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 ... READ MORE
Exploring Kyoto + Osaka, the DIY Way (Day 4)
Our last 2 days in Osaka were spent as follows: Day 4 (Monday): Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan Universal Studios Japan (3:00 p.m. onwards) Day 5: (Tuesday) Universal Studios Japan (whole day) Some budget tips for Universal Studios Japan: I am a big Harry Potter fan and habang nag-iipon pa ako ng pamasahe for London and for the Harry Potter Studio Tour, I ... READ MORE
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 ... READ MORE
Exploring Kyoto + Osaka, the DIY Way (Day 2)
Day 2 of our trip to Japan last November involved another long commute by train, this time from Osaka to Nara. We left our AirBnB hostel at 6:00 a.m., and was at Shin-Ōmiya Station a little after 7 a.m. We had breakfast at one of the few open cafes inside the station. The clue to our destination that morning is in our latte art: Our plan was to spend half-day in ... 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 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 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 ... READ MORE
