Day 6 [31st May]: Nara + Osaka

With 3 full days left in Osaka, I still have 2 day-trips from Osaka as planned. For day 6, I took an express train heading to Nara and the journey took about 40 minutes.

Day 5 [30th May]: Kyoto

I made an online reservation for a guided tour in Kyoto Imperial Palace for 30th May, so I made my way to Kyoto in the morning as planned. I didn't want to reach too early, but somehow I underestimated the time needed to take the subway from Kyoto station and walk to the palace from the subway station. So I ended up reaching the palace about 10 to 15 minutes later than the scheduled time. I managed to catch up with the group inside the palace and the guided tour duration is about 1 hour.

 
   
 

Day 4 [29th May]: Kobe

On my 4th day, I was kind of in a dilemma which place to visit because the weather forecast doesn't seem favorable for these few days. After checking through the weather forecast of Kyoto, Kobe and Nara, it seems that it should be a clear day only for Kobe. On the way to the train station from the hotel, I had breakfast and also bought a cheap and thin windbreaker. From Osaka station, it was about 35 minutes of normal train ride to Sannomiya station in Kobe.

Day 3 [28th May]: Kyoto

For my third day, I decided to follow my plan to make a day trip to Kyoto. I took the train to Osaka station and transferred to a train heading for Kyoto. The train station is a little overwhelming for me as it was my first time there. There were schedules for normal train and express train. As I was unsure if there is extra charge for the express train, I decided to wait for the normal train. After about 40 minutes of train ride, I stepped foot in Kyoto.

 

Day 2 [27th May]: Universal Studios Japan

I was planning to wake up early on day 2 to start the day early at Universal Studios so as to avoid the crowd. However, I woke up at only 8am+ and went for breakfast before taking the JR train to Universal Studios. When I reached, there was quite a queue at the entrance and also a queue at the ticketing counters. I entered the theme park at about 9:20am and there was already quite a crowd although the place opens at 9am.

 

Japan (May/June 2013)

Needed a good break and was looking around for a destination suitable for travel in May or June. After much research, it came down to either Eastern Europe, Spain/Portugal/UK or Japan. As I started doing some research on Japan, I discovered that accomodation is not as expensive as expected, especially compared to Europe, Hong Kong and Singapore. Furthermore, the airfares by Malaysia Airlines and Cathay Pacific seemed attractive. I was more interested in visiting Hokkaido, but decided it's probably cheaper to fly to Osaka/Tokyo and take budget airline to Hokkaido instead. And I went ahead with my travel planning and bookings.

Day 8 [4th May]: Hong Kong

Strictly speaking, day 8 should be considered my last day in Hong Kong since my flight is in the morning on the next day. I started the day by trying fishball rice noodles soup and 鸳鸯 for breakfast at 香港仔魚蛋粉 near the hostel. Frankly speaking, coffee or 鸳鸯 really seems tasteless in Hong Kong. Other than hot beverage, everything else is great.

Day 7 [3rd May]: Ocean Park

For the next day, I visited Ocean Park and was kinda dissappointed that the drizzle started when I reached the entrance. I just had to proceed on with the visit since I had already purchased the entrance ticket at the bus terminal. I walked around for a bit at the foot and found my way to the cable car station where I took the ride up to the summit.

Day 6 [2nd May]: Shenzhen

I started the day early for day 6 as I planned to make a day trip to Shenzhen. After breakfast in Tsui Wah restaurant, I took the MTR to Lohu.

Pasta in 羅宋湯

Day 5 [1st May]: Hong Kong

After having breakfast in Tim Ho Wan, we headed back to hotel and I had to change room because I will be alone for the rest of the week. I headed to the Museum of History in late morning and spent about 2 hours or so in the museum.