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2023

December 2022 - September 2023
A 284-day adventure by Jessica and Alex Read more
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  • Traveler2023
    Day 1

    Time to go!

    December 21, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    The day of departure had finally come but our trip didn’t start out fantastically as our flight was delayed by 12 hours! When we finally got to Bali it was late at night and the weather wasn’t great.

    For the next 10 days, we spent time around the pool and shopping. We visited Ubud for a few nights and attended a great New Year’s Eve party in the hotel. It was apparent that Bali was really struggling to recover after covid but it was great to be back. Kuta was extremely quiet and many shops were still closed!    Read more

  • Traveler2023
    Day 5

    Ubud

    December 25, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ 🌧 24 °C

    Our trip starts in Bali for Christmas with mum. We’ve all visited Bali a number of times so my first entry starts with our short trip to Ubud to escape the terrible weather in Kuta.

    After a few rainy (extreme rain!) days in Kuta, we decided to head inland and up to Ubud for a couple of days. The first of which was Christmas Day.
    The trip up the mountain only took a few hours. Once we were there, we were greeted (albeit quite aggressively) by a million monkeys. Even eating our lunch was tricky and mum lost her juice when a monkey ran up onto our bench, reached out his little hand and ripped her juice from under her!

    For the majority of stay, Alex insisted on eating lunch at a little warong called terrace warong. We ate sweet and sour pork/coco chicken (delicious, fresh coconut chicken)/mi goreng for around $2 a dish. For the evening meals, we ventured out to the restaurants. The restaurants were set amongst the beautiful lush gardens and ponds. The food is Ubud was fab.

    We stayed at Sri Aksata resort. The rooms were 40 dollars for the night and were quite nice. Mums rooms overlooked a rice field and ours was near the pool. The location was great - right in the middle of Ubud, just up the road from the monkey forest. Although Ubud is crazy busy and this hotel is right on the main road, as soon as you got into the place, everything was quiet and peaceful.

    The following day, Alex and I decided to explore the rice terraces. We walked up through Ubud until we found the Ubud market. We meandered through the markets (which were much more interesting than the Kuta markets) until we got to the end and entered the rice paddies. It was a beautiful walk and on the way back we stopped at a little warong for some fresh pineapple juices.

    On our final day, we headed out once more to explore the Campuhan ridge walk. This walk was more populated, and there were many tourists exercising and exploring the area. The trek started by following a waterfall up onto the rice paddies. We then walked through a lovely little village with great views of the fields. Before heading home, we stopped for a coconut at a Warong overlooking the jungle.

    Ubud is awesome. Less Aussie bogans, better shopping and better cafes/restaurants. We will definitely be back next time 💚🌿    Read more

  • Traveler2023
    Day 15

    24 hours in the Philippines

    January 4, 2023 on the Philippines ⋅ 🌙 4 °C

    We left our Bali accomodation at 5.30am on Wednesday morning. Mum came to see us off and we had coffee together before we checked in. To our surprise (sarcasm intended) our flight was delayed by 3 hours and then we circled Manila airport on arrival as the air traffic was so bad. Longest 3 hour flight ever - not a good start.
    Once we had landed, the ground traffic was even worse. It took us around an hour to get to our hotel. We finally arrived in Manila late on Wednesday night, we grabbed a bite to eat from the rooftop restaurant and then went off to bed.

    Since we only had 24 hours in Manila, I had planned a full day of sight seeing. Disappointingly, the weather was so rubbish we decided on a late start. We started researching the rest of the Philippines and realised that the weather was unseasonably crappy just about everywhere. Island hopping in the sun just wasn’t going to happen - so we decided to can the Philippines and head to Japan!

    We spent the rest of the day and night frantically shopping for warm clothes (we won’t be needing our swimmers for Japan in winter!) at second hand stores. We got some cheap flights using Qantas points and boarded our plane at 1am on Friday!    Read more

  • Traveler2023
    Day 16

    Tokyo, Japan

    January 5, 2023 in Japan

    We arrived at Narita airport at 6am this morning. We were exhausted but couldn’t check in until 3pm. We were also freezing and needed some new clothes urgently!
    We walked about half an hour up the road from our accomodation to a place called Ueno, where I had researched a second hand shop called Mode Off. There, we were able to pick up all our jackets and jumpers for about $25. I got a coat and a few jumpers, plus a neck warmer. We also popped in UniClo to grab some thermals.

    On the way back, we found a local market in Ueno called, which sold heaps of cheap brand name clothes and shoes. There was also plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, including the most perfect strawberries in the world which sell for around $50 each!!! Alex had Takoyaki for lunch from a stall in the market. He got 6 balls for $3, which is very cheap for Tokyo!

    We checked into our hotel, which was located right beside the subway and up the road from the famous temples of Asakusa. Our beds were traditional Japanese futons, which are simple thin mattresses on top of bamboo mats. They are quite hard but are fine for a couple night sleep.

    In the evening, we met up with Junko to see the illuminations in Shinjuku. We strolled through the lit up streets looking for options for dinner. We finally settled on a coin restaurant, which is where you order your food on a vending machine. It is then cooked for you and served in a small restaurant.

    For our second day in Tokyo, we met up with Junko and headed to the imperial palace to explore the palace gardens. Since it’s winter, most trees and flowers were not blooming but we were able to see the Kaki tree with fruit.

    After lunch we headed out on the monorail to Odaibo, to see the rainbow bridge as the sun was setting. We aimed to walk home afterward but it was freezing, so we caught the train back to Shinjuku for dinner.

    For dinner, we tried a seafood hot pot. The pot of seafood was delivered to our table on a gas stove and we cooked it before eating. We were extremely tired tonight after the last few days of travel, so we headed back to the accomodation straight after dinner for bed.

    Today, our third day in Tokyo, was a big day of exploring Tokyo. We met Junko in Harajuku to wander through Yoyogi park. Today, there was a flea market, which had lots of second hand clothes. We had a quick look through there, before heading over to Takeshita Street. This street is famous for its quirky clothes, toys and food. Alex and I tried crepes from the famous Marion Crepes, which is the original Crepe shop of Harajuku. We had Gyoza for lunch before heading over to see the Shinjuku crossing.

    We have both seen the crossing before, so after a couple laps of the intersection, we popped back on the subway and headed to Shinjuku.

    When we got to Shinjuku, we found Golden Guy, which is a labyrinth of tiny alleyways. There are plenty of miniature bars which sell alcohol and kebabs. We stopped by one of the bars for some plum wine and a kebab.

    For dinner, Junko took us to a lovely restaurant in one of the skyscrapers of Tokyo. We we had a course meal. We tried all sorts of sushimi, duck and beef all with a beautiful view of Tokyo city!    Read more

  • Traveler2023
    Day 23

    Nagano - Yudanaka

    January 12, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    After missing out on the snow monkeys last time I was here, I really wanted to see them this time around.
    We boarded a 3.5 hour bus trip out to Nanagano and then another hour on the train which got us to a small town called Yudanaka. It was cold and snowing when we got there, but we stayed in a traditional Japanese Ryokan (guesthouse). It was warm and cosy and we had hot tea waiting for us on arrival. That afternoon we visited the private Onsen in the hotel. It was an indoor onsen and very small, just big enough for Alex and I to fit into.

    The following day, we woke up early and the owner of the ryokan took us out to the monkey park. The snow monkeys were so cute and the winter landscape of Nagano was beautiful.

    On the way home, we walked through Shibu Onsen town. People who live or stay in Shibu have access to the 9 special onsen, which are said to have special healing properties depending on which onsen you choose.    Read more

  • Traveler2023
    Day 23

    Back to Tokyo

    January 12, 2023 in Japan ⋅ 🌙 5 °C

    Today we met Junko and visited the Fukagawa Edo museum, which had replica streets of Tokyo during the Edo period of Japan. It was a great museum, and very interesting to learn about what life was like during the 16-1800s.

    After, we visited Alex’s Obessan (grandfather), who lived close by. He lives in a traditional Japanese house. We had sushi lunch and sat with him for a little bit.

    Then, we went to Tokyo team planet, which is a massive digital, immersive art museum. It was fantastic to walk through the rooms of lights, water and other sensory delights.

    For dinner we ate at a Monja restaurant in Tsukishima which is a well known area for Monja. The restaurant we visited opened about 150 years ago. Monja is a simple dish made from cabbage, egg and water plus extra ingredients to add taste. We sat around a hot plate and cooked Monja ourselves - we tried squid ink Monja and also pork Monja. It was delicious!!!    Read more

  • Traveler2023
    Day 24

    Yokahoma and Kamakura

    January 13, 2023 in Japan ⋅ 🌬 14 °C

    This morning Junko and Tadonori picked us up in a hire car and drove us to Yokahoma. Yokahoma is about an hour out of Tokyo and is Japan’s second largest city.

    Our first stop was the Ramen museum which basically went through the history of the first ramen dish. It was interesting to learn that ramen (along with many typical Japanese dishes and traditions) was heavily influenced by China. It was said that although the noodles come from China, the soup broth is uniquely Japanese. At the museum we also tried more ramen.

    Next we visited Sankeien Garden which was a beautiful garden built during the Edo period. The houses within the garden were said to be Japanese treasures as they were so beautiful and expensive. Although it was raining, it was still a beautiful walk.

    Next we visited the cup noodle museum. It was hilarious to see such an impressive facility dedicated to the history of cup noodles. At this museum we made our own cup noodles, which involved designing the cup, choosing the stock and ingredients and watch the package the cup.

    Next, we rode on one of the world’s highest Ferris wheels. This Ferris wheel is seen from all over the city of Yokahoma. The view was beautiful although the ride was a bit scary.

    Then we checked into a lovely hotel before heading out again to an eel restaurant. We ate eel liver and then eel with rice for a main. The taste was rich and quite delicious. The chef told us that the eel was caught this morning so what was ate was very fresh. I was initially worried to try eel but was pleasantly surprised!

    After dinner, we caught the cable car over the river - another beautiful view - before boarding a sight-seeing boat around the city. It was cold but a fantastic way to see the city lights on the water.

    The next day, we woke up and drove to Kamakura. First we had a delicious brunch of whitebait on rice. I had mine booked but Alex tried a mix of raw and boiled whitebait. The area is known for it‘s fresh caught whitebait. Then we visited Kamakura Hasedera which was a large temple set amongst beautiful gardens. Next, we visited Kotokuin temple which is home to one of Japan’s largest Buddha statues.
    In the afternoon we drove to Enoshima island which was a fabulous seaside island. The streets were lines with markets and seafood stalls. We tried octopus rice crackers which are a typical snack of the area. We then hiked up to see the temples and beach side caves.

    After our day of adventuring Tadenori drive us back to Tokyo to catch the night bus to Kyoto. Before boarding the bus, we went to a restaurant to have Kobe beef, which is Japan’s (and possible the world’s) tastiest beef. We tasted all the different types of beef and it was absolutely delicious. Alex thinks this was his favourite part of Japan!    Read more

  • Traveler2023
    Day 27

    Kyoto, Japan

    January 16, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    We took the overnight bus from Tokyo to Kyoto and although we paid for a luxury bus with sleeping pods, the trip was horrible! It was very loud and bumpy so we got next to no sleep (note: take the bullet train next time!). We arrived at Kyoto early in the morning and spent most of the day planning and relaxing.

    For dinner we headed out to Pontocho alley, which is a narrow alleyway in the Gion area. It’s lined with restaurants and bars. We settled on Chinese for dinner which, although delicious, was very untraditional for Kyoto.

    The next day, we felt fresh and ready for a day of sight seeing. First we headed to Tenryu-ji temple in Arashiyama. We didn’t spend too long here as there was an entrance fee and we had become ‘templed out’ so we headed next door to the bamboo forest. There, we walked for a few kms of bamboo lined pathways. It was beautiful.

    Next we headed back to Gion to visit Nishiki market. This market had loads of seafood stalls which included crab, scallops, fish and octopus.

    After lunch we headed out to Fushimi-Inari Taisha shrine, which is the famous Kyoto shrine with orange structures. We climbed to the top of Mount Inari, which was around a 30 minute hike through the orange arches. By the time we got to the top it was sunset, which meant our way back down was dark. It was beautiful to see the shadows which were cast by the shrine in the evening.

    For dinner, we headed back to Pontocho alley and had crumbed wagyu - delicious!

    The next day we headed to Osaka, but first a few more sights to see in Kyoto. We headed out to see Kinkaku-ji temple, which is the famous golden temple. Next we visited Motorikyu Nijo castle which was conveniently right near our accomodation.    Read more

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