It has been a rough few days after we had returned from Japan. Mom was sick and was admitted yesterday. She's slowly doing better. Slowly...
Then just as we thought the worse was over, another one was admitted. It is SJ this time for having high fever. I can only hope and pray that she will be fine too...and have a speedy recovery. Meanwhile, I am playing baby sitter for SF.
Please let all this come to an end. And let it be better. #prayer #behealthy
It wasn't in plan to be at Japan for 13 days. I was sooo eager to go home. But somehow the universe has other plans. Look at the bright side, I have another day in Japan! Haha...
I'm not that optimistic. However looking back now, it could be a blessing in disguise. If they had go ahead with the flight, I wonder what will happen to the mechanical error that they had reported. But I was really cranky in the morning with the flight being canceled, no clear directions (as it was too sudden and the airport was literally closed and they had to arrange us),us stranded in the airport, flight rescheduled the next evening same time as yesterday, lack of sleep from the drama yesterday...yada yada...sigh...it was a long night (I mean morning)...
Lucky that we have free WiFi from KIX. We could inform (via WhatsApp) our families, our boss and colleagues of the sudden change of plans. It took me some time to recover from the whole thing. I was even cranky during breakfast coz all I needed was sleep dammit! -______________-
We didn't go anywhere out of KIX. We simply had no mood...so, we explored the airport a bit but most spent time on our phones with the free WiFi.
Our meals are covered by AirAsia as a compensation. But we still needed to freshen up and we land ourselves at the KIX Airport Lounge. (Not free)
Later gonna head for dinner and to check in once again on our way home...
I really want to go home...
Today's last Adventure, Kuromon Ichiba Market at Namba. The tourist information counter lady said there is no such market. Lucky for us, we googled and went to search for the place. I find that this market is bigger and wider compared to Nishki Market at Kyoto. There is so much to see and you can take your time (unlike Nishki, we kena pushed to go forward).
We bought lots of stuff and ate lots of stuff too! We bought fruits, street food, had my sashimi craving satisfied, Japanese sweet desserts and saw lots of different variety of things to offer...
Will be leaving Japan tonight. So, here's the collage to mark our last adventure before we lunge our heavy luggages to the airport tonight. Wish us luck!
Today is a rather tiring day coz we were to follow the itinerary as suggested by the Japan Tourism for touring Osaka. However we managed to turn it down a notch to tour a tower, Osaka Castle and Namba area.
We were rather confined in Namba area coz we spent quite some time in a Tax Free Drug Store...and I felt like I was in a different country other than Japan in there. It was really crazy!
And lastly, I would like to wish a very Happy Mother's Day to my mom and SF and SJ's mom too...
It is theme park day today! But it has been drizzling most of the day...however that did not dampen our spirit for fun! There were lots of people (coz it's Saturday).
We made our way to Harry Potter to get the timed entrance ticket. And to kill time, we went for the Jaws boat ride. It was awesomely real with the narrator's expression (kudos to the Japanese) and real fire.
Then we finally can go into the Harry Potter section. It really seems so magical...we had butter beer, met the wand keeper, explored the castle and the streets...
We then proceeded to Sesame Street, Snoopy and Hello Kitty. Had lunch at Peanuts, queued for kiddie rides and took lots and lots of pictures.
We explored the streets and saw 2 shows, one of it being the Terminator. The waiting time was crazy for the popular rides, shows, and one went to 160mins!
Overall, I totally enjoyed it despite having to wait most of the time...
Pictures!
We left Takayama at 7am in the cold morning and reached Osaka 5 1/2 hours later. Upon reaching Osaka, we deposited our luggage in the locker and proceeded to the Tourist information counter to get details and after that to eat lunch. Lunch was spaghetti Japanese style. Quite okay.
Then we went jalan jalan around as there are a lot of malls near the JR Osaka. We spent some time at an indoor amusement park and played two games. It was quite fun! I later bought something for myself (splurged on it) and went crazy at H&M (both VK and I).
Later during the rush hour, we went to search for our Airbnb apartment and had to walk 1.3km lunging our luggage. (Hands in pain) Apartment was a little quaint place with decent facilities. Need to explore the area tho. We were so knacked that we skipped dinner (ate some of the snacks we bought in the afternoon).
Not much photos today tho...
Today was a bit leisurely. We started with a very COLD morning by walking all the way to their morning market. The market is like our pasar pagi little nooks and things here and there. Ate a bit before getting our authentic Japanese breakfast.
Next we headed to Hida Folk Village to admire the many houses from ancient times. I must say that the Japanese really do their preserving well. The view is splendid too.
After that, we had our lunch and we literally had to gobble up because our half day tour coach was already waiting. Luckily we weren't the last.
Next was the highlight of our trip. Shirakawago, a UNESCO Heritage Site. The view is of course incredible and VK suggested we should come to stay here during their winter time. I need to buy at least 10 heat tech first...
I also saw a lot of sakuras at Shirakawago and therefore satisfying my quest to see them with my own two (err, four) eyes...
Today we woke up bright and early (by our usual standards) to catch our bus which will take us to Takayama.
I slept through the two hour plus ride after the first rest stop.
Takayama is very much like our own Cameron Highlands. Like what VK described, Takayama is like Tanah Rata and Shirakawago (which we will go tomorrow) is like Brinchang. I liked that description.
Upon reaching Takayama, it is slightly chilly with some breeze and the sun shining just about right. After leaving our baggage with our hostel in the Zenkoji Temple (too early to check in) we looked for lunch. And we came across a shop selling udon and soba. The server did a double take when we ordered Hot Soba instead of the cold one like everyone else. Walked around town before adjourning back to the hostel.
Managed to do the laundry after showering and went out again for dinner. Similar to Cameron Highlands, the road was fairly empty by 7pm local Japan time.
We couldn't manage to find other Japanese eateries and settled for McD. It was really cold at night (18°C - 19°C, weather expected to hit lowest at 9°C) and I was glad that the room had a heater and electrical blanket (VK even asked for a fan). -____________-
Its exploring Kyoto time! Very reluctantly got up and get out of our inn (Crossroads Inn) to go find food. First went to Nishi Market. There were so many things to eat, see and buy! I regretted not getting another stick of Tuna sashimi.
After that we went to the Nijo Castle. The weather was really sunny btw, I nearly melted. It is cooling with the wind but the sun totally burned me...the view at the castle is quite great...
We then went back to Gion to experience it in the sunlight as we only saw it at night yesterday...
Ended the night early to pack for our early bus to Takayama the next day...
