Tuesday 29 December 2015

Japan 2015!


For the longest time Japan was never in my top holiday destination because people have been saying things like:

“Japan is so expensive!”

“Just go to Korea and it’ll be just as good and less expensive!”

Now I realized how silly that was because a) since when I trust people’s judgment so blindly? I love One Direction, despite what others say! And b) I like Korean culture and food just as much as I like getting my eyebrows plucked.

In short, not so much.

My almost 29-years of age of existence has been deprived of this Japan experience and it all changed when I saw the banner of Harry Potter theme park in Osaka and my inner wizard screamed.

It was time to go to Japan even when Harry Potter theme park was the only decent place I could go.

‘Arry Potter! How I’ve missed you!
What more can a child (at heart) ask for!

So that’s when I started planning for my year-end Japan trip and now that I’ve returned, I am so glad that I saw that banner on that fateful day which led me to this!

Japan, where have you been all my life?

Okay, that was a bit dramatic.

This shall be a post on my Japan experience, I promise! (But mind the occasional nonsense, I call it my writing style.)

Anyway, we went for a total of 12 days and despite wanting to go to many other places, we could only fit Tokyo and Osaka! I think it’s very important that you have a travel partner that share your pace, you know what I mean. Some people really want to pack and see everything in one trip, while others may like more free and easy kinda trip. Both Greg and I enjoy the latter (because we are both lazy bums) and he’s perfectly alright going to 3 theme parks (instead of Mount Fuji or other temples) because I’m more of a city-kiddish-kinda girl. Ah bless his heart.

The whole trip was a whirlwind, we ate like there’s no tomorrow cos the food was glorious! From the amazing fatty tuna to the best ramen we’ve ever had, to Yoshinoya which tasted 100 times better than here, to our neverending nibbles of takoyaki, crab legs, desserts and other nonsense. In our true fashion, we managed to sneak in some KFC and Mcd in there too!

Out of the 12 days we were there, we probably spent a total of 7 days in Tokyo and 5 in Osaka, and altho that sounded like a lot, it passed by so fast! We went to the usual attractions like Ikebukuro, Akihabara, Shibuya, Tsukiji Market and spent 2 full days in both Disneyland and Disneysea. I even managed to randomly meet my old elementary school friend by mere coincidence (he happened to be there.)

I can’t even decide what would be the highlight of my trip ‘cos everything was superb. I love, love, love Disneysea! And equally love, love, love Universal Studio Japan and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! It’s probably the best ride I’ve ever taken and it made me go all ga-ga over Harry Potter again and (surprise, surprise) I came home and rewatched all the Harry Potter movies all over again. 

Another thing worth mentioning is how courteous, friendly and polite people Japanese are. Even the people who cleaned our plates in food centres were all smileys and kept saying thank you (what! I’m not used to this politeness) and trains were awfully quiet because no one talked on the phone due to respect for each other (what!!! Can I move here to Japan!) 

Also, the weather was perfect. The tuna sashimi was perfect… Ichiran Ramen was perfect.. okay, now I’m daydreaming and drooling..

I think I should stop talking and just putting photos here so you can feel jealous.. haha!








Thanks for your hospitality and wonderful culture, Japan! We'll definitely be back!