If you were not able to read my first blogpost regarding our travel in Japan (Days 1 -3), please click here.
The next post is Japan Days 4 - 6. Please follow through right here.
JAPAN Day 7 – 09/04/2015
Itinerary:
Kyoto to Osaka via Shinkansen
APA Villa Hotel Tanimachi
Universal Studios Japan
We had our breakfast served by the room maids again. This time, we got to try
to wear the yukata and took pictures since it’s our last day to stay
in this ryokan.
with the room maid
Family picture =)
with Tatay =)
After breakfast, we checked out and went to Kyoto Station to catch a shinkansen going to
Osaka.
Kyoto Station
If I am not mistaken, we were able to reach the hotel in Osaka after almost 3 hours. The name of the hotel is APA Villa Hotel. To save time, we left our bags at the reception area and grabbed lunch at Mcdo. I chose an Ebi burger because (which of course) it’s not available in PH and SG.
After our USJ experience, we returned to the hotel and I was surprised that the rooms were too small! We got two twin rooms and imagine - our luggage couldn't fit properly in our room. Yep, that's how small it was. Moreover, the bed sheets smelled cigarettes. Out of the 3 hotels that we’ve stayed in in Japan, I guess APA Villa Hotel was the worst. Probably they didn’t even change the stuff there when we checked in on the first day. I definitely wouldn’t recommend this hotel.
After our USJ experience, we returned to the hotel and I was surprised that the rooms were too small! We got two twin rooms and imagine - our luggage couldn't fit properly in our room. Yep, that's how small it was. Moreover, the bed sheets smelled cigarettes. Out of the 3 hotels that we’ve stayed in in Japan, I guess APA Villa Hotel was the worst. Probably they didn’t even change the stuff there when we checked in on the first day. I definitely wouldn’t recommend this hotel.
Anyway, back to story telling. We hopped on to the metro train towards USJ. It was already a bit late so we prioritized to see the
Wizarding Word of Harry Potter first. It's not in USS, so we had to see this. =)
Since we are not fans of Harry Potter, we seemed to be not astonished with the designs. Well, because again, we are not fans. Then we roamed around and let the pictures describe our USJ experience. =)
Since we are not fans of Harry Potter, we seemed to be not astonished with the designs. Well, because again, we are not fans. Then we roamed around and let the pictures describe our USJ experience. =)
we're freezing!!!
Magical Starlight Parade
JAPAN Day 8 – 10/04/2015
Itinerary:
Osaka to Hyogo
Himeji Castle
Himeji to Hiroshima
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
Miyajima
Itsukushima Shrine – Great Torii
Hiroshima to Osaka
Our first destination was the Himeji Castle located in Hyogo prefecture. It was a UNESCO World Heritage Site so we really wanted to see and go inside the castle.
We went to Osaka Station to catch a shinkansen going to Himeji using our JR unlimited pass.
Afterwhich, we needed to ride a shuttle which was
roaming around the Himeji station, and would pass by the entrance of Himeji
Castle.
View of Himeji Castle outside.
It was sooo cold as it was raining.
View of Himeji Castle outside.
Entrance fee was 560 yen.
We started viewing the entire castle by following the queue of
tourists. Since it was raining and hard to move, we had not taken so much
pictures.
BUT! Here are the pictures inside the castle. By the way, it was tiring as
we had to climb multiple stairs, not to mention those steep and narrow stairs,
just to get through the top of the castle.
View from the top of the castle
As time was ticking and we really wanted to seize the remaining half
day, we pushed though to go all the way to Hiroshima Prefecture. My Kuya wanted
to check the Miyajima Island where the Great Torii can be found.
Actually, we missed the shinkansen going to Hiroshima by just a minute
because we stayed in the wrong platform. We hurried fast but unfortunately, we
were still late! So just a tip
to those planning for a Japan trip and would like to use shinkansen, make sure
you are boarding in the correct platform.
As an alternative, we rode another shinkansen going to Hiroshima, however,
the difference was, it stopped in a lot of stations compared to the supposedly
shinkansen that we could have rode in.
When we reached Hiroshima, we first wandered through the Hiroshima
Memorial Park. As I stepped on infront of the Atomic Bomb Dome, I felt surreal.
This was the ground zero where the Americans detonated an atomic bomb.
After a few walks, we met with a relative who’s living near Hiroshima.
She drove us through the Miyajima Island. It was quite far from the city so Ate
Zita’s car was really a help.
Cutie Aito!!!
The ferry terminal going to Miyajima Island.
It was a 20 minute-ferry ride from the terminal to the island. We just
walked towards the Great Torii for pictures because we were running out of time
and Ate Zita was waiting for us to get back.
We came across with deers! There was freedom for deers in the island. I
was just a bit scared because they tend to follow us, as if we had food in our
pockets.
Here are the photos from the beautiful island.
We went back to the station and luckily had the second to the last trip of ferry going
back to the terminal.
We were with Ate Zita again because she waited for us to invite us for
dinner. She searched for a sukiyaki buffet just beside the Hiroshima train
station. We were only left with roughly an hour to make the most out of what we
have.
20 minutes before the shinkansen schedule, we ran towards the train
station because we were afraid to be left out - again. It was the last train of the day and we couldn't
afford to miss it as we wouldn't be able to make it to our flight from Kansai
International Airport if we get late.
Luckily, we were few minutes early before the train arrived. We then went back to Osaka. Since we were not able to catch the last city
train going back to the hotel, we didn't have any choice but to grab a taxi.
End of our day.
JAPAN Day 9 – 11/04/2015
Itinerary:
Osaka Station to Kansai International Airport
KIX to NAIA
I don't have pictures from our last day in Japan because there's no enough time to do so. Hahaha. In the morning, we walked through towards a 100 yen store and bought some stuff and pasalubongs. Afterwards, we returned back to the hotel and packed our things. I knew we would have an over baggage as we had a lot of things bought from the cities we've been!
From the Osaka Station, we rode an express going to the airport. We were lucky to be in the express train because the "normal train" would have many stops... and we would be late if that's the case!
We also returned the pocket wifi in the drop box area. It was literally a "drop box" as we would only have to drop the bag in a box. The staff didn't check the bag if everything is still complete and working. Honesty system.
When we were checking in, we had an over baggage of around 20 kg!!! The staff of Jetstar scolded us but allowed us later. We just had to hand carry some of our belongings to make our check in baggages lighter.
And after 3-4 hours, we reached Manila.
