#TravelTalk : Orang-Orang yang Tak Terlupakan

Ketika kita travelling / jalan2, selain kita menikmati pemandangan yg breathtaking dan kuliner yang tidak ada habisnya, pasti banyak ketemu orang2 local asli yang berkesan – baik atau buruk.

Nah tiba-tiba kepikiran aja nih untuk nulis soal orang-orang yang tak terlupakan pas gw travelling, yang indirectly mengajarkan gw sesuatu di dalam kehidupan ini. #eaaa haha

1. The Palestinian Guy 

Kira-kira 2-3 tahun yang lalu, gw dan beberapa temen ke Israel untuk ziarah. Tapi trip ziarah ini agak berbeda dengan trip-trip ziarah orang indonesia lainnya. Kenapa? Karena kita ga ikut tour dari gereja.. tapi kita ikut private tour sendiri yang ga ada pendetanya..

Hotel pertama kita terletak di Bethlehem, Palestina. (Iya, Bethlehem itu bukan di Israel). Karena kebetulan hotel kita deket perbatasan Palestina dan Israel, setelah day-tour selesai kita pun foto-foto di tembok perbatasan. Sempet di teriakin orang local juga dari mobil pas foto2 disana, ga tau apa gw yg ge-er di teriakin, apa emang beneran di teriak-in.. haha. tapi anyway, ga ngerti juga dia teriak apa..

Pas pulang ke hotel untuk dinner, ternyata yg dinner saat itu tuhh cuman gw sama temen2 aja.. jadi ga ada orang lain lagi.. Akhirnya temen gw yg cowok pun iseng ajak ngobrol waiter yg lagi serve kita. ‘Do you play Basketball?’ kata temen gw.. Dan dari sana, langsung aja dongg kita ngobrol luamaa sama dia..

Ceritanya doi orang Palestina asli, dia sempet tinggal di luar (kalo ga salah Amrik) – lupa juga kenapa dia bisa keluar dari sana. Setelah dia tinggal cukup lama di luar, karena ada 1 family issue dia pun harus balik ke Palestina.. dan setelah dia balik ke negaranya, dia ga pernah bisa balik lagi atau jalan2 ke luar negri lainnya. Kita pun kepo deh.. Nanya2 kenapa doi ga bisa pergi jalan2?

Pemerintah Palestina itu katanya ribet bngt, somehow rakyatnya di buat susah untuk keluar negara mereka sendiri.. Setelah itu, Israel juga super strict untuk nerima orang2 Palestina untuk masuk ke negara mereka. Sempet bingung apa hubungannya dia mau kluar negri sama Israel. Ternyata, cerita punya cerita.. Palestina tuh ga punya airport. Jadi keluar masuk harus lewat Israel. ~~

Untuk orang Palestina ke Israel sendiri, mereka harus apply jauh2 hari untuk visanya. dan apply visa Israel ini ga tentu dapet walopun udah nunggu lama. Dan ketika dapet-pun, biasanya ga akan di kasih lama. Perbatasan Palestina-Israel pun di jaga super strict, ada ruangan jeruji yang hanya bisa di lewatin satu orang (ini keliatan pas mobil van kita lagi di periksa sama polisi2 ganteng Israel). Miris banget denger cerita dia. Karena dia bilang di palestina ga gt bisa kerjain banyak hal, sepertinya istilah ‘gapailah cita-citamu setinggi langit’ terbunuh di kota ini.. (kalo dari ceritanya doi yaa.. hoho)

Moral : Dari sini gw belajar, kita sebagai orang Indo harus banyak2 bersyukurrr.. karena mau jalan2 gampang. Indonesia punya banyak hal yang bisa di explore.. Gunung yg keren, Laut yang indah, padang2 yang luas..  Kalo mau kluar negri pun, sesusah-susahnya visa.. Kemungkinan dapet kita pun sangatlahh besarrr. Dan ga perlu visa juga kalo mau jalan2 seputar SE Asia. Dan Kalo kita punya cita2, masih ada harapan untuk menggapai dan merealisasikan cita2 kita..

 

2. The Grand Bazaar Guy

Kalo lu ke Istanbul, Turkey. Lu ga boleh ngelewatin yang namanya The Grand Bazaar (the oldest and the largest covered market in the world). Banyak banget yang jualan disini, kalo ga ingetin jalan masuk, gw yakin lu bisa tersesat di dalem sini.. Kebanyakan jual barang2 souvenir sih (sejauh mata gw memandang ya) kayak shawl scarf, karpet, pajangan2, sampe lampu2 kyk lampu aladdin. Banyak banget mas2 turki yang senyum2in kita, yang panggil2 kita, pokoknya mrk berusaha jualan barang mrk dehh, atau at least buat liat2 barang mereka. Tapi kita cukup ignorant, karena waktu itu udah ga gt mau lihat2 lagi.

Tiba2, ada yg teriak ke gw, ‘Mammm, you dropped something!’

Gw denger dia ngomong gt, tapi gw ga nengok, karena gw pikir mungkin aja itu bukan gw. Eh, terus dia teriak lagi hal yg sama.. Terus gw mikir, ‘ahh.. ga mungkin gw drop something. Kan gw pake tas selempang, dan tasnya gw taroh depan’

Dan dia pun teriak lagi untuk ke3 kali.nyaa.. dan akhirnya gw pun nengokk ke orang itu, dan nengok ke bawahh. And do you know what he did??

Dia nunjukin tangannya ke lantai..  lalu mengarahkan tangannya itu perlahan2 ke toko dia.. dan dia pun tersenyum sama gw.

Dan gw sama 2 temen cewek gw langsung sontak ketawa terbahak2.. Ide yang super creative bngt buat menarik perhatian orang untuk berkunjung or at least liat barang apa yg lu jual (dari pada cuman triak2 kayak mba2 di mangga dua) hahaha. Walopun akhirnya kita ga mampir juga sih ke toko itu..

Moral : Do something out of the box to grab attention for your business. di saat yang lain cuman panggil2 atau nanya ‘where do you come from?’ which is overrated question di turki menurut gw. ahhaha. Daya juang si mas2 di grand bazaar ini perlu di acungin jempol, karena gw yakin kalo jualan di grand bazaar itu pasti susah bngt. Yaaa. Sama-lah kyk hidup kitaa.. Kadang susah banget rasanya buat people to notice our business atau potensi yg ada dlm diri kita.. Tapi dia ngajarin gw buat jangan nyerah di tengah beratnya bersaing di ibukota..

 

3. The Chef

Ketika gw jalan-jalan ke Jepang, gw mampir ke koya Kyoto. Kota geisha yang indah yang lu harus visit ketika main ke Jepang. Trip gw ke jepang, fulll dengan makannn.. makann dan makann.. haha.. Jadi ketika gw main ke Kyoto, gw udah ngincer salah satu restorant jepang yang namanya Kichi-Kichi Kyoto.. Omurice yang super sensational menurut gw..

Karena temen cowok gw bisa dikit2 bahasa Jepang waktu itu.. akhirnya mereka pun ngobrol, dan yg lainnya pun menjadi pendengar yang baik. Jadi ternyata si bapak chef ini ketemu inspirasi dan belajar bikin omurice itu pas dia lagi berkunjung ke Indonesia lohh..

Gw yg kyk? What? Nemu inspirasi makanan Jepang di indoo.. ga nyambung bngt ga sih? haha.. Kalo nemu cabe ulek enakk di Indoo.. Nahh.. itu baru ga anehh.. haha..

Moral : Dont limit the place where you can get your inspiration from. Gw sering dnger deh kalo orng2 cari inspirasi di tempat2 tertentu, contohnya kalo mau dapet inspirasi fashion, harus ke fashion2 events.. siapa tau kan di pasar pun kamu bisa dapet fashion inspiration. kalo mau terinspirasi buat bikin lagu, harus di tempat2 yang tenang.. siapa tau kan lu dapet inspirasi lagu lu dari hingar bingarnya suatu tempat. haha.. Dan tentunyaa, jangan pernah berenti belajar.. and you never too old to learn something new. A note to myself too that im not too old to learn Chinese Language as well. hahaha.. *walopun orng2 ngomong lebih susah jauh buat blajar bahasa pas lu udah lewat umur 20* #kibasrambut #shakeitoff #doakanakulancar hahaha

 

 

 

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When Typhoon Hits Tokyo : Day 8 & 9

4th October, after eating Mutekiya Ramen

** beep beep **

Thirza : Jen, dont go back so late. typhoon is hitting Tokyo soon.

Jend : What?? are you serious??

T : *sending me some news link*

J : oh noo.. tomorrow is our Fuji trip. =(

****

when we were back to our hotel, we saw the news are all about the typhoon. so basically the typhoon already hit other places in Japan, and it’s coming towards tokyo. we can just pray that our Fuji Tour would turn alright, since we did not have any notification of cancellation.

before we sleep, the heavy rain was already pouring like mad, i can say it was the most bad-ass rain ive ever seen.

Day 8 – Mount Fuji Trip

The tour guide pick us up on the dot that day, before we are going to Fuji, we went to some other hotels to pick other peoples up. The rain still pouring heavily that day. Me and 3 others already have low energy, since we know that we cant see mt Fuji greatness on that day.

It took 2 hours to drive from Tokyo to Mount Fuji.. on the way up, the tour guide was trying to tell us story about  Mount Fuji or Fuji San. there’s a few meaning behind that Fuji San name. Firstly is “No Equal”, so there’s no other mountain like Fuji San, been there for soo soo long since more that 100,000 years ago. Secondly is “No Ending”. and the other meaning is “Abundant” and “Wealthy”. so that’s why many Japanese using Fuji name for their company. Like Fuji Film, Fujitsu, Fuji Xerox, Fuji Trading, etc etc.

while he was still explaining, suddenly he ask all of us to keep quite and listen if we can hear any sound ??

all of us kept quite for a while, and we did hear something.. it’s like a whale / dolphin sound for me.. *yeap.. beneran kyk suara lumba2 ato paus yg kita suak dnger di tv2. haha*.

“if you hear that.. it’s the song of Mount Fuji,” he said. He explained that sometimes when we drove at certain speed, the friction will give us a beautiful sound, and it the sound never come up the same. it’s like a beautiful melody, and that’s why they said it’s a song of Mount Fuji.

so excited to know and listen to the sound.. haha.. *norak* well. i dont know if other mountain can produce that kind of sound. but for me it’s just too cool! haha.. so sad that i did not record it.. it happened so fast, and normally it just ‘play’ for a few seconds only.

our first stop is Mount Fuji 5th Station 

since it’s still raining, we cannot enjoy the Mount Fuji sceneries, it supposed to be the photo spot. so we just went in to the gift shop for a while to warm ourselves..

Mount Fuji itself is very cold eventho you are going there in the summer. so we were so freezing since we went during autumn accompanied with the rain and wind from the upcoming typhoon. =(

inside the shop was sooo soo crowded, i think everyone just wanted to warm themselves up. haha.. *ohh btw, all pictures are taken by Samsung S3, since i was too lazy to take out my camera again. haha. and below is Mount Fuji dessert, so cute yaa. haha.. too bad that time we dont have any appetite to eat this.. because we are too frozen and just wanted to drink some warm things. haha.  and finally, the misty-foggy-hazy Mount Fuji.. huaaa..

i can only send a postcard to myself that i should go back here again someday to see the majestic of Mount Fuji. haha..

*the post-card is so cute yaa.. hehe.. i sent one to Bern as well, and he took such a nice picture of the postcard. haha*

after this, we are going to Hakone, a city nearby Mount Fuji. and the second stop of the day is Lake Ashi Cruise.

This is a crater lake that formed by powerful eruption more than 3,000 years ago. and before we take the cruise, the tour send us to a restaurant to eat our lunch first. they actually offered us 2 options of the tour, to go with lunch or to go without lunch..

the price different is about 2,000 Yen. and 4 of us decided to sign up without lunch, since the lunch that they offer is only some grilled chicken set.. and we wanted to try some other foods. so for us who sign up without lunch package, they send us to Togendai View Restaurant.

it’s quite a beautiful restaurant i may say, because it’s facing the Lake Ashi itself.

well. to be honest, this restaurant is a bit expensive.. the port-cutlet curry chicken cost us about 3,000 Yen per set ? if im not wrong.. 1,000 yen more expensive than the grilled chicken set. haha. but well, at least we tried the real Japanese curry. haha. and it was super nice.. i think all food in Japan are all super nice! haha.   

and it’s cruise time now.. still raining. =( Below is how the cruise likes from inside 

The misty lake, make me Feels like in “Pirates of Caribbean” movie where the haunted ship suddenly appears from the fogs. hahaha.

The third stop is Hakone Sky Gondola. This trip supposed to be a pretty sightseeing trip, but too bad, we cant see any pretty things at all =( i’ll show you how pretty the gondola trip is supposed to be.

taken from the visitor’s centre, and below is what we got

such a huge different right. hahaha.. before we left Hakone, the tour guide told us that Hakone is famous for the black egg, that is literally turn black because they boiled it with Sulphur from the lake. Old people said if you eat one of the black egg, it will add up 7 years of your life.

One Australian lady gave me 1 of her black egg. she said it tastes like a normal boiled egg. only smells a bit funny. haha.. since i dont like boiled egg as well, so i gave this to the 3 others, but they didnt want it as well, so this 1 boiled egg gone to waste.. =( it supposed to be darker, just that it has been passed on to many hands, so yeahh the colour become not so black anymore.

and that was the last stop of the day. The tour took us back to Odawara station to take bullet train back to Tokyo station. Because the rain was still pouring that night, Thirza said just go to Vimon restaurant at Tokyo station, so we can go back easily to our hotel.

so, we followed her suggestion and felt so satisfied with the hamburger! *yuuummm yummmm*

Me and Yana shared 1 Hind-Shank Hamburget Steak set (2,280 Yen) & 1 Fatty Hamburger Steak Set (2,580 Yen).

The hind-shank is a bit chewy and dry, but of course its still nice.. hehe.. where the fatty hamburger consist of ground beef and beef ribs, so it’s more tender and juicy.. both is super nice i may say. haha.. somemore if you deep a bit of your hamburger to the reddish sauce.. it’s a bit salty, but it enhances the beef taste.. yumss.. hehe.. you also have the choice to change your plain rice to garlic rice with some additional (that i already forgot).. if you willing to draw somemore money for your dinner, i suggest you to change to the garlic rice cause it’s so savory. hehehe.

Steak & Hamburg Vimon (at Tokyo Station)

1-9-1 Marunochi | Tokyo Sta. 1F Kitchen Street, Chiyoda, Tokyo Prefecture 100-0005, Japan

+81 3-3283-1841

 

Day 9 – Last day

actually we  wanted to go to Shinjuku or Ikebukuro to walk around. but the weather was still as bad.. the bad weather caused chaos in the train stations. because many trains got cancelled and dont know what time it will resume =(

as much as we wanted to pro-long our holiday, we did not want to miss our flight back home as well. so, we decided to go super early to Tokyo Station to book the shinkansen back to Narita airport. since we have plenty of time at Tokyo Station, we just grab our lunch at some random restaurant that turns up to be awesome. haha..

There’s no english menu in this restaurant, so we need to point at the pictures and ask them what udon is this? haha.

Finally, i took the Beef Udon (small portion) and feel so satisfiedd.. ahhh.. so grateful we chose this restaurant to have our last meal at Japan.. =)

Trying to find the full address of this Nanba Sennichimae Kamatake Udon restaurant, but could not find it . huu..

after this good meal, we tried to go down to check the Shinkansen schedule, so shocked when the officer asked us to board now because the next train (which is our schedule) is cancelled. we ran and ran to catch that Shinkansen. luckily we went and ask the officer.. else, we really need to extend our holiday. haha.. 

the thing that i learned here is, dont be shy to ask things.. hahaha. 

the great udon and the running marks our last day in Japan. hope to see you again, Japan! 

much Love,

Jend

 

Best Ramen in Ikebukuro – Tokyo : Day 7

oh gosh.. time flies just like that.. it seems like i just celebrated Christmas and brave myself to enter 2014.

and now, it that month again whereby you need to re-think what you have done in the past year and write your plans for the year ahead..

well. well.. been back from the Japan trip 2 months ago, yet have not finished all the blogs yet.. =(

but good news, only left with 2 post to go (this post and our Mount Fuji Trip)

So, after exploring the 2 shrines in Kyoto, we were back in Tokyo. since we reached there almost 4pm. We decided to have early Diner at Mutekiya Ramen (at Ikebukuro)

one of the reason that we decided to reach early is because most of the review said it will be a long Q after 5pm.. and to skip that Q, then we need to reach there before 5.

we reached at Ikebukuro station around 4.50pm. we followed the direction that one of travel blogger given to us.. but we still cant find our way out. haha.. so we tried to use our googlemap to find the way.. since our dataplan is already low, the googlemap didnt help much.. so, we just tried to walk around and try to find below signage.

after 15 minutes of walk. finally we found it!! *berhasill.. berhasill. hore! gaya dora the explorer. haha*

it was around 5.10pm, and luckily the Q was not that long yet.. we waited for around 2o minutes before we can savour the best ramen at Ikebukuro area.

well. bassically they only have a few types of ramen.. and their bestselling ones are the 3 ramen above. *sorry for the blurry pictures. =(

Favorite Menu for Mutekiya’s first timer :

1. Nikutama Men

2. Tokumaru Men

3. Umakara Men – spicy soup

guess all ramen shop in Japan is only limited for 20 person or so.. and all of it are bar tables.

the first difference between Ichiran Ramen is their tables, in Mutekiya, they give you a range of sauces that you can add in to your ramen – pepper, soya sauce, vinegar, chili oil, tonkatsu sauce, garlic, some other things that im not sure what it is. haha.

The Gyoza came the first

This tastes like normal Gyoza, nothing in particular.. it’s just simply a nice companion for eating the ramen..

and introducing you the Best Ramen at Ikebukuro!

I chose the Umakara Men – the spicy soup based noodle.

owhmaigod! it was just super nice and super spicyy.. *gw sampe keselek gt pas pertama kali makan*

if you order this, you must slowly slurp the soup for the first sip. i was too excited and just gulp the first spoon until i was choking like crazy. hahaha..

okay, what i love about this?

– it’s broth.. the broth is so thick and creamy and so tasteful.. eventho it is spicy, but it’s still enjoyable. not those kind of spicy that makes your bowel suffer. they said they

– it’s noodle… ahhh.. how i love thick noodle.. it’s so yellow and chewy. *lebih seru aja gt makan noodle gendut2. haha*

– it’s pork meat.. muahhaha.. *maafkan daku yah buat yg halal, tapi ini enak bngt menurut aku.. huhu* the meat is just super thick, juicy, tender and doesnt make you sick of eating it again and again.. it just melts on your mouth..! if you compared the thickness and juiciness with Ichiran Ramen, i think Mutekiya has better meat.. well again. this is personal preference.

owh goshh.. this is just too sinful! this is a must go ramen shop if you are going to Tokyo!

After eating this, my Ramen standard is going up to the next level. hahaha *gaya pisan* hahaha.. *tapi bener.. beberapa minggu lalu gw dapet free ramen di Santouka Singapore gara2 pas lagi bday month.. Santaouka itu udah memuaskan bngt biasanya buat gw.. menurut lidah gw sii.. lebih enak si Santouka ini daripada Ippudo.. tapi setelah makan Mutekiya sama Ichirann.. wahh.. rasanya si Santouka udah kyk makan mie-instant biasa aja. kurang greget gt. hahaha.. sok bngt yee gw.. tapi gw tetep royal kok sama Santouka. since mrk suka kasih grastisan sidedish buat member. ahahha.. dan emang gw suka ramennya dia juga sii.. just that standard gw buat ramen enak sudah meningkat aja.. hehe.. *

The Ramen shop is somewhere along Meiji dori Ave.. if you see the that green Tonkudo building, it’s just somewhere across there.

Mutekiya Ramen 麺創房無敵家
1-17-1 Minami-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku 東京都豊島区南池袋1-17- (Ikebukuro Station East Exit), Tokyo, Japan. Tel: + 03 3982 7656
Opening Hours: 10:30am-4am

The Shrines – Kyoto : Day 7

Since Kyoto was the capital of Japan from year 794 to 1868, and mostly were emperor’s residence, they have so many beautiful castle and temples for us to visit in this modern era. i thought ill be bored to death. but it turned out that i enjoyed walking through this historical places. maybe the weather helps as well..

it was a sunny breezy day. just a perfect day to start with. but since we were going back to Tokyo again on that afternoon, so we must quickly woke up and rush to two of the must go temple

1. Fushimi-Inari- Taisha

*i always mistaken this temple as Inari-sushi shrine. hahaha.. too much sushi on my mind*

If you are Indonesian and followed some of the big brand photography company like Axioo , PPF, ect, surely you saw some couple who went to Japan and took their pre-wed pictures in this red-orangy pillared gates. and simply, this temples is famous because of that thousands of red-orangy gates (tori gates)

history said that Hatta family built this temple for their dedication to the God of rice and sake, because during that time the agriculture is not doing so well, and they want it to be prosper again.

there are 2 trains stations nearby this temple. Fushimi Inari Station and Inari station. if possible, make your journey to Inari station, because it’s just located outside this temple. if you alight at Fushimi Inari Station, you need to walk about 10 minutes to reach the temple.

most shrines have this ‘washing place’ to ‘purify’ ourselves. it’s just a temple etiquette that we must follow. This temple have 5 shrines. just that we couldnt manage to climb up until the last one, because we need to rush to the second must go temple..

all gates have it’s own carving. not sure what it means, and not sure why most of the writings is in chinese characters.. btw, above pictures was oka hanging his prayer gates. haha.. as i mentioned before, the hike was good, since it’s a beautiful morning with a great weather. but i read some articles saying that i could be very eerie and scary if you go here during late afternoon.. they said the atmosphere suddenly changed, and i just knew that there are few graveyards over there too.. so, my suggestion is to go in the morning and bring few friends along..

2. Kiyomizu-dera Temple

we took cab from the nearest train station, simply we have no more time to wait on the bus and the 15 mins hike to the temple. so we decided to take a cab there.

luckily it’s not that expensive to reach Kiyomizudera from the nearest train station that i forgot the name already. =(

i think we spent around 600 yen for that one trip. the cab driver can only drop us in front of one alley, and from there we still need to hike a bit more to reach the temple. the alley is quite big and many handcraft sellers and snack stalls over there. if we are not in a hurry, i think we will stop at most of the shops. haha.. they are selling so many cute things and the all snacks looked so delicious. haha.

once we reached there.. we still need to hike a bit more.. this temple really located on a hill. *phewww.. capee. hahha*

we need to buy tickets for to enter this temple. it cost us about 200 yen if im not wrong.. when we went there, there was a lot of constructions going on. so not so pretty down there..

but when you already reach to it’s peak. it’s one of a beautiful temple! this temple is huge, and what i love the most is the location of this temple.. its on a hillside! so you can see a beautiful sceneries up there.. i always love to see things from far above..

 

we just strolled around a little bit and went down directly to see the Otowa ‘waterfall’, they said if a person drink from that waterfall, they can get a long life and wealth. but unfortunately we didnt get to get a sip of it. the Q was freaking long! =(

we found this on the way down, really wanted to taste their local dessert, but again.. we have time constraint to go back to Tokyo. so yeah.. we just have to pass this one. 

hopefully i can go back to this two temples and take a longer visit..

ahh.. missing Kyoto so much out of a sudden.. *mellow*

The City of Zen – Kyoto : Day 6

i always thought that i wouldn’t like Kyoto as much as Tokyo. I’m quite a city girl that love the hustle and bustle. i like laid back city as well. but if you asked me to choose, i will definitely prefer to go to more crowded ones. not very sure why i feel that way tho. haha.

when i step my feet to the city of Kyoto.. its a whole different feeling. it feels good and much better than Tokyo and Osaka. it’s like im falling in love with Kyoto at the first sight. *lebay*. we arrived in Kyoto about lunch time, and just nice that the weather is perfectly nice.. a bit windy and cloudy but it diidnt rain.. well it did rain a while after we reached our hotel.. but after that the weather is so good to walk in.

since it was already passed lunch time. we quickly put our luggage in the hotel and asked the where to eat good okonomiyaki restaurants nearby the hotel. and they recommended this restaurant..

Chibo *inside the Avanti Mall, nearby Kyoto station*

Kyoto Minami-ku, Kyoto Higashikujonishisan’no-cho, address 31 Avanti B1

*Tonpei Grilled – Pork Omelette, this one is suppa deliciousoo*

*Beef Tongue – Teppanyaki style*

 

*Buttery Scallop with Asparagus, another lovely dish*

*The Main dish of the day, Mixed Grilled Okonomiyaki – Pork, Squid and Shrimp*

*Yakisoba – regret to order this =(.. i dont really like it. huuu*

After we feed the hungry bear inside of us. we quickly find our way to Kurama mountain to enjoy the hot-spring. Actually i didnt want to go for this Onsen (hot-spring), since i dont want to get naked with everyone! and could not imagine to bath with many random naked women. haha.. *ya aneh aja kan perasaannya.. bugil2an sama orng yg ga di kenal.. duhh.. big no no bngt dehh di pikiran gw.. tapi temen gw si Thirza bilang kalo itu tuh the best moment ever.. kayak bersatu dengan alam gt* haha..

well. after so much consideration and contemplation and all *bujuk rayu* from my travelmates, finally i give in and brave myself to get naked with the nature. hahaha.

i cant really remember on how we go to this place. haha.. we just rely on googlemaps on how to go from Kyoto station to Kurama station.

This Kurama mountain located at the northern part of Kyoto. if im not wrong, you must take the Demachi-Yanagi line to get here and change to the other train for Kurama st.. The travelling time is about 45-60 minutes. and they will provide you a shuttle bus just infront of the Kurama station.. how convenient ya! but be careful, they shuttle bus are not available all day long, so you must check because you dont want to stranded there.. unless you planned to stay at the Ryokan *traditional japanese hotel – room without bed*.

when we reached there, the shuttle bus just left the station. but we tried to wave to show that we want to take the shuttle as well. luckily the shuttle stops and we quickly ran to enter the minivan. how lucky. haha.. when we reached there, they show us 2 options. 1 is open-air Onsen and another one is the indoor Onsen. since we wanted to get naked with the nature, of course we chose the outdoor Onsen. haha.

Kurama Mountain / Onsen

*station.nya looks super jadul yaa.. so cutee.. hehe*

*Its the information centre, together withe indoor Onsen and the receptionist for the Ryokan hotels as well*

*ya emang negara vending machine yaa.. sampe tiket masuk Onsen aja harus beli di vending machine. haha* We need to purchase our tickets from the vending machine which just located infront of the outdoor Onsen. you can buy a towel as well if you forgot to bring one..

And here where we must go separate ways.. and Below are the place to put our sandals, the instructions to enjoy the Japanese bath and the changing room! and we can only took this picture, since no photography allowed over here.. which is makes sense.. you dont want to get captured when you are naked. haha

Basically we must bath first before we can go in to the hot-spring, because they want to make sure that we dont contaminate the water.. so, before me and Yana take off our shirt, we made an agreement on who goes first to enter the Onsen, since we dont want to see each other’s body, too awkward for us! haha. *pokok,nya gw bilang. Yana.. elo duluan yahh. kalo udah masuk kolamm. tereak ajaa.. nanti gw baru masuk abis itu.. kita ujung2an aja biar ga ngerasa aneh. hahaha.. yess.. gw segitu.nyaa.. kyknya klo elo telanjang di dpn cewek2 jepang ato tourist lainnya lebih mendingan drpd kliatan naked di dpn temen sendiri. ga enakk aja gt rasanyaa. hahaha*

for those of you who wants to see how the Outdoor Onsen looks like.. please enjoy the photo below.

*source : metropolis.co.jp*

So pretty, isnt it?? maybe it’s how Adam and Eve bathing when they were in Eden. haha..*apasii*

when i first enter the Onsen area, it was still very uncomfortable to see many naked woman that can just go in/out from the Onsen like a FHM model. haha. oh btw, you cannot stare over here. they if you happen to look, just look away immediately.. haha. but not so long after that.. the beautiful sceneries really helps to make me at ease.. and the hot-spring. omg, it was very very relaxing, the aroma, the warmness of the hot-spring in the middle of cold-windy weather, it was just perfect..

since the water contains sulphur, it can really relaxes our tired muscles, and repair your skin..it was our 6th days of the trip, our legs was terribly tired, and it was like a magic water.. just right after i went out from the Onsen, it feels like you have a brand new leg. hahaha. you cant feel the tiredness anymore.. and owh.. i pour some water on my face.. was just trying to see if it can cure my pimple. haha.. and you know whatt? when i see myself on the mirror, you just need to ‘pop’ the pimples. because it’s already dried up. hahaha. *sorry for being disgusting*

overall experience, it was awesome beyond words. as i mentioned on my Instagram before.. it was awesomely awkward! hahaha.

after that most memorable experience of the trip, we went to try Kichi Kichi. the Omurice was very happening in youtube.. so, since we are in Kyoto already.. of course we must give it a try. hehe..

it was very hard to find the restaurant, since it’s just a small (9-10 seaters bar) restaurant, and the location was very unpredictable.. you must go in to small alleys and in that small alleys, they have another small alleys. ~.~’. But thank god that we managed to find it. *ga nyasar2 amat lahh stelah di pikir2. hahaha*

Kichi-Kichi Kyoto 

185-4 Zaimokucho | Sanjo Pontocho-dori Kudaru, Nakagyo-ku,Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan +81 75-211-1484

 

 

 

i recorded one video for you to take a look. hehe..

to see the open-flap egg like that was like magic.. so interesting to see.. he made 4 of it one by one, and it never fails to entertain us.. haha. i wonder how to make that kind off eggs. *bisa pas bngt gt luar.nya mateng, trus dalemnya kyk setengah mateng gt.. dan telur.nya bisa meleleh gt pas di belahh.. aigooo..*

the Omurice itself is supernice.. the only thing that overpower it is the sauce.. if he never put that much, maybe i can enjoy it more. but well, i think it depends on the individual as well. 

Oka can understand Japanese, and they chit chat for a while. he said, he stayed in Jakarta before when he was younger, and that time he was still thinking on what to make.. and he thought of making this Omurice + sauce when he was in Jakarta! amazing story to listen. very heartwarming to know that Jakarta was the place where he got Inspired. way to go Mr. Chef ! *i did asked for his namecard, but i cant rmber where do i put it. i’ll let you know his name when i found it. hehe*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another good nite from a happy tummy.. ❤

Ohayou Tokyo! Day 1

Emang holiday itu selalu berasa cepet bngt ya.. ga nyangka 9 hari udah berlalu.. dan waktu.nya kembali ke realita kehidupann.. *noooo!!!*

but before im coming back to reality.. let us relive the trip.. hehe..

We went to Tokyo by Delta Airlines 6 o clock in the morning. *it was the same flight that took me to USA for my school trip 4 years agoo.. ahh.. another good old memories*

Thankfully it was a pleasant flight, and get to reach Tokyo by 2.30 in the afternoon. Since we only booked 7 days of JR pass ticket, we bought a limousine bus ticket to get to the apartment where we stayed for 3 nights in Tokyo.

nothing fancy about the limousine bus.. it’s just a normal bus that will drop you to some hotels. since we are staying in an apartment, we took the bus to the nearest hotel from the apartment.

the bus was our very first encounter with Japan public transport. and it really amazed me they are really on time.. when the ticket said that the bus leaving at 3:15pm. it will really leave on the dot.. *pokok.nya pas jem.nya berubah jadi 3:15, lansung tancap gas tanpa nungguin siapapun.. beneran ga lebay.. haha*

 

this limousine bus service cost us 3100 yen/person, which means around 36 SGD. The bus ride took about 90 minutes from the airport to Excel Hotel Tokyu in shibuya area, the nearest hotel from our apartment.

once we reached there, we immediately walked to our apartment. luckily it’s only 10 minute walk from the hotel. *kan cape juga boo jalan sambil narik2 koper. haha*

finally we reached to our lovely apartment named ‘Feel A Shibuya’. we booked this small room from Airbnb, and we loved it so much. it is near shibuya crossing, small but cozy for 4 of us, provided us with portable wifi and all amenities are ready to use.. feels like our own home for that 3 nights. hehe..

since we reached apartment about 5pm. we quickly go to Ichiran Ramen for dinner because we didn’t want to queue so long.

all bloggers, trip advisors and other social media said that Ichiran Ramen is a must go place when you are in Tokyo / Osaka.. *hits banget deh ceritanya ini tempat.. haha*

from our place to Ichiran, we must across the road via shibuya crossing.

shibuya crossing is just so happening.. *jadi ini kyk perempatan dimana semua orng bisa nyebrang kemana aja dr perempatan itu. gw ga ngerti deh cara atur traffic.nya gimana.. hahaha.. ohh. btw. di jepang gelap.nya cepet bngt.. kyk jem 6 gt udah gelap bngt*

Ichiran Ramen is just across Tsutaya mall.. it’s one line with 109 Men’s.

it was only around 6pm, and there was a queue already. luckily it only took us 10-15 waiting time..

since Japan is well know as a vending machine country, this ichiran ramen also require us to order via vending machine.

so you just insert your notes and coins, and just press whatever that you want to order. after that, the machines will print out 1 small notes that you must show to the waitress later on. after showing the small notes, they will ask you to circle the preference.. like the noodle thickness, how strong the soup that you want, spiciness, etc.

if you see the red and green light behind my order paper.. it’s the seating arrangement. they only have 2o seats in total. *dan ga ada bangku yg hadap2an donkk. haha.. gw lebih suka makan yg hadapa2an gt.. kyknya lebih enak aja drpd makan sebelah2an kyk gini.. selain bisa ngobrol, bisa icip2 jugaa.. klo kyk gini kan ga bisa yaa.. haha*

 

ohh. one funny thing.. we could not see the waitress face here, if you need anything, you just need to press the small button in the middle. and they will come to you. *agak anehh yah rasa.nya klo ngomong ga liat wajah.nyaa*

they provide us with glass and cold tap water. so practical yaa.. haha.. we dont need to keep asking if we want to refill.

and finally.. the moment we have been waiting for!!

ohh.. how i love this so so muchh.. *semua ramen enak di singapore lewatt.. ippudo.. santouka.. semua lewatt.. hahaha*

im not a fan of thin noodle.. but this one is really different. its thin but chewy, the soup was perfectly made.. strong but not make you sick of it. and the porkk.. hmmpp.. it’s just so yummyy and tender. all are just perfect in a bowl.. *faint!*

after we had our glorious ramen.. we just stroll around in shibuya and went back to our apartment, we were just so tired because none of us had proper sleep and we need to wake up early for the next day, because Disneysea is waiting for us! hehehe.

Goodnite from the glasses ‘family’ and Hachiko! ❤ ❤

Japan Trip

Very excited for the Japan Trip!

me, my brother and 2 of our friends will be going to Japan on 28th September.. *yes, yes, exactly 1 more month to go* woohoo..

actually i never think that Japan will be my next travel destination. since Japan is not that appealing to me, except the Ramen. haha

but since my brother wants to go there so bad for his graduation trip. as a good sister *hoekk*, i decided to accompany him to go. hahaha. then we start to find travel mates for this trip.

after finding our travelmates, it’s research time!

gosh.. suddenly i got huge desire to go to Japan after a few days of research. haha..  not sure if Japan is that good, or it’s just because i need to go for holiday badly. hahaha *mungkin panggilan si ichiran ramen yg merayu2 aku untuk pergi, since it looks very good. haha*

i heard from 2 friends that JTB (Japan Tourist Bureau) is quite good for their flight and hotels package.

so, i came there 1 month ago to compare the price.

going to Japan with ANA air + 8 nights hotel cost us about SGD 1500, which is quite cheap, since ANA itself cost us about SGD 950. so, top up about SGD 550 more and you got quite good accomodation.

i went back and tell them that they offer us a good deal. but we must confirm within 2 days, because left a few seats with ANA. and suddenly 1 of our friend told us that she cannot go on our said date and time, because her colleague already took the leave.. *kalah cepet* hahaha.

so we re-arrange the date and ask JTB again for our desired date (which is only 1 day different). and you know what, they quoted us much much more expensive.. =(

same arrangement with ANA air + 8 nights hotel cost us about SGD 1800. hey, 300 dollars different is quite huge, right?

then we ask the sales girl why they have huge different. then the girl said, SGD 1500 is too cheap. i think my colleague quote you wrongly. gahhh..

since we dont know who is correct or wrong, then we decided to book everything ourself. haha.

after 2 weeks of comparing price, finally we booked following flight and accommodations :

– Delta Airlines : SGD 684.20

– Tokyo AirBnb (Shibuya) for 3 nights : SGD 207.25

– Hotel Vista Grande Osaka for 2 nights : SGD 194.85

– Hotel Almont Kyoto for 1 night : SGD 92

– Hotel Tokyo Dome for 2 nights : SGD 247

– JR pass : SGD 347 *this is freaking expensive for 7 days train pass, but what to do, they said if we buy individually

– Tokyo Disneysea (1 day pass) : SGD 78

– Universal Studio Japan (1 day pass) : SGD 90

– Visa Japan : SGD 39

so, Total per person is SGD 1979.3 / person, which is much more cheaper than buying the package in JTB. some more the SGD 1800 that they offer is a package for 3* hotel and not including the JR pass and the amusement park tickets. =(

actually we can go cheaper for the accomodations, but some airbnb apartment that we like is already full or have minimum nights for booking. so, we just go ahead with the hotels.

after all the booking, it’s time to make itinerary.. *yeay.. hehehe.

we already have some rough itinerary, but still not fixed yet.

if you have any great place to go in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. Please let me know ?

Thank you before.. =)