Day 24 - Osaka Unlimited 1 (contd)

The Osaka castle was probably the newest of its kind - the old castle was burnt down during WWII, and the present one was completely rebuilt, with (relatively) wide aisles and staircases and fully air-conditioned interior. There were plenty of exhibits along the way as we made our descent from the 6th floor, mostly artifacts from the different clans and warlords that ruled Osaka in the past. There were also video clips and audio commentaries that revolved around the life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a legendary person that made his way from commoner to Kampaku (the highest position in the Japanese imperial court) and unified Japan. I knew his story pretty well, having covered it in Japanese Studies and also in the game Taiko Rishiden which was based on his struggle from rags to riches; but it was different to actually SEE his portrait, his handwriting, his armor and swords, and of course his famous collection of tea utensils.

After leaving the castle, we dropped by the Nishinomaru Garden, which was famous for its 600 cherry trees that made it a hot spot for sakura viewing. Alas, we arrived at the wrong season, so the park was all green. There were a lot of schoolchildren though, lower primary predominantly, and they were apparently on a school excursion. Seeing them having so much fun together, chasing each other, skipping, singing, picnicking, etc., made us envious of the abundant choices Japanese schoolchildren enjoy for excursions. A sharp contrast with our own system - I recalled having visited the Botanic Garden and Zoo/Night Safari 3 times each, Bird Park and Science Centre twice each, and of course Sentosa. Oh well.

Then it was a short "train" ride to...the entrance of the castle compound. Yes. It was the Osaka Castle Park Tram, nicknamed "Road Train". Essentially a tram that LOOKS like a train, SOUNDS like a train, but moves on wheels. We would not have taken it if it weren't for our Unlimited Pass. So we joined a bunch of En-Joys (who paid 200 Yen each) for a train ride during which many pedestrians bypassed us. But when the schoolchildren saw us, they had the WOW expression on their faces. Their teacher led them in waving to us, and they waved frantically and were genuinely thrilled. Jap kids are sooooo cute :P

After disembarking from the train, we walked over to the Osaka Museum of History. It featured the history of Osaka city, which had quite a bit of overlap with what we saw earlier at the Osaka Castle. One interesting part was an entire level recreated in the Meiji period Osaka setting - houses, shops, people, everything. One gets to walk along the streets and experience how life was like a century ago. Aside from that, there were plenty of interactive games for children, which attracted hordes of school kids. We were tempted to try too but couldn't make sense of the games. Plus, it might be a tad embarrassing to be competing with kids for those games :P

Our stomachs were growling by the time we left the museum, and since the next part of our itinerary lies in a different part of the city, we decided to head back to Shinsaibashi for the famed Sweets Paradise buffet. We were lost after exiting the station, and couldn't find the building that housed the restaurant. I approached an uniformed lady at the entrance of Takashimaya who appeared to be greeting guests arriving in cars, she had no clue where the building was initially, but upon mentioning that we wanted to go to Sweets Paradise, she immediately went "AHH~!" and promptly showed us the direction. I sheepishly asked if it was oishii, and was reassured that it was indeed "Oishii desu!"

We reached the restaurant and it was already quite packed. For 1480 Yen per person, you get a huge spread of cakes, puddings, pastries, icecreams, chocolate fondue, pastas, snacks, drinks and occasionally some meat as well. The selection of desserts was mind-blowing, though not as crazy and appetizing as those at departmental store basements but hey, it's freeflow here! We ate our fill here, having drooled over desserts at Seiyu and Taka basements for the past few days but bought pathetically little in view of budgetary constraints. The restaurant was filled with young OLs and schoolgirls, and I was the only male there for quite some time. Grace was surprised that they all looked so skinny despite the buffets (they appeared to be regular patrons), until she spotted one lady downing Starch blockers and Chitosan pills (fat-absorbing supplement) before attacking her plate. No wonder the drugstores sell these blockers like crazy.

After the buffet we went to the subway station, and tested ourselves enroute by intentionally bypassing the desserts counters. Success!! For the first time since our arrival in Japan, we were quite immune to those sickeningly appetizing desserts. Not completely immune as we would still love to eat them, but at least we weren't drooling like nobody's business anymore :)

Next stop was Nagai Botanical Garden, which housed the Osaka Museum of Natural History too. But since the last admission was 30 minutes before the closing time at 5pm, we were rushing all the way upon exiting the Nagai station at close to 4pm. We made it in time, though the garden was already quite deserted at that time. It was huge, with plenty of flowers that we couldn't quite name, and has a couple of ponds and very long walking paths. It would have been great to take a stroll here leisurely and spend a couple of hours here, but since we were rushing for time, we didn't have the luxury of touring the entire garden. We covered only the portions closest to the entrance, took a few shots and left promptly for the Natural History Museum.

There was a lovely little garden right outside the museum, which was quite a sharp contrast with the enormous Whale skeleton hanging from the roof of the museum entrance. There was a heart-shaped flower ring in the centre of the garden, and once again there was a bell, very much alike the garden we went to last summer in Hokkaido. By the time we entered the museum it was completely empty except for the staff, and they were quite surprised to see that there were still visitors who would pay 300 yen to come in 20 minutes before the museum closes (of course they didn't know that we were on the amazing Osaka Unlimited Pass! XD). The museum featured not only dinosaurs but also plants and animals from all parts of the world, and there were quite a few interactive videos/games that were not only educational but highly entertaining too. Our discovery centre pales quite sharply in contrast.

We left the garden shortly after 5 (it didn't close at exactly 5pm, as there were still one or two old folks loitering near the entrance then). Enroute back to the Nagai station we saw an old man feeding pigeons - HUGE pigeons, and FLOCKS of them. He would throw some crumbs out and the entire flock would flutter and scurry towards the crumbs, and then throw some more in another direction and set off another wave of fluttering. At some instances he was almost completely covered by pigeons. Shudders. I can't understand why people do this. The pigeons are WAY TOO FAT in Japan, and they are a public nuisance. They should totally outlaw pigeon feeding man.

We were back to Shinsaibashi for the Tonbori river cruise. We had 30 minutes before the next departure, so we wandered into a shop beside the boarding point, which sold all kinds of cosplay costumes and wigs too. I saw the latest La Pin'dor wigs there, the ones that I used to sell back in 2003, and it brought back flooding memories of my pathetic JC days spent scrubbing plates and distributing flyers to repay my debt. Oh wells. After much contemplation I bought a wig at 6980Y (ouch), just so that I'd save some trouble styling my hair every morning, which I totally suck at.

The cruise was nubbad, and the guide was really enthusiastic and joked extensively. Despite the language barrier we could understand quite a bit of his commentary, with all his elaborate gestures. We passed off as Japs as I was responding to his jokes and exclaiming occasionally with what little Japanese I knew, until he asked me a difficult question and I sheepishly admitted that it was too difficult for me to comprehend. He was very surprised, and added in more English subsequently. Overall it was an enjoyable cruise, though I doubt we'd ever pay 700 yen per person for this. Money better spent on food :P:P

Our last stop for the day was Umeda, the first stop of our first trip to Japan two years back. And we went up to the Floating Garden Observatory again. It is an amazing place and a MUST VISIT for all that go to Osaka, seriously. The transparent escalator that led us from 30+ floor up to the sky garden was gorgeous. I think they revamped the second floor from the top, and now it has several isolated and elevated platforms for couples to sit and enjoy the night view through huge wall-to-ceiling windows. The fact that the platform seats are covered from the rear and separated from the other platforms ensured exclusivity and privacy, and coupled with the dim lighting and the breathtaking night views, they constitute a truly romantic experience. There were many couples cuddling at respective platforms, and we were lucky enough to grab one as there were only 5 or 6 of them there. Pictures could not do the scenery justice. After resting and soaking in the amazing views for 20+ minutes, we left for the rooftop garden.

It was freezing and windy up there, just like how it was 2 years ago. And there was a couple undergoing a special ritual - having their names engraved onto some silver or golden lock, and then having exclusive access to a special platform on the rooftop with special lighting and some interesting decorations to perform a ritual that supposedly seals their fate together. At a price, of course. Think it was over 10,000 Yen or something. Romantic, yes, but none of us would willingly fork out THAT much for a ritual and a lock. Food food food :D

On the way down Grace went crazy, and we caught those funny moments on video. Time to head back to our cozy My Dear II.

Day 24 - Osaka Unlimited 1

the reason why this post is so titled is bcos we activated the Osaka Thru Pass today which allows us to ride lots of subway lines AND gain admission to more than 20 over places of attraction FOR FREE! well technically speaking, we paid to buy the pass so yeah. but without this pass we will have zero incentive to visit any payable attraction so its good in a way. to make our money's worth, we had to chiong attractions and i think we managed a record of 8 attractions on this day!

1. OSAKA CASTLE
i really think the green and gold trimmings on the facade of the main castle building is super pretty. but of course it has been restored and made modern over the years. we each got an audio guide which allows u to listen to english commentary at the different exhibits.

Day 23 - Kyoto & Arashiyama

today we activate our subway pass so we'll get to travel quite far out. the intention was to cover Kyoto, Arashiyama and Uji if the weather doesnt turn bad. it was bright and sunny when we reached Arashiyama. crossed some old bridge and started our walk to the Bamboo Forest. reached Tenryuji, where we were last year and decided to get an ice cream cone cos the weather was really super duper hot. 4 different soft cream flatours - mango, soba, green tea and vanilla. totally yummy. after having a first mouthful, i immediately asked tobs to buy another one.

there were many small bugs at Bamboo Forest so we didnt spend too long in there. plus it was hot. would have been infinitely better in autumn i guess. took a bus (free with the pass!) to the nearby subway station and boarded a one-carriage train to (FILL IN NAME OF THE PLACE). enroute to see a (free) temple, i saw a shop selling tofu cheesecake so of course i had to try it. but alas, it was not very good.

Tenmangu Shrine enshrines a Heian scholar who is also regarded as the Deity of Learning. so we saw lots of high school kids praying for good grades at the shrine. did we pray? erm, no? but it was fun watching the procedure for praying.

at Kyoto station, i wanted food. but not real food so i settled for a strawberry tart. that shop had a particular signage tt says the tart maker has trained under famous patisserie for 5 years, ensuring the quality of the sweets made. the tart was indeed quite nice i must say. 378Y.

travelled down to Uji in the hope of having our 350Y cone. so we walked all the way to the shop but IT WAS CLOSED. all our hopes were dashed. lucky we had the soft cream cone at Arashimaya earlier else it would have been really very sad indeed. tobs was hopeful tt perhaps the Honten will have it so we navigated until we reached the main shop but alas they do not serve soft cream cones. boo. wasted trip.

went down to Shinsaibashi for dinner and ended up at Kamukura - where we had our first bowl of ramen when we first went to Japan 2 years ago. that place brings back fond memories. but business aint as good now. after we ate, we could tell why - standard has indeed dropped. but i liked the chives offered as a side. they were quite nice. finished up with desserts at My Dear's restaurant.

Day 22 - Osaka

walked to the nearby Juso station to take the Hankyu line. if tobs makes me walk to the "nearest" JR station again i will slaughter him. the "nearest" one was like 45 mins walk away or sth. almost died walking there the day before.

was supposed to go to the Osaka tourist info centre to buy our one-day passes and ask questions. but when we got to the station, there were *drumroll 26 EXITS. but we eventually found our way around though we did get sidetracked bcos of a wonderful banana aroma. it was so strong and enticing i knew i HAD TO eat whatever that thing was. so i got tobs to ask abt it. and we went into the nearby bakery to ask what product it was tt was giving off tt heavenly aroma (so tt we can buy and consume it immediately).

the salesgirl looked abit sheepish and apologetic when she answered us. well. it turned out tt the smell came frm the nxt door belgium waffle shop. it was very embarrassing but we genuinely thought it was the product of the bakery okay! so we went to the belgium waffle shop and indeed the banana waffles were heavenly. i totally regret not eating more more more. sigh.

travelled down to Shinsaibashi and wanted to find a good place for lunch. the helpful station master approached us and recommended okonomiyaki stores to us. apparently Fugetsu is not looked upon too kindly. i guess it has been commercialised. i was very attracted to this particular shop tt does okono in the style of cartoon characters so off we went!

it was quite a beat up old shop. looked like it was passed down for several generations? the shop front was not very noticeable. and the kitchen is right at the front, seating's at the back. so it was all quite weird. but the premium modanyaki with all the meat fillings was only 1100Y!! i also got their home-brewed plum sake. which kicked arse i tell u. super good.

the guy who served us looked abt our age. he could speak abit of english and was extremely friendly. when we almost wanted to order a 2nd serving he actually tried to tell us 1 would be quite sufficient. other ppl would be more than glad to serve u the 2nd one cos its extra revenue for them man. nice guy.

then it was shopping along Shinsaibashi. went to this sweets shop and ate really nice and fluffy buns with custard filling. immediately bought lots to stock up in the hotel fridge. afterall, we'd be staying for 6 nights! went to uniqlo to look around too before going back to Juso for dinner.

every night we'd get 1000Y worth of dinner voucher to spend at My Dear's restaurant. how wonderful is that!! we ordered a hamburg steak set and a pork chop set which usually would cost 1000Y EACH but we only had to pay 1000Y. wonderful! thanks to tobs and God we get all these fantastic deals! and we also packed a cup dessert frm Konigs - it was heavenly. i wished we could eat one EACH!

Day 21 - Wakayama & Rinku

decided to head down to Wakayama over Beppu cos i thought the ramen would be more worth it than seeing hell. turned out to be quite a bad decision but hey at least we now know what Wakayama ramen tastes like.

the tourist information centre directed us to the #1 ramen in Wakayama and when we got there, there was already quite a long queue outside. so of course u think this must be good! but as we queued outside, i smelled a weird pungent odour and wondered where it came frm. when our time came, we stepped into the shop and realised *drumroll the pungent smell came frm in there! very discomforting indeed.

ordered our ramen + egg. the noodles were very springy indeed. but the soup base and the char siew wasnt very much to our liking. it was too pork. i guess tts where the pungent smell came frm. and the pork fat was very very hard to stomach bcos it felt like it hasnt been processed properly. oh well. been there, done that.

nxt stop - Rinku Premium Outlets. it was quite some distance frm the JR station but it was also located near the bayside so the coastal winds were very refreshing. more GAP buys! and after spending what seemed like an eternity at Reebok, we each ended up with a pair of Taikan shoes. and because they were display pieces, they were only like 2500Y each! plus we got like a % discount off tt price cos we bought 2 pairs! but the only regretful thing was i think i either took the wrong size while making the final payment or underestimated my feet's expansion capabilities cos i cant seem to wear them properly now? sads.

this was also the wonderful day we got to check into MY DEAR 2 at Juso!!! this must be the bestest best hotel in the entire trip. most value for money, most comfortable too. we even made a short video showcasing highlights of the room - spacious bed, tv in the bathroom, tsubaki and kose toiletries, toilet bowl seat tt lifts up when u enter, free video on demand, what more can u ask for!

Day 20 - Tokyo

we did a very horrible thing today which only foreigners holding onto JR passes can do. instead of taking the yamanote line to travel frm tokyo to ueno, we took the shinkansen instead. and when we got off, we attracted major stares and exclamations frm the ppl on the platform who weren't expecting anyone to alight at ueno, which is like one shinkansen stop away frm tokyo and which would have cost alot more ex than taking the regular trains.

it started drizzling when we got to ueno. original intention was to visit the Asakusa Shrine cos we have NEVER been there all this while. but it was either we pay for subway or we take a super uber long walk there. so in the end, we still did not go to the shrine. instead, we went to Ueno Park and since it was raining, there wasnt much to see.

Ameyayokocho was also quite miserable in the rain. and when it was time for lunch, we headed down to Ikebukuro (of course) for our favourite BOMB ramen. but the bf needed the toilet and we were in Isetan but he just cldnt seem to find a toilet without queues. poor thing.

long queue at Bomb (whats new). and there was this mega irritating guy who kept talking non-stop until he was going to give me a headache. he'd talk and then laugh his own weird laughter while his "friend" or companion barely responded. sad case. they came to take our orders and this time they allowed us to order 4 bombs!! yeah! in the end i finished my upsized bowl all by myself cos it was just SO GOOD. they shld totally come to Singapore. please?

thereafter we visited several Uniqlo outlets just to find tobs shirt. i very much liked the one the salesman was wearing so we asked him where we can get it. after searching for it unsuccessfully, he apologetically told us it might be sold out but suggested we try other branches. the thing abt these Japanese salesperson, when they report to u tt sth is out of stock/no size/no colour, they will give you tt immensely apologetic and sorry look complete with a frown and bunching of eyebrows which just makes u feel soooo bad for causing them the trouble. but this shld be what good service is abt.

Day 19 - Kamikochi

im probably not very qualified to write this entry cos i dont know the specifics. since im the follower on the trip, details like what bus we took, what time we set off, will never stay in my head for long.

to get up, we had to first take a bus up to a bus terminal halfway up the mountains and then change bus to get to Kamikochi. bus rides are totally not cheap at all. plus all buses tt go up are certified environmentally friendly so they dont damage beautiful mother nature. the scenery enroute was breath-taking but looking down with the realisation of how high and steep we're climbing sometimes makes me sick. but thank God journeys were all safe. Japanese drivers do take pride in their jobs!

we had the option of doing several trails but obviously we could only pick the shortest route cos we didnt have much time to spare. i cant provide u with names cos i think we threw the map away. we started at Kappabashi Bridge but it was basically a route along one of the banks of the river and then going back on the opposite bank.

it was my first time seeing snow-capped mountains. would have been better if it were actually snowing though cos i really want to make snow angels and build snowmen and have snow fights! but tts besides the point. hee. there were random artists sprawled abt on the compounds, sketching and/or painting the scenery. its amazing what the Japanese ppl do for recreation. we also saw groups of middle-aged and above folks trekking and they would greet u "Konichiwa!" when u passed by them.

there was supposed to be a Myou Jinke pond to see along the way but when we got there, admission was chargeable (. . .) so we obviously did not go in. when we were past the halfway mark, we were worried cos at our pace, it didnt seem like we could make it back in time to catch the bus. so we hurried. but i could easily spend a whole day in Kamikochi enjoying the scenery really so it was a tad bit wasted tt we were rushing through instead of taking time to soak in the experience.

but the skies turned dark so it was probably a good idea to hurry back anyway. travelled down to Nagoya to have the famous Unagi Don. each set costs abt S$40 and the bf *almost didnt bear to get one for himself. he wanted to order one set for me and then he'll get food frm the convenience store later. silly boy!

frm where i was sitting i could see the chef preparing the eel. it was damn cool cos he had like 7 long metal sticks poked into the eel and he uses the spaces in between his fingers to get a grip on the sticks to maneuver the eel around on the barbeque. it was quite wolverine-ish. scary.

the set came and there were 3 ways u could eat it - first, with the dried seaweed. or with japanese leek. or with spices and japanese soup stock. i liked the 2nd and 3rd way the best. so glad i finally ate my Unagi Don on the trip!

took the Hikari down to Shin-Yokohama where we were supposed to stay for the night. it was a 1.5hr journey so i helped tobs trim his eyebrow and taught him how to do it on his own. he developed this super weird way which was to use the tweezer to catch hold of the hair first before turning the head in the opposite direction quickly so the hair would be pulled out. quite hilarious watching him do it. and check out the video we took on the train too! miss japan so much!

DAY 18 - Kanazawa, Toyama & Takayama

This was to be the mad rush day. We got off the overnight Sunrise Izumo at Himeji station and promptly boarded the shinkansen bound for Osaka. Then changed to a limited express bound for Kanazawa, our first stop for the day.

Originally we were supposed to spend one night in Kanazawa Dormy Inn, but to fully utilize our JR pass (which will soon expire), we made this a half-day tour. Or rather 3 hour tour. After spending 400 yen (ouch) and dumping our luggage at the station lockers, we set off for the city's main attraction - Kenrokuen.

Bus was 100 yen each (mini ouch) and admission was 300yen each (big ouch! that's 4.50 SGD per head!). This was the first garden that we actually paid admission for after coming to Japan this year. And honestly, 300 yen is quite cheap in contrast with other gardens that charge anywhere between 500~800yen per pax. We aren't that willing to spend on admissions - as Grace puts it, "it's not as if you can EAT the garden!"

But well this one is famous, one of the top three gardens in Japan. And it was huge! And filled with tour groups. Seeing them hurrying along behind the flag-waving whistle-blowing tour guides like ducklings struggling to keep up with mummy ducky made us appreciate the F&E experience all the more. Plenty of nice ponds and little hills, but the sky appeared to be quite bleak that day, ruining the chances of us getting some decent scenic shots. And there was Japan's oldest fountain too. After strolling randomly for a while Grace's stomach was protesting, so we decided to leave the garden.

Enroute to the station we passed by the Kanazawa castle, which was under renovation. I think it's only in Japan that you get to see SOOOOO many castles, nearly every major city has one! And since we've covered most parts of Japan over the last three years, the glistening white walls didn't wow us as much as Himeji castle did when we spotted it two years back. I admire the Japanese government for putting so much effort into conserving their culture and heritage (and charging a hefty admission too afterwards). Hardly anywhere else do you see hundreds of festivals at different prefectures/cities over a year, all with different costumes/decorations/processes.

We spotted a cool water clock in front of the Kanazawa station - it displays timing (up to seconds) with mini fountains!! Then we caught a train to Toyama, our second stop for the day.

Our sole purpose for coming to Toyama was for The Buffet. That's the name of a buffet restaurant chain (how very unoriginal). After trying it last year at its Sappuro branch, we loved it so much that we had to try it again. Little did we know that the standards in Toyama were considerably below that in Sappuro. We took a long time to find the shopping complex it was in, and had to ask for directions twice along the way and walk for a good 20 odd minutes. Price was 1580 per pax, 90 minutes. But the spread was much less that Sappuro's. Alas, we ate our fill, but was overall disappointed with the variety. Will definitely go back to Sappuro one day for The (REAL) Buffet again! :)

Long walk back to the station. We managed to catch the limited express bound for Takayama (one every 3 hours or so, missing it would have been disastrous). Another 3 hours dozing on the train, which was traveling at local train speed for most of the journey (probably because it was in mountain regions). Eventually, we reached Takayama, and found our Superhotel without much difficulty. After a relaxing bath at the hotel's onsens (I chose it particularly for its hot springs...and partially because it's new), we retired to bed early to prepare for tomorrow's ascent to Kamikochi.

Day 17 - Mitsui Outlet Mall

was trying to decide where to go before we leave for Sendai and we finally decided on shopping at Mitsui Outlet Mall Sendai. it was quite a long walk frm the station but the weather was fine so no complaints:)

its the 2nd newest outlet mall to be added to japan i think. but unfortunately we didnt snap alot of good buys. just got a top each. but i especially liked mine - a black turtleneck batwinged top. looks really classy and expensive!

of course before we bid farewell to beloved Sendai, we had to pay Triangle another visit. this time, we each got a upsized mentai soup spaghetti. and i polished it up. every single bit. at the end, it felt like i just had a buffet. but it was SO GOOODDD!

not wanting to repeat the same tragedy last year (not buying enough daifukus), we bought a box of EIGHT. yeah i know it sounds abit too much but u can never get enough of good food okay! we also tried their new product - smaller daifukus with red bean and other types of filling. but on hindsight, i'd rather spend ALL my money on my strawberry daifukus. sigh. but no regrets. this trip i really had my fill of Triangle and Daifuku. of course, more would be greatly appreciated:)

Day 16 - Sendai

it was an okay sleep on Sunrise but i was feeling a little grumpy in the morning. there was some issue at one of the train stations so we got badly delayed and had to drop off at another station instead. ppl should just stop jumping off train tracks. it is a very inconsiderate act!

station was in a mess bcos of morning rush. but we managed to secure seats on the shinkansen and made our way down to Sendai. thank u tobs for fitting it into our itinerary! :) headed straight for Triangle cos we had bars for breakfast and tt was obviously insufficient. i was SO HAPPY to be back, practically beaming with joy. they didnt have the set we had the other time but there was some other set promo. drink + salad + spaghetti.

we were early and the set was only meant for 1130 to 1400 (i think) but we explained to the waitress tt we are loyal customers who came last yr so she made an exception. yeahness! i ordered a wonderfully yummifying cream cheese drink which was so nice i spent the rest of the trip looking (unsucessfully) for it. i love my mentai soup spaghetti. i dont know how ppl can eat the shitty ones at waraku. its a royal waste of calories! i polished up the entire bowl including all the soup, desperately trying to scrape remaining mentai out of the bowl. then it was dessert at La Feng Ye. the strawberry daifuko is still super good. worth every cent of my 189Y.

after dumping our luggage at Superhotel, we went exploring Sendai. nothing much we haven't seen actually cos last yr we took a one day bus pass and rode all around to visit attractions. so this time we just strolled along the streets randomly. i love love love the whole stretch of greens in the middle of the road. Sendai is really a city of trees.

then somehow we ended up at a park and there was a family there. daddy with 2 young children. very nice to see fathers spending time with their children. those japanese fathers who're really committed spend time playing baseball or bring their kids to playgrounds. we played around in the swings and tobs learnt the art of swinging frm master pro swinger (me).

enroute back, we passed by the residence of a famous person and decided to go in to take a look. the keeper wasnt really expecting us and i think we kinda interrupted his peaceful afternoon. but still he showed us around and introduced us to this famous poet and what his life was like.

before returning to the hotel, we went back to Sendai station to sweep desserts. bought a really wonderful mango tart. and of course more more daifuku! i think tt was our dinner really. then it was a good soak in the onsen (this superhotel has one) before retiring to bed.

(errata)
obviously i was mistaken wrt to dinner. tobs reminded me tt we went to Santouka for ramen and it was heavenly. how can i forget! but i forgot to bring my camera along so when there're no pictures, it just doesnt register. i rmb we both got shio and the egg was the bestest best egg we've ever had on the entire trip. and i dare say EVER in our 3 trips. it was even better than Ichiran's even though theirs run out super fast too.

we're both very alike in tt we enjoy thick Tonkatsu broth, Kyushu style, with the exception of Santouka cos Shio has quite a different feel to it. but its still one of our first loves. think: 1st trip in Sapporo where we braved the light rain and cold winds to find Santouka. too bad the honten has been renovated so it looks super modern now. ramen love!

Day 15 - Okayama & Himeji

we met our match at Okayama. they've got the most unfriendly tourist information centre staff. most most most unfriendly. yes they served us, but even though we were friendly, they looked like we owe them money.

so we explored on our own. Okayama is the town of Tao Tai Lang. apparently he emerged frm some peach and was a blessing to the childless couple. i think he slayed demons or sth? all the folk legend characters have some part in slaying demons anyway. there were tons of Tao Tai Lang mini statutes along the streets and most look creepy cos they're like greenish in colour and of little children - like sth straight out of a horror movie.

had a hard time deciding where to lunch cos Matsuya and Yoshinoya were a few stores away frm each other. settled for Yoshi in the end. i think tobsy picked it so i could eat the Oyako Don. but their Oyako Don wasnt very nice. i'd take the Gyu Don any day. i love the Yoshi concept in Japan. totally efficient and zero wastage. u have 2 ppl running the entire show - cook, clean, mend the cash register, etc. why didnt they import this system to Singapore? cos we're all bloody slackers.

saw the castle frm a distance and then decided to head back to the station. nothing particularly exciting in the area so we decided to take Shinkansen down to Himeji. saw school children going to the Shinkansen station, presumably to take the train home. rich folks. but im sure there's some student concession of sorts.

more walking around at Himeji but we discovered tt the pudding shop has closed down FOR GOOD. andandand the quaint little shop with the cheap red bean buns is also gone. we used to buy the Meiji green tea ice cream and eat it with the hot red bean buns. sads. we tried the new Meiji rock melon flavoured ice cream before heading back to Okayama.

was supposed to have Ippudo but we werent exactly hungry so in the end, i courageously decided to forgo dear Ippudo and had Matsuya instead. loovee the hamburg steak with cheese inside. but Yoshi's Gyu Don is still better i think.

then it was the overnight train. i didnt know what to expect of Sunrise Izumo but it turned out to be not too bad. well, if u compare it with the Nomi Nomi we took on the very first trip, this is fantastic. plus, thank God we managed to secure 2nd level spaces so there wont be much noise and vibration frm the train. it wasnt exactly very very very comfortable but i survived and would continue to take this cos it really saves us alot of money since we didnt have to spend on accomodation.

Day 14 - Nagasaki

tobsy:
Mad rush to the bus terminal. Somehow we were always in a rush in the morning – too much procrastination probably. But we made it in time for the high speed bus bound for Nagasaki. We opted for bus over JR as the former cost 4500 for two while the latter cost 5500. 1000 yen more to spend on food! :D

We napped on the bus and woke up to a familiar Nagasaki station. There was a multi-school music performance at the station, and some of them even dressed up as animals and Pokemons. For entertainment value more than anything else I guess. We grabbed maps from the tourist information centre, and asked for recommendations for Champon (Nagasaki-style soup noodles). We had a fantabulous Champon at Kumamoto last year, and we really wanted to try the authentic local Nagasaki flavour. After that, we set off for the southern part of the city on tram. We’ve covered the northern half last year (A-bomb museum, Peace Park, etc) so we were trying to complete the round-city tour.

Got off at the Cathedral stop and walked up the slope. Lots of little shops along the road side selling souvenirs and local snacks. Many were selling Charsiew Pau (yes, the ones you see in SG, just slightly bigger. Supposedly a local delight) at outrageous prices ranging from 280yen to 380 yen. That’s like 4.50 to 6 bucks man EACH. Crazy. Of course we didn’t buy any. There was a really fairytale-ish castle-like building along the way, housing a bookshop on level 1 and art galleries on level 2 and 3. Free admission for level 1 but upon seeing that they were all children’s book drawings, we backed off.

Saw the famous cathedral halfway up the hill, took a picture of it and left (admission cost 300yen, and according to reviews the inside was not really all that fantastic). We detest the idea of having to pay for admissions. As Grace put it, “It’s not as if you can EAT the XXXX (cathedral, garden, castle, park, museum, etc etc)”. haha. We’re foodies driven by our basic instinct to eat :P

The famous Glover Garden had a nice pathway up and escalators too, but admission cost an outrageous 700yen per person. That’s like 21 bucks for the two of us – for a garden. Once again, reviews said that it wasn’t worth the money, so we didn’t pay a single cent to go in. And we were not alone. Apparently a bunch of Japanese obasans took the escalators up before us, took some brochures, loitered for a while at the entrance and went back down again. Sensible folks :D

Spotted a cute cat lazing in front of a shop on the way down. We tried to tease it by mewing, and to our surprise the cat NARROWED its eyes at us, as if saying, “Don’t even try – you’re not remotely close, dumb humans”. Hilarious man.

According to the lady at the station Tourist Information Centre, we were supposed to take a tram to Chinatown, our destination for lunch. But since the tram stops were so close together, we decided to walk instead (and save money for food!!). Along the way there was some old, preserved red brick houses that once housed European embassies (Nagasaki was one of the first ports to open up to foreigners), but we were not the sort that can derive much satisfaction from soaking in the history and fantasizing about what could have transpired in these buildings before our great-great-great-great grandparents were even born, we took a few pictures and moved on.

Somehow all the Chinatowns in Japan had the same look – elaborate Chinese-style gates at the entrances, hardly anything else. So the Nagasaki version bore close resemblance to the Yokohama one that we visited last year. Deja vu. We trudged along the streets, driven more by our nose than any sense of directions, and found the #1 recommended restaurant. Alas, despite the sickeningly appetite-inducing aroma at the entrance (partially due to our hunger, which had been brooding for ages by then), the price turned us away – this has happened again and again throughout our Japan trips, even though we kept reminding ourselves that we had saved enough through other means (not going into parks/castles/museums) to justify occasional indulgences, when the decision time comes, we’d often falter and leave. We’d be scolding ourselves later in the day when we settle down to reflect upon the day’s events, but we never learn from our mistakes. Oh well.

Now in retrospect, yes it was expensive, at 1500 / pax for a big bowl of seemingly simple Chinese noodles. But it could have tasted heavenly; and anything beats what we had next. We ended up at two restaurants across the road from each other – one was the same as the Taipien restaurant that we tried and loved in Kumamoto last year, the other was also highly recommended. After much contemplation and procrastination, we decided to go to the one that we had not been to. BIG mistake. The food wasn’t THAT terrible, honestly; but it was absurdly salty, so salty that we left before finishing everything and were thirsty for the next several hours. Grace’s soupy version was somewhat neutralized with water, but mine was dry, and hence the full-blown salt attack. Shudders. Their Champon was not even remotely close to what we had in Kumamoto last year.

After the miserable lunch we took a tram to the newly-opened mall that we spotted earlier in the morning. We spent some time looking around in Uniqlo, but decided against purchasing anything as we’d be passing by MANY Uniqlos for the next two weeks. Then it was one of the biggest disappointments of our trip – Cookie Chou. There was a bakery near Uniqlo that was having promotion for Cookie Chou at 100 yen each – not the typical Beard Papa cream puff, but coated with cookie skin (I really don’t know how to describe it, the semi-crispy-crusted exterior) and fully laden with delicious custard cream. The cheapest and the best we’d have for the entire trip. We tried one on the spot and loved it instantly. But for some reason Grace decided to buy just 5 (or 6?) for dinner, and it was only after we got back to the hotel and started munching did we blame ourselves for not buying more. Sadness.

Caught the hotel shuttle bus, and it was a VERY steep and absurdly narrow road uphill. Plenty of cemeteries along the way (creepy) and even more houses (even more creepy! Who in the right state of mind would stay beside graveyards?????). But thank God the hotel (Nishokan) was not anywhere near those graveyards. It was an old tourist hotel that recently underwent a major renovation, so it appeared quite new, albeit really quiet and hardly any customer – it was the ultra low-season now anyway. We reserved a hillside room since it was cheaper than the harbor-side room; but after seeing the harbor-side view from the corridor windows, we decided to switch to the more expensive room. Afterall, the whole point of us staying at Nishokan was for its famous nightview – which saved us the 3000+ yen that we would have spent to take tram, bus and ropeway up another mountain for the same night view. For an additional 500yen, not only did we get a much better night view, but also an extra bed, bringing the total number to 3 semi-doubles. Crazy. We shifted the beds together so we ended up with 1 gigantic, empress-dowager-size bed (at least 2X King size

As the public bathhouse didn’t supply onsen water like I anticipated, we showered in our own room instead of soaking at the public bath with scenic view. After taking a few (bad) snapshots of the Nagasaki nightview, and hastily finishing our cookie chous, we retired early to bed. The hotel didn’t have internet connection, so for once I didn’t have to do any further research on weather, food or H1N1 situation.

grace:
took a highway bus down frm Hakata to Nagasaki. just too poor to afford shinkansen. all the better anyway cos we caught up on precious sleep on the bus ride. the previous night we returned late and had to do laundry before trying to sort out what exactly to bring with us on the crazy trip and what to leave behind.

reached Nagasaki past noon and deposited our luggage in the coin locker. 300Y. our heart bleeds every time we had to do that. but thank God we managed to organise our stuff so we only brought one luggage along. if we had 2, tt would be 600Y man. when we got there there was this cool all schools band performance thingum and we even saw students dressed in animal costumes. for what i do not know.

drew cash frm the JP bank atm. 10,000Y sounds like a lot huh. but towards the end it was insufficient. then we started on our (continued) tour of Nagasaki. last yr we went to the peace park and the atomic bomb museum (which was horrifying). this yr, we're trying to cover places tt we havent seen and hopefully free ones.

the trams in Nagasaki are super cool. but its kinda tiny and there's always a long queue for it. our first stop was the Oura Catholic Church. built by French missionaries in 1864, this building is now a National Treasure and the oldest church in Japan. admission fee 300Y so we only took a peekture outside.

then it was Glover Garden, the former house of British merchant Thomas Glover and other 19th century buildings. admission fee 600Y so again we didnt go in. im not abt to pay S$9 to see a GARDEN ok. its not like i can eat the GARDEN (quote made famous by me in japan:)

along the way we saw lots of shops selling kou rou bao. at outrageous prices. i think u can probably get a decent one in Singapore for like max $1 plus? in Japan, they go for like 300Y onwards (S$4.50). cheat tourist money. its not asif kou rou bao originated frm Nagasaki anyway. there was a shop selling famous Nagasaki cakes so we went in for samples. tobs was so hungry tt his stomach was growling (poor tobs). but after trying everything, i didnt really think any was so fantastic tt its worth the price. i have high standards i guess. haha~

wanted to go down the Hollander Slope but was convinced by tobs tt it was only a slope. did see many old Western-style houses along the street so tt was pretty ok. and we walked all the way down to Chinatown and had lunch at Hui Le Yuan which was recommended by the tourist information centre for its Champong. well, we ordered their top 2 recommended dishes and it was ok. but salty. it was quite regretful in the end cos the meal came up to 2500Y.

last stop was a new mall called Coco Walk tt just opened recently so we didnt see it last yr. it was huge (whats new) and we walked around abit until it was time to go back to the station to catch the shuttle bus to the hotel. wanted to grab sth to eat and bought cookie chous for like 100Y EACH!! original price 150Y but i guess its the mall's opening month or sth so it was on promotion. and we only bought like erh 4. or was it 5. had it for dinner. and hated ourselves for not getting more. COOKIE CHOU ROCKS. pls chant the cookie chou chant now: coo-kie chou! coo-kie chou! (repeat forever)

got to our hotel which was on a hill tt overlooks the city. tobs chose it bcos of the view (save money, dont have to take ropeway up the hill to see night view!) and the onsen. but it seems asif it wasnt really onsen, just a hot public bath. so neither of us went to soak. caused abit of trouble for the front desk man (who was very very very courteous and helpful) when we wanted to upgrade our original room to another room with a better night view. but thank God it was ok. ended up in a 3-bed room and tobs happily decided to combine 2 by pushing them together so tt i have ample space to roll around at night. haha~ nightview was awesome (of course) but i still like Hakodate's nightview better:)

Day 13 - Hakata Subway Tour

We got a one day subway pass for 500Y and went in search for free places of attraction. first stop: Korokan Ruins Exhibition Hall. there was still archaeological works going on in the area and the exhibit itself wasnt very fantastic. we did see boys practicing martial arts on the field though. the facility tt hosted foreign visitors was burnt down so all we saw was a replica and a site that is still undergoing excavation. Nothing much left. The only noteworthy part was tt there were loads of crows there and they look menacingly huge. Was half-afraid they would come and attack me.

then there was the Fukuoka Castle Ruins, which was barely there really, except for the stone walls. It was a Saturday and the area was rather happening. There was a inter-school sports meet of sort at the stadium and you could see camps (literally) of school kids chilling out under the trees supposedly waiting for their event, and kids warming up by running around the excavation site chanting in gusto. i rmb being amused by the girls who were doing rounds around the archaeological site, chanting as they run in sync with each other. There were also 2 tennis courts beside the castle wall tt were in used and we watched middle-aged men and women play tennis. Super cool.

saw a mini garden of pretty purple flowers and a few elderly folk taking pictures en route to Ohori Park. this is the ideal retirement life man, going around enjoying life with your buddies and taking photographs.

passed by the Fukuoka Art Museum but it is obviously payable so we did not go in. (haha) there was also a Japanese Garden of sorts, also payable so we did not go in too.

and finally, after SO MUCH WALKING, we reached Ohori Park. it was HUGE. but pretty. and its nice tt ppl have such a park to go to to walk the dog, to jog, to chill out or to have a picnic. why do we not have nice parks in singapore? no. east coast park does not count.

by the time we were done with Ohori Park, i was famished (and in a bad mood). so we had to get food. located a Beard Papa store near one of the subway stations but after trying their cream puff, it was quite disappointing. standards do differ frm place to place i guess. but we explored that shopping complex a little bit more and found another store having 20% off all its items! and their green tea chou was gooodd!

decided to go to the Hakata Bay area even though it was a SUPER LONG WALK frm Nishijin station. i kept asking tobsy whether we were there yet. after more than half an hour of walking, we saw the Fukuoka Tower (again) and managed to get to the Marizon area. the last time we were quite stuck cos we didnt know how to get out of a carpark (sads).

it was windy so we cldnt resist but to *drumroll AIR OUR FEET. i know its disgusting but we've been walking for a very long time so feet will sweat. (haha) and tobsy decided to act like a beggar. for what i do not know.

then we went in search of a (free) observatory. which was very secluded (as all free places are). had to climb up a hill and on the way, we saw a parking lot or a building or sth tt was called "Marry Grace". (...)

ended off with 100Y shopping at the Hakata Station Bus Terminal until late (9pm) and returned back for a good soak in the onsen. yeah i lurbe dormy inn!!

Day 12 - Hakata, Tosu

Thank God we did our homework the night before by checking out the best way to get to Tosu Premium Outlets. First, we realised tt the direct bus we originally wanted to take only operates on weekends. Then we managed to get exact shuttle bus timings tt allows us to match our train eta. A 0730 alarm wasn’t sufficient for us, apparently, cos we took super long to eat breakfast and get ready. Had to run to the station so as to catch the 0853 train and made it *just* in time. Train left 2mins after. Japan trains are super punctual.

Wasted no time cos the shuttle came within 10mins of us reaching Tosu JR Station. I remember last year we waited more than half and hour for the shuttle to come. It runs once every hour so if you miss the last time, good game man. So it really pays to plan ahead and schedule train and bus timings.

So anyway, we were also very very lucky cos that particular weekend, GAP was having a 20% sale. It was like divine timing cos GAP is THE MAIN reason we’re going to Tosu in the first place. Reached the outlet around 0955 when it opens at 1000. Obviously GAP was our first stop. We were overwhelmed by the variety and wonderful offers they were having so much so tt we actually spent close to 2.5hours in there, choosing clothes and trying them on. Each time we went into the fitting room, we would each have at least 5 pieces of clothing with us.

Final buys:
Grace – black work pants, denim cropped pants, jeans and spag tops in white and black. Their spag tops are copying VS’s bra top design so its ultra worth it!
Tobsy – countless tops, jeans
Total damage: more than S$250. But we were ultra satisfied. Because of the high standards set by GAP, the other shops don’t seem very appealing anymore. We did visit those tt we express vague interest in, like Nike, but nothing really caught our eyes. Well even if this train + bus trip which costs close to S$10 just to get down to Tosu meant tt we only bought GAP stuff, I still think it’s worth it. Tosu is my favourite outlet!

Since we ate the many many (expiring) buns for lunch, we decided to indulge for dinner. The obvious choice was IPPUDO since we had ICHIRAN already. They had at least 2 outlets near Tenjin area and we chose the Honten hoping it will be a different experience. It was small and cosy and the staff were extremely helpful, helping us with our many bags and making small talk. Ordered the Honten Kasane-Aji (available only at the Honten) and the Akamaru Kasane-Aji and their bite-sized Gyoza. The Honten ramen was quite salty and it was a mixture of chicken and pork broth which appealed to neither of us. I liked the Akamaru cos it has been my favourite all along. But we stupidly forgot to ask about Char Siew topping so I got only 2 slices in my bowl which made the experience not so enjoyable. Will remember in future.

After dinner, we explored the basements of the shopping malls nearby and were all starry-eyed because of the array of desserts and smells. Our noses led the way and we were really tempted to get some of the things we saw but did not in view of cost (and weight) considerations. Walked back to Dormy Inn and enjoyed the Onsen before turning in. Love Dormy Inn for their Onsens. They always provide the perfect closure to a day out.

DAY 11 – HAKATA, CANAL CITY

We cleared customs without any trouble, thank God for giving us decent-looking faces :) We boarded bus #10 bound for Hakata station just in time, and were the only passengers on the bus for quite some time. It was early in the morning so there weren’t many passengers until we neared Gion area. No one was wearing mask though, and we felt rather self-conscious with our masks on. Upon seeing that the bus was stopping near Gion station, I immediately requested to alight – our Dormy Inn hotel was just 2 minutes walk away from Gion station. Thank God for helping me notice the road signs! We had originally intended to take bus all the way to Hakata main station before changing to subway to head down to Gion. That would have cost us 400 yen extra.

Dormy Inn Hakata was brand new, and felt just as comfy and homely as the other Dormy Inns. We left our luggage with the reception staff, and left on foot for Hakata station to redeem our 7-day JR passes and reserve overnight trains. It was an easy and relaxing 10 minute walk to Hakata station, and after settling the JR pass stuff, we roamed around the basement shops and reminisced our last year’s trip. We decided to head to Ichiran so as to ensure that we would definitely get to try their famous tamago (egg) – we missed it twice last year as we went there after 3pm on both occasions, and by then all the eggs were sold out -_______-“’

Ichiran wasn’t open yet at 0950, so we waited around for about 10 minutes for them to open promptly at 10am. We were the first customers, but when we finished ordering at the cool vending machine, there was already a stream of customers streaming into the shop, at TEN AM!! And within minutes of seating down at the cute little cubicles (which we missed so much), the shop was almost FULL. Crazy. That explains why the eggs were sold out by 3pm even though they operate past midnight. We each ordered a basic bowl with extra charsiew toppings, eggs (finally!) and kaedama (replacement noodles, 1 serving for me and half for Grace). Grace became ecstatic once the smell and the familiar “irashaimase!!”s overwhelmed us; and when the bowls came, words could not describe how HEAVENLY they smelled/looked.And of course the egg was fantastic. Beats the sg ones hands down man. We took a video of the entire process so I won’t go into further details here :P

After filling our bellies to the brim, we set off for Canal City. Passed by a small temple and quickly snapped some pictures. Spotted a 24hr supermarket near our hotel, and grabbed a nice pudding on discount (60 yen only! 0.90 SGD). Canal City was more or less the same, still with a whole array of fabulous restaurants with fabulous prices beyond our reach. We went into the Matsumoto Kiyoshi drugstore and saw masks being snapped up at lightning speed by the locals, and we quickly followed suit and bought 2X 7-pcs masks. That were all the “value-packs” left (at 7pc for 300+ yen), and the rest were all higher grade ones costing at least 200 yen PER PIECE. And there was a whole basket of crazy expensive high-tech surgical masks going at 900+ yen per piece. Insane, considering that all are for 1-day use only. But when we returned later, ALL the masks were sold out, and the shop pasted a notice on the shelves stating that the masks were OOS and they had no idea when the next batch would come in. Shudders. H1N1 is certainly great news for the drugstores and pharmaceutical companies.

After finding out that our beloved “Dessert Forest” (an area housing several great dessert shops) had closed down, we returned to the hotel to check in. Our room was pleasant and comfy just like all Dormy Inn rooms. We pondered for a moment before deciding to return to Canal City for our favourite Okonomiyaki restaurant – Fugetsu. It was raining cats & dogs then, so we were all soaked by the time we reached the restaurant. We ordered a huge Fugetsu-special Modanyaki (i.e. typical okonomiyaki with noodles in it too), along with a cheese pork omelette. The aroma was overwhelming as we waited for the Modanyaki to be cooked right before us on a hotplate, and the taste was marvellous as expected, filled with pork, octopus, prawns and veg. Goes really well with the mayonnaise plus sour plum sauce on top. The omelette was just alright – it took us quite a while to locate the cheese in it. Not that fantastic a choice for 500+ yen (7.50 SGD).

We tried to get directions to Beard Papa from the restaurant staff but alas, none of them has heard about it. Guess Beard Papa really isn’t that huge in Japan – the locals are too spoilt for choices! We got really wet (again) on the way back as it was pouring even more heavily then, and stopped by the supermarket to stock up for breakfast. We spent a crazy 1 hour there, as the staff went around pasting new discount stickers on the bentos every 15~20 minutes (Jap supermarkets typically sell a whole variety of bentos, like fried chicken pieces, grilled fish, grilled seafood, veg, fried noodles, gyoza, etc etc; and they will start offering discounts from 6pm onwards. The later it gets, the greater the discount – if the bentos have not been snatched up by then. So you’d often see a whole bunch of Jap housewives grabbing everything in sight when the supermarkets are about to close). Eventually, we managed to get a big meaty bento set, a box of grilled octopus, a box of fried chicken pieces, a little plate of salad, a couple buns laden with different sort of fillings, milk, and some random pudding dessert that was expiring and hence on 30% discount. Grace was complaining about the cold, so we returned before the last few rounds of discounts. But it was a great bargain already. We relaxed in the hotel onsen before retiring to bed, feeling warm and comfortable from the hot spring water – it does wonders to your body after a tiring day walking about. No wonder the old folks all like to settle near onsen areas after retirement.

Day 10 - Busan

We dragged our luggage down to the bus stop and when we were like 5mins away, we saw the bus pulling away. But the driver spotted us and was nice enough to make an extended stop at the junction (to the irritation of the honking drivers behind him) for us to board. Thank God for that! At Jeju airport, we checked out rates before settling for Jeju air. The nice counter guy decided to give us the internet discount price (which was 30% off walk-in price) even though we didn’t book online. Couldn’t book online either cos we didn’t have a Korean credit card (stupid system). And what’s even better, he allowed us to check our luggage in even though our flight was not until like 4-5 hours later. This saved us quite abit cos if we couldn’t check them in, we would have to store them at the luggage storage section which costs about 4,500W per luggage! Thank God!

Took a bus down to Jeju City for eMart. Tobsy couldn’t get over the wonderfully affordable meal we had ystday. Realising this was our last day in Korea and in Japan, cheap food is extinct, we decided to indulge ourselves abit by ordering a huge 2-person set meal plus another Tonkatsu set. Even the cashier was surprised and warned us tt is going to be mega huge portions. But we polished almost everything up, being the great eaters we are, and started shopping around.

Almost as if a consolation to his failed buy ystday, Tobsy quickly found a cool pair of denim berms and sleeveless top. What’s even better, their total cost is less than the 24,000W top he saw ystday. God rewards the patient! Got a bit more food before heading back to the airport to board our plane.

Jeju air’s propeller plane looked really flimsy. And it was really low, you only had to climb 5 steps to get on board. Since it was small, it was uber susceptible to turbulence and it was like one of the worst flights I’ve ever had. I kept feeling like my life was going to end before it even started properly. All the worrying on the turbulent flight made me quite tired so I was thankful for the comfortable airport limousine at Busan airport which brought us to the port.

Spent time chilling around on the top-most level of the port where bad Korean kids smoke and spat. We did some devotionals and talked before going down for a quick bite at the snack stop. They claim to serve “ramen” but it was actually just Korean maggi mee.

Boarded new Camellia around 1920. And realised tt I could only claim 3,500W from the tax refund cos one salesgirl screwed up the documents and did not give me what I needed. Sad. All the trouble for this little amount.

Our deluxe room kicks ass. Spacious, and it even comes with its own proper toilet. I guess he knows I cannot do a shared bathroom with everyone else. The lower category is also a private room but it comes with the double-decker bed and it only has a toilet in the room without showering facilities so I was really really glad we got this one. And the price is really quite affordable considering other modes of transportation would cost about the same and you would need to add one night’s accommodation in Hakata. On this cruise, we cover transport and accommodation together so overall savings! Yeah!

They started playing 200 pounds beauty around 2030 and we watched it all the way till late even though it was in Korean and there were no subtitles. Funny, nevertheless. Then we slept all the way till morning. The bed was unbelievably comfortably I really didn’t want to disembark the next morning.

DAY 9 – JEJU, WEST TOUR

Unfortunately for us, the toilet bowl in our room got stuck after we used it for big business. Tobsy tried to fix it but could not and that took quite some time so we only left around 10ish. 1st stop – O’Sulloc Tea Museum. Free admission! But it wasn’t a fantastic museum or anything really. And the green tea plantations were a little disappointing. I was expecting lush terraced fields tt seem endless (think the scene in Summer Scent). Oh well. But the weather was really really fine. Thank God for that!

Next we went to the beach enroute Halim Park. I will need to refer to the map for the name of the beach but its tt famous one where every Korean drama has a scene there. Da Chang Jin was filmed there too I think. And it should be the famous scene where Song Seung Hun carried Song Hye Gyo on his back as she died in Autumn of My Heart. It’s really a spectacular beach with pretty white sand and gorgeous emerald waters. And of course, the best part of all natural scenic spots is there is no admission fee!

Drove down to Halim Park but realised that admission was 7,000W. That was pure extortion really considering our Tonboki meal for 2 at Ewha costs only 10,000W. We checked out the attractions listed at the entrance and realised tt the only one worth going to was the caves but no way are we paying so much just to see caves so Tobsy took a picture of the photo of the caves at the entrance. Haha~

Decided to make a spontaneous trip to eMart as we passed it. It was next to the World Cup Stadium so we took a look too. The main highlight was the cheap clothes at eMart and the wonderful food court. For 11,200W, we got 2 bowls of udon, 1 big bowl of Bibimbak, omelette rice, salad, Tonkatsu and hamburger steak. Totally mind-blowing! We were completely satisfied of our meat-cravings by the end of the meal. Tobsy almost got a cool top but they ran out of S size for white and only had grey. He was so disappointed but I was sure there will definitely be better buys out there.

Next stop Jeong Bang Waterfalls. 2nd trip here cos it was closed ystday. The ticketing lady immediately charged us the student price after seeing our ISIC cards without checking for our age. Other places that checked only allowed student price for me cos Tobsy is 25 already. So there was a little bit of savings here. Yeahness! Lots of kids at the waterfall. After climbing all the way down, I wondered if it was really worth the admission. Sure it was quite unique seeing a waterfall straight into the ocean but the one in Nikko is probably bigger and more spectacular.

Didn’t have time for the lava stones cos we had to return the car at 4pm. The staff at Lotte Hotel rock. It is truly a 5-star hotel. When I drove into the driveway to drop Tobsy off to call the car rental staff at Shila Hotel, the greeters at the entrance immediately came and opened the car door for him and bowed. Super VIP treatment man. Created quite abit of trouble for them cos they had to call Shila and help us process the return of the car. All this when we’re not even guests (I hope they don’t know that)! We didn’t even have to wait for the Shila car rental staff to arrive to check the car, we could leave upon passing the car keys to the Lotte front desk staff. Super!

Dinner at GS25 again. Got back super early but because of the stuck toilet bowl, I had to pee straight into the water drainage hole. Not very nice. Leaving Jeju tml for Busan then Hakata. Bye bye Korea!

DAY 8 – JEJU, EAST TOUR 

Renting the car turned out to be much more tedious than we had expected. We went to the Hertz office at Lotte Hotel (where we made enquiries about the rates previously), it was open but there was NO ONE in there. The guys we saw the day before were nowhere in sight – probably just came to open the office and then off to their beds again since it was uber low season. The hotel front desk had no idea where they were, so we tried the rental company next door, where the only staff, a young lady, was happily chatting with her friend on the phone until we came in. Thank God she was conversant in English; but as it turned out, she only had the big SM5 cars available, which would cost us a whopping 120,000W. No way man. She was nice enough to help us call up the Hertz main office, but the Lotte branch had no small cars left either. At last, she rang up another company (Hansung) down at Shilla Hotel, and reserved a small car for us. We were immensely grateful to her, since she was really going the extra kilo-mile for us – she could have very well chased us out as we weren’t her clients.

The Hansung lady drove the car down to Lotte hotel. We opted for no insurance (which cost 29,000W) initially to save money, and made the payment via card (she used carbon paper to make duplication for the card number); but we realised that there was no GPS onboard. We would DIE trying to navigate by map alone. So she had to drive us back to Shilla hotel to get the GPS. Then we were on our own. After some nervous test drives around the area, and with Grace visibly pale from the encounters with fast and furious Korean drivers, we decided to go back to buy the insurance, JUST in case anything bad were to happen and to put Grace’s mind at ease. It was after the transaction that we realised that the insurance coverage is only up to 50% of the rental charge; and since we only paid about 60,000 W for the rental, the coverage would only be 30,000W – marginally more than the 29,000W insurance cost. That’s money wasted. Boo. Lesson learnt: do read the fine prints before buying anything.

After sufficient practice with the left drive system, we went back to White Scenery to fetch our baggage for postage. The traffic in the urban areas was crazy, with vehicles parked on BOTH sides of the road, leaving rather narrow space in the middle for cars to scrape through. But thank God the post office was easy to locate, and we sent our parcel (weighing 15.3 kg) out at around 30 SGD. Beats carrying them around at least. On the way back to the car park, Grace spotted a decent looking restaurant with a queue – the only restaurant in the area that seemed to be popular. While I rushed back to the car to get hand sanitizer (a must in view of H1N1), Grace queued and was ecstatic to find out that they had the veg-wrapped food that she had been looking for. The portions were generous and the dishes were delicious! But a major disappointment was the fact that the grilled pork had plenty of fats (which we discarded), leaving rather miserable amount of lean meat behind. Alas, it was a refreshing and unique experience, eating with hands and wrapping food up with veg leaves, quite similar to our popiah but with different ingredients. We even took a video of the process.

Long drive to the All In house. I had no idea why Grace was so excited about that place since I didn’t watch the drama. After making a few stops along the way (for beautiful beaches and nice scenic spots), we found the place. It was hidden behind some seaside apartment / golf resort, so it took us quite some time to locate it. I was not nearly as impressed by the “house” itself than the surrounding scenery – the former was a church-like building which actually house a souvenir shop and an “All In museum” that charged 3000W for admission, while the latter consisted of seaside cliffs, grasslands with free-roaming horses, and a pretty little lighthouse that sat atop a cliff. Major drawback – plenty of tourists, including a Korean / Tw / Chi uncle that peed openly beside a rock near the All In House, and walked away without looking the least bit ashamed of himself. Shudders.

Plenty of shots later, we moved on the Seung San Ilchulbong, the Sunrise Peak. We were initially quite taken aback by the path that led to the peak, as it seemed to be absurdly long and steep. We contemplated settling for just a photograph at the entrance, in view of Grace’s knee pain, but decided to proceed uphill eventually. The way up was indeed steep and long, with many Korean ladies backing out of the climb half-way up the mountain. At the top, the crater was not nearly as spectacular as the helicopter shots (duh); but the view of the surrounding harbour / coastal area was breathtaking. It was certainly worth the admission cost and the long climb.

After the descent we went on to the Manjangul limestone cave, but turned back 5 minutes later as we could not possibly make it there before sunset, and Grace hated driving at night. In retrospect that must be a God-inspired decision – we found out later that most Jeju attractions close at 6. Imagine driving for an hour only to find the attraction closed – something we experienced at Kushiro last year. We went to Jeongbang Waterfall on the way home, but it was closed for the day. Tried snapping some pictures from the bushes nearby, but couldn’t get a nice shot.

Caught an amazing sight on the way back – a vertical ray of light that formed a cross with a long stretch of cloud. We were both awed, comforted by the thought that God is always right here with us, and grateful for God’s blessing throughout the entire journey.