sour pink pickled thing on top

Assorted Specialties Plate - loved them all, though I had to chew the mini squid really fast

Special Item - Layered Tofu Skin. It felt like eating the grandmother of all 'Fu Zhu' HAHA.

Kyo Ryori Seasonal Selection - the staff informed us that this dish was inspired by the design of the postcard below it. I accepted this dish with great pleasure because it was really nice to be served a beautiful dish with so much thought put into it.

Toyuba tempura - Sorry that I was a noob, I didnt realise I ate a Toyuba tempura. I called it a 'Fried Tofu Skin'

Tofu Gratin - It was yummy! Soft, creamy and not gelat. I'm not a cream fan but RJ is and she called this dish 'Heavenly'

Happy Me

This is the Yudofu - a super duper soft silky tofu that slides down your throat. The taste was very simple and for lack of better words - very high quality HAHA

Mini Wagyu Beef Steak - So. Good. I love you Mini Wagyu Beef Steak. I love RJ for giving me hers.

Agedashi Tofu, Rice, Pickles - The agedashi tofu was excellent, and the rice so good. Why!? Why does the rice taste so soft and fluffy and make my heart feel warm and nice?? I would have loved to finish it, but I really could not... thank goodness the staff said to me 'You do not have to finish it! As long as you are happy, we are happy!' Thank you for saying that to me because the food was going to come out of my nose.

Last but not least, a tofu ice cream with a super cute looking mochi on top. The tofu taste came out strong and I really liked the whole combination of the ice cream, sauce and mochi. XOXO.

It was a great lunch at Shoraian and the highlight of the day. I experienced great hospitality, and each dish was presented beautifully. Yum for my eyes and yummy for my tummy.

Knowing that RJ sprained her foot, the staff led us to a shortcut through the kitchen and back exit of the restaurant. On her advice, we walked along the river towards the train station.

We passed by several nice looking residences and hotels and had wanted to fool our friends into believing that our airbnb apartment looked like that. The attempt failed. HAHA.

We crossed the bridge while moving towards the Hankyu Arashiyama train station and I had to stop in the middle to capture a shot of this charming place. It was VERY COLD when I was attempting the shot. My fingers had almost no sensation in them.

Even the train platform looks niceeeeeeee

I can't really remember when we decided that dinner would be Kyoto Gogyo Ramen. But off we went in search for Kyoto Gogyo Ramen!

Train Station, connector?

Found it!!! It was raining and we were glad that it was a short wait to get into the restuarant! We both had wanted to try this Burnt Miso Ramen that seemed so darn gooooood. Lard is heated up and then ignited, BOOOOOMMSSSS!! The charred residue is then added to the bowl of ramen that RJ and I were going to demolish.

I ordered a sake and i was abit confounded when the staff placed the sake cup in a box and poured till it overflowed into the box. He only stopped pouring when the box was full. I was like... Oooooo?! And not wanting to appear like the noob I was, I smiled nicely, said thank you and started googling furiously. According to Google, it is not unheard of for restaurants to overflow your sake into a box called a masu. There are all kinds of explanations I found on the internet for this, but I appreciate the one that explains the overflow as an act of kindness and generosity by the restaurant, in allowing you to enjoy two sakes for the price of one!

And the star of the night!! The Burnt Miso Ramen that we ordered. ^_^

The taste was quite special, there was an earthy slightly bitter taste when I first tasted the soup, but there was no bitter aftertaste. In fact there was an addictive aftertaste which I can only describe as Umami!! !! RJ who is not a ramen fan didnt think it was anything special. I told her it's like a super duper wok hei-ed char kway teow and I think she understood. After the meal, we went off back to the apartment. Some train stations do not have elevators or escalators so poor RJ had to manage as best as she could...

Step by Step....

We purchased strawberries from the supermarket because we loved the ones from Kuromon Ichiba back in Osaka so much. So we ended off the day with a cupful of strawberries!

Japan Day 7 - Kyoto Maica, Kinkaku-Ji, Donguri Kyoto

Japan Day 5 - Osaka Ichiba Kuromon Market Kyoto Fushimi Inari Kiyomizudera

2016-04-03T17:22:00.002+08:00

Each spring, one of the 6 annual Grand Sumo Tournaments is held in Osaka. The 2016 tournament was held at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium which is walking distance from our apartment. I wanted to experience this tournament and woke up early to queue up for the Sumo Basho general tickets that were sold on the day itself as I did not manage to purchase the reserved tickets in advance over the internet. Honestly i didn't think that the tickets would be sold out that fast.

Saw a Yakult Delivery on the way

The day starts at 8.30 am and ticket sale starts at 8 am. Again, I underestimated the queuing power of the people here, because when I reached the gymnasium at 8.20 am, the general tickets were all sold out. :(

So Tragic.........

Just as I walked out, drums starting playing! It sounded so darn exciting ARGH!!! I could only take some pictures from outside T.T

View of the gymnasium from across the road. Drum player at the top left!

Zoom up to the drum player hurhurhur

So after feeling depressed for a while and hanging around outside the gym, I started on my way to Kuromon Ichiba market to meet RJ for food. But as I was looking at the GPS, I realised that i could make a quick detour to Hanamaruken Ramen! I had really wanted to try the ramen there!

Hanamaruken Ramen @ Namba

Sat awkwardly at the corner of the small ramen joint, and when the ramen chef realised I do not speak Japanese, he handed me the lifesaver, the eigo menu.

After a quick look at the menu, I decided on the 'Recommended'. Why? Cos it is the biggest and has everything HAHAHA.

Waiting for my ramen!! Yay!

My everything ramen!

When the ramen came, I was stunned. It was HUGE. The pork is not a slice, it is a Slab. A Big Slab that can be used to slap people hard. Look at the bowl, it takes up the entire width of the picture. Again, I've ordered something that is bigger than my head. BUT! The noodles were smooth, springy, and the pork was so melt in your mouth. Yay!! !!!!

After I finished the ramen as best as I could, I speedwalked down to Kuromon Ichiba market to meet RJ. There was so much food over there. SIGH. Why don't I have an additional tummy or like temporary intestinal worms or something.

Kuromon Ichiba Market

Coffee Beans

Fermented Stuff

Look at that crab burger!

We ordered the big scallops (circled them in red in the picture above) as they look so yummyyy, but unexpectedly, the grilled scallops were tough and very chewy. The taste was pretty ok, but the effort we made into chewing up the scallops made our jaws ache. So that was like a waste of our money.

What we loved were the strawberries!! They were big, juicy and sweet! XOXO!

We then rushed off to check out from the apartment and while trying to figure out the best way to get to Kyoto, we met the owner of the Airbnb apartment!! She very nicely informed us that we should take the subway to Nishi Umeda station and walk to Osaka Station. From Osaka Station, we took a JR train to Kyoto Station in about 35 mins.

Our view from Osaka to Kyoto

Upon reaching Kyoto Station, we went off in search of Ten-ichi at the 11th floor, a yummy restaurant that sold tempura.

I ordered the most economical tendon option, as I am not a fried food fan, and I was trying to keep to my 8000yen per day budget. I believe it was about 2100yen. RJ ordered the 2500plus yen option. When the tendon arrived, it was a pleasure to look at cos it looked so yummy. And surprisingly, it was not overly oily and tasted really good! Sadly there was some awkwardness halfway through the meal when we found out that we were eating each other's tendon. OMG. I was taking in RJ's mushrooms, shrimp batter mix, and she was eating my cheaper option. most X_X thing was that I had wanted to save some money yet ended up eating the more expensive one.

However that is no matter because Ten-Ichi is the best tempura I have ever eaten. I feel sad now when i think of tempura because I have no idea where I can go to eat such tempura back in SG.

After a satisfying lunch with an awkward ending, we went off to our apartment which was walking distance from Inari Station. When we reached, I realised that the Fushimi Inari shrine is directly outside the Inari Station. Literally a stone's throw away. Due to the proximity of the shrine, there were quite alot of people and vehicles moving up and down the narrow street. It wasn't much fun pulling a large luggage by the roadside in such a situation. And when we reached the apartment, we found out that... the room was on the 3rd floor..

Look at the steep stairs

Finally... the luggage's up.. excuse me pls I need a back massage

The good thing is that the apartment was very charming and exactly how it was shown in the pictures. It was very clean and I liked it alot:

As our apartment was near the Fushimi Inari Shrine, that was the first place that we went to. Fushimi Inari Shrine is famous for its thousands of torii gates that lead into and up Mount Inari.

My first look at ladies in kimono visiting the temple lol. I think the ladies appear to enjoy it alot.

When we reached, the sun was already on its way down. We had to check out the torii gates and really had a blast trying to get the best picture.

A bad thing happened though. While walking through the gates, RJ missed a step and sprained her foot. I had a rub from the polyclinic earlier when my back hurt and i happily rubbed it on for her hard. But i think that could be a wrong thing to do since her doctor said not to rub it. Sorry RJ! We then slowly continued for a while more before we moved out of the shrine.

We had planned to visit Kiyomizu-dera as there was a night festival of some sorts and RJ felt that she could still make it, so we proceeded to take the train to Kiyomizu-Gojo Station and walk over to the temple.

Fox decoration at the Fushimi Inari Station

The walk from the train station to the temple is quite long. After a 20min walk along the main street, it was another 15min walk up a shopping road leading to the temple. We walked via Sanenzaka, and it was really charming.

Short quaint shop houses line the road and it really made for a nice walk, if not for the fact that RJ was suffering from a sprained foot and that the temple will close soon. One more thing we learnt was that, if google map says it is a 10 min walk, it is actually a 20min walk. LOL. After eons of walking, we finally reached Kiyomizudera.

When we left Kiyomizudera, all the shops along the road were closed, which was a pity but we got to see Kiyomizudera by night! That was great because it isn't normally open at night!

RJ's foot was really bad by the time we got to the bottom of the slope, so we thankfully got into the train and back to our apartment. Tomorrow we will visit Arashiyama and i'm doubly excited because Clarice helped us to make reservations at Shoraian, a boombastic tofu restaurant at Arashiyama!!

Japan Day 6 - Arashiyama Shoraian Kyoto Gogyo

Japan Day 4 - Osaka Endo Sushi Dotonburi Amataro Izakaya

2016-03-31T23:16:00.001+08:00

I had plans to wake up at 6am and breeze on down to Osaka Fish Market for breakfast and then be back at the apartment to witness RJ wake up and rush her out for lunch. But.. Well.. Plans are just plans..

So i reached Noda station at about 9.30am and took 20mins to walk to the Osaka Fish Market.

Before entering thr Fish Market

When i reached, nothing was happening, the market was over. I was slightly intimidated by the surroundings so i just walked confidently like i was not walking around alone in a deserted fish market

Google Maps eventually led me to Endo Sushi. After reading some reviews, i was determined to try it for myself. I was so lucky, because i did not have to queue at all.

Humji attempt at taking the sushi chef's pic

When the staff realised i did not speak Japanese, they handed me this English menu with clear explanation on how i should order. Each plate is 1050yen. I really wanted to eat alot more but because it was almost lunch time, i chose only the first and second plate.

Omg so excited!!

The first piece that went into my mouth was the Anago and it was BOOOOMMS. Pardon for using that expression. BUT it was like the sushi exploded in my mouth and i couldn't talk for a while. Sooo yummmyyyy!!!! The uni was my first, and it definitely tasted fresh and sweet to my first timer tongue though i was trying to decide if it should be described as slippery or creamy. The toro was so thick and soft omg!!!

Plate number 2!!

Plate number 2 appeared and i decided to copy the actions of the customer beside me and smear soy sauce on the thick, juicy, yummy, boombastic looking pieces of raw stuff.

So. good.

After whomping down all that sushi i stood up and softly 'gochisosamadeshita-ed' the lady who collected my money. So shy. Hurhur!!!!

And off i went back to the apartment where RJ was busy washing loads of clothes with the washing machine. I was so confident with myself that i took the wrong train and ended up at the Universal City station. So i took another half hour to return to the apartment. Along the way back, i met a Taiwanese lady who asked me how to get to USJ. I advised her accordingly since RJ and i had gone to USJ the day before. Went back feeling proud of myself until i realised i might have advised her a longer route. Gosh.... -_-

Back at the apartment, i demolished a yakult pudding i got from Family Mart the night before. Not too bad, exactly how i imagined it to taste like.

And off we went to Daruma! Today was supposed to be the day we visit Mount Yoshino, and find peace meditating in the mountains. But we were so tired from USJ, and missed the kushikatsu dinner due to my missing souvenir misadventure. So we decided to skip Mount Yoshino and go on down to Kushikatsu Daruma for lunch, and explore Dotonburi before we meet Clarice for dinner!

After exiting the Nankai-Namba station, RJ pointed out this cheese tart shop Pablo which appears to be very popular.

We queued up for the tart but realised they only sold the big sized ones so decided to make a visit to the Dotonburi cafe where the small ones are sold and continued down to Ebisubashi-suji.

The street was really crowded, and we started to hear other tourists around us. When we reached Kushikatsu Daruma, we noticed Creo-Ru right beside it. Creo-Ru is a well known shop selling Takoyaki and Okonomiyaki. The menu looked enticing so i queued up for Creo-Ru while RJ queued up for Kushikatsu Daruma. Unexpectedly the queue at Kushikatsu Daruma moved so much faster than Creo-Ru and so i abandoned the takoyaki for fried skewers. Kushikatsu is a local snack that originated from Osaka and are deep fried skewers. Daruma is a popular kushikatsu chain and we wanted to eat it because it's a local thing and RJ likes deep fried stuff. lol.

The staff at Kushikatsu Daruma were all very friendly and the shop was tourist oriented, with menus in various languages and staff who spoke languages other than Japanese. It was happy, bustling, and energetic and i liked it alot.

I ordered the set as it seemed pretty value for money. I was not too bothered with the various items as they all seemed yummy. When the food came, i had some fun trying to figure out which item was the chicken balls, which was the beef and which was the pork. The dipping sauce tasted quite interesting and went well with the skewers. I am not a fan of deep fried food so after the 4th stick, they all started tasting the same. I think RJ felt some pieces were not too bad, and the icy cold draft beer here was superb!!

After we left K.D, we were too full to try Creo-Ru. So we just continued walking around. I went into an arcade/capsule machine shop to check out the items and just had to take a picture of these R-rated key chains

I had to blur out those pictures at the back LOLS

After a while of walking, we decided to make a trip to Pablo for the cheese tarts and backtracked towards it (i think). Along the way, we came across a stall selling cream puffs, and tarts and stuff called Hop Chou a la Creme. There was a queue and so we blindly queued up too HAHA. We got a chestnut puff and a 'Hot Hot Choco Custard puff'. While waiting, i attempted many times to take a picture of the stall. But RJ destroyed them:

Had to enter the picture and move

Had to insert her puff at the last min right in front of my phone camera

RJ... i really don't know what to say... I made a last ditch attempt at the photo, and suddenly a crowd rushed past

-_-

So i give up, anyway this picture is more important. This yummy cold chestnut cream puff!

And the 'Hot Hot Choco Custard Puff'

They were yummy, the crust was light and crispy. The best thing was that the cream was also light and not 'Gelat' I'm not a custard fan, but i have to say the chestnut cream was not too bad, and the crust was yummy. And so we continued down to Pablo. I was kind of 'looking forward' to being delighted by the famous Pablo cheese tart due to the good experience with Hop Chou a la Creme!

The staff were all very friendly and service oriented, and it was nice. We ordered the original cheese tart as well as the matcha one. The cheese was so smooth and lava-like, it just flowed out once we cut the tart. Omg, very cheesy and custardy. The crust is crunchy and yummy but the custard was not really my thing. I got quite 'gelat' after a few bites. I didn't really like their matcha one since i felt that the matcha and cheese custard just did not go well together.

After we left Pablo, we went on down to Umeda to meet Clarice for dinner at Amataro Izakaya. Clarice was looking really good and happy with her life in Japan teaching English. I was so sold on the idea of enjoying life long term in another country hahaha. It was great meeting her and loved it that we were just chatting away even though we had not met for eons. I was very full from all the food i had eaten and i wanted something simple and healthy. So i asked for some soupy thing and set my sights on this hotpot looking thing that looked like chicken soup. We ordered small items here n there and somehow, it just became alot of food. When the hotpot came... OMG... it was totally not the small and manageable size i was expecting.

Before you say 'No what it looks ok what', look at this picture:

Clarice can sit inside the pot!!

It's bigger than RJ's and my head together!!!

But it was so good... sigh.. and the plum wine, the yuzu liquor, the alcohol.. 3 words:

GOOD AND CHEAP.
XOXO.

We chatted and chattered over the food and drinks and before we knew it, it was late and the right thing to do is to go our separate ways. Sigh, that 'yi yi bu she' de feeling when you realise that once you leave, your friend will be leagues away soon. So we took some pictures to commemorate our night out.

It was great to see you Clarice!!
Xoxoxox!

Japan Day 5 - Ichiba Kuromon Market Kyoto Fushimi Inari Kiyomizudera

Japan Day 3 - Osaka Universal Studios Japan!

2016-03-31T18:52:00.002+08:00

It's USJ day!!!

Though I'm a woose and not good with rides, we were really looking forward to USJ because of the Harry Potter theme park!! We had made grand plans to set off early to USJ as we read that it can get crowded. However, it was cold. The neighbourhood was quiet...

And we only reached the train station at about 9am haha. When we reached Universal City Station, it was about 9.30am. It was so exciting walking from the station to USJ!

One Piece with Naruto!

Harry Potter!

But. It. Was. So. Crowded. At. The. Gates

Look at the queues to purchase the entrance tickets! There is one way to shorten the entrance queuing time, which is to purchase the USJ tickets online and just breeze through the gates. However only the Japanese version of the USJ website allows you to make an online purchase. I found a website which provides a step by step guide: Buy USJ tickets Online

You can purchase express tickets and fix your timed entry ticket to Harry Potter via the online shop as well. I didn't make an online purchase as i was worried about redemption of the tickets. What if something went wrong?? It's like 13000yen per person, not 130yen.

So anyway we queued.........
And we purchased our tickets and express passes (express 5) after an hour. I heard the lady over the counter inform us that our timed entrance to the Harry Potter Theme Park was 9.10pm and i was shocked! I then realised she meant 19.10 (7.10pm), which is still no consolation since it was only 10.30am. *RAAR*

But! We didnt have time to feel angsty, it's USJ!! Yay!!!

Wooooowwwwwwaaaoe!

USJ 15th Anniversary

View from the lake in the middle

People love minions with capital L

Armed with our express pass 5, we went for the following rides:

Terminator 2:3-D
A 2 and 3D show with the Terminator, and terminator characters in Japanese. But it was entertaining and the 3D mercury man quite cool

The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman
It was quite fun! Pretty similar to the Transformers ride at USS! Very classic.

JAWS
A peaceful boat ride in the beginning, with a very entertaining river guide. Giant sharks start appearing halfway through and try to attack the boat. If you do not like your hair to get wet, protect it when the shark appears.

Jurassic Park - The Ride
Another peaceful boat ride along the river with escaped dinosaurs and some trickling / spurting water. If you don't like to get wet, please purchase a raincoat or cover your hair with a thick hoodie. Very steep drop at the Eeeeennnnnnndddddddddddddddddd!!!

Backdraft
Special effects show with alot of fire and explosions. Very long introduction that made me go into suspension.

We skipped Shrek because we had been to the one at USS and it would probably be in Japanese anyway. And I just could not gather up enough courage to take Hollywood Dream - The Ride. I scared..... I humji...

When it was 7pm, we speedwalked to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. By then they were no longer restricting access and people were sprinting in. That made me mad, because i was holding a damn timed ticket for 7.10pm and people with no tickets were sprinting in anyway so tell me what's the purpose of spending money for a guaranteed ticket into HP?!

O yes, we got express entry into 5 rides. OK. Guess we're paying for the relaxing morning we had.

Anyway the Wizarding World was exactly how i imagined it to be!! Quaint buildings, big shop windows, Ollivanders, Honeydukes, Zonko, everything! We immediately looked for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, and found out that the queue for express pass holders stretched all the way out of the Wizarding World. It was literally Out Of The World. By this time, i was ready to give up the ride. But RJ said 'WE HAVE TO RIDE IT' or something similar and so i stayed in the queue while RJ looked around first. I thought the queue would move slowly so RJ went off to buy Butterbeer. I asked for 2 as i had wanted to give the mugs to Da Jie and YK. RJ wanted one of her own. Suddenly, the queue moved so fast and before i knew it, i was at the castle (omg It's a super cool castle!!)

Thank goodness the staff allowed me to stand at the side while i wait for RJ. We had to finish up the 3 mugs of Butterbeer before going in. I tell you, i have never downed a hot sticky sweet drink that i do not really like so darn fast in my life. The good thing was, it really warmed me up cos queuing in the cold is no joke.

Things started to move fast in the castle and there wasn't much time to snap pictures. BUT the castle was super cool! WOOooot! I managed to snap one of the Sorting Hat!!

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey

It's goooooooood!! It's totally worth queuing up for. If you have a secret dream of flying a broomstick or becoming a Qudditch player, please pack your bags and camp out at USJ at 7am, sprint into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and queue up again and again for this ride before you eat anything. Lol.

After we came out of the forbidden journey, it was too late and all the rides were closing. So we went to the souvenir shop and browsed. I got some stuff and we happily went off to explore the place. My phone camera really sucks at shots with low light, so RJ's phone was supposed to save the day (night). But! It was either too cold or her prints went haywire, because her phone refused to recognise her prints. Lolol. It sounds funny but i assure you it was not funny for her at all. Hahaha. For a while, all pictures taken were like that with my phone camera.

Don't bother trying to figure out what are those because i can't as well.

USJ closes at 9pm, so it was time to move out. We wanted to eat at Daruma before it closes for the day so we moved with a purpose. However, when we reached Universal City Station, i suddenly realised that my Harry Potter souvenirs were missing omg!! I ran back into USJ and wanted to launch an individual search operation however the staff did not allow me to do so. I had to go to the lost and found counter to fill up a lost report with a very pleasant staff who excused himself after i did so. I was upset and distressed. My HP souvenirs!!

But when the staff reappeared, i saw that he was holding the HP paper bag i lost! Omg!! I really couldn't believe it. And everything i bought was inside! Really couldn't believe it. I blurted out a series of 'omg, sumismasen arigato gozaimasu arigato thankyoy!' and like suddenly i have this overflowing love for USJ and Japan!

USJ and staff of USJ, and person who brought my lost souvenirs to the USJ lost and found counter, i love you, 我爱你, aishiteru. xoxoxo

So due to my misadventure, we didnt make it in time to eat at Daruma and after some miscomm communication, RJ and I decided to just return to the apartment n have convenience shop food. Saw this lone worker, cold night, gosh.

While walking back to the apartment, we sighted some potential food shops and ran into a small udon shop run by a little old lady.

The udon was not chewy but the kitsune rocked. The soup was just nice and the onions superb! Food just tastes so darn good when you are hungry.

Japan Day 4 - Osaka Endo Sushi Dotonburi Amataro Izakaya

Japan Day 2 - Osaka Museum of Housing and Living, HEP 5, Shinsaibashi Dotonburi

2016-03-30T23:50:00.000+08:00

We decided to take things easy and explore the surroundings on the 2nd day. RJ also needed to recover from severe lack of sleep the night before.We decided to make a trip to the Past and Present Museum and then travel down towards Namba. Realised that the apartment is situated in a really accessible place as it is walking distance to 4 train stations on various lines.

Daikokucho Station - Subway
Ebisucho Station - Subway
Shin-Imamiya Station - Nankai, Subway, JR
Imamiyaebisu Station - Nankai

We took the subway to Tenjimbashisujirokuchome Station (we massacred the word) then spent quite abit of time wandering around the streets and trying to locate The Osaka Museum of Housing and Living (aka Past and Present Museum) which looks like this

until we realised that its actually a re-created street on the 8th floor of a very corporate looking building (So Noobb!!) Here's the top down view, the 'sky' can transit from dawn to dusk and vice versa. (So cool!)

Entrance fee is 600yen and an additional 2-300yen got us kimono rental so that we can pretend to be Edo-eraians. The kimono rental are rented by time slots, so the best is to go straight to the kimono rental once you arrive at the museum. We got a time slot that was more than 1 hour later. We were there so long that we experienced 4 dawns and dusks. The good thing? You can bring home the tabi socks.

Kimono Rental - transforming you from present to past!

Day Time

Night Time

Day time again!

The 'transistion to present' section is on the next level and i loved the miniatures. Small things are so cute ^_^

After the museum, we detoured into a ramen shop tucked along a sheltered shopping street that had some sort of Abura Soba. We fed money to the ticket machine and selected the ramen picture that we loved, gave our orders to the lady behind the counter and tada!!

The mysterious spicy level choice we had to make turned out to be some sort of 'mala' oil/spice etc. In any case, it was SO GOOD. I might have been too hungry but it was seriously yummy. And the karaage is the grandfather of all karaages. This meal deserves another photo.

We then went on to look for the Gudetama Cafe at HEP Five.

RJ's current fav Sanrio character - the lazy egg who lacks the energy to do anything and is resigned to being eaten. LoOL! This mentality doesn't only apply to eggs, agree?

We were too full so we only ordered a parfait, it was nothing to rave about but it was fun taking pictures of Gudetama.

HEP Five is a shopping mall with fashionable clothing and quite alot of resturants and a Ferris wheel. I seem to remember the food more than the clothing haha. But that's just me. We popped into the Disney store and i had to take pictures of these because they were just so KAWAIIIIiiiiiii

We headed down to Shinsaibashi and Dotonburi for more shopping and dinner. Shinsaibashi = Shopping and food street, lots and lots of people. Look at the crowd right across the road at Shinsaibashi-suji. If this was a zombie movie, I'll be gone in 3 seconds.

Shinsaibashi-suji

There are just too many things to look at and to shop at here! We got lost in the mega Daiso store - 108yen (with 8% tax) for almost every item. Converted to S$, that's $1.34. In Singapore, each item would cost $2. So i decided to try some of the Daiso polymer clay which weighed 30g each.

After that we went along with the flow of people moving towards Dotonburi.

We had planned to have a late dinner at Kani Douraku (this giant crab resturant) however, they were no longer accepting walk in diners by the time we arrived at 10.30pm. So i comforted myself by attempting to take a picture with the signage. After 4 attempts to capture the picture without any passerby, i gave up..

On the way back to the apartment, we spotted these cutesy road blocks. Drivers also need some Sanrio cuteness to perk them up!!

Japan Day 3 - Osaka Universal Studios Japan!

Japan 13 Mar - 27 Mar 2016

2016-03-30T23:32:00.000+08:00

I have always wanted to visit Japan so I was reallllyy excited about this trip! I had 15 days so i had hoped to be able to fit as much stuff as i could into this trip. Lolol.

The planned itinerary:

13 to 17 Mar - Osaka

17 to 20 Mar - Kyoto

20 to 21 Mar - Takayama / Shirakawa-go

21 to 27 Mar - Tokyo / Yokohama / Gala Yuzawa

Looking at the planned itinerary, I have to say that i wished i allocated another day at Takayama, just one more dayyyy, or maybe two?

I set out with an unrealistic budget, as i always do (scrimp scrimp save save) lol. We got air tickets at a great deal from SQ! Flying in to Osaka Kansai International Airport, and flying out to Singapore via Tokyo Narita Airport. My ticket cost $710 plus some cents and i used 13,000 kris flyer miles to push it down to $573 plus some cents! Love krisflyer miles!!

Accomodation was all Airbnb since RJ n I wanted to sleep on separate beds and Airbnb provided that in a cost effective way. Being the 'kiam siap' person that i am, i spent some time searching for promo deals for Airbnb on the internet and i learnt that those 'deals' you see on websites other than the banks' are a bunch of crap. Please don't bother lol.

Expenses:

Air ticket - $573

Accomodation - $715

7 Day JR Pass - $369

Transport / Food / Misc / USJ / Ski / Souvenirs - $2000 (with $500 flexibility)

Day 1 - Singapore Changi Airport - Osaka Kansai International Airport / Shin Imamiya

I brought a giant luggage. It came up to my hip (no you may not think about my height), because i told myself, i must make full use of the 30kg check in luggage!!!

Along the way to the plane, I just could not resist..

And off we goooo!!

Love airplane food! The veggies were yummy, the soba was sad but i still love airplane food.

Reached Osaka at 9pm or so, ahead of schedule and went in search for data sim. We considered pocket wifi however decided on individual data sim so that we would still be able to contact each other while apart. Right after clearing customs, we passed a sim card vending machine which had 1GB and 3GB data options. A note on the machine directed us to a counter up front for a 2.2GB, 30Day option. It cost 4000yenl (omg)

Most sim cards only offer data, with no option to make local calls. However that is totally fine with us since we did not intend to chit chat with anyone in Japan. The lady over the counter informed us that no set up service was provided, however the set up instructions provided in English, Chinese, Korean and Thai were easy to follow! After some social media-ing and msging, we were all ready to goooo.

We took the Nankai Express Ltd train to Shin-Imamiya Station, a 35min ride.

Lugging the giant luggage under the rain to the apartment was totally unromantic. I thought my fingers dropped off along the way.

The apartment did not disappoint. Super clean and cozy, with an electric rug/mat that could warm up. I fell upon it and travelled around on it before RJ convinced me to wash up and zzz. Hahaha. Love heated mats!!!

Japan Day 2 - Osaka Museum of Housing and Living, HEP 5, Shinsaibashi Dotonburi

Doodle for a friend

2013-01-27T13:01:00.003+08:00

Recently I received news that a friend had been diagnosed with second stage intestinal cancer. Before making a visit, kept thinking what to bring along. Whatever I wanted to say sounds shallow and insufficient. Finally I decided to pen down what I wanted to say and this is it.

A picture says a thousand words ♥

Silently Waiting

2012-10-19T01:09:00.000+08:00

.................................................. .................................................
...............................................................................................
................................................ waiting........................................
....................for.........................................................................
..................................................................................you.............

Kirana

2012-10-11T21:34:00.003+08:00

a simple sketch of Kirana. Cutie!