5D4N Osaka, Japan: Day IV.

Update: You can now find the other days here: Day I, Day II, Day III, Day V and first ONSEN experience!

Every morning, for sure I wake up before my phone alarm goes off. For sure. Thanks to the sun that shines super bright at about 5am. It's beautiful though.

Day four begins. That also means going home real soon. Sad and happy at the same time. Sometimes, my emotions are confused with each other. Sometimes. Life is difficult sometimes. 

Today, we will be travelling to Osaka! To be more chun, WE ARE GOING TO UNIVERSAL STUDIO JAPAN! *dances around and screams*

Universal Studio and Disneyland were never top in my must-go-to list but when the reality hits that I'm seriously going to one of it for free sumore, I was on top of the world. I'm not into cartoon stuff and animated things, but Universal Studio truly is a happy place. Okay, I will go to that later on. Let's continue with the day first.

Breakfast was good. Good because we finally get to eat western food. Quite jelak with Japanese food by then. Too bad no choo char in Japan. Haha. Their breakfast spread very different and exclusive. Can make own healthy drink and stuff. Very nice lah. Price also very good. I had a cup of coffee because I didn't know what else to take to complete my tray. Hah.

Saying goodbye to my room and Hotel Granvia Kyoto was difficult. Even more difficult than the first 3 hotels. Oh maybe same as Hotel Rosa Blanca. Hmm. Both I like leh! 

We pushed our luggages and boarded the JR train to the happy place. With train, it takes about an hour to reach. Three quarter of the time, we were standing. Japan has too many humans d seriously. 

After the long ride that felt like it took few hours, we finally reached Universal-City! Now, the excitement started to kick in. The heavy luggage seems lighter now. My feet suddenly don't hurt anymore. Dramatic a bit. 

We went in through the employee's way because we're special like that. Heh. We were greeted by Ms Yasuyo and then walked around the happy place like a boss. Nolah, not like a boss lah. Like a typical Asian got lah. Keep snapping photos and taking selfies. Hah.

Honda cars FTW! #foreverahondafan

Everything is such an eye candy. Everything is gorgeous and colorful and nice!

The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman 3D - most popular ride here. Yes it was but not recommended for those who has motion sickness.

This one also quite good but again, not for people with motion sickness. I almost puked my breakfast after those two rides. Of course I quickly force myself to recover. Many more nice rides waiting leh.

Best part: NO NEED TO LINE UP. We really walked in like some celebrities except we don't have a crazy crowd shouting our names and asking for signatures. BUT IT FELT AWESOME!

More pretty places, which photos can't really show. Too bad.

One of my favorite ride. They made it so real. Oh gosh I don't even know how to explain to you guys. It's too nice d!

For us, it was only 4 minutes. *grins*

The mini lake for the Jaws' ride. SO NICE OKAY! ALL SO REAL!

Lunch!

After lunch, it was time for a live performance at the Waterworld. This is something that blew my mind away. My first time of watching a live drama. They were so good. They even have real mini plane flew over the gate and landed on the water in front of us. They used real fire sumore. 

It's basically like those common story line that you see in the movies. Girl got kidnapped by some bad guys. Hero comes to her rescue and almost got killed and the bad men dies in the end of course. The story if typical. It's the way they did it that made it so wow!

I video some parts of it but watching in the video is not as nice. It's really good. I was not distracted at all throughout the entire show. Super good.

We sat on the Splash Zone but after seeing how wet people can get, we went a few rows back! Haha.

After the amazing show, we walked around for  abit more, did some shopping and it was time for us to get to our next hotel, Kansai Airport Washington Hotel.

We walked to Rinku Premium Outlets, where famous brands like Michael Kors, Burberry, Coach and Prada is found. There were major sales going on but I didn't bother lah.

We walked separately and met up again for dinner. We had one of the yummiest ramen ever. It was a great last night in Osaka. 

Oh this! The newest addition but only opening on the 15th July 2014! What is this!!

There's always time to rest and charge your phone while shopping. Hah.

Day four, done. 

Day four was a sad day but not as sad as compared to day five. Stay tuned for last day in Japan!

5D4N Osaka, Japan: Day III.

Update: You can now find the other days here: Day I, Day II, Day IV, Day V and first ONSEN experience!

So, if you were reading on my Part II, you would know that the three of us stayed at one room for a night, tatami style. It means on the floor like traditinal Japanese style. I also mentioned that we had a private onsen at our balcony for our usage. 

Last night we all went  to the public onsen and this morning we decided to take turns to use the one in our balcony. 

It was our last onsen for this trip because days ahead are all in the city and city no onsen. Duh..

My view when I woke up at 530am. The sun is so bright you know. Really Land of the Rising Sun ah.

Our balcony overlooking Japan's largest lake, Lake Biwa.

After spending some time soaking one last time in those mountain-hot-water while enjoying the view of the lake, we had yet another fine dine breakfast. I finished everything that was served. Something about soaking in onsen that makes you hungry. Or maybe it's just me.

Today, we head to Kyoto Prefecture. Itinerary for the day is mainly of shrines. Japanese people take very seriously of the gods they worship. I don't know their names or history because I'm just not good with remembering names. Even for humans. So, the first place we went was nearer to the mountains so the weather was cooling, which was just perfect for touristy activities. We took this tram up and walked up a little.

This kind of place can only be taken with panorama mode. It is believed that when you stand in the middle of the big circle in front of the temple with your both arms lifted, you receive power from the gods. Kuramadera Temple.

We went to a few more temples up there and once all that was done, we went to check out a public onsen place. Yes, there is a minimal fee if you would like to have a taste of what it feels like, or if the hotel you're staying do not have onsen. After that, we made our way to lunch. THIS IS THE BEST LUNCH FOR THIS TRIP. It's so unique and beautiful you will go crazy if you're there. Yeah, it almost blew my mind when I was there. I couldn't believe that I was gonna have this kind of experience.

Lunch at Hirobun, by the river.

Restaurants built on top of the river waterfall. People are sitting directly on top of streams of waterfall while having their lunch. This is one of the most exclusive kind of meal in my life. So special. My photos doesn't really do the justice. I don't think video can even show you how real and superb it is. 

The 'lunch' is separated into two sections. First, you will have the appetizer while looking at these gorgeous mini waterfall. What is the appetizer you may ask?

These restaurants are only open when it's not winter. Imagine that time was summer but it was super freezing cold. Coming from a place where it's hot all year long, this place became my favorite place to be immediately. Ahhh I wanna go back there!

I tried to be somewhat 'artistic' with a family shot of this young couple with their baby girl. I tried. The baby girl is just too adorable lahhh!

Patiently waiting for our turns to enjoy the appetizer. 

Finally it was our turn. We being Asians very kan cheong and excited. So, as you can see, all we've got for our appetizer are just this. A small cup with their Japanese style dipping sauce/cold soup, with some wasabi and some chopped spring onion. We mixed all that inside the cup and wait for our food to come. And I meant wait and attack. Yeah. Fun and must really concentrate if not your food will say bye bye to you and no more food for you. I kid you not.

Very quickly after we sat down, our appetizer came out from these bamboo tubes. Somen noodles. Somen noodles are white Japanese noodles made with wheat flour. They are usually served cold. They came quite fast okay. So, when it comes, you quickly use your chopstick and scoop them up and put it in the cup and eat. Okay, click this to watch the short video my Japanese friend posted. Then, you'll get the idea of how it works. Super fun and super yummy. I always thought cold noodles are weird but that changed me totally.

After the appetizer, oh wait I haven't told you guys how we will know if the somen is finished and no longer flowing through our tubes. If the red somen came out, that's the signal. Means appetizer over and time to move on to the higher ground and have the main course.

Not only does the ambiance gets a perfect score, the food also scores 10 out of 10. Of course the price also pricey. In RM, it definitely be in three digits. BUT I THINK IT'S WORTH IT! I would go again if I ever visit Kyoto Prefecture.

After makan, more shrines nearby to visit. Kibune shrine, Kamigamo shrine and Shimogamo shrine (World Heritage site). A lot of walking but in those kind of temperature, I don't mind walking everywhere. In almost every shrine in Japan, you will see these small wooden rectangles where people write their wishes on and hang it. Wishes like 'I want to marry a good husband' and 'I want to stay pretty always', as translated by our tour guide.

Yet, another 'artistic' shot tried at the Kibune Shrine. I think if put black and white sure nice d but I too lazy to edit. Hah.

Shrines gone modern. Now with social media channels. Not bad.

On the way to the city, we made a quick stop to the 'mosque'. Not the typical building kind of mosque you see in Malaysia. 

Then, we were brought to our hotel for check-in. Hotel Granvia Kyoto. The hotel is huge. Like really huge and the place is most strategic already. Connected to the train/subway (I can't remember) station and walking distance to the shopping malls. 

I love the rooms. My room was superb! Everything was just two thumbs up. Just when I thought I could jump on the bed and take a quick nap, we had to run downstairs to meet with our sponsors and some of the local agents. Like a mini workshop and then dinner after that.

Their walkway to another building also super grand.

One hour of feeling like a VIP. People taking turns to see us and talk to us about their products/services. Super cool.

After dinner, Mr Nagaoka suggested that we take a walk around Kyoto and he even volunteered to bring us to the happening place at Kyoto. And walked to the happening place we did. I think the place is called Kiyamachi.

It was really nice to walk the streets of Kyoto at night, about 8-9pm. Everyone was just walking along minding their own business. I remembered at one point, I even skyped with my sister and Koay. Yay to free wifi at one of their happening area. 

We had supper at one of their famous local restaurants. Something like Kim Gary where. Everything also ada. We enjoyed our desserts and then took a taxi back to Hotel Granvia Kyoto. One of the best hotel I've ever stayed for sure. Love it. Too bad only for one night. 

So, there you have it my day three in this foreign land.

Two more days to go! I can do this!

Off On Monday.

What makes a Public Holiday a better one?

When it falls on a Monday!

Hello everybodyyyy. 

So good to be back here with ample of time to do nothing and blog. So, MITM Fair is finally over. Such relief although it was so much fun.

I may whine and complain once in a while about how tiring it is and stuff but at the end of the day, it's still worth it.

I may have talked to like 15 sets of people (be it families, couples or singles) and only managed to close one sale for Club Med, my heart still celebrates with joy. Funny hor? Spent so much time and effort talking and convincing people that it's really a good promotion (with flight ticket!) and people still will walk away and miss out that chance. All it needs was one sales and that was enough for me.

I have people asking me if I earn commission during this fair according to the number of pax I get. Nope, no commission. No benefits. No free trips to Club Med. No special gift etc. 

I just genuinely like this holiday product a lot that when I convince people, I share with them my experience. Yes, it is a more expensive kind of holiday but IT IS an ALL INCLUSIVE HOLIDAY. The food is amazing with unlimited beverages (whether alcoholic or not). 

One of the most worth-it package during this fair was Club Med Maldives, inclusive of flight tickets. I always tell people that if you have the budget, you should go. It's only about RM6500 for one adult at LAGOON SUITE, flying with MAS. Normal price is easily RM8,000-RM9,000 for just the resort stay and NO flight tickets. 

Earlier this year, I went to KL for the MATTA Fair and couples who came usually will straight get Club Med Maldives. I think because they know how cheap it is after the discounts. For Club Med standard that is. I kid you not. Go there no need spend extra money and you will enjoy yourself till like mad wei.

Anyways, I truly find that joy when I made it happen for people to go for holidays. 

So, it may be tiring and I may have hurt my throat by constantly talking loudly (very noisy during fair!) and may have dozed off a few times while driving home from SPICE, in the end it's all okay and good. 

I love what I do. I love the industry I'm in. It's meaningful.

My pay may not be as high if compared to me taking up a job in the finance industry (especially with my first class honours degree) but I'm happy and happy girls are the prettiest :)

Oh and no I wasn't trying to show off. If anything, I want you to do what you love and not what pays you well.

Draft.

Wahhhhhhh.

I have no time whatsoever to continue updating on my Japan trip. I only have time to quickly type these words and it's off I go. The title 5D4N Japan: Day III is categorized as a draft in my inbox. Wah sad.

MITM Fair 2014 happening on Saturday and Sunday and it's driving everyone up the walls. 

That aside, please do come to visit us at SPICE this weekend. So many good holiday deals I myself wanna get and go on holiday.

Find me if you need to know anything! If I can help, for sure I will help all the way :)