Finale of Japan Trip 2013 [12th to 13th June]

It has been a long trip but time sure flies past and my holiday in Japan is coming to an end. It feels as if there are still several more places I want to visit in Japan, e.g. Hokodate, Jozenkei, Furano, Noboribetsu, Himeji and more places in central Japan also. After packing my luggage, I went to the train station and looked for paid lockers to keep my luggage while I go shopping/eating. With 1 suitcase, 1 backpack, 1 more luggage bag and another cloth bag, it sure was a challenge to squeeze everything into the locker.

Day 17 [11th June]: Otaru

Today is my last full day in Hokkaido, but I keep having thoughts of visiting Otaru again instead of hanging around in Sapporo. After struggling through the decision for some time, I went to the train station and hopped on to the train heading for Otaru. When I reached Otaru, I went to Ajidokoro Takeda in Sankaku Fish Market again for my meal. This time round, I ordered chirashi don, which comprises of crab, scallop and prawn. I also ordered grilled scallop amd clam. The clam comes with sauce in it that tastes really sweet. A pair of scissors were also provided for me to handle the big juicy scallop. Eating seafood in Otaru is just such a delight as they are just so fresh, juicy and sweet.

Day 15 [9th June]: Sapporo

I started my day by making my way to Nijo Market for my late breakfast. Along the way, I passed by the lovely Tokeidai (aka Sapporo Clock Tower) and also Sapporo TV Tower.

 

Day 13 [7th June]: Tokyo

I left the hotel slightly later today to avoid the peak hour train crowd and went to Tsukiji Fish Market again for my breakfast. I decided to buy the 1-day pass for Tokyo metro and Toei subway at ¥1,000 since I figured I will be visiting many places today. When I reached Tsukiji Fish Market, I decided to try the egg omelete which costs ¥100 and the taste was just great! Along the way, I was thinking of trying one of the popular sushi restaurants but the queues still scare me off. So, I ended up trying a random restaurant that had a promotion of ¥2,000 for a sushi set. Unfortunately, they do not allow photo taking so I had to take photos very discretely and secretively using my phone. Compared to Yamazaki, the quality of food here seems very average only. The chef also didn't ask me if I wanted wasabi, so I didn't really enjoy my food as I disliked wasabi.

Day 10 [4th June]: Tokyo

I woke up in the morning and birthday greetings were starting to come in via Whatsapp and also my Facebook timeline. For my first breakfast in Tokyo, I went with my plan to visit Tsukiji Fish Market and enjoy some fresh sushi. I bought the one-day Tokyo metro pass at ¥710 and took the subway to Tsukiji Station. I managed to find my way to the Outer Market with the help of a map just outside the subway station and Google Maps. Along the way, I visited Tsukiji Honganji, which has a design that is somewhat European influenced in my opinion.

Day 8 [2nd June]: Osaka + Arima Onsen

For my last day in Osaka, I was toying with the idea of going to Arima Onsen in the afternoon. For the morning, I went to Kuromon Market in Osaka for a brunch at about 11am. Surprisingly, the market is not too crowded at this time.

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 18 [24-Oct]: Venice

After 2 days, I felt like I have visited most of Venice. So, I decided to start my day later at around 10:25am. I made my way slowly towards St Mark's Square.

For lunch, I stopped by a Chinese restaurant near St Mark's Square. I ordered a beancurd with vegetable soup to start my meal. For my main dish, I had chicken with bamboo shoots and mushrooms. The whole meal including rice, a can of coca cola, and 12% tax, totalled to €17.14.