Japan Trip [2009]

Japan trip in Sept 2009 with package tour,went toTokyo,Nagoya,Kyoto and Osaka. Got the chance to visit disneyland and universal studios. Didnt get to taste the BBQ Sotong selling up in Mount Fuji. 600 yen for 1 whole big sotong!! Have to try it the next time. The rice in japan smells nice and it taste good. Made you want to have another round.





Day 1 & 2
Arrived in Japan Tokyo, went straight to Disneyland to begin our day. Halloween atmosphere is in the air. Everyone is preparing for the arrival of Halloween in Sept to Oct. The parade are 3 times a day and the queue was super long for almost every rides there. Watched the parade 3 times, it was cool.Spent the whole day there, but sad to say didnt managed to see the fireworks cos it started to rain again. (Why everytime it rains when i visit Disneyland?hohoho). After we gathered and went for a nice chinese dinner down the streets near Disneyland. Then we went back to Sunshine City where we had stayed there overnight. (Didn't managed to go DisneyLand Sea, maybe next time i will go there) (Hotel stayed: Prince Hotel)

Day 3
Woke up early and had our breakfast in the hotel. We headed down to Asakusa Kannon Temple and had our free time to view the temple and do some shopping along the street inside the temple. Then we headed to Ramen Museum, where we had real japan ramen. Long queue inside the stall inside the museum and we had pork ramen. It was a big bowl and the soup was abit too salty and oily.LoL
After this, we headed down to Gotemba Premium Outlet Mall to do some shopping. Here gathered all the branded goods outlets. But it seems like no much diff compared to Singapore (i dont find the stuffs cheap..) After the shopping, we went up to Mount Fuji, where i got a beautiful view of the mountain and sunset. It was also super cooling up there. And there, i saw big BBQ sotong.LoL. After a nice view up on the mountain, we went down to our hotel which is located at Lake Saiko. I got a big room, which is for 3 pax for the night. (Hotel stayed: Hotel near Lake Saiko)

Day 4
Woke up early and went down to Lake Saiko for a nice morning walk. The Lake was big and the water is super clear.You can get the nice view on the opposite mountain. After everyone is ready, we headed down to Iyashi No Sato Nenba (Thatched Roof Village). It is a small village, like those old japan houses where samurai lived. From there, you can also get a very nice of Mount Fuji (Too bad, it is not snowing, so there is no snow on top). You can also dress up as samurai warrior (for guys) and try on the kimono (for ladies). Bought a nice ice-cream at the village, it was nice and cooling.
After this, we headed down to Owakudani Boiling Valley.Then we headed down for a nice lunch.
After a nice lunch, we headed to take a boat ride on a pirate ship (only went from 1 station to the next station). After that, we headed down to Nagoya, where we had some spare to walk along the street of Nagoya (Oasis 21) before we ended the day. (Hotel stayed: International Hotel Nagoya)

Day 5
Woke up and had international breakfast provided by the hotel. Then we headed down to Kyoto, where we went to Heian Shrine first. It was raining again, which is so disappointing. Walked along the 'pasar malam' opened outside of the shrine. After that, we went to Nishijin district where we had a super nice lunch. (like the lunch here, we had pork/chicken cutlet bento)
After the lunch, we walked down to watch Nishijin Kimono Show. It was like a fashion show with the models wearing different types of Kimono. After the show, we headed down to Kiyomizu Temple. It was a big temple and the one of the oldest temple in Kyoto. There are also alot of shops along the way up to the temple. (You even might get a chance to see Geisha there if you are lucky enough). After the visit, we headed down to Kintetsu Kyoto Station where we bought our ticket to take the bullet train and headed down to Osaka. Once we reached Osaka, we went to Shin Sai Bashi0Suji Market. It was like our bugis street, where there are alot of shops and restaurants. It was a shopping paradise there, the stuffs was cheap. There are discounts everywhere. But we only had 1 hour to shop, didnt manged to walk all the shops. (Bad thing with package tours). We went back to hotel, where we stayed for a night.
(Hotel stayed: Hyatt Hotel)

Day 6
We started off the day by going to Osaka Castle first. Bought tickets to go up the top of the castle. After that, we headed to Universal Studio, to spend the rest of the day there. The theme there is also Halloween. Tried the turkey leg for 780 yen, it was big. LoL. Also loves the parade there, which is only once a day. After that, we went down to have BBQ for dinner. Then we headed back to the hotel for rest.
(Hotel stayed: ANA Gate Tower Hotel Osaka)


Day 7
had my breakfast at a 62 level high hotel. You can see the expressway to the new airport. Anyway, it was time to say goodbye to Japan. Waited in the airport for the flight back to Singapore. (So sad....)

Places Visited:
Tokeyo DisneyLand
Sunshine City
Asakusa Kannon Temple
Ramen Museum
Oasis 21
Mount Fuji (5th Station)
Owakudani Boiling Valley
Iyashi No Sato Nenba – Thatched Roof Village
Gotemba Premium Outlet Mall
Lake Saiko
Nishijin district (Nishijin Kimono Show)
Bullet Train ride to Osaka
Kiyomizu Temple
Heian Shrine
Shin Sai Bashi0Suji Market
Osaka Castle
Unverisal Studio (Osaka)