Eat.Travel.Enjoy!

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Japan On A Budget

How to survive at Japan with expenditure less than 10USD a day?

EASY!

Places to go are definitely konbini @ convenience stores. There are lots of them in Japan, which include 7Eleven, Lawsons and Family Mart. I usually buy onigiris here, cause they costs around 100 to 200Yen each, depending on what type you take. As I opt for the seafood-friendly menu, toro (tuna) or salmon is the way to go! I only knew how to speak basic Japanese, so kept repeating the same sentences at every konbini I go. :P

Those phrases are:

1. Igo toro desuka?
2. Igo salmon des?

See, jumbled up Japanese words but they understood anyway. haha.

Another place to buy cheap food or eat for free is the supermarket beneath every departmental store. Their options are great, and if you go there 30 mins before they close for the day, you can find good deals!

A bowl of udon or ramen is also very cheap if you go to their fast food chain, Yoshinoya which costs around 300+ yen. In small restaurants, they are typically priced from 600-1000Yen.

Did i mention that japan has the cheapest evian mineral water in the world?? A 750ml bottle costs a little over 100yen, and it usually cost more than 1euro the last time i bought one in Paris! Super cheap.

Smoked sweet potato is really nice too, and it makes me drool just to write this post of mine. It literally costs 200Yen per 100grams, but its totally worth it. Too much drool, okay lets cook something nice thinking its smoked sweet potato *heads to the kitchen*.

Saturday, February 6, 2016

Uji

Uji is also known as the green tea town. Because green tea is my favourite go to drink everyday (trying to cut off those morning coffees and green tea makes a perfect substitute somehow! ), so here i am, going to the source of my green tea madness.

Arrived at Uji around late afternoon, and we head straight to Nakamura Tochiki Honten! Why? Cause its rated as the best restaurant in tripadvisor in Uji (typical me, food comes first! ).

Nakamura's is right outside Uji station, so it isnt that hard to find. You just have to look for this sign.

This restaurant sells everything matcha, ie desserts, soba noodles, matcha etc. we tried the famous desserts as well as the soba noodles and it was awesome, especially the soba. I generally dont like soba, but this matcha infused soba tastes so fresh and yummy!

Green tea soba noodles with young bamboo( i think) and complimentary roasted green tea.

Roasted green tea dessert

Couldnt resist. I guess the mouth eats first than the camera here. :)

Uji is located between Nara and Kyoto, so you can stop by if you plan to go Nara. Here, you can find the temple thats on your 10Yen coin, which is called Byodo-in. The entrance fee is fairy expensive, for a temple which doesnt have a big garden. It costs 600yen to go in and another few hundred yen if you want to enter the main hall. Didnt get to spend much time here, as it was near to the closing time when we arrived.

Outside of Byodo-in compounds, you can find a strech of shops selling green tea. I prefer to go to the rustic looking ones, although the teas are generally the same wherever you go. They are priced according to their grades, and can only be kept for 6 months, so you really shouldnt buy a lot unless you are serving the teas to your visitors or doing business with them. After you tried japanese green tea, trust me you'll start to doubt green tea from other countries are really green tea. Haha

There is a river next to Byodo-in compound, and its really a peaceful stroll cause there is barely any tourists around when we were there.

After dark, we went to Kobe port as our last pitstop before going back to Kyoto to fully utilize our 1 day JR wide area pass that costs 2300Yen.

Somehow the trip to Kobe became a shopping trip at Gu (the clothes there are incredibly cheap compared to Uniqlo but with the same quality) cause all the attractions are closed.

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Deers

On the 2nd day of our journey, we bought 1-day Kansai Area Pass which costs 2300Yen at Kyoto Station. The JR office at Kyoto Station is relatively easy to find. If you are travelling from Kyoto city, just stop at Kyoto Station. Once you arrive, walk towards the station and the JR office is on your left.

If you buy the Kansai Area Pass earlier (before arriving Japan), it is relatively cheaper by 100Yen. You can read more on the pass here.

We began our day around 8.00am, heading straight to Nara. Once we arrive at Nara station, I stopped by at the Nara bus ticketing counter to grab our Nara bus pass cause we are just that lazy to walk around in the cold weather. lol. The bus pass costs 600Yen. At the counter, they will explain on how to move around Nara using the buses.

Map credit from here

First stop is Kofuku-ji. "Ji" generally means temple in Japanese. Here, we just took several pictures before moving on cause you dont expect budget travellers like us to enter each and every temple in Japan right? The cost is just too much for us to bear. :P

Nevertheless, we had a good time feeding the deers along the way. Deer food costs 100yen and can be bought from any of the obaachan stalls along the park. Mind you, they DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT even dare to ask food from the obaachan, but when strangers bought it, the deers immediately will approach you and wouldnt stop until its finished. Oh yea, they can smell any food you bring in your bag too!

On our way back to the bus stop, we were stopped by a stranger which introduced himself as a volunteer guide at Nara. I was pretty skeptical at first, cause you can never be too cautious when you are travelling right? However, this is JAPAN. They are mostly honest people that are willing to help you whenever they can. He wanted to show us the best views of Nara from the Kyoto Prefecture Office. At the lobby of the Prefecture office, you will get a cute sika (deer) origami from the receptionist. Then, head straight to the lift and press 6th floor. You can either see the views here or at the rooftop.

Our guide's name is Hideo Matsumoto. He is 67 years old and still actively working as a volunteer guide. He must be bored at home i guess. :) One interesting fact is he actually assured us that he is not a conman (cause in my country its kinda rare to find someone who literally walks around the city and voluntarily guide people out of the blue) while convincing us to follow him in the first place. That is how enthusiastic Japanese people are on their job.

Next stop is Kasuga Taisha. the Deer Park along the way was gorgeous! I bought a 800Yen sweet potato which remains ended up in a deers' mouth cause it wouldnt stop bugging me to give my sweet potato. It even tried to attack me with its already cut antler (thank god for that!). It literally wanted everything including the paperbag for my sweet potato. I just had to give in!haha.

We walked from Kasuga Taisha to the huge Nandaimon gate, which makes me wonder how people in the early days construct such big structure. Didnt spend too much time here as its already late and we have 2 more pitstops.

Next up is Uji!

Monday, January 18, 2016

The Land of The Rising Sun

Nippon, or so it is called Japan in English is probably one of my favourite country to visit. I visited Japan twice in 6 months, so i guess you can tell how much i loved going there aite?

After travelling to more than 15 countries, perhaps i should make this a travel blog. Haha. Better late than never right?

We took an evening AirAsia flight from Kuala Lumpur on 11 January 2016 and arrived at KIX airport at around 11pm. We took a bus to Kyoto station as there are no more train services to Kyoto at almost midnight(and i mistakenly checked how to go Kyoto from Osaka airport, not Kansai! Gomenasai travel buddies).

Note: Remember to buckle up!
The bus ride took slightly over 1 hour and it costs around 2300yen.How to go to the bus station? When you exit the arrival hall, go one level down and you will reach a bus area. Do check where your hotel area is before you buy your ticket.

From Kyoto station, we walked to our hotel for 20mins cause its free! Otherwise, you can always use a taxi.

To be continued...

Green Moss

We started our 1st day in Kyoto by going to a random shrine in the heart of Gion called Yasaka Shrine (it really is because we didnt know which bus to take during transit at Gion. Haha). Besides, every corners of Kyoto have loads to offer...

We continued our journey to Ginkakuji, which is also called the silver pavilion. Be mindful that Gin means silver while Kin means gold. So do not confuse yourself with the Gold Pavilion please!

En-route to Ginkaku-ji is the Philosopher's Walk, where you can see sakura blooming during spring.

Personally, Ginkakuji looks like a normal temple to me (supposed to have silver laquers on the roof like Kinkakuji), but the moss garden in its compound is truly beautiful.

Close up of Ginkakuji moss garden

Next stop is Kiyomizu-dera. What i love about it is not the temple, but the olden Kyoto pathway that leads to it. Its kinda of an obsession.

This is actually a downhill route from Kiyomizu-dera.

I didnt go into Kiyomizudera this time around cause i've been there last summer (which i hope to blog about it later), so i waited outside while waiting for the others. Fyi, the entrance fee for each temple or shrine mainly costs around 500 /600 yen per entry. Thats quite pricey actually, but these Japanese people really got good business.

We stopped by Naritaya at Gion for a very late lunch. I had spicy shoyu ramen, which isnt quite to my liking.

The best place to go at dawn is probably Gion. Why? Its makes me feel like being in the samurai era!

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Turkey - Architecture Delights

I visited Turkey in the end of 2014, where it comes in a package with my umrah trip. The country itself holds an identity different than others, where you can find different gems in every city you visit. Unique in its way, and calming when you hear the call for prayers. One significant thing you can see there is they have thousands of mosque in less than a kilometer distance from each other.