Since I'm stuck in the lab due to the rainstorm, let me share about my trip to Japan last May.
My Japanese best friend was getting married on May 29th so I booked a ticket to Japan last November. Return trip for RM1K. Not bad la kan?
I decided to go on May 20th, jalan-jalan first as a foreign tourist this time, then go to the wedding on the 29th. From May 20th to the 24th my BFF tagged along~~~ trip with bestie ler ni.
We departed from KLIA2 around 1am. We both reached Osaka around 8 am (Japan time) and I straight away went to the JTB counter to buy an internet data simcard. You can choose 1 week or 2 weeks plan. I bought a 3GB, 2 weeks plan sim card for about ¥4000 (roughly around RM160). There are so many kinds of options. You can rent a pocket wifi as well but since I'll be travelling alone later on, I chose to buy a sim card instead. There are also prepaid sim cards being sold at the vending machine near the international arrival gate (north gate). If you walk out from that gate, it will somewhere on the right. Note that in Japan prepaid sim cards are rare. You might be able to find them only in the airport and some 5 star hotels.
Then, we went to the bus stop right outside of the terminal and bought tickets to Osaka Uehommachi (Sheraton Miyako Hotel). I bought a one way ticket while Shamin bought a return ticket (it is cheaper to buy a return ticket) at the ticket vending machine.
It took about an hour from Kansai International Airport (KIX) to Osaka Uehommachi by bus. It was my first time ever riding a bus from the airport in Japan. I usually go to the airport by train or car. We booked a studio apartment nearby Osaka Uehommachi station via airbnb for about RM80/person/night. Yes, of booked it a month before la. Otherwise we won't be able to find an affordable place that is really close to the station. That place is so convenient. There is a shopping mall at the station and don-quixote ドン・キホーテ at a walking distance. don-quixote is a chain store that you can find almost anywhere in Japan that sells so many things at reasonable prices. There are also duty free don-quixote stores such as the one at Dotonbori in Osaka (the glico man. I'll explain later). Dotonbori is just a few minutes from the apartment that we stayed by the way.
Ok, back to the station, we had to find a big coin locker to keep our baggage because it was too early for check-in. There are usually so many coin lockers available at train stations, however, due to the Ise-Shima summit that will be held a week later, all lockers at big train stations were sealed for anti-terrorism measures. Ise-Shima is in Mie which is about 2 hours from Osaka. So we had to drag our baggages to the subway, hoping that there are coin lockers available near the subway station. We found one. Unfortunately, only the small ones were left. I had 2 suitcases. One is for my kimono and its essentials, and the other is for my clothes. My clothes suitcase and Shamin's couldn't fit into the small coin locker, so we only kept my kimono suitcase there and brought the others together with us to Kaiyukan. We bought a Osaka Kaiyu ticket at the station master for ¥2550. Why we chose to buy it:
1) unlimited entry to Osaka
Aquarium Kaiyukan,
2) unlimited ride of Osaka municipal transportation network (subway/new
tramlines/city bus in Osaka City)
3) unlimited train ride of your choice (depending on your
travel plan) which come in one ticket at a discount price!
cited from: http://www.kaiyukan.com/language/eng/kaiyu.html
On our way to Kaiyukan, we got off at a station to change trains and we found 2 empty big lockers. Alhamdulillah!!! We stopped went out of the gate, kept our luggages at the locker and got back into the station.
LEGA!
We finally reached the Kaiyukan!!! Enjoy the photos.
Yes, I brought Neko chan along. Tak tertinggal this time.
This was like the upper part of the aquarium. The aquarium consists of a few floors and it most of the aquariums were not separated. So, in this aquarium set, what you see now is the upper part. There are birds there. If you go to the lower floor, you'll be able to see the creatures that live under the water. Faham ke? If you can't understand it, then I might have to take writing classes la. (for my thesis).
This is the penguins area. There were so many penguins yet the area is so small! I got upset by watching this. Imagine the penguins. I bet they're depressed. Educational purposes... but still...
seals. I think they're weddel seals. I couldn't find the information board.
After Kaiyukan, we went back to Osaka Uehommachi, to our apartment. It was a tiny studio apartment but it was enough for us. Then, after taking a break (we were already exhausted) for about 2 hours or so, we went to Dotombori (the famous glico man sign) for dinner. yes, we had takoyaki and warabi mochi for light dinner. we eventually went to saizeriya to have our actual dinner -mushroom pizza and anchovy pizza. saizeriya is a family restaurant where poor foreign students like me go to have a fancy dinner (sob sob). The pizza costs about 400 yen, and its size is like a pizza hut's personal pizza, or bigger a bit. Saizeriya is also the place where you can order a drink bar (all you can drink station) for 200 yen. they have many kinds of teas and soft drinks there. i love this place.
After that we decided to go to Osaka castle. We thought the castle ground is closed but we were wrong! as we walked towards the castle, nak tengok sedekat boleh, we saw the gate to the castle was still open and there were people going in and out of there. We were so tired but we just kept on climbing the hill towards the castle.
Kerja gila you might say.
Then, it was time to go back to the apartment. We went to the bus stop and found out that the bus that we were about to get on was the last bus of the day! phewh! lucky!
Next morning (day 2), we went to Universal Studios Japan!!!
IT HAS BEEN 3 MONTHS BUT WE BOTH STILL CANT GET OVER IT!
WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER! OMG! WE ACTUALLY WENT THERE!
even the JR train has hermione on it!
the train only cost us 510 yen to USJ. We bought our USJ tickets at JTB in AEON mall Shah Alam so we don't have to buy it in Japan. Malas nak pikir.
yes. we went there. we reached universal city station around 7.30 am, bought breakfast+lunch (just tuna mayo onigiri) at the lawson nearby, went to the gate and lined up. there were already so many people there.
When the gate opens at 8.30 am, then you'll learn that even the Japanese wont line up properly, some would even cut lines. *smh* it was annoying.
Anyway, we into USJ and we were running as if we were chased by velociraptors -towards wizarding world of harry potter. we wanted to take the time ticket before it runs out so we had to go there fast.
When we reached Hogsmeade's gate, we asked the staff there where can we get the time ticket? She said "oh, the time ticket counter is outside, but since you're already inside here, welcome to Hogsmeade".
We cried. WE CRIED! I'm not a crying type of person but, setting our feet in this magical place is a dream come true for both of us.
we were like "now I know how Kpop fans feels like when they go got to see their idols".
It's a magical place. It was just like how we imagined it to be. It was like a dream. I'm not even gonna explain it. Just check out the photos la.
Hogsmeade
Hogwarts Express~~~
Getting ready for the Hippogriff's ride. They lent us clips for our hijabs. So thoughtful of them.
Choir time.
Beuxbatons Academy and Durmstrang Institute. They were not so popular with the crowd. My BFF and I were the only 2 people who got really excited to see them.
Hogsmeade again~~
We got our butterbeer. It's so yummy. Still not over it.
We were in there from 8.30am- 1pm. Forbidden Journey of Harry Potter was a really good ride. Its a 4K3D ride. It really does make you feel like you're riding the broomstick.
Then we had no idea what to do anymore. everything else out there in USJ was just meh for us. We lined up for 2 hours before giving up for the Jurassic Park ride (we would have to wait for another 1 hour if we continued). Back to The Future ride was fun. Hello Kitty park was fun for my BFF, but a horrifying experience for me. I don't really fancy mascots.
Anyway, we stayed until the night parade, then we got back to our apartment.
On day 3, we went to Kyoto.
train fares:
9-chome station to umeda (osaka station. 2minute walk to the JR Osaka station)= ¥210
osaka station to kyoto = ¥560
Once we reached Kyoto station, we have our lunch first as we were pretty much starving. We didn't have any real dinner after USJ so yeah...
Thank God for halal ramen restaurant near the station. Ayam-ya is a chicken based ramen restaurant 5 minutes from Kyoto Station by foot. Theres even a prayer room inside it.
¥720 for spicy shoyu ramen. Free upgrade to large size. Yup. I was able to finish it sampai licin!
After lunch, we went back to the station and bought a one day bus ticket. = ¥500
1st stop: Kiyomizu Dera. It's a famous temple in Kyoto. Full of people.
¥400 entrance fee. I wish I could come here in autumn. It would be so beautiful with momiji.
2nd stop: Fushimi Inari Taisha. The famous shrine with thousands of Torii (gerbang merah ni).
3rd stop: Gion. Yeah... I don't have any photos in Gion since it was my 3rd time there. Gion is famous for geishas. My bff spotted a geisha. Lucky her. There, we had a halal wagyu-don (wagyu beef rice bowl, ¥850) at a restaurant called Narita-ya. Im not a meat person but it was soooo goood. Theres even a BBQ Naritaya there. (Naritaya has another branch in Tokyo).
On day 4 (last day in Japan for my BFF), we went to Nara.
Train fare:
uehommachi to nara (Kintetsu) = ¥560
In Nara, the deer roam freely. You can feed them with deer rice crackers that are sold almost everywhere there for ¥150.
a very nice deer
Nara is a really nice place where you can just walk around, pet the deer etc. We even had the chance to see Todaiji from the outside.
Todaiji. Largest wooden building in Japan
We went to the shotengai area (shops and market) near the station. As we walked through the old houses, we found Naramachi mechanical toy museum. Its a must visit place. Its quite a walk from the station so nobody actually go there. The toys are awesome! Love the basic mechanical mechanisms used in the toys! There were some wooden puzzles there and I had the chance to solve them. I even taught the guide some Malay words- which my BFF scolded me for.. There was one puzzle that made me feel like an idiot as the solution was really simple... so I taught the guide "macam orang bodoh"..
heheh
After that we went back to Uehommachi station as my BFF will be taking the bus from there to KIX.
We bid goodbye and I got to the train, heading to Nagoya.
balik kampung :)
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