We spent our last day in Osaka at Universal Studios Japan (USJ). Despite having explored already some parts of USJ the previous day (see related post here), AJ and I still went there early. We had a quick breakfast at a McDonald's restaurant we found just outside USJ, before starting our day there. The early morning crowd was kinda thick already - even at 9:00 a.m. I am ... READ MORE
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Exploring Kyoto + Osaka, the DIY Way (Day 3)
After 2 full days in Kyoto (with side trip to Nara), we are now ready and excited to explore our home base, Osaka! Since AJ and I are both history buffs, we dedicated our 1st day to learn about Osaka's history. And the best way to do that is to tour Osaka Castle! Touring the castle grounds alone would already take the whole morning, with approximately 60,000 square meters ... READ MORE
Exploring Kyoto + Osaka, the DIY Way (Day 1)
The first 2 days of our trip was spent in Kyoto, and in those 2 days we have to commute all the way from Osaka because of the 'slight' change I had to make with our AirBnB booking. As mentioned in my previous post, the original plan was to stay overnight in Kyoto (so from the airport we would have traveled directly to Kyoto) and then move to Osaka on the eve of our second ... READ MORE
Exploring Kyoto + Osaka, the DIY Way (Day 0)
Konnichiwa! Just got back from a 6-day R&R trip to Japan, this time to explore its Kansai region - the cultural and historical heart of Japan. We focused our trip on the 2 core cities of the region: Kyoto and Osaka, with a half-day side trip to Nara, another core city more popularly known for its roaming, docile deer! You could say that I fell madly in love with Japan ... READ MORE
Late Post: Shopping in Tokyo
My 5-part Tokyo travelogue is still getting the most number of visits and search hits in the blog (thank you!), and this made me realize that I left one more good stuff to share about that trip - the shopping and my shopping finds! First off, I didn't shop much. I enjoyed the window shopping, though hehe! In doing so, I was able to compare prices of the Uniqlo and Muji ... READ MORE
Exploring Tokyo, the DIY Way (Day 5)
On our last day in Tokyo, we took the train going to Odaiba, (お台場) a popular shopping and entertainment district on a man made island in Tokyo Bay. It originated as a set of small man made fort islands (daiba literally means "fort"), which were built towards the end of the Edo Period (1603-1868) to protect Tokyo against possible attacks from the sea and specifically in response ... READ MORE
Exploring Tokyo, the DIY Way (Day 4)
Day 4 in Tokyo was a Sunday, and our activities for that day are: to visit Ueno Zoo in the morning and then Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden in the afternoon. These are the "non-negotiable" items in our Japan trip, and being there on a Sunday with expectedly more tourists and locals made it all the more exciting and memorable. Here's why we wanted to see Ueno Zoo so bad: The ... READ MORE
Exploring Tokyo, the DIY Way (Day 3)
Our 3rd day in Tokyo (a Saturday) was spent at Hakone, a mountainous area west of Tokyo that is also at the foot of the magnificent Mount Fuji. The initial plan was to book a day tour package through Japanican.com but after reading about the Hakone Free Pass at 2AussieTravellers.com , AJ and I decided to take the ‘road less travelled’ and do a DIY trip all the way! Hakone ... READ MORE