What do you get when you imagine Sanrio characters as cute ikemen boys and then have a themed cafe/restaurant that centred around these cute Sanrio boys?! I know I know, it’s hard to imagine… Luckily, the Japanese had done all the imagining for you, so all you need to do is to just stare at all the cuteness and swoon… Note: I love Sanrio. When I visited Puroland, that was one of those “dreams do come …
81 articles Articles posted in Travel & Wanderlust
{Japan} Cute Sanrio Boys themed restaurant at The Guest Cafe & Diner in Ikebukuro, Tokyo
{Japan} Snow in autumn at Inokashira Park in Kichijoji, Tokyo
The news said it has been 54 years since it last snowed in Tokyo in the month of November. Yep, that’s in the middle of autumn! I was working that day, but asked for a 3-hour long lunch break just so I could take the bus to a nearby park. My purpose was to take pictures of autumn leaves and snow together. So I did take quite a bit of photos for y’all to see. Let’s begin. …
Experience the magic of Harry Potter at Warner Bros Studio Tour in Watford, UK
I just came back from a trip to the UK to visit my sister and my little niece (celebrated her first birthday yo!) in early November. So this one’s a break from the usual Japan-related posts, but instead today I’ll focus on something magical: Harry Potter. I love love love Harry Potter and have quoted various lines from the books/movies randomly in this blog, because WISDOM! Seriously though, both my sister and I are huge …
{Japan} Halloween 2016 in Harajuku & Shibuya, Tokyo
Japanese really loves their celebrations. Festivals, events, weekly cultural things at Yoyogi Park, flower viewing, anything that they can celebrate, they will. And that’s one of the reasons why I love this country, to be honest. No matter when you plan to visit, you can find something exciting to do here. One of the things that I got super excited about this year was Halloween. Yup, I’ve seen enough photos and videos from previous years …
{Japan} Hidden gem (Part 2): Yanaka’s old town feels with cemetery & cats
Living in Tokyo allows me to explore areas that tourists may not have the time to leisurely do so, like Sugamo or Koenji. Hopefully this will in turn entice you to take a different route when you’re travelling around Tokyo to see things that are off-the-beaten-path. This time, I visited a neighbourhood that’s easily walkable from Ueno, however still tucked away enough from all the hustle bustle of the busy city: Yanaka. How can I describe Yanaka? …
{Japan} Hidden gem (Part 1): Sugamo’s Michelin star ramen & red granny underwears
I’m starting a new series called the “Hidden gem” which will take you through a number of lesser known suburbs in Tokyo that’s worth visiting once you’re done with visiting the popular areas of Tokyo. First off, Sugamo. It’s located on the Yamanote Line just a few stops north of Ikebukuro, so it’s really to get to if you just want to check it out for a few hours. Our visit was mainly for Tsuta the only ramen restaurant …
{Japan} Koenji (Part 2): A perfect evening exploring the hipster neighbourhood, Tokyo
Koenji is a hipster neighbourhood only 15 minutes or so away from Shinjuku, and yet it’s still not too touristy, making it a perfect place to walk and explore on a lazy evening. I highlighted some shops in Koenji part 1 post, so for this second part, expect street view and shop fronts and just random awesomeness. Let’s start… This post will be photo heavy, so be prepared. It’s pretty though, if you like photographs of shop …
{Japan} Koenji (Part 1): Finding random shops in this hipster neighbourhood, Tokyo
I read somewhere that many young people would choose to live in Koenji. It is much quieter than its neighbour Nakano, which is the next stop on the train or you can even walk it. It is also less popular with the tourists than Kichijoji, the other hipster town on the same JR Chuo Line. In some ways, this makes Koenji a much better option for an afternoon / evening stroll… I took so many photos of …
{Japan} The magical Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studio Japan, Osaka
Okay, I’m a huge Harry Potter fan. I’ve read the books, queued for half of them on the first day of release with other Potter geeks, watched the movies, re-watched them with my then-boyfriend now-hubby so that he could catch up with my obsession, did many random quizzes to find out where the sorting hat would sort me, and quoted the books on daily conversations. Not a crazy fan, but definitely worthy of being a …
{Japan} Queueing for the magic at Universal Studio Japan, Osaka
Universal Studio Japan is one of the biggest theme parks in the land of the rising sun. Many tourists will make a trip to Disney Sea and/or Disneyland in Tokyo and then to the USJ in Osaka. So how was my experience at the USJ? Let’s take a look… We visited Universal Studio Japan in March this year. We arrived as early as we could (to be honest, we really wanted to be there when the park …