Trip to Japan (Tokyo - Osaka) 28 June to 3 July 2023

 28 June 2023

And so we are flying to Japan! Jianhui’s company is having shutdown. He had to clear leave on 30 June so we decided to head to Japan. A short trip since 29 June 2023 is a public holiday! 

Thanks goodness I managed to wfh and so I could do some packing in the morning. And since it’s a short trip, so this makes packing much easier too! I was super busy at work and so I was basically so drained by the end of the day. Our luggage is rather empty too! 

We had an early dinner at 5pm at Teck Whye before we went back Senja after work at 6pm+. After doing our last bit of packing, we left senja around 7pm+. Traffic was not so bad despite that its peak hour. 

When we reached the airport, we got a shock! It was so crowded! I guess we are not used to travel over the long weekend! We quickly did the self check in and printed the boarding pass. Then we went to deposit our luggage. Luckily, we managed to do it quite fast. 

For the first time, there was a queue at the departure hall at the security. Lexuan is before 6 years old and now she could do the auto gate with me. But of course she doesn’t need to register her fingerprint. 

We were quite hungry by now. We bought crave to eat. The chicken cutlet was too salty. Lexuan loves the rice to my surprise. The bandung was nice too! 

Then we walked to Gate E22. There were many people there and the queue just doesn’t stop at all. We queued all the way in to clear the customs then to scan the boarding pass. By the time we did all these, it was boarding time. Jianhui quickly filled up our water bottles then we boarded the plane. 

The flight time was 10.15pm and we took off punctually. We were all ready to order food, but we got to wait. Haha. As usual, I had a quick nap when the plane was taxi-ing. Somehow, this is the best time for me to sleep. 

We ordered 2 cup noodles, 2 small cans of pringles, Minute Maid, beer, 2 udders chocolate ice cream. We ate to our full and it was already midnight. Lexuan managed to sleep and so I could sleep too. We woke up around 4am+. 

When we touched down, there were many super Mario welcome posters! It’s so cute and Lexuan made me take many photos! There was a long queue at the security, so by the time we were out, our luggage were stationery at the belt for us to collect. Going Japan we need to fill in the arrival card and one declaration card for the family. 

We had McDonald’s egg sausage McMuffin, small pancakes for breakfast. The egg sausage McMuffin is very yummy! The egg is cooked perfectly and the bread is so soft! 

Then we had to make our way to Tokyo station, which is an hour ride. A lot of weights training for Jianhui.

When we reach Tokyo station, this reminded me that it is so crowded and there were a lot of people. Madness man. 

After queuing at a counter, we realized we needed to buy the JR ticket at another place and so we quickly walked over. We were told that we needed to put in 2 tickets to enter. Lexuan is free for JR ticket. We managed to chase the 11am train. 

We managed to get seats together. I was surprised all the seats in the train are taken. It’s an 2.5hr ride to Osaka station. Lexuan was feeling bored so I had to entertain her with colouring, drawing and her phone. We didn’t buy any snacks on the train haha. But we went to the toilet a couple of times. Haha. 

When we finally reached Osaka station, it’s another busy station. We walked over to Nissan shop to get our car. We got a blue car!

Then we started to drive to Liber Hotel. It was only 13km but the GPS told us we needed half an hour to drive there. True enough, the traffic is slow moving and a lot of traffic lights. It’s quite confusing to drive in Japan. I am always very impressed with Jianhui who can adapt to well anywhere. I am so lucky and blessed to have Jianhui as my travelling buddy! 

By the time we reached Liber hotel, we were so tired. So happy to check in and our room is big in Japan context! We have 3 single beds which means each of us gets to sleep in a bed. No squeezing! 

We washed out and rested a while before we went to walk around to look for food. We bought cup noodles, snacks from the 7-11. And I am so happy I found our favourite butter sugar biscuits! The waffle we bought from 7-11 is nice too! 

We tried finding the brickside restaurant which we found from google map, but cannot seem to find it. After checking with the reception, we managed to find the brickside restaurant at level 3. Haha. 

So this will be our dinner place instead of cup noodles! It has a good variety of food I would say! The beef is the best I would say. Happy to have free flow of fruit juice too! And yes, there is ice cream too! 

Then it’s time for us to go back to sleep. I had the best sleep ever. 

30 June 2023 

In Japan, the sky gets bright at around 5am. So I was shocked when I woke up at 5am and I thought it was already 7am. 

We got up 7am to get ready to go USJ! The highlight of the trip! 

We decided to drive one round to reccee to decide if we should drive as we realized that that car park is very far from the entrance. It might be easier if we were to take the train. 

So we decided to take one stop to universal city station. The train station is just opposite our hotel so it is very convenient. 

By the time we reached there, it was already 9.20am+. There were many people. Outside USJ, there were many restaurants and shops! If I were to stay here, I think I will go crazy shopping! 

We tried asking if there is express pass but it’s all sold out. And then we could

enter with our klook pass. It’s so convenient! 

The park is big! So big that I doubt we can explore the whole park in a day. We went to the first shop to get our headband first! Lexuan chose Princess Peach and Hello Kitty headband. So I got to wear the Hello Kitty headband. Jianhui got to wear Elmo and Cookie Monster headband which we bought from Singapore. There are many cute headbands over here! And each is not cheap okay… about SGD27. 

The first thing I did was to book timing to enter Nintendo world. We only managed to get the 3.30pm slot. 

We tried the Hello Kitty cup cake ride as it has the shortest queue. Next will be the Carousel which is Lexuan’s ultimate favourite. We took a total of 5 times that day? 

We went to Snoopy’s restaurant for our breakfast. We ordered the kids’ meal. The food is not bad I would say. Then it started to rain. We waited a while before we went out to explore. 

There were a couple of fun rides but Lexuan always doesn’t want to take the rides once she sees the long queue. Lexuan started to get tired so we found a place to sit down. The restaurant was closed so there were plenty of seats outside. 

While they are resting, I quickly went to the merchandise shops to shop! There

are so many shops and so many things to buy with limited time! After that, I went to queue for Mario dessert too! It‘s the Mario’s cap strawberry shortcake dessert. In this shop, I also managed to buy Fire flower and mushroom drinking bottle. I also bought Princess Peach soda. 

Lexuan was happy to have the mushroom drinking bottle and so she poured the plain water into it.

We rested enough and so we continued to explore the park. We took the hot air balloon ride which we waited about 20 minutes. 

Then, it’s almost time to go Nintendo world! We walked the wrong way and ended up at Harry Potter’s world.

Not a bad mistake coz at least I could take some photos. 

And so at Nintendo world’s entrance, we bought the watch which is so expensive! JPY4,200. We bought princess peach and princess daisy! This watch allows the kids to collect coins by knocking on the question blocks.

There was a long queue outside to take photos with the pipes. We gave up as we didn’t want to waste time waiting. 

Nintendo world is so nice! Literally like my Mario world is coming to life! It is very crowded though! Lexuan is very happy knocking on the question block! I had my fair share of fun too! 

Then it’s time to queue to buy my star popcorn bucket! Haha. Jianhui asked me to buy the Mario kart too! And so we got 2 of it! It cost me a total of SGD90 okay! But it’s really cute! Haha. The caramel peach popcorn is basically our lunch. 

And I am so excited to buy more souvenirs. If I have more time (without Lexuan) I would have bought more. I want to buy all the cute toys back! Haha. 

And so all the rides at Nintendo world are at least 50 minutes. We didn’t get to sit any of the rides. Even single rider needs 45 minutes. Oh well, just hope that it gets less popular next time. 

We managed to catch Toad for a photo session! And we saw Princess Peach taking elevator. Lexuan would be so happy if she could take a photo with Princess Peach. On our way out, we managed to take photo with Snoopy, Hello Kitty and Daniel too! 

And so this concluded our adventure at USJ! It’s so fun and so much bigger than USS! All the staff look so happy that even the cleaners are all smiling happily at us! 

We went to Sushiro for dinner! Lexuan loves udon! The sushi tasted like Singapore’s one which is kinda taste less. Oh well, at least we got to fill our tummies up. 

Before we took the train back, we made a quick trip to Hard rock to buy a shirt for my MIL. The shirt was chosen by Lexuan. 

Then we took the train back to our hotel. It was a tiring but super fun day, especially for Lexuan. So tired that her legs are aching! A lot of carrying by the daddy and mummy too!

We slept at 10pm tonight. 

1 July 2023 

We woke up at 7am. We slowly had our coffee and some snacks. 

Then we left our hotel at 9am+ to drive to Nara Park. It’s an hour drive to Nara park. When we reached there, we managed to find parking lot. 

There are many deers everywhere. The moment we bought the deer biscuits which cost us JPY200 for 1 pack, the deers would attack you. I passed the biscuits to Jianhui and the deer started to attack him. The deers are biting my bag strap too. They are so aggressive until it’s kinda scary. 

We bought ice cream at the store and the deers seem to like it too. They will follow us, so we had to eat it real first. 

Our dear Lexuan complaining legs pain so her daddy has to carry her on shoulders while I have to hug her too. We walked closed to Todaiji temple and took some

Photos before we decided to look for lunch. 

We found one near our parking lot. Lexuan is happy as she wants to eat the rainbow ice. We ordered sliced beef and shared the food. The beef was not too bad. Reasonably priced too! 

Then we drove 1hr back. Lexuan managed to fall asleep so we had a peaceful car ride. We reached our hotel about 2pm+. 

Lexuan and I dropped off at 7-11 to buy some stuff (more snacks) back to our room. 

We rested a while before we took train to go Dodonturi at 3.30pm. We took the train to 西九条 then to Osaka station. Osaka station is so crowded! As usual, Lexuan was complaining and she wanted to go back. We had to bribe her with candy. With her candy, she seemed happier than we continued our journey to Namba. 

At the station, there is those vending machine to buy blind box. I am a sucker for this, so is Lexuan. It’s quite boliao but the toys are well made and cute. It’s also a good way to use up the coins. Haha.

It was drizzling so luckily we brought umbrella. Dodonturi has a lot of food! We bought cheese pancake and Lexuan loves it! We also bought her favourite Oreo ice cream. 

We continued walking, to find a place for dinner. In the end, we found a traditional one, opened by an old couple. Everything is yummy. Even Lexuan loves the egg sushi. The chawamushi is amazing! It has fish, Unagi, chicken, ginkgo nuts and it melts in the mouth. The total bill is only SGD44. Super worth it. 

Then, we went to find the famous sign board to take photo. Haha. SOP for tourists. Then I went to queue for octopus balls. The queue is okay but we waited very long for it. But it’s worth it as the octopus balls are nice! Even Lexuan approved it! 

Then we took the train back. We managed to board the straight train back and so we didn’t have to change train. And it’s so shiok when the train station is so near your hotel. 

We slept around 10pm tonight. Somehow I didn’t have a good night sleep. 

2 July 2023 

Oh no! It’s getting real. We are going back soon. 

We Woke up 7am. We drank the coffee drip coffee provided in the room and shared the Steamed cheesecake from 7-11. The food from 7-11 is nice and affordable until it is becoming our favourite place. 

After we have showered and packed, we went to 7-11 to buy more snacks and bath bombs. We also went to take some photos at the terrace. 

Then we checked out of the hotel. I am going to miss the hotel for sure. It’s clean and new and smell so nice too! Haha. 

We started driving to Kansai airport at around 9am. It’s quite a smooth journey and there weren’t many cars. After pumping petrol, we drove to the car rental car park to return car. Everything went on smoothly. 

The airport is peaceful and quiet. So we could get our boarding pass very fast. Security check is fast too. We chose a cafe for breakfast. The sandwich and bread was not bad. The matcha parfait is not bad too. 

I also managed to buy some souvenirs (minion biscuits, cakes, socks and octopus balls soft toys) nearby. Then we waited near Gate 41. 

We boarded the plane at 12.15pm and touched down around 2pm+. After collecting our luggage, we took the shuttle bus from terminal 3 to 2 to wait for the shuttle bus to go to our Nikko Hotel. 

The next bus is at 3.05pm so we waited near Berth 33. Meanwhile, Jianhui went to buy iced matcha drink and cookie (the cookie isn’t nice). 

It is a short bus ride and check in is very fast too. The hotel looks like Tobu hotel which we stayed previously. Seems like Japan airport hotel all about the same pattern, old and dark. 

At least this hotel has 3 beds too and bath tub. We really miss our Liber hotel so much. Even Liber hotel smells so much nicer. Haha. 

Jianhui did some research and so we taking the shuttle bus to Narita station at 4.35pm. It’s a 20 minutes bus ride. We rushed to buy the train tickets for the train departing at 5.15pm. It cost us SGD28+. But just before we boarded the train we realized that it is not Narita express and we would take 1hr+ to go Tokyo. This also means that we will reach there 6.36pm which is kinda late. 

So we decided not to take the train as we needed to go toilet also. We walked around to find sushi restaurant based on the google reviews. The first one is full house, 2nd one is closed (on Sunday) and we finally found a third one. 

It looks pretty decent and the price quite okay too. The Sashimi platter costs JPY2,400, Tuna sushi (x8) costs JPY2,800. The sashimi is very yummy. So our damage for the dinner is about JPY9,000. Lexuan enjoyed her egg sushi and traditional egg roll. Oh yes, she loves edamame too! Glad that Lexuan started to eat sushi too! 

Then we took cab to Aeon mall for my Sanrio shop. It is JPY1,500 for a short 10 minutes car ride but to me, it is money well spent so that I can go shop at Sanrio. 

True enough, it is heaven for me. All the things are so cute and much more cheaper that Singapore! The bath bomb is only JPY418 compared to Singapore price at least at SGD10. Within 20 minutes, I got what I needed. The total damage is SGD200 and I am a happy girl! After this trip, I think I will cut down buying Sanrio stuff in Singapore. 

Then we went to wait for our shuttle bus at 7.50pm. Luckily, Jianhui is very sharp so we managed to board the bus and got seats too! 

It’s about 20 mins back to hotel. Then it is packing time! 

We Slept at 10pm+ but somehow I couldn’t sleep and I didn’t sleep well too! 

3 July 2023 

We Woke up 4.45am to take our early flight. Even though it is early, it is not dark at all. We made our drip coffee (from Liber hotel) and ate some snacks. 

We took the 5.50am bus and reached around 6.10am. Lucky we are early as we walked the wrong way to north wing. Scoot is at south wing. 🤣 

There is a queue to do check in and so we finally get it down at 6.50am. Just when we thought that we could go inside and have breakfast, there is a queue at the the security check. The security check only starts at 7am. 

Good thing is the security check was quite fast, but after this, we still have to clear immigration. So it’s like never ending of queuing in the morning.

And to my horror, the shops are not open yet! So sad! 

We walked to the Gate 36 and it’s about 7.25am. I googled that some shops are opened at 7.30am so I decided to try my luck. True though, the cosmetic shop is open so I could buy Jill Stuart for my sis. And I got to buy my 白色恋人 + the original butter sugar biscuits! The Tokyo banana is sold out though. Thanks to Jianhui for “encouraging” me to just do it! Haha. In his words, it’s Scoot. 

I was basically running very fast to get the things done. So when I am back at Gate 36, it’s time for boarding. We got Board me first pass so we quickly boarded the plane for our flight at 8.15am. 

I took a short nap at the beginning of the flight. Since we didn’t manage to eat anything, we ordered our favourite cup noodles x 2 and pringles, Minute Maid and coffee on board. Cup noodles is simply the most yummy food on board.

Thereafter, we still have about 4hrs to go. I didn’t really sleep much as I was kinda worried that I couldn’t sleep at night. Lexuan slept about 1hr plus and she was full of energy too. So we had to entertain her with phone and food. Haha. 

We ordered another round of snacks - nuts (which is meh), dunno what max coffee and 2 udders ice cream. Ice cream never goes wrong. By now, Lexuan is getting very impatient and she can’t wait to touch down. We had to entertain her with drawing and gummies. 

We finally touched down 2.15pm. It seems like a long flight to me. The queue at customs is not too long. We then walked to Belt 12 to collect luggage. We wanted to eat some food but it’s too troublesome and so we decided to take cab home. 

It’s raining heavily on our way back home. Happy to be home. All in all, it was a good short trip, quality time spent with Jianhui and Lexuan. ❤️ 

3 July 2023 also marks my 3rd month in  standard chartered bank! Time flies, isn’t it? It has been a busy and challenging past 3 months, and I hope things will get better. Jia you! 

It’s July! 2nd half of the year to go! Fighting!