Back from my most recent trip to Japan-

if you know me well enough, I'm always prone to .... mistakes.

:

This time round.... I missed my flight. 

I KNOW RIGHT, HOW THE HELL IT HAPPENED especially when I was waiting patiently at the gate an hour before.

I thought my flight was delayed. The boarding gate remained close even when it was time for boarding. Then I realised that the gate number was changed from A14 TO A12 and my flight departed WITHOUT me. 

:'( saddest thing ever. 

Boyfriend: I can totally understand if you overslept and miss your flight somehow but... I've never once heard of anyone who missed their flight EVEN when they've arrived at the gate. That's why you're special. 

OH WELL.... sarcasm gladly accepted. 

Anyways, I took the next flight to Haneda Airport and I managed to find my way to Shinjuku's subway station all by myself. Woohoo, achievement unlocked. We had our early dinner at Seiko-en, my favorite bbq place. Not the best BBQ place, but overall it was okay. Wide variety of meat (with different marinated sauce) and pretty efficient service from the friendly staffs. 

And the next morning, it was my actual birthday!! We visited Tsujiki fish market to grab some fresh sushi for breakfast. We were supposed to wake up at 6am, but somehow we only managed to drag our ass outta bed at probably 7ish? We didn't managed to try Sushi-Dai. The queue was massively long and crazy. 

Eenie miney mo, and ended up at this random sushi place. Forgotten the name of it. As usual, we ordered omakase, so we leave it to the chef to decide for us. 

and lunch was at our fav ramen joint- Ichiran! 

The truth is, we both ate a total of 3 bowls of this heavenly goodness!! 

1 bowl each at 3 different cities- Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka! Yum yum, spiciness level... I think 3.5 is the best. I will never sick of this, at least not now. 

Places to visit in Tokyo

1) Shibuya 101

2) Lumine Est

3) Lumine 2

4) OIOI 

but now it's winter season, so expect... thick clothing when it comes to shopping. Boring.  

The next day, 7 dec- we moved on to Kyoto taking the special JR train - JR Shinkasen. 2 hours train ride, considerably fast. 

We stayed near the Gion District, and we carried on with our inital itinerary. During our 3D2N stay here, we have explored the following places- 

1) Nijo Castle

2) Golden Pavilion

3) Fushimi Inari - Taisha - climbed 4km to the top of the mountain.

4) Tenryu-ji

5) Gion - nice area for dinner, lotsa eateries 

Last but not least, we finally arrived at Osaka on Tuesday.

1) Shinsaibashi (happening place, so crowded. more for shopping.)

2) Amerikura (don't bother going)

3) Endo-sushi at Osaka Fish Market (worth the trip! I mean, for toro sushi! yum. traveled about 30 mins from our hotel, swissotel osaka to the fish market.)

4) Umeda Sky Building (beautiful sight of osaka)

5) Osaka Castle (8th storey high. good to visit, get to understand a little more about their history)

6) Dotonbori area (for food, yes!)

7) Fish Aquarium (not bad, not a major 'wow')

Thank you the boyfriend for this lovely birthday trip to Japan! Would love to explore more places with him in future. :)