Happiness is : Travelling! Part 2 - South Korea

Hello again! After a tiring schedule in Japan (we didn't even get to enjoy a proper Japanese traditional  meal other than ramen, takoyaki, yakisoba, that we found on the small street shops), we moved on to Seoul, South Korea.

In Seoul, we only planned to go shopping (for sure!) and meet our Korean friends, and since we had a lot of time, we just want to enjoy Korean food! In Japan, we had to change travel destination everyday and wake up early. Although we enjoyed Japan very much, we thought we would take it easy in Korea..

So our hotel was just the opposite of Myeongdong. So everyday would be : Myeongdong, myeongdong, myeongdong....!!

Myeongdong is like a shopping paradise for us. We basically went there everyday and checked every stores multiple times just to compare the price, think about what we should buy and compare promotion (sometimes the same brand has different promotion at different store).

In front of Lotte duty free entrance.

Lotte duty free opens from 9:30AM to 9:00PM everyday, and inside is always full of tourist, most of them are mainland China's. Oh that's right.. If you can speak Chinese, no need to worry at all because every shopkeepers in Myeongdong and other tourism areas in Korea can speak Chinese. Whether they are Korean that learn Chinese or Chinese students in Korea. So when I was in Korea, I felt like I am in mainland China because everyone tried to speak Chinese with us.

 I always love Asian culinary, Japanese and Korean food are one of my favourites. Korean food is just so suitable for my taste because I love spicy and heavy flavour.

Beautiful view in Gyeongbuk Palace.

To be honest I think Korea still cannot be compared to Japan for their travel destinations and nature's charm. At the beginning, my goal in visiting Korea is for shopping and buying the skincare products. But what made our journey unforgettable is that we are able to meet our Korean friends there. They took us to a lot of interesting places, eat delicious food, and to be just hanging out with them was wonderful.

Thanks a lot to all my friends and hope to meet you again soon!

Happiness is: Travelling Part 1 - Japan

During this winter vacation, my friends and I decided to travel to Japan and Korea for around 2 weeks. Because Taiwan is near from those two countries, so the plane ticket will be cheaper than if I apply from Indonesia, so I thought why not? It would be fun, and perhaps would be our last trip together. And besides, applying Japan visa from Taiwan only takes 1 day! 1 day! It will take almost a week and a lot of other requirements if I were in Indonesia.

So there we were: Hello Japan!
(Sorry for the bad quality pictures, I took most of them with my phone, no editing.)

First stop : Osaka - Shinsaibashi District

This is my favourite shopping district in Osaka. You can find almost everything in here, from Japanese drugstores where you can find a lot of Japanese beauty products, clothing stores from H&M, Uniqlo, GU, ZARA, Forever 21, and a lot more than you can imagine.

It was a sale season that time when I visited Japan (yeah!), but unfortunately we only had 1 day, so although it was the second time I visited Shinsaibashi, it was still not enough for me.

Day 2 : Kyoto - Kiyomizu Temple

 Me and Japanese girls in Yukata, like a thorn among roses..

One thing I like about Japanese architecture is the beauty lies within it's simplicity.

We spent all day sightseeing and taking pictures in Kyoto - Kiyomizu area (yeah, my travel mates are kind of a little bit has interest towards self photography :p). But for me I prefer natural photos, without models (other than myself ^^;;).

Day 3 : Osaka Universal Studio

Okay so my friend really wanted to go to see the new Harry Potter ride in Universal Studio Osaka. So after we had bought tickets from Shin-imamiya Station the day before, we woke up early that day and took the train to Osaka Universal City.

It was only 8:30 in the morning but the line was crazy!! So many people because that Monday was a holiday in Japan.

Osaka Universal Studio Map

In order to be able to enter the new Harry Potter area, after we manage to get inside the universal studio, we still have to get in line for another entrance ticket for entering Harry Potter area. So basically we had to run from B to 9 to get the Harry Potter ticket.

My friend was really eager to get there because she said it would be hard to get, so she told us to get in line separately and run as soon as we enter Universal Studio to get that ticket.

Then after a tiring run in the morning, I manage to get the tickets first for 3 of us; and you know what? It was not even hard to get like she told me.. If I had known that, I would have saved my energy from running. :p

Hogsmeade :)

 And they have Hagrid's house and the castle!

Harry Potter Wizardly World is definitely a must visit place for the fans, and the atmosphere is so detail. They basically have everything set up to create Harry Potter world. And for you who are very curious to taste bitterer, you can have it for about 700 - 1000 yen here. For me, other than the main ride and the buildings, if you not a hyper fans and just want to enjoy ride in Osaka universal studio, go to other ride. I recommend Hollywood Dream roller coaster. That one is a must!

Day 4 : Takayama old town

Day 4 and 5 we visited two of my favourite places in Japan. Takayama and Shirakawa. I knew this place from 4 years ago when I went here to travel with my university as our architecture department's international field trip.

It takes 4-5 hours by bus from Osaka to Takayama, but along the road, you can enjoy the natural scenery of Japan. 4 years ago I visited here when it was autumn when I could feel a nice autumn breeze and enjoy the colours of the season, now is the time for snowy winter. :)

Walking around this old street area is just too relaxing for me. Just look at those Japanese traditional architectures, if those don't make you feel that you are in Japan, I don't know what else can! Unfortunately most of the shops are closed by the time we arrived, and also Tuesday is their holiday. (That's weird :/) But some souvenirs shops and restaurants were open. :)

Day 5 : Shirakawa go

From Takayama we took a bus and went to Shirakawa go. The journey took about 1 hour 40 mins, and the view was amazing! Since the weather was so good, I could swear that I saw the snow was shining and glittering because of the sun!

Shirakawa go is famous for it's gossho style traditional house, which has triangle roof just like a praying hand (Gossho is to pray in Japanese). This village is protected by Unesco as one of the world's heritage place.

Gossho Style House

One word : Breathtaking!

I am sure that no matter how many times I visit Japan, I can never have enough. I just love this country so much for travelling!

See you guys on Part 2 : Korea!