As we were just there last year, we did not repeat the places that we went last year, well... except for some! And, you'll see why we went there if you read on...
A list of the places of interest during our stay:
Day 1: Asakusa Sensoji Temple Tokyo
Day 2: Shinjuku Gyoen Tokyo
Day 3: World Trade Centre Tokyo (with view of Tokyo Tower)
Day 4: Hakone Kanagawa
Day 5: Kyu Shiba Rikyu Garden Tokyo
Day 6: Nijo Castle Kyoto, Arashiyama Kyoto
Day 7: Deer Park Nara, Osaka Castle
Day 8: Gion Kyoto, Namba Osaka
Day 9: Transit Itami Osaka Airport
Day 1 (Changi Airport Singapore, Narita Airport, Asakusa 浅草 Tokyo)
This time, we took an ANA flight to Japan. The food was much more pleasant than the airline's we took last year but still not what we expected hmm...
This time, we used the Suica card for transport throughout the trip, unlike the previous where we relied on the JR passes.
First stop: Hotel. This time we opted for a different hotel at an area that we did not venture before - Hotel MyStays Premier at Hamamatsucho.
The kiddos love the room! It was great to go back to a platform bed, it kind of brought back memories of our old thrown away platform bed.
Next, we went for dinner at Asakusa Imahan 浅草今半. This was a restaurant that we did not manage to try on the previous trip because we booked a different date! So, this time we just had to return! It was quite a comfy place, even though we had to sit on cushions (crossed-legged of course). The much raved about sukiyaki was rather standard we thought, not fantastic for another return. The service was rather good.
After the meal, we went back to the Sensoji temple nearby for a visit, and here's what we saw:
Just, what we're here for! We then took a must-take photo at the Kaminari Gate before leaving the place.
Actually, on our way in, a Japanese man offered to take a family picture for us - without asking! Such warm-hearted gesture, we felt welcome to Japan instantly!
Day 2 (Shinjuku Gyoen 新宿御苑, Roponggi 六本木 Tokyo)
Another place we returned, for the Sakura.
Nice garden! Love the spaciousness and it was a lot of pink compared to last year!
Love our photos taken there too! From the photos you could see that it was not cold. We were quite disappointed to find it hot at 26deg there! Had to take off the jackets. Sun was glaring but it also brightened up our photos. :)
B saw a flower petal that dropped on my palm and thought it was cool. She wanted to catch one too and spent most of her time in the garden catching and collecting the pink petals. :)
At night, we went to Gonpachi権八. The restaurant was still the same as 9 years ago! The atmosphere was still, if not better than before! Food wise was okay only, however we found the Ebi to be nice!
Day 3 (Roppongi 六本木, Hamamatsucho 浜松町 Tokyo)
We seemed to have enjoyed the eateries 9 years ago that we decided to return this trip. Gonpachi was one, Mon Cher Ton Ton was another one! We missed the teppanyaki there dearly!
Last time, we were there with A still in my tummy, this time the kids were with us. They love the place there! We were led to the inner dinning hall, quite a private dinning area. The kids were treated with such tender care, with the waitress putting on their aprons for them and serving their cokes to them. B was particularly in love with their washroom!
Again, there was no change to the place. It looked exactly the same 9 years ago. We were led to the resting area for our desserts. :)
The Before (9 years ago):
The After (Now, the re-visit 9 years later):
After the full meal, DC took us to a place which I wanted to go - a vintage shop. There, B and I were crazily going through the bags and accessories that they had in the shop. B even recorded the whole shop's interior fondly in video! Too bad, they don't have the size and colour of the bag that I wanted.
At night, we went to the World Trade Centre observatory deck. This was an unplanned, a place of interest that we discovered was very near us to miss. We took lots of photos there. Was awed by the Tokyo Tower - the symbol of Tokyo - which stood so close to the area we stayed!
Dinner was at Denny's, which was very near to our hotel. The kids love the restaurant! They gave out toys for children and the kiddos had a hard time choosing their toys! There was a shelf at the cashier area just at the entrance and before we went in, they already bought their toys already.. if only we had known.. haha.. A ordered curry and finished it in no time, B had udon.
Day 4 (Hakone 箱根 Kanagawa, Shibuya 渋谷 Tokyo)
Hakone was a new area of Japan that we had not ventured before. We've heard so much of the hot springs and good views, we just had to visit it this time! In this trip, we went to one of the onsens nearby the train station. It was an experience for both DC and me, as well as the kids!
After the hot soak, we went to the restaurant within and tried the grilled river fish that looked quite interesting. They were put on sticks and grilled with lots of salt.
We had a wonderful time exploring the shops across the train station too. We had coffee soft served ice-cream. Nice! DC took lots of pictures of us with the Sakura trees at the nearby river stream too. :)
At night, we went to Kobe Hakushu Teppanyaki for dinner. We were too early, and had around 1 hour spare time. So, we went to Doutor for coffee. It wasn't quite a good experience as we were seated near the smoking area. :(
Good thing we booked prior reservation, it was a small family restaurant. We saw the cook busying answering calls and rejecting the walk-ins. The cook was especially fond of A and kept praising him. He saw how he gobbled up the veggies, he said that we educate him well and asked where we were from! *blushed haha..
It was so satisfying that till today, DC still dreamed about going back to this restaurant! :)
Day 5 (Kyū Shiba Rikyū Garden 旧芝離宮, Minato Ward Tokyo, Minami Ward Kyoto)
The last day in Tokyo, we went to the nearby park for more pictures of Sakura. The park was small but it was beautiful! A pity that there weren't a lot of flowers already, mostly fallen. However we did manage to capture some late blooming ones. Here's one of them captured:
There was a playground next to the park. B had fun playing the swing and slide. :)
After that, we made our way back to hotel, do our check-out and went for the Shinkansen, something that the children is familiar with. :) We had our bento and nap in the train.
This time in Kyoto, we stayed in a guesthouse, LA Guesthouse. The kids loved it the moment they went in. There were 2 rooms, a kitchen area and a dinning area!
As DC had to go to the Osaka International airport to get the romantic train tickets he booked for the next day, so the kids and me were left to explore the room for some hours! Each of us had our own screen time - B on iPad, A on iPhone, me on TV, haha. (That was when I saw the news on the deer park.)
DC didn't make it back on time for dinner, so I had to take the kids out for dinner myself. Initially we wanted to take the subway to Kyoto, but the kids and I agreed on the nearest restaurant instead. We thought it was a foodcourt but it turned out to be a restaurant. The prices were very cheap too! The kids get to buy toys off the toys shelf and wanted to be back again. haha...
DC was only back after our dinner. He had bowl noodle that night.
Day 6 (Nijo Castle 二条城, Arashiyama Kyoto)
We made a visit to the Nijo castle. DC initially wanted to go to Osaka castle but I thought since we were in Kyoto, might as well visit a castle in Kyoto. The atmosphere was very good there! Lots of Cherry blossoms there, and an area was set up for eating and watching performance! We liked it there and took lots of family photos using tripods...
On the way out, there were tents selling food and drinks. We tasted and bought a bottle of Sake but later regretted it as we couldn't bring it back home in our hand carry bags! So, we drank as much as we could in the hotel room...
Had McDonald's for lunch as requested by the kids. They served pork burgers in Japan!
In the afternoon, we went for the romantic train ride. This was another place that we re-visited as the last time we were here, there weren't flowers at all, this time we had a great feast on the blooms! Definitely romantic, despite the drizzles!
Since we were there (Kyoto station Level 11), we wanted to eat the Tonkatsu meal we had last year but the queue was long. So we settled for a family restaurant. The kids had their kids meal served in a train with steam (dry ice actually) and they got lollipops after that!
A spotted the children department and wanted to go in. So, after dinner we went there. They each chose a toy. A chose an ambulance and B chose a Licca doll with accessories. They were happy!
Back at the hotel, B was even happier to have received a voice message from her pre-school best friend! She went into the toilet to return her voice message haha!
Day 7 (Deer Park Nara, Osaka Castle)
We went Nara in the morning for the deers. DC, A and B didn't quite like the deer park because of the unpleasant smell but I rather enjoyed the atmosphere there. It was quite an experience for the kids.
Bravo for B, who dared to feed the deer! A didn't dare to as he watched a news report on the warning issued by the deer park the day we arrived in Kyoto. He didn't want to be bite by them, lolx!
We ate at a sushi bar just outside the Nara station, and nearly lost the strawberries that we bought!
Back at Kyoto, we tried to walk back to our guesthouse on foot, all thanks to DC the great navigator!
After resting our feet, we went to outside Osaka Castle for photos (didn't go in). There were still late blossoms, and we found some groups of people picnicking there.
At Osaka station, we wanted to get some toys for the kids but they couldn't find anything at Osaka (where we stayed previously), so we took them back to Kyoto Isetan... there they were able to choose almost immediately what they wanted on top of what they already got from there. :)
For dinner, we had hotpot at the nearby restaurant where I took the kids to the other day where DC was not around. This time, we had to wait for an hour before we got our table, but it was very value for money!
After dinner, we found our favorite ice-cream after days of searching! Yay!
Day 8 (Gion Kyoto, Namba Osaka)
Woke up early (and excited), it was the day we were playing dress up haha... We reached earlier than the appointment time at the Kyoto Tower but couldn't find our way into the building. So, we walked around the building to find an entrance into it but soon realized that it was opened only at 9am. At 9am sharp (the Japanese are that punctual), the doors to the Kyoto Tower opened and we were able to get up to the 3rd floor to the kimono rental shop. :)
We were one of the earliest there but found the process quite messy as we were not guided through the flow and were helpless at what to do next! When we got ready, it was already 9:45am and the photographer was already waiting since 9:30am. Yup, we hired a photographer with us and took a walk in Gion. He took us to the alleys near the Yasaka Pagoda area for photoshoots. I'm really proud of the kids as they were able to survive wearing clogs (slippers actually) in the rain! The rain was quite heavy at one point that we decided to buy 2 umbrellas instead of waiting for the rain to stop. We had to cut short our photo session at 12:15pm as A was getting impatient. I could see that B was quite enjoying it. The photographer was taking quite a lot of shots on her. :)
When we were back to the rental shop, we were happy to know that there was an extra photo session provided. So, off we went for another round of photo shooting.
After the studio session and return of the kimonos, we rewarded the kids with ice-cream. The small pieces of baumkuchen cakes in the ice-cream cup were really nice, both DC and I felt like buying them back... too bad they have an extremely short shelf life!
On the way to Gion on cab, we saw some really beautiful cherry trees blossoming at a nearby canal. DC took note of the location and brought us back for more pictures in the rain... :)
We rested at our hotel before we went out to meet DC's friend, at Osaka. It seemed like everytime we
went there (Namba), it would rain. We had a very tasty Yikiniku meal. Wanted to take a walk to find more yummies e.g. Luke lobster, croissants, Pablo cheese tarts but too bad they were closed already. Next trip then!
Day 9 (Kyoto Train Station, Itami Airport Osaka, Narita Airport Tokyo, Changi Airport Singapore)
The morning was cold, we had to take out the kids jackets we kept! The whole day (and night) was spent on travelling... on foot from our guesthouse to Kyoto station, on airport limousine from Kyoto to Osaka Imatai Airport, went through security checks x2 (cos we went to the wrong queue), on domestic flight from Osaka to Tokyo Narita Airport, on shuttle bus from air plane to Airport, went through security checks, on shuttle bus on flight from Tokyo to Singapore Changi Airport, then on cab back to Home. Tiring day of shuttling! We managed to buy some goodies back while waiting for the international flight but alas! We couldn't find the family's favorite white choco cookies... wonder why they didn't have it now?
By the time we reached home it was already past midnight! Day 10! We went Zzz right away...
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