Highlights of Japan

It's been a long while since I last did any recommendations for a city/country, which can prove to be more useful summaries of my trips. I've created a new tag for trip recommendations and will slowly add more entries to them. I realised I've only done summaries for Seoul and Venice so far, so there's probably alot more work to be done. I will do it in point form like what I did for Venice so that it can be a guide that is easier for reading.

Here are some of my experiences/recommendations in general:

• It is probably cheaper to go to Hokkaido by flying to Osaka/Tokyo and then flying to Sapporo via Jetstar. Jetstar's domestic flights can cost below ¥8,000 one-way inclusive of taxes!
• Feast lots! I love sushi, sashimi, crabs, scallops, prawns, ramen, udon, soba, tonkotsu, tempura, shabu shabu, and the list can go on and on. Japan has so much to offer for feasting. Throughout my 19 days in Japan, I hardly get to try all the kinds of food I listed down to try.
• Visit the public bath houses or hot springs. It's quite an experience.
• When you take the JR trains, do consider hopping on to the Limited Express trains. The fare is the same as the normal trains. By waiting just a little longer for the Limited Express trains, you might still end up reaching your destination earlier. It's faster because they stop at significantly less stations.
• If you love seafood, you MUST visit Hokkaido.

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 14 [8th June]: Tokyo to Sapporo

My flight to Sapporo is at 3:25pm, so I checked out of the hotel at about 11am to make my way to Narita Airport. I took the inexpensive Keisei Limited Express to the airport and it costs ¥1,000. I reached the airport a little earlier than the check-in time, so I had to wait awhile before I could check-in. After checking in, I went to a restaurant to have my lunch.

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 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.

Day 7 [1st June]: Kyoto

As planned, I visited Kyoto on a Saturday so that I can hop on the sightseeing bus that only operates during the weekends. The bus ticket for 京都ひるバス costs ¥2,000 for unlimited rides on the bus for the whole day. The first bus starts at 8:40am and the last bus arrives back in Kyoto station at about 6pm. The tour guide on board takes about some of the places in Kyoto during the bus ride, but it is only in Japanese though. The duration of the complete route takes 1 hour and 38 minutes.

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 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.