Hi again!

It’s been a while since my last post, so I just I can’t wait to share with everyone about my recent trip to Japan.

I went to Japan last week. yeaay! but before going to Japan, I also went to Hong Kong and Shenzhen China for a few days. From Hong kong I went straight to Japan, I stayed in Japan for 10 days. I went to Narita, Tokyo, Fuji, Osaka and Kyoto.

HONG KONG

I stayed in Hong kong for 2 days. I didn’t go to many places, only the avenue of the stars, times square and a few other places.

SHENZHEN, CINA

Shenzhen is 30 minutes away from Hong Kong. So me and my friends decided to visit Shenzhen. We stayed at a hotel located in a very nice location (hotels in Shenzhen are super cheap) for 2 days.

I shopped a few items in dongmen, everything was so cheap and you still can bargain them. I also went to this massage place that only cost me $2 for 1 hour! How crazy was that!

JAPAN ❤

We arrived in Japan at night, so we stayed at a hotel near narita airport for one night and in the morning we moved to the Hilton Tokyo Bay near the Disneyland. I went to both Disneyland and Disneysea. it’s kinda expensive, around 10.700 yen ($115) for 2 parks, but wth, it’s Disneyland, the happiest place on earth, of course you have to see both parks right?

But then the next day, the worst thing happened to me, on the second day (when i was at Disneyland), I got this awful fever, i forced myself to go because I already paid the ticket, but I was too sick to spend the rest of the day there T_T

Disneyland 1

After 2 days at Hilton bay, we moved to Shibuya Tokyo. We stayed at an apartment in Shibuya near Takeshita and Harajuku street. The location was really dope, very close to everything and a minute walk to Harajuku station. It’s just minutes away from the main cool areas of Tokyo – Shibuya, Aoyama, Shinjuku, and 2 minutes away from Yoyogi Park, but unfortunately i didn’t get to see yoyogi park 😦

In Tokyo, the more you walk the better, because the transportations in Japan are crazy expensive.

Takeshita street is especially popular among young teenagers, particularly those visiting Tokyo, or local young people who like to spend weekends shopping. This is a pedestrian street only and it is lined by many trendy shops, fashion boutiques, used clothes stores that carry an array of styles, cafes and restaurants. Unlike Ginza, Takeshita street is not expensive at all, you can even find a 100 yen shop here.

I also went to see the famous hachiko statue in shibuya station. Hachiko Statue is the statue of the famous dog who possessed legendary loyalty to his owner. The movie was super saaaad :” but it’s one of my favorite movie ever. I watched both versions, the US version and the Japan version.

After spending 3 nights in Tokyo, we went to Gotemba or Fuji or whatever. we stayed at a traveler’s hotel called the kawaguchiko station inn. the location is just across from the Kawaguchiko train station. All of the rooms are Japanese-style rooms. It has free wifi and Mt. Fuji can be seen from the guest rooms and Jacuzzi. The people there was crazy nice. Eventho it’s a japanese style hotel but the bed and everything was so comfortable. From Tokyo to kawaguchiko it takes around 2 hours by bus. The bus costs 1700 yen ($19)

In Fuji, we went to Fuji-Q highland, it’s a theme park similar to six flags. The ticket price was 1500 yen ($17) only for the entrance, so for every ride/attraction you want to play you have to pay again. but there’s also an all pass ticket where you can play everything in the park without paying for each ride, but it’ll cost you 4200 yen ($44). The park open from 10 or 11 am till 5pm. Fuji-Q Highland is an amazing place to visit for adrenaline junkies with some jaw dropping rides and attractions.

Oh almost forgot, when i was in there i also went to Gotemba premium outlets. It is Japan’s largest class outlet mall in Gotemba with about 210 shops, commanding a good view of Mt. Fuji. Depending on your own fashion sense, you may or may not enjoy shopping in Gotemba, but the view there was really really beautiful :”)

From Gotemba / Mt Fuji, I went to Osaka. Me and my friends took the overnight bus from kawaguchiko station to Osaka station. It’s an 8 hour journey to Osaka and it’s rather expensive, if I’m not mistaken it was 8500 yen ($88). We arrived in Osaka at 6am I think, and then we went to universal city by train. We stayed at a hotel named keihan. It was in universal city, very2 close to universal studio. There were many restaurants in universal city, it’s like your own little town.

My first day in osaka, me and my friends spend the rest of the day wandering around Shinsaibashi. The Shinsaibashi district stretches north-south from Nagahori street to Dotonbori, with many long-established shops and department stores.

The next day, i went to Universal Studio Japan in Osaka. The universal studio ticket was 6000 yen, I think. The park was not that big, and it’s not as great as the one in America, bit it’s a really cute & fun park for little kids. The characters are slightly different from other universal studios i have visited.

In osaka, there were lots of japanese photo booth which was super fun because it makes you look funny and different. me and my friends tried it out, and it was fun. you should try it. it costs 500 yen.

When I was in Osaka, I went on a one day trip to Kyoto. We went by train, it takes around 45 minutes to get to Kyoto. The Kyoto station was huge! when we arrived there we went straight to the information center, they told us to buy the one day kyoto bus ticket if we want to see the whole city. It costs 500 yen, and you can go ANYWHERE in Kyoto with that bus ticket. I think it’s super convenient and cheap.

With that bus ticket I went to a temple (forgot the name) and i also went to kyoto’s famous castle, Nijo Castle.

In Kyoto, the weather was nice, the scenery was great and unlike Tokyo, there weren’t many buildings around. it’s a really traditional city.

OH! i also went to this street (forgot the name, again), it’s where the movie geisha was shot. It was amazing. I love those “we’re in japan”  kind of feelings (if you know what i mean). And when I was in Kyoto I really felt like that. Love Kyoto!

Because me and my friends were dying to try the fastest train in Japan, the Shinkansen (the bullet train), so we went home with that train. It was 1500 yen ($17) if I’m not mistaken, more expensive than the normal train, but it only takes you 10 minutes to get back to Osaka, the Shinkansen network boasts not only high speed (up to 300 kilometers per hour) but also high frequency. Yup, it was fast.

Japan:

1. Kyoto is the place for green tea lovers

2. In Tokyo, Kit Kats with unique flavor is not easy to find, they don’t sell em in 711 etc. But you can find them at Narita airport. The big box is 1150 yen and the small box is 150 yen.

3. Fuji was breathtaking

4. Taxis, unless tou’re super rich, don’t take them

5. Japanese people are sooooooo nice.

6. What makes me sad the most is that when i was in Japan i didn’t get to see the Doraemon museum cause it’s a bit far from the city. but I LOVE CARTOONS!!! CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT THEM, and Doraemon is one of my favorite, it’s part of my life, and i didn’t get the chance to go there*&%@!#. so my advice, GO, even if it’s far, GO, or you’ll regret it for the rest of your life, i’m being serious.

I love Japan for its energy and its beautiful cities. It’s full of people, heaps of shopping ($$$$$) and great food. The only bad thing– money does not last very long here 🙂  have a great trip!

Happy traveling,

xo