Hello to another extremely late post hehe.

This is the story of our trip to Japan, last year. Yes, you read it right, last year. Telat pake banget. Tapi ya gak papa, atas nama recording, maka mari menulis pengalaman liburan ini.

In general, the trip took about 10 days covering Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Takayama. Quite basic for first-timers like us. We got a lot of help from Naning and Le who travelled with us. Unlike us the newbie, they have been to Japan for so many times. Naning arranged all the itinerary and chose the place we visited, it felt like we travelled with a travel agent, this one is a very cheap travel agent because Naning is easily pleased with sekerdus Indomie keriting hehe.

To recap the trip:

The first day after we landed, we rushed to the hotel. Naning told us to book the hotel a day before our arrival so that when we arrived in the morning we could use it to shower and had some time to rest after the flight before continuing the journey. We also left some of our luggage in the hotel because our plan was to go back to Tokyo in the last 4 days. For this trip, we bought the JR Pass because it was worth it.

Our trip started in Tokyo for a day, Kyoto for 4 nights (with a day trip to Osaka in between), Takayama for 1 night and back to Tokyo for the last 4 nights.

Let’s start the post-series with Osaka!

The sun was shining so bright that morning, tapi dinginnya minta ampun. Suhu Kyoto pagi itu 1° aja sodara-sodara. Sebagai anak tropis yang setiap hari kena paparan matahari full power ya mengkerut juga sih.

We took a train from Kyoto to Osaka to visit USJ. The main purpose was only for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, obviously. I was very emotional as I entered the gate with the theme song played in the background. It was a dream came true. We spent most of the time inside the WWoHP, bolak-balik, mondar-mandir bersama ribuan orang lainnya.

Anw, sebelum pergi biasanya ada yang cek dulu tips and trick untuk pergi ke suatu theme park, supaya menghemat waktu, mainan mana yang mau dinaiki duluan sebelum antrian panjang, jam berapa seharusnya antri dll dll. But we did not do that because basically we just wanted to go to the WWoHP and just let it flow. We purchased the express pass so it saved time. So if you plan to go there, you might want to consider the express pass. Oh iya, jadi biasanya untuk masuk ke WWoHP, ada pembagian waktunya. jadi kita musti ngambil tiket khusus dulu yang state kita boleh masuk di jam berapa. Lucky me, waktu itu langsung masuk-masuk aja gapake dibatesin waktu. Agak kurang jelas apakah memang hanya hari itu sistem jam-jam an itu ditiadakan atau memang udah sampe sekarang gak ada.

Dan, karena tanpa ada persiapan apapun, we did not get to cover the whole park because the USJ is bigger, sooo much bigger than the USS. I think it needs 2 days to enjoy the whole park and its attractions. Tapi walopun gak sempet ngicipin semua atraksi, kami happy karena semua santai, gak ada buru-buru dan harus ngejar ini itu, we just enjoyed every second of it and hope that we can come back!

Seharusnya kalo mau cover semuanya, pagi dateng ke WWoHP, keliling bentar, nyobain Hary Potter and the Forbidden Journey, keliling lagi bentar trus keluar untuk nyobain wahana lain dan balik lagi ke WWoHP pas sundown. Tapi kutaksanggup. Gak sanggup keluar dari WWoHP karena kayak kesirep pengen di situ terus haha. Tapi akhirnya kami keluar juga untuk anterin Lemon ke wahana yang kids friendly dan akupun kembali masuk ke WWoHP pas sundown. Keliling bentar menikmati Hogsmeade di kala senja yang syahdu! Jadi rindu rasanya ih.

The WWoHP is always crowded. Yang paling nyesel adalah kita gak sempet nyobain makan di Three Broomsticks tavern karena antrinya yang super panjang. Tapi optimis aja, suatu hari balik lagi dan bisa nyobain hahaha. The highlight in WWoHP adalah ketika Lemon dipilih jadi wizard yang pura-puranya lagi milih magic wand di Ollivander. Setelah atraksi ina inu, kami digiring ke belakang, kirain magic wand nya mau dikasih ya, taunya bayar juga haha. Lemon happy karena dia bisa nyobain beberapa magic spell di beberapa tempat.

Oh, the butterbeer was okay. Karena sedang musim dingin, mereka serve warm butterbeer. Menurut saya, rasanya seperti bajigur kemanisan yang kurang jahe.

We left the park around 8 then joined Naning and Le to have dinner. That night, I had the best tempura bowl I have ever tested, it’s from Tendon Tenya. It was the best! I still remember the soup they served had peeled yuzu skin init, so fresh and tasty! After dinner we strolled around Dotonburi, bought a pair of sneakers for moi karena ternyata di udara dingin, bagian leather dari sneakers yang saya pake mengeras dan bikin sakit! Jadi, bisa dipertimbangkan, kalo mau jalan-jalan ke udara dingin, mendingan jangan pake sepatu yang sejenis indaaaang.

Anw, here is the family picture in front of the famous Glico running man LED sign that has been there since 1935.

We did not stay long in the area and went back to Kyoto by train, both my stomach and heart are full, of course, full of joy!