It's May

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It's public holiday

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Planning

Spending my time on the lappy, discussing our next destination for Aidilfitri.

This year, I plan to celebrate Hari Raya a little different. It has been more than 6 years since we last went back to Singapore to celebrate. One of the many reasons, the currency exchange. They're way too high for our liking. I just hope that the currency would be nicer to us nearer to the celebration.

Another reason is because, my mum has a very big family. 12 siblings to be exact. One of them passed away, 1 just got reunited with her a few years back and the remaining just doing their own thing. So I'd thought Hari Raya will be a great way to gather everyone just like the good old days. I hope it works. Gathering a big family is not easy but at least it's worth the try.

I've come to realized that everyone in the family are getting old and nothing can be happier than seeing your own sisters, brothers, mothers, family members. As time goes by, we didn't realize that we all busy chasing the worldly material and we stopped focusing on the most important thing in life, family. Something that you can never replace once they're gone.

Work can wait, other thing can wait but death wait for no one. I've lost too many family members, some I've never even met in my life or I was too young at that time. But now that I have the chance to make things right again, I wouldn't want to miss that window.

The headquarters of Fuji Television, one of Japan's private, nationwide TV stations. You can see some exhibits on popular programs, buy Fuji TV goods at a shop and access the futuristic looking building's observatory deck housed in the sphere shaped part of the building.

We didn't manage to step foot at the headquarters as we had other plans at that time. Take the time to visit this place.

Okay, this is not within our itinerary. We stumbled the Toyota interactive showroom (Megaweb) by accident as we were on a escalator up to Aquacity Odaiba. It's just a 5 minutes walk from DiverCity Tokyo Plaza.

MEGA WEB is the Toyota car theme park where you can 'See', 'Ride' and 'Feel' interactive center. There are 3 facilities based on each theme. 

This is also a center where you can go for the test drive and witness TOYOTA's newest models they have never been displayed in other location in 'TOYOTA CITY SHOWCASE'. You can also learn about the technologies of hybrid, safety and environment of TOYOTA. You can also check the actual car specifications.

For more info, visit the Mega Web website. This is THE place that you wouldn't want to miss. A place worth going when you're in Odaiba.

Our next destination was the Sensoji temple. One of the many most famous temple in Tokyo. This temple is situated in Asakusa. Souvenirs prices are quite reasonable over here compared to Kyoto. We bought a few for ourselves, friends and family.

A shopping street of over 200 meters, called Nakamise, leads from the outer gate to the temple's second gate, the Hozomon. Alongside typical Japanese souvenirs such as yukata and folding fans, various traditional local snacks from the Asakusa area are sold along the Nakamise. The shopping street has a history of several centuries.

Out final destination of the day was Tokyo Sky Tree and Shibuya crossing. Because I was afraid of height, we didn't went up the tower plus tickets were soooo expensive. For more details, visit their official webpage here.

Their operating hours is 8.00am - 10.00pm daily. There are also a few fancy restaurants and souvenir shops around Tokyo Sky Tree. If you visit during spring season, there are many Spring events being held at the tower for both adult and kids.

The best place to take the full view of Shibuya Crossing is the Starbucks across Shibuya station

This post will be the final leg of our 10 days Japan trip. 

We checked out from our Kyoto accommodation on 10th March and it was also the day that we activated our JR pass that we bought beforehand with JTB Travel Penang branch. The tickets are 7 day pass where you can use around Tokyo for bus, train ride, the Shinkansen (except Shinkansen Nozomi) under the JR company. For metro and bus rides from other transport company, you may need to purchase manually through ticket counter or machines.

The first place that we had to go to get to Tokyo was the Kyoto station. It's the main station that connects all stations in Kyoto and this is also the station where you need to be to get on your Shinkansen Hikari. The station is really big but there is tourist. They are able to guide and answer all your inquiries.

The Shinkansen tickets come in a form of letter where you need to redeem the real 'card' at this station. The expiry date of your JR rail pass starts 7 days from the first stamp that the conductor stamped on your pass. 

The Shinkansen ride from Kyoto station to Tokyo main station took 3 hours, on the dot. I advise that you wait at the departure platform 15 minutes before departure time. You may stand a chance to catch a glimpse of the Shinkansen Nozomi (claimed to be the fastest train in the world). There are waitresses in the train and you can purchase food and drinks on board, however the price is slightly expensive. There are small stalls along the departure platform, you can buy some snacks and hot drinks before you board your train as what we did. Prices are relatively cheaper compare to on board food and drinks.

After arrival, we decided to spend some time roaming around Tokyo city and to purchase our metro pass. See here to find out where can you purchase this 3 days metro pass. Passengers who fly directly to Tokyo may purchase this pass at Haneda Airport (International Terminal Visitor Information Center). With this pass, you'll save a lot in taking unlimited ride for 3 days on their Tokyo Metro & Toei Subway Line. Get this pass first thing when you arrive in Tokyo.

JR pass is not needed in Tokyo unless you plan to travel from Osaka/Kyoto like how we did.

Tokyo Subway 1-Day Ticket – Adult: 800 yen, Child: 400 yen

Tokyo Subway 2-Day Ticket – Adult: 1,200 yen, Child: 600 yen

Tokyo Subway 3-Day Ticket – Adult: 1,500 yen, Child: 750 yen

Upon walking, we had the chance to walk along the Ginza street where all the high end street fashion are located. Poket bergetar-getar I tell you. The price of a Longchamp here differs by a few hundred as their import tax are much lower compare to Malaysia. We didn't spend much time here as it was almost dark and we were hungry. Stopped by a Malaysian own restaurant and had a good big place of nasi goreng kampung. Heaven giler....

Expenses of the day:

Mukochi to Kyoto station 360 yen

Tokyo 3 day metro pass 3000 yen

Dinner 4590 yen

Entah bila I became a BIG fan of Korean beauty product. I guess after seeing one of my cousin who's obsessions are Korean based products.

I've been using a lot of over-the-counter beauty products. Those with strong lab made ingredients. I've never actually noticed if they really worked well on my skin or not. But as my age catching up to me, I realized that I have uneven skin tone and it looks dull too. Traveling and exposure to the outside elements make my skin condition deteriorate even further. So before it becomes worse, I decided to go for natural ingredients and Koreans and Japanese are known for this.

My first purchase of Korean beauty haul was the Orchid gel cream and White Tone up gel cream. Both works wonder on my skin especially the White Tone up gel cream. I could see that my burnt skin gradually turns to be even now although it took some time. The only thing you need when using natural ingredient product is patience. It doesn't work immediately like lab-made ingredients. For as long as it doesn't harm your skin, I guess it's okay.

I've told myself that I will start to take good care of my skin. As I grow wiser older, my skin regenerates at a slower pace due to my slow metabolism rate. It's a known fact, so I try avoiding lab-made ingredients to be apply onto my skin. 

I normally washed my face with Magic Stone in the evening during shower. As I sweat and my face turns oily in the day, I needed a good cleansing soap to make sure that all the residue are washed off from my skin properly. It doesn't dry my skin even if I don't apply any night cream. Sometimes, when I'm too tired, I will just apply toner and that's all. It made my skin feel so clean compare to the normal cleanser in tubes. Magic stone also effectively remove melanin, spots and blackheads.

You can get them through Hermo MY.

At the very back of the shrine's main grounds is the entrance to the torii gate covered hiking trail, which starts with two dense, parallel rows of gates called Senbon Torii. There are thousands of tori gate along the climbing path towards the main hill. The torii gates along the entire trail are donations by individuals and companies, and you will find the donator's name and the date of the donation inscribed on the back of each gate. The cost starts around 400,000 yen for a small sized gate and increases to over one million yen for a large gate.

The hike to the summit of the mountain and back takes about 2-3 hours, however, visitors are free to walk just as far as they wish before turning back. Along the way, there are multiple smaller shrines with stacks of miniature torii gates that were donated by visitors with smaller budgets. There are also a few restaurants along the way, which offer locally themed dishes such as Inari Sushi and Kitsune Udon (Fox Udon), both featuring pieces of aburaage (fried tofu), said to be a favorite food of foxes.

We tried the king crab meat, It was sooooo good and hot. Nice to eat during that time cause it was wet and cold.

Our 2nd destination after the shrine was Nijo castle (Nijojo). No photos are allowed inside the castle.

Nijo Castle was built in 1603 as the Kyoto residence of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Edo Period (1603-1867). His grandson Iemitsu completed the castle's palace buildings 23 years later and further expanded the castle by adding a five story castle keep. The castle was designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 1994.

Nijo Castle can be divided into three areas: the Honmaru (main circle of defense), the Ninomaru (secondary circle of defense) and some gardens that encircle the Honmaru and Ninomaru. The entire castle grounds and the Honmaru are surrounded by stone walls and moats.

Visitors to Nijo Castle enter the castle grounds through a large gate in the east. English audio guides are available for rent (500 yen) at a kiosk just inside the gate. Venturing further into the castle will bring you to the Chinese style Karamon Gate, the entrance to the Ninomaru (secondary circle of defense), where the castle's main attraction, the Ninomaru Palace is located.

The Ninomaru Palace served as the residence and office of the shogun during his visits to Kyoto. Surviving in its original form, the palace consists of multiple separate buildings that are connected with each other by corridors with so called nightingale floors, as they squeak when stepped upon as a security measure against intruders. The palace rooms are tatami mat covered and feature elegantly decorated ceilings and beautifully painted sliding doors (fusuma).

Do you know that, the floor of the Ninomaru palace squeak when stepped upon as a security measure against intruders? Or they called it as nightingale floors. Very interesting kan?

You'll be amazed with the building architecture, preservation of their ancient art and culture in the castle. It's just so amazing.

Outside of the Ninomaru Palace extends the Ninomaru Garden, a traditional Japanese landscape garden with a large pond, ornamental stones and manicured pine trees.

The Honmaru (main circle of defense) was the site of a second palace complex and a five story castle keep. However, both structures were destroyed by fires in the 18th century and were never rebuilt. After the fall of the shogunate, an imperial residence was moved from the Katsura Imperial Palace to Nijo Castle's Honmaru where it remains today as the Honmaru Palace.

Unlike the Ninomaru Palace, the Honmaru Palace is not regularly open to the public, although there are occasional special openings. Visitors may, however, walk around the Honmaru gardens and climb up the stone foundation of the former castle keep, which offers views over the castle grounds.

Expenses of the day:

Nishi muko to Kawaramachi station 440 yen

Gion Shijo to Fushimi Inari 420 yen

Coffee from vending machine 130 yen

Crabstick 500 yen

Fushimi Inari to Sanjo station 420 yen

Sanjo to nijo satation 420 yen

Nijo castle entrance fee 1200 yen

Nijojo mat to Uzumasa Tenjingawa station 520 yen

Randen Tenjingawa to Arashiyama station 420 yen

Arashiyama to Shijo Omiya 420 yen

Dinner 2600 yen

Hankyu Kawaramachi to Nishi Muko station 420 yen