JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: November Snow at Shirakawa-Go

It was one fine Sunday morning when I went to Shirakawa-Go from Takayama. I booked a half-day tour from  J-Hoppers guesthouse, the hostel where I stayed in Takayama. You can book this tour also even if you don't stay at the place, but it's cheaper if you stay there. Actually, I didn't expect to witness any snow in Shirakawa-Go since it was still November, but it did snow!

JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: A Day In Takayama

Shirakawa-go was on my last year trip itinerary, and after some researches, I decided to visit the place from the city Takayama. Actually Takayama is closer from Kyoto, but because of one thing and another, I decided to visit Takayama from Tokyo, which is quite far. So this post will be about my one night stay in Takayama.

JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Fall Foliage at Minoo Park and Quick Visit to Kuromon Ichiba Market

Okay, I hope it's not too late to share about my autumn experience in Osaka. That day, my travel companions were going to Universal Studios, and since I already went there before, I looked for a place where I could enjoy some fall foliage in Osaka. When I googled about fall in Osaka, Minoo Park kept appearing on the result, so I did some research and went there.

JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Back to Dotonbori

Amidst of the hustle and bustle of this area, Dotonbori is still my favourite spot to go back and forth in Osaka. Well who can resist the lines of shops and great eateries here? Let me list down a few great eateries to enjoy around this area through this post.

JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Preparation and Cost

Yuhuu! I'm back again. So, before I start writing about the trip itself, let me, like usual, start with the preparation and budgeting stuff. There are several differences between my 2017 and 2015 Japan trip. What are those? So this time I already had an e-passport, so yes, I just had to make a visa waiver for free! A few weeks before I issued my visa waiver at the Japanese embassy, I just knew that right now you can no longer issued your visa there. If you have a usual passport, you must go to Japan Visa Application Centre located at Lotte Shopping Avenue to issue your visa, and other than the visa fee, there is also extra IDR 115,000 administration fee. So, yeah, having an e-passport is more profitable.

JAPAN TRIP: DAY 13 & 14 Osaka Shopping Heaven - Shinsaibashi Suji & Dotonbori

I spent the last two days of my Japan trip around Namba area, to be more specific, Shinsaibashi Shopping Street and Dotonbori. If you are a shopaholic, you would go crazy for this spot. Those lines of stores and restaurants will make you go back and forth along the road and alleys. You will also meet hundreds of neon lights and mechanized signs of restaurants those will attract your eyes.

JAPAN TRIP: DAY 12 Fushimi Inari Taisha & Ichiran Ramen (Kyoto)

It was Sunday and we woke up a little bit late. Our first destination that day was Fushimi Inari-Taisha (Shrine), you might have seen the pictures of this place a lot. A place with rows of orange torii gates. From our guesthouse we walked to Kiyomizu-Gojo Station for a train ride straight to Fushimi-Inari Station.

JAPAN TRIP: DAY 11 Half Day Trip to Nara, Smile Burger - Kyoto

A few more posts to conclude this Japan trip series! It was a cloudy Saturday morning when we went to Nara from Kyoto. We rode the trains via Keihan Main Line & Kintetsu Kyoto Line those costed us 1,540 JPY for a return trip. It took around an hour from Kyoto to reach Nara via train. Nara (previously known as Heijo) was the first permanent capital city of Japan. As the first capital city, Nara is also known as the home of many historical treasures including some of Japan's oldest and largest temple.

JAPAN TRIP: DAY 10 Kyoto - Kiyomizu Dera, Nishiki Market, Tsujiri Honten, Gion

Finally day 10! Getting closer to the end of the trip. Well, I should be finishing these Japan trip series soon. It has been almost a year, geez, time really goes by so quickly. So, early morning on the tenth day, I arrived at Kyoto. The arrival location was in front of the Centnovum Hotel, and from there, we decided to walk to our guesthouse which wasn't so close, but anyway, it was still early in the morning, so just count it as a morning exercise - a 30 minutes guided with Google Maps walking while carrying our 29" luggage.

JAPAN TRIP: DAY 8 Tokyo DisneySea

Finally, the 8th day! I rarely go to theme parks, but on this trip, I went to 3 theme parks in a week! And guess what? After those theme parks visit, I even thought I need to buy a 3-days passport instead of a 2 days-passport. We rode train to Maihama Station, and we needed to take Disney Resort Line to reach DisneySea which costed us JPY 260 one way.

JAPAN TRIP: DAY 7 Tokyo Disneyland

Well, well, well, finally I write again. And finally we arrived at Tokyo Disneyland. It was one cloudy and chilly morning in Tokyo. We arrived at Maihama Station around 8 something and walk to Tokyo Disneyland from there. The theme park was already packed! So, I bought a 2-Day Passport from Tokyo Disney Resort's website, so I just had to bring the printed ticket to the entry gates without having to queue at the ticket booth. A 2-Day Passport costed me JPY 12,400, and you have to choose which theme park at what date when you buy the ticket online.

JAPAN TRIP: DAY 6 Gotemba Premium Outlet

So, if two late twenties ladies went travelling abroad together, what would be one of their top priorities in the agenda? Yes! SHOPPING! Selama masa-masa research trip ke Jepang, saya mendengar tentang GOTEMBA PREMIUM OUTLET yang merupakan outlet mall paling terkenal di Jepang. Konon dari tempat ini, kita dapat melihat Gunung Fuji, yah jadi saya pikir sekalian lah sambil belanja sambil lihat pemandangan. Jadilah sehari sebelum agenda mampir ke GOTEMBA PREMIUM OUTLET ini kami hendak membeli tiket bus yang langsung mengarah dari daerah Shinjuku menuju GOTEMBA PREMIUM OUTLET seharga JPY 2,880 di ticket office yang terletak dekat Yoyogi Station. Sampai di ticket office, kami harus menghadapi kenyataan bahwa tiketnya sudah sold out saudara-saudara! Sesaat saya diam bingung harus ngapain, tapi nyerah begitu saja akan cita-cita mampir ke tempat ini? Ngga donk!

JAPAN TRIP: DAY 5 Sensoji, Meiji Shrine, Yoyogi Park, Harajuku

 Almost 6 months after the trip and finally I'm writing about the fifth day (better than nothing at all still). Jadi di hari  ke-5 ini yang kebetulan jatuh di hari Minggu, kami bangun agak siang dan mengarah ke daerah Asakusa.

JAPAN TRIP: DAY 4 Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, Shibuya, Tokyo Tower, Shinjuku

Akhirnya sampai juga di Tokyo! Saya menginap di daerah Shin-Okubo, yang berjarak 1 station dari Shinjuku Station (Willer Bus Arrival Terminal). Wilayah Shin-Okubo merupakan Korean Town-nya Tokyo, jadi banyak sekali orang Korea, restoran, serta toko-toko Korea di sekitar sini. Kami sampai cukup pagi, dan setelah numpang mandi karena memang belum waktunya check in, kamipun memutuskan untuk jalan-jalan dulu seharian baru malamnya kami akan kembali untuk check in. Tujuan pertama kami adalah Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, sebuah taman besar di daerah Shinjuku dan Shibuya.

JAPAN TRIP: DAY 3 Kaiyukan (Osaka Aquarium) & Osaka Castle

Akhirnya saya kembali dengan rekap Japan Trip saya yang ternyata sudah 4 bulan lalu, dan saya baru akan membahas hari ke-3. Forgive me for being a moody blogger. Jadi hari ke-3 saya masih berada di Osaka, dan jadwal saya hari itu adalah mengunjungi Kaiyukan atau dikenal sebagai Osaka Aquarium dan juga Osaka Castle.

JAPAN TRIP: DAY 2 Universal Studios Japan (Osaka)

Finally saya menulis juga tentang hari ke-2 di Jepang! Sewaktu persiapan ke Jepang saya cukup bingung mau ke Universal Studios atau ke Disney Theme Parks, atau kesemuanya yang cukup memakan biaya. Pada akhirnya saya dan teman saya memutuskan untuk mengunjungi 3 theme parks sekaligus pada trip kami ke Jepang, dan theme park pertama yang kami kunjungi adalah Universal Studios Japan - Osaka pada tanggal 30 April 2015.

JAPAN TRIP: DAY 1 Welcome to Osaka - Umeda!

Finally, I'm writing my daily journey post about my recent trip to Japan. It took me a while to battle my laziness and write this day 1 post (oh my, there are still 13 left, plus several pending food reviews). Mari kita mulai perjalanan ini! 29 April 2015, saya mendarat di KIX (Kansai International Airport) - Osaka sekitar jam 8 pagi. Setibanya di airport, saya menyelesaikan berbagai kegiatan seperti melewati imigrasi, mengambil bagasi, dan juga mengambil pesanan sim card saya yang saya request untuk dikirim ke kantor pos di KIX. Karena kantor pos baru buka jam 9, saya duduk-duduk sebentar dan di depannya sembari menunggu loket dibuka. Tak lama setelah dibuka, saya menunjukan paspor saya, dan petugas kantor pos yang ramah cukup bisa berkomunikasi dengan bahasa Inggris, dan paket langsung saya terima. Segala sesuatunya lancar, dan sim card pesanan saya sudah terpasang cantik di HP, dan berjalan lancar dari hari pertama sampai terakhir saya di Jepang. 

JAPAN TRIP: 20 Random Facts about Japan

Before I start writing about my daily journey in Japan, I would like to share some random things I found while travelling there. Happy reading!

JAPAN TRIP: Preparation and Cost (Visa, Accommodation, Transportation, etc)

Oke, di post kali ini, saya akan berbagi soal persiapan perjalanan saya ke Jepang kemarin, mulai dari pembelian tiket, booking penginapan, transportasi, itinerary, pembuatan visa, juga estimasi pengeluaran. Perjalanan saya ke Jepang diawali dengan berburu tiket promo sekitar bulan Agustus atau September tahun lalu, setelah begadang, akhirnya sayapun membeli tiket PP Soekarno Hatta - KIX (Kansai International Airport, Osaka) seharga kurang lebih IDR 3,5 juta, belum termasuk bagasi dan meal. Setelah beberapa kali keluar negeri dengan maskapai lain yang bukan budget airlines, saya agak sedikit was-was juga sih menggunakan budget airlines, cuma yah karena murah sok lah dijabanin.