Tag: Japan

The Japan Series | 3 of 3: OSAKA

For the past weeks, I talked about how I spent roughly ₱40,000 for this Japan trip, how we enjoyed Tokyo for 5 days & how we managed to squeeze as much as we can in our brief 1.5 days in Kyoto. Now, it’s down to the last part of this series; our final 2.5 days in Osaka. I will give you a detailed recap on what we did & where we went in our last days in Japan.

Let me tell you that the primary reason we dropped by Osaka is to visit Universal Studios Japan, especially The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We kind of relaxed a bit in this part of the trip; there was no pressure to go to this place or that.

The Japan crew at Universal Studios Japan 😃

Day 1 (Day 0.5)

After getting the our bags at Backpackers Hostel K’s House Kyoto, we walked to the JR Kyoto Station & took the 29-minute train to Osaka Station. We then transferred to the local Midosuji Line to Namba Station where our Airbnb apartment is near.

Inside Namba Parks Shopping Centre

We dropped our stuff & settled for a while. After an hour of rest, we walked around the nearby Namba Parks. It is a commercial complex with an 8-level garden with waterfalls, ponds, etc. It also has very interesting interiors. After walking around the complex, we then walked our way to Dōtonbori via the Shinsaibashi shopping street. I think it was a 1.5 km walk from Namba Parks. We didn’t mind walking because the weather was nice.

Colorful Dōtonbori at night (with the famous Glico Man)

We braved the crowd & took photos with the famous Glico Man. We also checked out the shops & restaurants within the shopping area. We stopped by a local tempura shop to have dinner before we walked back to the apartment.

Day 2

We only had one planned for this day & it was the main reason we stopped by Osaka before going home – to visit Universal Studios Japan. Ticket purchases were only available on site during our visit (unlike Tokyo Disney Sea, where we booked our tickets online). Each entry park ticket costs ¥7,400 per person (₱2,886 that time).

Upon entering the theme park, we immediately went to the ‘timed-entry’ ticketing booths for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter to get our scheduled entry passes. Yes, you’ve read that right, you need to secure your entry passes for you to go to the Harry Potter World. They regulate the entry of the guests every 20 minutes. Slots fill up really fast so make sure to get yours as soon as you enter the park.

USJ Park Ticket & Harry Potter World Timed-Entry Pass

We planned to get in there around sunset, but there were no longer passes available so we took the latest – 3:20 pm. We walked around the park & tried as many rides as we can while waiting for our turn. We had our lunch in SAWS Restaurant inside the Sharks Village. We also checked out the goodies in the specialty shops nearby & watched the daily parade of stars.

Saw Flying Ford Anglia before entering the theme park

At exactly 3:20 pm, we entered The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It was a bit of a walk from the USJ theme park; but the long walk was worth it. The Hogwarts Express welcomed us to the park. We walked to Hogsmeade afterwards. We were lucky the butterbeer pop-up shop in just opened. I got a glass of iced butterbeer worth ¥700.

Iced butterbeer!!! 😋

We walked to the Hogwarts Castle & waited for the sun to set. The castle was beyond beautiful during sunset. We went inside the castle, saw some moving & talking people in the frames (just like the ones in the movie), a hologram of Dumbledore, Harry, Hermione & Ron & other familiar sightings from the movie.

The Hogwarts Castle before sunset

Sunset from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

After a long day at USJ, we decided to go back to Shinsaibashi to have dinner. We also dropped by Daiso (the ¥108 shop) to get some goodies before heading back to the apartment.

Day 3

It was our last day in Japan. It was also a Sunday, so Junelle & I decided to hear mass in Sacra Familia Catholic Church in Umeda. Majo wasn’t able to join us because she could barely walk due to fatigue. We attended the 9:00 Sunday English mass.

Had a nice stroll at the Osaka Castle Park

After mass, we decided to have a quick look at the Osaka Castle. We took the subway to Osaka Business Park Station then walked through to the Osaka Castle Park. Due to limited time, we were not able to go inside the castle. We had to rush back to the apartment to get our things.

Outside Osaka Castle

After fixing our bags, we went out to have lunch in a nearby ramen restaurant. We had a short walk around Namba Parks again; then tried the famous okonomiyaki (pan-fried food with batter, cabbage & a variety of toppings & ingredients) on our way back. We got our luggage & went straight to Kansai International Airport for our flight back to Manila. The flight left Osaka a little late, but we landed at Ninoy Aquino International Airport on schedule.

That pretty much sums up the short stay we had in Osaka. Before we left Japan, I made a promise to myself that I will go back to this beautiful country as soon as possible to explore more. That promise materialized after a year where I went back to Japan for 13 days & explored 7 cities. I will tell you more about that recent trip in the upcoming blog posts.

I hope you had fun reading through the 3 parts of our October 2015 Japan trip. Make sure to also check out how I managed to spend less than ₱40,000 for this 9-day trip. If you have any questions, feel free to comment below or send me an email to contact@thewkndtravel.com. Alternatively, you can also send me a message on Facebook or ask me on Instagram or Twitter.

Arigatou gozaimasu (ありがとうございます) 🇯🇵 & have a nice day! 😃

PS. Thanks again to Junelle for allowing me to use some of her photos.

The Japan Series | 2 of 3: KYOTO

Welcome to the 2nd installment of the 3-part blog series about our Japan trip last October 2015. After spending 5 days in Tokyo, Majo, Junelle & I decided to go down to Kyoto, Japan’s ancient capital via night bus.

Kyoto is known for its breathtaking landscapes, beautiful heritage-listed temples & rich history. Most people go to Kyoto only for a day trip from either Tokyo or Osaka but we opted to stay for 1 night to cover as much as we can.

Japan ’15 crew @ Arashiyama Bamboo Forest

I will keep this blog informal & perhaps discuss it part by part – from where we stayed, how we went around Kyoto, what we did & where we went.

Where We Stayed

We’ve read reviews of the best places to stay in Kyoto; we found Backpacker’s K House Kyoto as one of the most affordable & well-recommended accommodation near JK Kyoto Station. It is about 10 minutes walk from the main station.

Since we were a group of 3 with big bags, we decided to get a triple private room with shared bathroom for around ¥3,200 each (¥9,600 per night). The room consisted of a bunk bed & a single bed. If you are travelling by yourself & you want to meet other people, the hostel also offers bunk beds for a more affordable rate.

The hostel has a spacious reception area. It also features a 2nd floor large common area. It has couches, computers, outdoor terrace, common dining & kitchen area. It also has a common traditional Japanese bathroom & toilet. There is also a bar & restaurant, called Zen Cafe, at the ground floor beside reception.

The hostel allows both incoming & outgoing guests to use the facilities in the common area while waiting for their room access (which starts at 3:00 in the afternoon) or their night buses or flights. Given we arrived in the morning, they allowed us to use the bathroom & toilet in the common area to freshen up & then had our bags stored in the luggage room.

Spacious hostel lounge area

I recommend staying in Backpacker’s K House when in Kyoto. The hostel is centrally-located & offers great amenities plus really nice & helpful staff. Make sure to book your rooms / beds early because they are usually fully booked.

How we went (or to go) around Kyoto

Apart from having a JR Pass, there are other ways of going around Kyoto. As mentioned in my Tokyo blog, we each got an IC card which is valid in almost all train lines all over Japan. We opted to use our IC cards for that day. We took the JR train to Arashiyama, boarded the local tram & city buses to the different temples & went to Gion & Inari via local subway all using the IC card.

A cheaper alternative is to get the 1-day Kyoto bus pass for ¥500 or the 1-day Kyoto Tourist pass for around ¥1,000+. The bus pass gives you unlimited access to all city bus routes for a day. This option is cheap but one thing you need to know is that lines can really be long in different bus stops (especially the buses leaving from Kyoto Station). The tourist pass gives you unlimited access both to the city buses & local subway lines.

Each bus ride / subway ride costs around ¥200 yen to ¥240 yen, except the JR line to Arashiyama which costs around ¥400+. Come think of it, the 1-day bus pass is really a good deal. It will save you some cash but just make sure you are not in a hurry. Both passes are available at the Kyoto Bus Information Center in front of JR Kyoto Station.

View of Kyoto Tower outside JR Kyoto Station

What We Did & Where We Went

Given we had limited time in Kyoto, we carefully planned our itinerary for our stay. Too bad we were not able to cover everything but we managed to visit as much temples & places as we can.

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove – This place is famous for the famous scenic bamboo forest. It is a short passageway full of bamboos on both sides. Make sure to go up to the end to take pictures with lesser people in the background. It would also be better to go there around 8 in the morning to avoid the crowd. (No entrance fee)

Taken towards the end of the Bamboo Forest where there were less people

Tenryū-ji – This is Arashiyama’s most famous & most important temple. This  white zen temple is also listed as a world heritage site. It features a landscaped garden with central pond surrounded by rocks & trees. (Entrance fee: ¥‎500 per person – for more information about the temple, click here)

Right outside the main temple building

Ryōan-ji – This is a temple famous for its rock garden. Viewed from the Hojo Building (former head priest’s residence), the garden consists of pebbles & rocks laid out in portions of moss. People are advised to keep quiet while inside the building. The temple grounds also feature a park & a pond; one of Kyoto’s most beautiful spots during spring & autumn. (Entrance fee: ¥‎500 per person – for more information about the temple, click here)

View from the Hojo Building

Ninna-ji – This is another world heritage-listed zen temple famous for its temple buildings & beautiful gardens. It also features a five storey pagoda, which you can immediately see upon entering the temple grounds. Just like Ryōan-ji, this is another famous spot for cherry blossoms every spring. (Entrance fee: ¥‎500 per person – for more information about the temple, click here)

Ninna-ji’s 5-storey pagoda

Kinkaku-ji (The Golden Pavilion) – This is the most famous temple in Kyoto; I reckon also the most beautiful I’ve seen that day. The golden temple features a pond in front & a garden at the back. Seeing its reflection in the water on a sunny / clear day makes it even more beautiful. Make sure to also go early to get decent photos & also to avoid the crowd. (Entrance fee: ¥400 per person)

Stunning view of the Golden Pavilion

Gion – This is the Kyoto’s famous geisha district. It is full of traditional Japanese restaurants & tea houses, modern cafes & shops. Make sure to head over to Hanami-Koji Street & it’s alleys to try your luck with spotting geishas. My friends & I gave it a try & we saw around 10 of them (real ones). We even identified one of the many geisha houses in the area.

We weren’t able to see all temples & shrines on the same day so we moved the visit to Fushimi Inari Taisha the next morning. The temple is in the foot of Mount Inari & is famous for the big & small torii gates. These torii gates lead you up to the forests of mountain as well as to the peak. We had limited time here so we did not bother going up that far from the main grounds.

Just like any other famous place in Kyoto, I recommend that you go here before 8:00 in the morning to enjoy the place by yourselves. As far as I can remember, the place is open for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so you can go there as early as you can. (No entrance fee)

Inside the row of torii gates

We’ve been to a lot in our 1.5-day stay in Kyoto but I reckon we haven’t covered most of it – only some of the major ones. If ever you are to visit Kyoto soon, make sure to stay here for a few days (not just the usual 1 day tour) to see more of what this beautiful city has to offer. Kyoto is one of my favorites in Japan; I will definitely visit this place again soon.

Just in case you missed it, click here to read about our first 5 days in Tokyo. I also blogged how I spent less than ₱40,000 for this Japan trip. You want to know how? Check this out! I will talk about our last stop, Osaka, in the final installment of this 3-part Japan Series in the coming weeks. Thank you for reading! 😊

PS. Thanks again to Junelle for allowing me to use some of her photos.

2016 Recap: Going Solo

In less than 25 hours, another year will come to an end. Before I start another calendar year in my life, I believe it is a good time to look back where this year took me.

2016 was mostly about solo travel. After years of travelling with various sets of friends, I finally had the courage to go on my own, (re)discover old & new places, experience different cultures & meet new friends.

Let me give you a recap of how this year of solo (& some of not-so-solo) travels went.

Yangon, Myanmar

I initially planned this as the first solo trip of the year but my friend Geof tagged along. There are no direct flights from Manila to Yangon; so we had to book tickets to Bangkok, then onwards to Yangon. We had a 16-hour layover in Bangkok so we took the chance to go out of the airport, stay in a hostel over the night & see the Grand Palace in the morning.

           Team Philmar at the Yangon Amazing Games 2016

Then, we took the afternoon flight to Yangon & spent the rest of the trip there. We joined the Amazing Game Yangon & attended the Global Village 2016 Program, both organized by AIESEC in Myanmar. We also went around the city by foot, discovered different temples & pagodas & experienced Chinese New Year in Yangon Chinatown. We went to different markets, tried their street food & watched football (with beers) with our roommates in the hostel.

                   A visit to the Shwedagon Pagoda

Of course, a visit in Yangon will never be complete without visiting the Shwedagon Pagoda. It’s definitely a place to visit in Yangon.

Koh Lipe, Thailand

This should have been a beach trip to the Gilis in Indonesia or a weekend in the forests of Luang Prabang, but plans changed when Carl, the Brit guy we met in Ao Nang last year, recommended Koh Lipe. This place is also known as the Maldives of Thailand.

It was my first international solo trip, to an island unknown to all people I know back home. It took me 2 flights (Manila to Kuala Lumpur, then to Langkawi) & 1 ferry ride (Langkawi to the island) to reach Koh Lipe.

                 Walking at the shores of Koh Rawi

I had the most relaxing 3 days of my life there. I literally walked around the beautiful island, sipped some fresh fruit shakes while sitting on the shore, enjoyed some quiet time in paradise, got sun-kissed in the scenic beaches & met some cool new friends in the hostel & in the island tour.

Koh Lipe is truly a paradise; it’s a place I will definitely go back to in the future.

      With my sister in the grounds of Petronas Twin Towers, KL

I had a one night stopover in Kuala Lumpur before I flew back to Manila. I dropped by to visit my sister who was assigned there for work. We heard mass & had lunch together; also made a quick visit to the grounds of the Petronas Twin Towers.

Pangasinan

For the 2nd year in a row (& maybe for the last time), my friends at work decided to have a beach weekend trip somewhere far from the metro. We, a group of 16 fun people, went to Pangasinan for a weekend last May.

           View from the Governor's Island, Hundred Islands

We spent the first day around the Hundred Islands in Alaminos City. We walked around a crowded island, went to caves & jumped over a cliff. We then went to a lighthouse, a beach, another cave & into a market on the 2nd day.

                      With the best colleagues!

The road trip was really long, we enjoyed each other’s company.

Boracay Island, Aklan

This trip pushed through just because I didn’t want to waste the cheap roundtrip tickets I booked. I went to Boracay all by myself, stayed in a party hostel & ended up having a great time up to the point I didn’t want to leave.

                 Mad Monkey Hostel Boracay's pool

The weather wasn’t that favourable during my stay. Good thing, Mad Monkey Hostel had a swimming pool & a bar / restaurant. I found myself staying in the hostel all throughout the trip, talking to different people from all parts of the world, drinking with new-found friends & exchanging travel stories with everyone.

                           Boracay Beach

It was also one of the days where I had too much alcohol, passed out & woke up in my bed the next day not knowing how I went back the night before.

El Nido, Palawan

Just like the Yangon trip, this was supposed to be another solo trip. Days & months after, my high school travel buddies joined, making it a reunion trip for the 4 of us. The last trip the 4 of us were complete was way back in Singapore 2 years ago.

           With my highschool travel buddies / constants!

El Nido is place I will never get tired of visiting. It was my 3rd time to visit the paradise & I still am in awe of how beautiful the place is. I took my friends to Nacpan Beach twice (Yes, twice!) then joined them in the famous Tour A (Lagoon Tour).

                    Small Lagoon, Miniloc Island

It’s one of the trips where we made great memories together & enjoyed each other’s company.

Bangkok, Thailand

This is the best trip of my 2016. I wasn’t able to see much of what Bangkok has to offer but I surely had fun drinking, socializing & partying.

   One of those nights in Khao San Rd with 10 other solo travellers

I flew to Bangkok with a roundtrip plane ticket, a hostel booking & no plans at all. The only ‘tourist-y’ I probably did there was to go on a day tour in Ayutthaya. The rest was all about meeting people, eating ฿40 pad thai on the streets, drinking Chang beers & partying in Khao San Rd.

           A game of cards turned into one big party group!

I also met & hangout with a lot of people from all over the world – England, United States, Canada, The Netherlands, Poland, India, Gibraltar & a lot more.

Japan

When I went to Japan last year, I made a promise to myself that I will definitely go back to explore more. It didn’t take long for me to book tickets back to Japan; thus this trip was born.

      European city vibe in a middle of a Japanese City (Nagoya)

This 13-day trip brought me to the beautiful gardens of Nagoya, the historical sites of Hiroshima, the ancient temples of Kyoto, the busy shopping streets of Osaka, the friendly deers of Nara, the tender beef cuts of Kobe & the delicious ramens of Fukuoka.

                   Arashiyama Bamboo Forest in Kyoto

I was able to experience the Japanese culture again but this time with the luxury of time.

                          Deer selfie ;)

That sums up all my travels for this year. I may have explored fewer places & countries this year; but I surely made awesome memories with different people.  I might not have anything booked or planned as of yet, but I look forward to another year of solo (& maybe not-so-solo) travels for 2017!

*Yangon photo credits to Geof & Nappark photo credit to Danielle.

The Japan Series | 1 of 3: TOKYO

Hey, I hope you’re having a really good day. I apologise I haven’t posted in a while. I’ve been really busy the past 2 months plus I also just came back from a well-deserved holiday. I feel like it’s time to catch up with the planned contents for the site.

As mentioned in my previous post about enjoying a 9-day Japan trip on a shoestring budget, I will post separate & detailed contents of trip whereabouts. I have decided to divide it into 3 different blog posts & these posts will be called “The Japan Series”.

Japan Series | 1 of 3: TOKYO

My friends & I were lucky to have booked a very affordable roundtrip Japan tickets (Manila-Tokyo-Osaka-Manila) last year. Considering we will fly to one city & leave from the other, the three of us sat down few weeks before the trip & planned on what would be the flow of our itinerary. We’ve decided to spend the first 5 days in Tokyo because there’s so much to see in Japan’s capital city.

imag8994_1-2

Japan 2015 crew! (L-R) Paolo (me), Majo & Junelle

Day 1

It took us 4 hours from Ninoy International Airport (MNL) to Narita International Airport (NRT). After clearing immigration & getting our bags, we decided to try McDonald’s. They give you an option to choose between 6 pieces of nuggets & fries to go with your burger & drink. As expected, all 3 of us chose nuggets over fries. We were so hungry we finished our own orders.

There are a few ways to choose from going to the city center. Since we were not in a hurry, we took the cheapest option – the local train to Tokyo. Other options include Keisei Skyliner & Narita Expess (N’EX). We went to the station counter & bought loadable IC cards. The IC card is like Seoul’s T-Money, Singapore’s EZ Link & Taipei’s EasyCard. You can use the card almost everywhere – from all JR & subway lines (except bullet trains) all over Japan, to convenience stores & fast food restaurants.

After 1 transfer & about 1.5 hours of train ride, we got off JR Uguisidani Station & headed over to Oak Hostel Zen where we booked our 1st 4 nights. The cold weather greeted us when we get off the train. I believe it was around 15°C. It’s something we don’t experience in Manila so we obviously loved it.

imag8952-2

Sensō-ji Temple at night

After an hour of rest, we went to Ueno Park for a late afternoon stroll. It is one of the sakura parks flooded by tourists during spring. We went for another 10 minute walk to Asakusa Temple. It is Tokyo’s famous red Buddhist Temple; also the oldest in the city. We also had our first takoyaki fix here. We were so excited to try it up to the point we forgot to take a photo of it. After spending a few minutes in the temple complex, we had dinner in a local Japanese restaurant then headed back to the hostel.

Day 2

We spent the most of Day 2 in Shibuya Ward. First, we went to Takeshita Street, just outside Harajuku Station. This street is famous for cosplayers walking around in their respective costumes. We’ve seen a few in their costumes but I believe we were too early for us to witness the big number of cosplayers walking around. Takeshita street is also a good place to go when you like all things fancy – from accessories, chocolates, footwear, souvenirs to hoodies & clothes.

From Harajuku Station, we took the subway to Yoyogi Station. If I’m not mistaken, from Exit 2 we walked about 600 m to reach the Meiji Shrine. It is Tokyo’s most famous Shinto Shrine dedicated to Emperor Meiji. We were lucky to witness a traditional Japanese wedding while we were there. The place was full of tourists & local Japanese families enjoying the hot sunny Sunday. There were also a few adorable Japanese kids walking around in their kimonos.

dsc_1089-2

On our way to Meiji Shrine

On our way back to the train Station, we dropped by a local restaurant to have lunch. We then headed to Shibuya crossing, dubbed as Japan’s (not sure if also the world’s) busiest intersection. Crossing the intersection was fun & time chaotic. Thousands of people cross the street every few minutes. It gets busier during late afternoon & night-time. We checked out the shops at the other side of the intersection – specifically went to H&M, Uniqlo in Shibuya 100, ABC Mart & some other ones.

Given it was a Sunday & we missed the morning English mass, we went all the way down to Roppongi to hear mass. We went to the Franciscan Chapel Center – Roppongi Catholic Church. It is a few minutes walk from exit 6 of Oedo Line Roppongi Station. They have several English masses every Sunday. You can check out their website for the updated mass schedule. The mass was mostly attended by Filipinos living & visiting Tokyo.

We can’t get over of the Shibuya crossing experience so we decided to go back after mass. We wanted to experience crossing the street at night with all the city lights. We had our dinner there & we also took a photo with Hachiko, the famous & loyal dog. We went shopping before heading back to the hostel.

dsc_1317-2

Shibuya crossing selfie

Day 3

We initially planned to go to the gardens & the palace for our 3rd day but we found out that these places close on Mondays. We had to interchange the activities & places planned for days 3 & 5.

We headed to Ueno Park again to check how it looks like during the day. Since autumn foliage is just about to start, the leaves are still green. We had a minor photoshoot in the park (haha) then we headed to Tsukiji Fish Market. Usual trips to the market start at 4:00 in the morning to see the live ‘market action.’ We opted to skip that very early activity & decided to just go there for lunch. We walked around the market, saw what each stall is selling & watched what people do.

We came across this Japanese restaurant (we didn’t understand the name) & decided to have lunch. I ordered a plate of assorted sushi & a glass of draft Asahi beer. Perfect combination! Everything was fresh delicious! The meal cost me around ¥‎2,400. It was a bit expensive but it was all worth it.

imag9204_1-2

What I had for lunch (yum!)

imag9207-2

Draft Asahi beer!

Then we headed back to Shibuya area to buy some treats for our families & friends. The prices of chocolates & biscuits in Takeshita Street shops were the cheapest ones we saw in Tokyo. We also went to Daiso to get goodies for ¥‎100 each (plus tax so around ¥‎108 each).

Day 4

We only had 1 activity planned for this day & that is to enjoy Tokyo Disney Sea. We opted to go for Tokyo Disney Sea instead of Disneyland because Junelle & I have already been to another Disneyland Park (in Hong Kong). Also, Disney Sea is one of its kind so we thought it was worth checking.

We purchased our tickets online, days before we flew to Japan mainly to skip the queue. I suggest you also get yours beforehand as the lines are really long. We got our tickets for ¥‎6,900 each (October 2015 price).

imag9397_1-2

Inside Tokyo Disney Sea

We spent the day there walking around the theme park & also trying as many rides as we can. Even if it was a Tuesday, the park was full. There were also many ones in their respective costumes. If we only knew about it, we would’ve been there with our own costumes as well.

imag9482_1-2

Beautiful sunset to cap off the fun day at Disney Sea

We left the park around 5:30 in the afternoon. It took us around an hour from Urayasu to Akihabara. Akihabara is Tokyo’s central shopping district for anime, manga, gadgets, computers & all other things related to electronics. We only went around the area near the station since we were all tired from a long day of walking around Disney Sea. We had dinner at CoCo Ichibanya, a famous Japanese curry restaurant, before heading back to the hostel.

Day 5

It was our last day in Tokyo. Since our Willer Express bus ride to Kyoto is at 10 in the evening, we decided to go around during the day. After breakfast & hostel check out, we headed to Tokyo’s Imperial Palace East Gardens. We walked around the garden & went to different temples & shrines. We were lucky enough to see one tree with autumn sakura (cherry blossoms).

imag9560_1-2

Autumn sakura

We planned to go to Edo Castle but we couldn’t find our way there so we just decided to go to Minato Ward. We went to the Kumano Shrine & Zojo-ji Temple, both a few meters walk from the subway exit. We also went to the Tokyo Tower grounds but decided not to go up due to time constraints.

imag9614-2

After a few days in Japan, we finally had ramen for lunch!

We had lunch in a local ramen restaurant. The ramen costs around ¥600+ per bowl & it includes unlimited rice & pickles. Yes, we didn’t know Japanese people eat ramen with rice. We gave it a try & it was really good. After lunch, we went back to the hostel to rest & also to get our bags.

We experienced an earthquake while we were in the hostel common area. I think it was somewhere between magnitude 4 & magnitude 4.5. Everything was shaking; I thought the structures will collapse. The hostel staff advised us that earthquakes happen a lot in Japan. It was another experience to remember.

After spending a few hours in the hostel common area, we then headed to the Willer Bus Terminal in Shinjuku & waited for our night bus to Kyoto.

We’ve been to many places in those 5 days but I feel there are still a lot more to explore. We missed out on Mount Fuji, Lake Kawaguchi, Edo Castle & a lot more. These places will definitely be in my list when I fly back to Tokyo in the future.

PS. Thanks again to Junelle for allowing me to use some of her photos.