Ichiran Ramen 一蘭 @ Shinjuku - Shibuya

After visiting Meiji Jingu, we headed to Shinjuku to meet up with Yuri for lunch. I chose Ichiran Ramen as it is one of the highly raved ramen in Japan other than Ippudo ramen. 

Ichiran Ramen @ Shinjuku is about 3 minutes walk from the south east exit of JR Shinjuku station. The big and striking signboard made it easy to spot the shop.  

We made our order using the machine located at the entrance of the shop. Everything is in Japanese but i had Yuri with me so everything is alright!

Then we were seated side by side in a cubical  facing the kitchen. The server will double confirm your order and serve the food. However, I dislike about the cubical design as i would like to be seated together so that we can talk easily rather than eating by ourselves.

Ordered this salted tamago as appetizer and it was the best thing ever! It is refreshing and not salty at all! 

Ramen is served! We are able to customise the ramen according to our liking. We can choose the amount of garlic, oil, hardness of noodles and spiciness. I chose normal for everything but minimal oil and spiciness. 

I prefer ramen from Ichiran than Ippudo as I find the soup from Ichiran was more flavourful and I actually finished the whole bowl of soup!

Ichiran Ramen @ Shinjuku (south east exit)

〒160-0022　東京都新宿区新宿3-34-11 ピースビルB1F

After lunch, I said farewell to Yuri as this was the last time I will see her during the trip. Yuri and I met during my trip to New Zealand in July 2012. I was a solo traveler and she was studying in nz. We met on the magic bus and our friendship began. I hope that we will meet again no matter in Japan, Malaysia or other parts of the world! :)

After that, we took a train to JR Shibuya station to see the famous shibuya crossing and Hachiko statue! 

We exited the station via Hachiko exit and we were greeted with the Hachiko statue. The Hachiko statue also served as a meeting point for the locals so there are a lot of people hanging around the area.

Then we move on and cross the famous shibuya crossing multiple times! It wasn't too crowded during that hour. We tried to cross once during rush hour and it was really spectacular

We did some shopping in Shibuya and decided to end our day early as both of us were not feeling well. Shopping during winter is not convenient as there are so many layers to take off and put back on. Also, we felt really uncomfortable when some shops set their warmer too high. It is too hot for us as we had heatech underneath our clothing.

Here i present you a train during rush hour in Tokyo. They will board the train facing backwards and slowly move their way in while the doors are closing. The whole train was jammed packed and it was really fun to watch them squeeze into the train!

My Priceless Travel Moments (Part 1)

I've been arranging and looking back at my travel photos these days. I miss those times and I can’t wait for my next trip. Then I saw this article (chinese) that people have been sharing on Facebook. I can relate myself to the article and I've done most of them point listed. It makes me feel like I've achieved something in life and that I did not waste my youth. I think that travelling has been a big part of my life so far and I am inspired to re-write it in my own version. So here we go:

青春無價：年輕人在旅行中要做的22件事

Priceless youth: 22 things to do while travelling as a young adult
Click here for My Priceless Travel Moments (Part 2)

1. 住進青年旅舍的8-10人間

1. Stay in a 8-10 beds dorm/youth hostel

Checked.

Gold coast with friends. All the city in New Zealand by myself. Taiwan and Japan with Sean. The picture above is my dorm (Paradiso Backpackers) in Nelson, NZ. Awesome place. They have a pool, well equipped kitchen and free bread and soup everyday (YAY to free food!). Most memorable experience about hostel would be in Base Queenstown where I was the only girl in an 8 beds dorm and I think one of my dorm mate slept naked in Base Auckland. Also, staying in a hostel allows you to interact with people from all over the world (refer point 10) and it’s cheap!

I stay in hostel or budget hotel most of the time while travelling. However, things were a little different when in Bali, Indonesia. 

Sean and I stayed in Askara Villa in Canggu, Bali. The place was a little isolated from the main area hence we paid a mad cheap price for a big villa. The price for this villa per night is the same as staying in a backpackers in Australia for 2 pax. So we indulge ourselves for 2 nights in this villa and back to budget hotel for the rest of our Bali trip. 

2. 挑選一個艱苦的地點，來一次徒步旅行

2. Pick a though location and have a hiking trip

I conquered the highest mountain in Malaysia – Mount Kinabalu! (4095 m)

To sum up the hike: 6 hours hike up – spend a night at Laban Rata – Wake up at 2am – 3 hours hike up to the peak – Sunrise/photo time – 2 hours hike down – breakfast at Laban Rata – 5 hours hike down to base – Can’t walk properly for 2 days

I was suffering from altitude sickness. I couldn’t eat the night before the midnight hike and I vomited for 3-4 times while on the way to the peak. So most of my pictures at the peak were all pale and I couldn’t even smile properly. That was my biggest regret of the trip! One day I will go back and look pretty in the pictures! HAHAHA

And there was no sunrise that day after all the hard work. It rained on the way up and rained heavily on the way down.

After the Mount Kinabalu hike, we are quite into hiking and will go for short hikes occasionally:

Bukit Datuk – easy hike, awesome view

Bukit Tabur – all huge rocks. I enjoy this hike the most but my friends banned this hill after that as it is quite dangerous.

Gunung Nuang – Highest in Selangor. 12 hours hike are we crazy?????

I met this gang of friends through 2 friends that I met during my exchange to Melbourne. They are very sporting and I really enjoy their company. So thanks Jacky for turning over and said Hi to me in Cho Gao!

3. 沉醉於大自然的美景當中

3. Indulge in the beauty of nature

This does not need any explanation. A picture speaks a thousand words!

Rotorua, NZ

Huka Falls, NZ

Mount Cook (right) and Mount Tasman (left), with reflection in Lake Matheson, NZ

Lake Wakana, NZ

Mount Fuji from Lake Kawaguchiko, Japan

Sunset at Sizihwan bay, Kaohsiung, Taiwan (西子湾, 高雄)

4. 欣賞人類創造的建築奇跡

4. Appreciate the architectural wonders of human creation

I have not been to any 7 wonders of the world or similar things. So I gonna include some modern human creation.

Batu Caves, Malaysia

Auckland, NZ

美麗島站,高雄Formosa Boulevard Station, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

5. 用外語打情罵俏

5. Flirts in foreign language

No flirting happened. However, I can communicate in the language I am familiar with in most of the countries I’ve been to except for Japan. I did try to speak Japanese with the locals but I only know good morning, good night, goodbye, thank you, sorry and excuse me.

6. 看一場當地音樂會

6. Watch a local concert / music festival

Na-Dah. Maybe I can put it on my to-do-list.

7. 到異地品嘗特色美食

7. Taste the local delights

I love food! Prepare for some photo spam

New Zealand:

Not really a local delights. But burger as big as my face? 

Only from Fergburger, Queenstown. I love the fries with Aioli sauce

Japan:

 Eat all the (cheap) sushi!

Ichiran Ramen

 Eat all the Japanese food!

Taiwan:

 咸豆浆@ 阜杭豆漿Salty bean curd. This is unforgettable!

金仙魯肉飯! 我的妈呀! 

 永康牛肉面! I can never eat something as good back here.

 阿宗面线! I miss you a lot too!

Bali, Indonesia:

 Nasi Campur @ Warung Nikmat

 Another Nasi Campur @ Nasi Pecel Bu Tinuk?

 Random food from random store. But best food in Bali according to Sean.

 

Seafood dinner at Jimbaran Beach @ Lia’s Cafe

8. 到國外當一回志願者

8. Volunteer abroad

Already on my to-do-list

9. 學習一項從未接觸過的技能

9. Learn a skill that you've never learnt

I learnt that I am good in planning a detail itinerary. Hahahaha

... other than that... I think I have not learned much.

Click here for My Priceless Travel Moments (Part 2)

My Kimono Experience

I love seeing people in kimono. This traditional Japanese garment is elegant, feminine and pretty. So while planning my Japan trip, I decided that I must have this once in a lifetime experience of wearing a kimono.  

After much research on the internet, I settle on renting kimono from Sakura Photo Studio in Asakusa. The place is located less than 5 minutes walking distance away from Sensō-ji which is great as I am able to visit the shrine in the kimono. Also, the price they offered is the cheapest I could find. 

The shop is actually a small room located on the 3^rd floor of the building. The lady owner is very nice and sweet. She is able to speak Japanese, Korean, English and some Mandarin so communication is not a problem there. There is a lot of certificated displaying in the room and she explained that those are from the kimono courses she took. She is really quick and efficient. I got dressed in kimono and my hair styled within 45 minutes.

She did explain what was she doing on every steps but I couldn’t remember anything by now. With the help of this wikihow, I can roughly explain what was going on. 

After putting on a pair of white tabi socks, I was dressed in juban which are the “kimono underwear”. It has a white cotton shirt, a skirt and another outer shirt with white collar.

I was wearing Uniqlo’s heattech top and bottom underneath as it was really cold and windy that day.

After putting on juban, she styled my hair with Japanese hair style. Hair styling services is included in the package but she does not provide make up services. 

I took the “simple plan” offered on the website which is the cheapest package. The only difference between “simple plan” and “basic plan” is the type of obi and accessories used in basic plan is nicer. The “luxury plan” has another type of kimono with long sleeves which is really nice but it was out of my budget range so the cheapest plan will do.

I chose a white kimono with pink flowers which I think is really sweet.

The dark pink cloth at the middle is the obi. Underneath it was layers and layers of cloths/towels which were tied quite tightly. Do be prepared that you are not able to relax your stomach/breathe deeply/eat well/walk quickly when you put on your kimono.

TA-DAH!! After choosing hair piece, bags and shoes, and we are done! The shoe I was wearing in the photo is for photo shoot use only. It was quite high with unstable base which I think it’s impossible for first timer to wear it and walk around.  

I am able walk around freely with the kimono and only need to return it before 5pm. I was also given kimono coat at it was really COLD.I was planning to visit the Sensō-ji and Tokyo Skytree in the kimono but the Tokyo Skytree plan got slashed off as I couldn't bare the cold anymore. You can’t blame a person from a country with summer all year long for feeling extremely cold. 

We dropped by a convenience store to buy breakfast while on the way to Sensō-ji. We settled our breakfast in convenience stores everyday for our trip as it is much cheaper and I really love the food varieties in the convenience store. I enjoy trying different types of origini and beverages every day. And I think it’s really brilliant to have warm canned coffee available as it doubled up to be a heating pack too! I just love holding on it.

Sakura PhotoStudio

sakuraphotokimono@gmail.com

東京都台東区雷門2-9-8

ふなきビル306

Tokyo Taitoku Kaminarimon2-9-8

funaki Bld 306

Price

Simple plan: ¥ 3600 (¥2400 each for 2 pax and above)

Basic plan: ¥5000

Luxury plan: ¥10000