Anyeong Noona

Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts

"I drove for miles and miles and wound up at your door."

Just now Noona attended a lunch time zumba class and the instructor happened to play Maroon 5's She Will Be Loved for cooling down track. Maroon 5 used to be Noona's most beloved band and she often (shamelessly) sings their songs in KTV with some friends. Nowadays we don't really sing a lot of Maroon 5's songs anymore because we think their old albums are way better than the newer ones. Aigoo, now Noona feels like going to KTV. Time to plan for a session soon. Hahaha.

Oink Noona: Teppanyaki Hamburg Nihonbashi Keisuke Bettei, Tanjong Pagar

While we were humming on This Love, we have reached our Saturdate venue, Teppanyaki Hamburg Nihonbashi Keisuke Bettei. Yep, we have joined the snaking queue to try the pretty new beef hamburg restaurant from Japan which located at Peck Seah Street in Tanjong Pagar area. We have reached the restaurant slightly after 5.30PM and the queue was already pretty long. Noona hopes that means this restaurant is really that good.

Free flow salad at Teppanyaki Hamburg Nihonbashi Keisuke Bettei, Tanjong Pagar

The queue has become more and more gruelling after 30 minutes have passed because of the humid weather of this island of Singapore. Thankfully, the restaurant provides self-service iced Hojicha for patrons who are about to faint from thirst. Noona herself has taken and gulped down three cups of iced hojicha because it was so damn hot and humid. Arghh.

Salad bar at Teppanyaki Hamburg Nihonbashi Keisuke Bettei, Tanjong Pagar

She was so excited when the waitress finally let her and her friend in. The set meal at Teppanyaki Hamburg Nihonbashi Keisuke Bettei comes with free flow salad. Diners will be given salad bowl and you can fill up the bowl with basically what your heart desires from the salad bar. The salad bar is pretty extensive and it does not only provide vegetables like cucumber, tomato, corn, carrot, etc. It also has a variety of pasta and potato salad. Fruits are also available toward the end of the salad bar.

This bowl of salad/ pasta is actually enough to fill in Noona's stomach without having even started on the main hamburg steak. Everything which comes with the term "free-flow" is basically a blow to all kind of self-control required for a good diet. Hahaha.

Salad bowl from Teppanyaki Hamburg Nihonbashi Keisuke Bettei, Tanjong Pagar

After waiting for roughly around 20 minutes or so, our Beef Hamburg set meal has finally arrived. The set meal consists of a bowl of rice, a bowl of miso soup, a shrimp tempura, two pieces of tofu, several sprouts, tartar sauce for the tempura and of course, the beef hamburg. You can choose the sauce for the hamburg. If Noona is not wrong, some of the choices for the sauce are BBQ, yakiniku, etc.

Cheese beef hamburg steak from Keisuke at Tanjong Pagar

The plate is hot so be careful not to accidentally touch the place with your bare fingers.

Beef hamburg steak set from Keisuke Bettei at Tanjong Pagar

This is basically what happened after you cut the beef hamburg open, cheese filling oozing out asking to be eaten. Taste wise, the beef hamburg is not bad at all. Noona got very very full after finishing her hamburg though up to the point she was kinda reluctant to move. #foodcoma

Cheese oozing beef hamburg steak from Keisuke Bettei

Teppanyaki Hamburg Nihonbashi Keisuke Bettei is located at:

72 Peak Seah Street

Tanjong Pagar

Opening hours:

Daily 11.30AM - 2.30PM, 5.30PM - 10PM

Ohaiyo gozaimasu! Brown and Cony are ready for their second day in Kyoto. Let's tag along to them, shall we?

DAY 2 - (1) ARASHIYAMA

This is Brown and Cony's second day in Kyoto and the first thing on their list is Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. In order to reach Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, they need to take train to Saga Arashiyama Station. Thankfully, the train is operated by Japan Railways so our friends do not have to pay additional fee as they could just show their JR Pass to the train staff to go through the gate and board the train. Woots~

The train ride from Kyoto Station to Saga-Arashiyama takes 15 minutes by train. Before they could even fall asleep, Brown and Cony have reached their destination. Yay!

In order to reach Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, you have to walk for a while because the forest is located near to the Arashiyama Mountain (yama means mountain in Japan). You could take the small road beside the 19th Century Hall SL & Piano Museum and follow the crowd there. Brown actually got hooked on the vintage locomotive although the museum is not a train museum. But Cony managed to drag him away to make sure their itinerary for the day is completed without a hitch. #strictcony

19th Century Hall and Piano Museum Arashiyama Kyoto

However, a few steps later, Cony was the one who got distracted but the early bloom cherry blossom tree. Brown let her take a few picture with the tree though since spring does not come everyday. He's so considerate, ain't he? <3

The main street leading to the mountain, the river and the bamboo forest is filled with shops at both sides. Arashiyama is a popular tourist destination and it is no wonder that the locals are opening a shopping district here. By the way, if you see these umbrellas, you may want to take a closer look. These umbrellas look plain when they are dry but once they are wet, the sakura flowers pattern come out magically. Amazing! (The folded ones cost SGD 20 each.)

Arashiyama Shopping Street in Kyoto Japan

If you love the cute Japanese souvenirs, you will love checking out the stores in Arashiyama shopping district as there are so many cute items being sold here. Cony even found her buddies here in pink color. Hahaha.

Cute Japanese souvenirs from Arashiyama Kyoto

Noona loves these souvenirs as they will make a lovely table decoration. Awww. She's gonna get broke here for sure. She wonder if Brown and Cony have a weakness against cute stuff. Probably Cony... #theweakestlink

Cute plant souvenirs from Arashiyama Kyoto

After having fun at the souvenir store, Brown and Cony were back on track to their destination. They followed the main street of Arashiyama until they have reached the intersection leading to Togetsukyo Bridge. Wow, Cony, when did you change into your kimono? Kawaii-ne.

Before crossing the bridge, Cony did not forget to buy some snacks to feed Sally because she often gets hungry on the way.

It's a bit of a pity that Brown and Cony came to Arashiyama a week too early before the sakura trees are in full bloom. Otherwise the whole forest across the river will be so beautiful in pink. But Brown still enjoyed his time here nonetheless. By the way, do you know that this big river in Arashiyama actually has two names? This side of the river which is located at the right side of Togetsukyo Bridge is named Katsura River.

While the river on the left side of Togetsukyo Bridge is named Hozu River. Uhm, Leonard and Sally, Noona does not think you guys can swim in that river. Like seriously.

Togetsukyo Bridge leads to the foot of Arashiyama mountain. It seems that nobody notices an egg hanging at the side of the bridge. #gudetamaeverywhere

Togetsukyo Bridge at Arashiyama Kyoto Japan

If you get tired of walking in Arashiyama, you may want to consider hiring rickshaw which is pulled by handsome and strong Japanese men. Moon seems to like the idea pretty much. Err, Moon, I thought you are a man. Oh well, anyway, back to the rickshaw, Ebisuya offers traditional Japanese rickshaw tour which pricing ranges from JPY 3k to JPY 71k depending on the number of passengers and the duration of the tour. You can check out their pricing at their website: www.ebisuya.com.

Japanese traditional rickshaw at Arashiyama Kyoto

The neighbourhood of Arashiyama is quiet and beautiful especially on a spring day. You can find vending machine selling drinks in the neighbourhood. Just like a scene from a Japanese anime but Cony...why did you hide in the drainage hole?

Strolling at Arashiyama neighbourhood Kyoto

DAY 2 - (2) TENRYUJI TEMPLE

While strolling around Arashiyama area, Brown found his way to the tori (re: Japanese red temple gate) of Tenryuji Temple, the city greatest Zen temple. You will see a lot of tori in Japan, especially in Kyoto.

Tenryuji Temple Tori Gate at Arashiyama Kyoto

The famous zen vegetarian restaurant, Shigetsu is located inside the temple. It opens only rom 11AM to 14PM everyday so make sure to come earlier to avoid disappointment if you plan to dine at Shigetsu. Brown does not seem to be interested in vegetarian cuisine though.

Tenryuji Temple Information Notice Kyoto Arashiyama

Tenryuji's buildings have repeatedly been destroyed by fires and wars over the history. Thankfully the Japanese are skilled at preserving and restoring history. Otherwise, Browna and Cony would not be able to know how this temple from the Meiji era looks like. Most of the buildings in Tenryuji retains its original structure from the historical period so they are pretty much the original.

Tenryuji Temple hall at Arashiyama Kyoto Japan

If you would like to see the main hall of Tenryuji Temple, you have to purchase the admission ticket of 500 Japanese Yen. Moon seems pretty excited about this so he's queueing for the ticket now.

Admission ticket counter to Tenryuji Temple Kyoto

However, Brown and Cony rather wait for him outside the temple as they want to take more pictures together with the temple. Do note that Tenryuji Temple opens from 8.30AM to 17.30PM (17.00PM from late October to late March) daily.

DAY 2 - (3) ARASHIYAMA BAMBOO FOREST

Brown and Cony's adventure at Arashiyama continued as our two friends are now looking for the path leading to Chikurin-no Komichi or the Path of Bamboo. They have seen the picture from Jessica's last trip to Kyoto and determined to make memory there. Thankfully, their search for the path is greatly assisted by the clear Japanese sign posted at the end of the road. From this point, you just need to walk for around 10 minutes to the appointed direction and you will reach the path of bamboo.

The path of bamboo goes a pretty long way. Supposedly that's why the path is also known as Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. If you walk deeper to the path, you will see a peace prayer tower in the middle of the path. Hopefully Brown and Cony's days are filled with peace and happiness too.

Arashiyama Bamboo Forest Sign at Kyoto Japan

If you think there are so many people photobombing you at Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, you just have to walk even further deep in so that the crowd will be dispersed. Choco and Sally are so quick to ask Brown to take picture of them in the midst of bamboo trees. Nice one, both of you. ;)

Walking through Arashiyama Bamboo Forest in Kyoto Japan

The path goes quieter as our friends go deeper and the view has become so enchanting right here at Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. The bamboo groves is especially magical when the light wind passing by and moving the trees to swing back and forth. Nature is so amazing, isn't it?

The enchanting bamboo path at Arashiyama Kyoto

DAY 2 - (4) SNACKING AT ARASHIYAMA

Before our friends know it, it is already lunch time and they got pretty much hungry. Hang in there friend, there is a food and drink stall all around Arashiyama. Let's just pick the nearest one, shall we?

Food and drink stall at Arashiyama Kyoto Japan

The stall sells a variety of food and beverages. To start with, it has a variety of dango (re: Japanese traditional round-shaped sticky rice cake) and you will be able to see how the dango are made. Cony and Leonard drooled immediately at the sight of these cakes. The yellowish sticky rice cake (with salami soy sauce) costs 210 JPY per stick while the greenish rice dumplings cost 160 JPY per stick.

Japanese dango at Arashiyama Kyoto Japan

Brown is more interested in hot drinks as he feels a bit cold from the wind. But Brown, where did you get that pint of beer? Hmm...

While Sally and Edward have flown to the other snack section selling fried stuff like fritters. Okay okay let's buy some of these foods to share among all of us.

Japanese Fritters at Arashiyama Kyoto Japan

There's always room for dessert and this rule apparently applies to our friends as well. Everyone immediately rejoices upon the sight of four flavours soft-served ice cream cone. There is matcha (green tea), black sesame, vanilla and sweet potato flavour in this cone. Moon and Cony immediately digging in without further ado. LOL.

Soft-served ice cream at Arashiyama Kyoto Japan

After everyone is full, they walked back together to the Saga-Arashiyama Station to visit the next destination on their list. But first, let's take selfie with the beautiful spring flower like these violets.

Beautiful violet at Arashiyama Kyoto Japan

And these unique flowers which Cony has ever seen before in the city. She loves it so much she wants to use it as her wedding bouquet. Uhm, you may want to check if they can be made into wedding bouquet, Cony. Hahaha.

Beautiful white flowers in Arashiyama Kyoto Japan

Stay tune for more adventure in day 2 with Brown and Cony.

Anyeong! Noona totally has nothing to post because she has not had holiday yet for the past month so she decided to just follow her friends' 4 Days 3 Nights trip to Kyoto. Noona's friends, Brown and Cony from Line Town are now taking over the blog to share their travel itinerary in Kyoto. Let's read their story.

DAY 1 - FLIGHT TO JAPAN

Brown (the brown bear) and Cony (the white bunny) woke up so early to catch their flight to Japan. As there is no direct flight from Singapore to Kyoto, they either have to take a flight to Tokyo or to Osaka. While Brown was working overtime in the office, Cony was busy checking and comparing the price and she immediately booked the two-to-go Mastercard promotion which is offered occasionally by Singapore Airlines (SQ). As they took the earliest flight, both of them needs a little wake-me-up drinks at Terminal 3 Changi Airport, the local tea from Tip Top.

K-in-Japan: 4 Days 3 Nights Kyoto Itinerary

The return ticket from Singapore to Tokyo costs SGD 1,400 for two people. These two little friends of Noona really great at finding deals, even Noona herself would decide to go if the flight to Japan costs less than 800 SGD. Have a safe flight, Brown and Cony!

Taking Singapore Airlines Flight to Japan

There is option to select Japanese food for the on-board meal which excited Cony very much. The meal taste great and Cony totally fell in love with her flying experience with SQ.

Singapore Airlines Onboard Meal Japan Route

LANDED AT HANEDA AIRPORT

After 7 hours of flying, Brown and Cony have finally landed at Haneda Airport. As what the other passengers do, both of them went through the immigration and proceeded to the baggage collection area. Brown starts to wonder why nobody stand near to the baggage conveyor. In other countries (including Singapore), people usually stand pretty near to the conveyor but here in Japan, there is a clear line which should not be crossed by passengers before their luggage is in sight. What an orderly manner!

If the above is not neat enough, the airport ground staff will make sure to put the luggage in a way that the luggage handle is at the lower end so that passengers will be able to pick the luggage easily. Cony was touched by this simple and yet, nice gesture of the airport ground staff in Haneda (which Noona presumes is considered normal for Japanese standard, but amazing in other countries' standard).

Brown and Cony quickly got themselves busy after picking up their luggages from the conveyor. First, they have to collect their PuRuRu Pocket Wifi. Brown has booked the pocket wifi rental beforehand (400JPY per day for 10GB) and now he just needed to collect it as Cony made her way to the toilet. He joined the queue at JAL ABC counter to collect the pocket wifi but the queue was so long. To make matters worse, he needed to pee really soon. Thankfully, he was able to hold it until he collected the pocket wifi.

Pururu Pocket Wifi Collection counter at Haneda Airport

While on the other side, Cony has finished doing her small business in the toilet and now joined the line to collect her Japan Rail (JR) Pass. But the queue was also long and Cony is not as patient as Brown in queuing. Uh oh, stay cool, Cony.

JR East Collection Counter for JR Pass at Haneda Airport

While Cony is waiting to collect her and Brown's JR Pass, let Noona explains a bit more about this important JR Pass. JR Pass could only be bought from other countries (yes, you cannot buy it here at Haneda Airport or anywhere else in Japan) because the pass is meant only for tourists. Cony has bought JR Pass earlier in Singapore at JTB office in Takashimaya. The price for the JR Pass is as follows:

Type

Green

Ordinary

Duration

Adult

Child

Adult

Child

7-day

¥ 38,880

¥ 19,440

¥ 29,110

¥ 14,550

14-day

¥ 62,950

¥ 31,470

¥ 46,390

¥ 23,190

21-day

¥ 81,870

¥ 40,930

¥ 59,350

¥ 29,670

Note:

Japan Rail Pass from Japan Railways Group

Please note that the back part of the JR Pass is the most important part of this pass and should never ever be detached because it will make the pass void. What's so awesome about JR Pass by the way? JR Pass allows its possessor to board any train (with exception of the most expensive Shinkansen ticket i.e. Nozomi) operated by Japan Railways Group with no additional cost. This is exceptionally economical if you need to board Shinkansen a lot of times to travel between cities in Japan. Transportation costs pretty high in Japan and buying yourself JR Pass will help you save some dollars.

The last thing that Brown and Cony need to do after collecting both the pocket wifi and JR Pass is to book their high speed rail (i.e. Shinkansen) ticket from Haneda to Kyoto. Even though Brown and Cony has their JR Pass, they still need to go to Shinkansen counter to book their seats for the ride all the way to Kyoto. There is no direct train to Kyoto from Haneda so they had to stop at Shinagawa to change train and then, continue on from Shinagawa to Kyoto.

Shinkansen Ticket from Tokyo Haneda to Shinagawa

PASSING THROUGH SHINAGAWA STATION

After 40 minutes of train ride, Brown and Cony have finally reached Shinagawa Station. They only had one hour to look around and visit the washroom before boarding another train to their destination, Kyoto. Shinagawa is such a busy station and it has a food hall where a lot of commuters can buy food for dinner/ train bento to be eaten in the train or at home.

This particular bread store, Breadworks by T.J. Harbor, seems to be quite popular with the commuters as the queue to buy bread is pretty long. Some of the breads were sold out too and it's only around 6 in the evening. Brown and Cony did not show a lot of interest in bread though so they wandered around for a while to buy something else.

Breadworks by T.Y. Harbor at Shinagawa Station

When it's near to the departure time, Brown and Cony quickly located the platform and waited for the train patiently. This is the first time they boarded a bullet train (Shinkansen) so they were pretty excited about it.

You will be able to see in which cabin your seats are located from the ticket. Brown and Cony's seats are in cabin 15 so they waited at the line with the number "15" written on the floor. Here comes the bullet train!

Cony was so excited to board the bullet train, she quickly ran out inside to find her seat. Hopefully Brown is strong enough to carry their luggage. XD

The train ride from Shinagawa Station to Kyoto Station takes around 3 hours. After an hour passing by, Brown and Cony started to get hungry and it is time to take out whatever thing they bought at Shinagawa Station. Turns out our furry friends bought Japanese train bento. Like what the TV often shows, Japanese train bento is packaged in a super lovely way, you could not help but not to take picture of the bento before opening it.

Cony thought Brown would immediately go for his favourite salmon but apparently Brown opted for Shinagawa beef instead because the seller told him that Shinagawa is famous for its beef. The bento taste as nice as it looks, Brown and Cony were so happy after eating.

CHECK IN AT HOTEL IBIS STYLES KYOTO STATION

The night has fallen when Brown and Cony finally reached Kyoto. It was a day full of commuting but they made it here. Now all they need to do is to cross the busy street and made their way to their accommodation in Kyoto, Ibis Styles Kyoto Station.

If your itinerary involve reaching Kyoto at night, you may want to consider staying at Ibis Styles Kyoto Station because the hotel is exactly located opposite Kyoto Station. Believe Noona, you don't want to lug your luggage all the way to your accommodation if it's located quite far from the station especially at night when the weather is cooler.

Not many people spotted at the lobby as Brown and Cony arrived around 9.30PM at night. While waiting for the room key, they spotted breakfast option from Ibis Styles Kyoto Station: the breakfast buffet or the breakfast box. None of the option enticed our Brown and Cony as they'd rather eat somewhere else for breakfast the next day.

Finally, Brown and Cony got the key to their twin bedroom. The room is pretty basic but there is panama provided for guest. Noona believes this is the culture of Japanese hotel industry. Cony could not wait to lie on the bed and being a very high-maintenance bunny, she immediately put on a face mask on her face. Meanwhile, Brown was busy with the unpacking. Don't unpack so much Brown, you only stay here for two nights.

Twin bedroom at Ibis Styles Kyoto Station Japan

The toilet is equipped with the high-tech Japanese toilet bowl. It's pretty amazing, really. Cony was so excited using the toilet bowl, she ended up hogging the toilet for an hour. Poor Brown. LOL.

Japanese toilet in Ibis Styles Kyoto Station

Brown finally had his turn after Cony was done with her beauty regime. It seems that bath tub is a must for all Japanese hotel. The bath tub in Japan is deeper than in other countries, but Brown just wanted to get some sleep so he used the shower instead. Being a hygienic bear, he did not forget to brush his teeth too.

Toilet of Ibis Styles Kyoto Station Japan

The next morning, Choco, Brown's little sister, greeted them early at the hotel entrance. They are so gonna go for a fun adventure it seems.

Ibis Styles Kyoto Station Hotel in Japan

That's the end of day 1 for Brown and Cony. They seemed to enjoy it so far. Let's hope for the remaining good days for our friends. =P

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Anyeong Noona

Oink Noona: Teppanyaki Hamburg Nihonbashi Keisuke Bettei, Tanjong Pagar

Brown and Cony's 4 Days 3 Nights Kyoto Itinerary: Day 2 Arashiyama

Brown and Cony's 4 Days 3 Nights Kyoto Itinerary - Day 1