Japan Trip Day #6 Kyoto

Japan Trip

Day #6 28/05/14 Wednesday

I arrived way too early in Kyoto, about 7 in the morning. The tourist information center had not opened yet, so I just went directly to my hostel.

I stayed for 3 days 2 Nights at JAM Hostel Kyoto. The price was 2000 JPY/night for a bunk bed in a 6 people room. I had made a booking through my fave website booking.com before. 

The best part from JAM Hostel was its location. It's perfect! Located in Gion (the most popular area in Kyoto!), beside the river with lovely waterfront area. The room itself was so spacious! The facilities were also complete, only the bathroom was only two, so I had to queue to take a shower. It has private toilet inside every room. So, don't worry about the toilet hassle in the morning ;)

JAM Hostel also has a very nice bar on the ground floor. It has nice ambience there, and not so expensive. I could say the bar is their lobby too. I put my rucksack in the lobby, and took a walk until my check in time (3 PM). 

Jam Hostel's front facade.

Japan Trip Day #5 Tokyo : Ooedo Onsen Monogatari, Odaiba

Japan Trip

Day #5 27/05/14 Tuesday

I had spent 5 days in Tokyo, and finally it was time for me to move to other city, Kyoto. I felt sad, because I loved Tokyo already, especially the people I have met. I booked a business class seat (7,850 JPY) for a night bus ticket to Kyoto via Willer Express website . I chose the bus that has toilet and baggage room. In fact, I didn't use the toilet at all, because all I did was sleep all the time until I arrived at Kyoto station. Next time, I'm gonna book the cheaper seat!

Willer Express night bus' business class seat.

One last thing I wanted to try before going to Kyoto was having Onsen experience. I kept my baggage at K's House and then I went to Odaiba area, a little bit far from Tokyo city center. I took about 45-60 min train ride and walked to reach 'Oedo Onsen Monogatari' , a natural onsen (hot spring) theme park. There were 14 varieties of baths, including indoor baths. The entrance and facilities cost 2,640 JPY. Every visitors must wear casual yukata(s), which has beautiful patterns. Actually I wanted so bad to buy them, but unfortunately they were not for sale :( . 

The front of Oedo Onsen Monogatari.

Japan Trip Day #4 Tokyo : Tsukiji - Ueno

Japan Trip

Day #4 26/05/14 Monday

What is the first thing on your mind, if someone ask you about Japanese food? I bet most people will answer : Sushi ! 

I thought, eating sushi is a must when I was in Japan. So, I googled some places, and found the must visit place called 'Tsukiji Fish Market'. It said that there are a lot of sushi restaurants, using the super fresh ingredients, and definitely is a must try.

I was informed, there are 2 famous sushi places named 'Dai' and 'Daiwa' , and the queue  for both were crazy! Most people went to Tsukiji Fish Market really early, seriously like 4 or 5 AM @_@. They take a taxi, because the earliest train is 5.30AM. Usually people watch the Tuna auction first, and then go to the sushi place. 

Me? It's a big NO for me waking up that early.

Okay, I'm not a morning person, and I chose to prepare myself for the queueing thing. I left Kuramae station at 7AM, stopped at Tsukijishijo station (Oedo Line E18). The fish market is right next to the station exit. The fish market is closer with Tsukijishijo station than Tsukiji station (Hibiya Line H10).

Before entering Tsukiji Fish Market.

Map of Tsukiji Fish Market.

It was the cleanest fish market I've ever visited!

Serba- Serbi : Gerombolan Si Jerawat

Pernah tiba- tiba mengalami jerawat membandel? Membandel yang benar- benar maksudnya susaaaah banget hilang. Pas dipikir uda mendingan, eh tau- tau muncul lagi bertubi-tubi.

Nah, ini yang terjadi sama saya tiba- tiba dari sekitar 7 bulan yang lalu. Muka saya yang sebelumnya mulus-mulus saja tiba- tiba kedatangan tamu tidak diinginkan, Gerombolan Si Jerawat! dari yang jerawat besar sampe kecil- kecil buanyaak. eughh!! selama 7 bulan ini saya jadi ga PD ketemu orang- orang, depresi, pokoknya jadi makin jerawatan gara- gara stress mikirin jerawat. nah loh!

Akhirnya, dengan beragam komentar yang membuat saya terpuruk, saya jadi terpicu untuk mencari tahu serba- serbi munculnya si bandel ini. Pertanyaan- pertanyaan 'Ko muka lu jadi jerawatan?', 'ko muka lu makin ancur-ancuran?', 'astaga!! kenapa muka lu?' udah jadi santapan sehari- hari deh kalo ketemu orang. Meskipun saya tau kalau lagi jerawatan itu ga boleh pake yang namanya kosmetik atau BB cream dan sejenisnya, karena komentar- komentar di sekeliling yang buat ga PD, saya jadi tetep masih pakai alas bedak. Alhasil, bukannya membaik, yang ada makin parah. arghh!! buah simalakama ~_~

Saya sudah mencoba berbagai macam pengobatan yang ada di pasaran. Mencoba 'menetralkan' kulit dengan hanya memakai rangkaian produk Immortelle dari L'Occitane, minum jamu Darsi, sampai obat minum dan oles antibiotik Clindamycin. Tapi Si Jerawat tetep aja nempel terus sama saya. Huaa! hampir putus asa rasanya, sampai malas lihat cermin.

Berhubung ini jerawat sepertinya bukan cuma dari radang di permukaan kulit aja, jadi saya mulai merunut satu- satu kemungkinan penyebab jerawat saya : 

Japan Trip Day #3 Tokyo : Shibuya - Shinjuku

Japan Trip

Day #3 25/05/14 Sunday

I  woke up a bit early, because I had made a schedule to meet Kosuke at 10 AM. I first met Kosuke in Luang Prabang, Laos. I was on my Mekong trip and Kosuke was on his round the world trip at that time. After that, we had a chance to meet again in Jakarta during his visit to Indonesia. I was so eager to hear his stories about his trip, and fortunately he was in Tokyo too during my visit. 

So, we made an appointment at Hachiko statue in Shibuya that morning. It's a good meeting point, since it's easy to find, not very large area, so wouldn't be very difficult to catch each other. 

Shibuya Map (http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3007.html )

Japan Trip Day #2 Tokyo : Akihabara - Ginza - Roppongi

Japan Trip

Day #2 24/05/14 Saturday

Actually I had planned to visit Studio Ghibli museum on this Japan trip. I really looove Studio Ghibli! Do you know Totoro , Spirited Away, and Howl's Moving Castle? They are some of Studio Ghibli's masterpieces. My favorites! <3 Oh, and I really am a big fan of the genius composer Joe Hisaishi who made almost all their soundtracks.

If you ever watched Studio Ghibli's movie, please let me know what's your fave movie/ character! and if you haven't, please watch them! I highly recommend it :D

ANDDDD unfortunately, it was closed for periodic maintenace during my visit :( :( . So if you want to visit the museum, better look for the schedule on their website first ( http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/en/info/ ). For your information, the museum close every Tuesday, and the ticket price for adult (19+) is 1000Yen. You can buy the ticket @ Lawson, they are almost everywhere in Japan.

Japan Trip Day #1 Tokyo : Asakusa

Japan Trip

Day #1 23/05/14 Friday

There was something strange with my feeling while planning for my Japan-Korea trip. I didn't know exactly why, was it because of the tight deadline at my office or because I hadn't done solo traveling again for a long time (the last one was Toraja Trip in August 2012. Whao! 2 years! Time flies x_x )

For a staff like me, I think there's no such thing as the right time to ask the boss for a 3 weeks leave and go on a holiday. I had waited for it for many years and months, and mostly right after I thought I had finished my duties/works on schedule, my boss was in a good mood, and everything felt right, suddenly everything fell into a chaos. 

So, if you think that you are in the same condition as I was, you really have to make your own right time, just 'book the ticket and go'. Don't think too much about the constraints. You already have plan, you have done your best to finish your work. Everybody needs holiday! Just ask for the blessings from The Universe, and everything will fall into place. There won't be a day with no work left, no matter how hard you work. Just focus on the good thing, the happiness that you will feel during your trip. 

Trust me, the power of will really works :) .