Himeji and kinkaku..

Initially we planned to go kyoto to see kinkaku 1st.. we din manage to cover kinkaku as it's far and not on the way yesterday.. but we missed the shinkansen.. so we caught the one to himeji..

Hemeji-jo castle.. we can see it from the shinkansen.. really huge and grand.. it's abt 15-30 min walk to the castle.. we stopped by a mart and bought momo (peach) and roll for brunch.. sat in front of a field and enjoy the castle view.. and ate our brunch.. momo (945 yen) was really juicy and soft.. so yummie.. never had such momo b4.. we are set to get more momo b4 we end our trip here.. we climbed up to the top floor of the main tower.. nice view of the city.. walked around the castle and princess sen's cosmetic tower..

We rushed off quickly to catch the next shinkansen to kyoto.. bought some fishcakes and pancakes.. walked very long to reach kinkaku.. golden pavilion.. very pretty with the reflection on the pond.. i bet it's even more magnificent during autumn/winter.. the walk around is short and there is no view of the kyoto city.. ginkaku is better in terms of view.. walked to ryoan-ji temple and closed by the time we reached.. so we headed back to the train station.. on the way.. we bought more momo (880 yen), apple (498 yen) and water melon slices (398 yen)..

We had hakata ramen at ramen street (10th floor) in the JR building.. mine was nicer (1050 yen) while hubby's was oily (1000 yen).. den we went to isetan's basement to get our favorite cakes.. cream puff (210 yen) and strawberry cake (525 yen) from henri charpentier..

Extremely exhausted and muscles ache after 3 days of walking.. we had early nite to recharge for the hiroshima and miyajima trip.. a nite at a ryokan (jukeiso inn featured in japan hour)..

Kyoto

Another long walking day.. longer den yesterday..

First is the nijo-jo (castle).. just walked pass and took some pics.. den to gosho (kyoto imperial palace).. all guarded and we din make prior arrangement to visit.. so nothing much except the area is huge.. walked pass kyoto university to get to ginkaku-ji.. had soba in fish and bone soup in a small shop.. very rich soup and nice soba.. ginkaku-ji (silver pavilion) is under restoration but the surrounding and view are scenic.. headed south and walked on the path of philosophy to nanzenji.. den to heian shrine (huge torii).. sanmon.. kodaiji (huge guan yin).. passed a long street of shops to get to kiyomizu.. there is a little corner where 2 love stones are place in a line.. if u close ur eyes and walk from one to the other.. u will find love.. saw some gals trying and they actually missed.. den we went down to drink the spring water.. 1 km below ground.. supposed to be very holy water.. it actually taste sweet.. den to gion to spot "geisha".. actually maiko/geiko.. another busy street and we managed to spot 4 before we decided to head back to kyoto station for dinner.. tempura for dinner.. they will fry it and serve u direct away.. yummie but it costs us 3460 yen.. lastly we ended the day with 2 cakes (777 yen) from a shop which starts from 1897..

Osaka and nara..

A long day of walking..

Set off to umeda sky building's floating garden observatory.. to see panoramic view of osaka at 39th floor.. weather not clear enuff to see the mountains range but good enuff to see the city.. next to osaka castle.. not too bad but we din go in.. just took some pic and walked to dotombori.. had takoyaki, okonomiyaki and yakisoba for lunch.. walked around the kurumon (hei-men) market, hep and a mall..

Instead of going kobe.. we decided to go nara.. taidaiji temple.. huge buddha and i went thru a tiny hole which means i gain another 10 years of life.. not too long i hope.. nigatsu-do.. nara park.. five storied pagoda.. very nice color with the sunset.. its amazing tat wild deers are everywhere.. so are their poo.. they are not afraid of human and anxiously waiting to be fed.. we ended with a simple dinner near nara station.. soba and tempura set.. curry katsu.. and also muscles ache.. simply knocked out after a long warm bath..

Shin Osaka..

My flight from sfo to nrt was upgraded to business class.. my 1st time.. on the upper deck.. so private and quiet.. comfy and spacious.. thou i can almost lay flat but i din sleep well.. anyway service and food was great..

I reached abt 30 mins before hubby and lucky we din spend time trying to find each other.. after we changed our rail pass (sgd 371 each).. off we went to catch nrt express to shinagawa and catch shinkansen to shin osaka.. reached around 8 plus and checked in to tokyo inn.. a cheap and nice hotel (7514 yen per nite)..

Houston again...

25 may to 4 jun... my 3rd time since nov.. 2nd time 15 to 23 mar.. hectic and frustrating.. managed to come back to celebrate my 1st yr anniversary with hubby.. nothing special.. just spend time together.. 30mar to 4 apr.. KL.. quite relax and nice.. this time not as hectic as last trip.. shopped at the new premium outlet.. had great steak at perry's twice.. mignon and fillet.. went to galveston and nua by the beach.. had great seafood.. but i had to work on sat.. heng my boss gave me replacement off =).. the best part was my WW counterpart's rented car was upgraded to a convertible and he drove me around.. nice!

Very lucky for me.. my hubby managed to change his miles to nrt and i'm stopping over at nrt.. japan 5 to 11 jun..