First Time in Japan (Osaka & Kyoto)

GREETINGS FROM JAPAN!

I just got back from a week vacation with my friends.We went to Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo.

The weather was around 7-12C most of the days and very windy on some nights.

I seriously didn't pack for such weather, that's why I only brought 1 coat and 1 thin outer LOL 

We bought our tickets half a year ago because it was on promotion. 

If you didn't know already, airlines like SQ and MAS will have promotions a couple of times throughout the year. Just ask your travel agent for more info.

We stayed at Hotel Brighton City Osaka Kitahama in Osaka for 4 nights.

I would say the hotel itself is nice. The bathroom is pretty spacious as well as the room.

There's a 7-eleven on the opposite and Lawson across the street.

The train station is just a block away so it's pretty convenient.

However!

The area we stayed is not very approachable. 

We have to change 1-2 stations to get to our place and some will take a lot further to walk. 

My suggestion is to do research beforehand, like how far it is to go to the places you wanna go. 

If you're okay with walking a lot and changing stations, then this hotel is for you.

But do keep in mind that changing stations mean extra costs. 

It's not much but if you're traveling with a group of people, you might wanna consider some other places. 

Sat, 24 Feb 2018

We arrived at the hotel around 12-1 pm and we were unable to check-in before 3 pm.

So we headed to have our lunch.

I found a place through Foursquare called Columbia8 and it says to be serving Japanese Curry.

The place is located just a few minutes away from our hotel.

We headed there and found a super-mini restaurant.

It's beyond our expectation.

The place can only serve up to 8 people and no picture taking is allowed except for the food.

We had to queue for around 30 mins and while queuing, Claudia and I went to 7-eleven.

We heard a lot of good stuff that you can buy from there and indeed, we walked out of 7-eleven with lots of snacks. 

Back to the super-mini restaurant, we had to order at least one dish per person.

No one told us this but most of the famous restaurants have this unique policy where each person must order at least one dish and no takeaways allowed. 

Without having many choices, we ordered one each. 

The chef looks very promising when he explains his dish. 

Well, the dish itself doesn't look that promising to us. 

It's probably not our cup of tea, but we honestly don't like the dish.

It tastes super weird and the texture of the dish is just off. 

One of my friends says "it's like eating dirt". 

The plate is loaded with too much spices, literally, too much.

Each dish costs around ¥800-900 which in fact, isn't cheap. 

However, Japanese portion is HUGE.

So if you ask me, the price and the portion is considerable, but if you eat something that you don't like, then it's a problem lol

Anyways, after lunch, we finally can checked-in and showered.

We headed to Umeda, which is a shopping area, in the evening.

Didn't get to explore much because we were quite lost hahahaha

One thing about Japan is that their train lines are pretty complicated to understand. 

Moreover, most Japanese doesn't speak English so body language is needed. 

My friends and I took the wrong train a couple times and missed our stop quite often. 

So just imagine this, when Google says it will only take 30 minutes to arrived, we will take 1 hour. 

For dinner, we had Ichiran located in Umeda.

We were lucky because there was no queue that time. 

We ordered a bowl and share because we wanted to eat something else afterward. 

We had the spiciest one and it wasn't that spicy for us but that's expected, right? hahahaha

The ramen is pretty good but not as great as what I've heard. 

The broth is something tho and the pork slices are super good. 

However, overall, we think it's overrated. 

Found this Mochi place on our way back,
the strawberry is very juicy but I just don't like this fruit+Mochi combo

Sun, 25 Feb 2018

Headed to Osaka Castle today but didn't get in. 

It was raining by the time we reached this bridge. So we had to go back to the station.

We spent a lot of time getting there because we were, as you guessed it, lost. lol

and you know what, it turns out to be the best Takoyaki I've had from this trip. 

The sauce is delicious, the filling is very generous. It's just so good.

anyways, there are many food stalls around the area and we tried the Takoyaki (¥500)

We were supposed to go to Shitennoji Temple after the castle, but due to the unlikely weather, we were stuck at Abeno Harukas Department Store.

There are lots of snacks and food in general on the lower ground.

Waffle store around the station. I had the Matcha one and it's good :9

This sweet potato costs me around ¥500 and it's not that good. 

Bought it from a stall called Sweets or something like that.

I bought a Strawberry Cake and it is super good.

I normally hate cream but this one is exceptional.

It's very light and airy but luxurious at the same time.

Definitely one of the best ones I've had!

Japanese do know how to make things look good and taste good :9

Baumkuchen

It almost looks like Lapis Legit but in a circular shape

The one I bought doesn't taste like anything... Just sweet.

After walking around the food area, we were so tired and we needed to sit down.

So we randomly sit at this place called Abeno Katsu Sand Parlor Romantei and ordered some food.

We sat down and Claudia just suddenly went away.

Without any suspect, she came back 10 minutes later with a pie and they sang Happy Birthday song to me.

I was shocked and blessed.

The Happy Birthday greetings fell when she was running and it broke into pieces lol

Anyways, we had this pork sandwich and egg sandwich.

And it is superbbbbbb. The pork is juicy and tender.

The egg sandwich is the bomb.

Even the bread itself is super soft and fluffy and just delish!

Do give it a try if you're around!

We went to Dotonburi at night and had some street food like takoyaki and yakitori.

The takoyaki we had isn't that good and the yakitori isn't my cup of tea as well.

Scallops and Salmon Yakitori

Mon, 26 Feb 2018

Universal Studio Japan Day!

Woke up pretty early today because we couldn't get the express tickets online.

It was sold out everywhere!

So we tried our luck and headed there around 9 am.

THANK GOD THE QUEUE WAS SHORT

It only took us 10 mins at most and we finally got it!

It costs  ¥12,200 for 7 attractions (exclude entrance ticket)

which in fact, is so worth it!

Never ever go to a theme park without express tickets.

It's damn crucial!

Anyways, we got to ride all 7 and my favourite has to be the Flying Dinosours.

Super fun and exciting.

Bought it so that only I can take a picture of it :)

(it's a pork-filled bun)

and with it ;)

and as expected, it doesn't taste good...

Harry Potter fans will know this drink. 

Don't be fooled by its' name.

Butterbeer doesn't contain alcohol at all. 

It tastes more like sweet caramelly soda drink.

The foam on top tastes like caramel to me and the soda, well, it just tastes sweet and a bit of butterscotch.

I suggest you give it a try because it's worth the hype ;)

The Turkey Leg isn't as good as it looks.

It's very dry and hard...

and at the end of the day, I lost my favourite beanie... :(

 Tues, 27 Feb 2018

Kyoto is amazing. 

We spent a day there and we wish to have had stay longer. 

It has this different vibe from Osaka which we love.

Anyways, we took the JR lines to get to Kyoto.

You can just Google to know which train you should take.

We rented the Kimono and it costs us around ¥5000.

We didn't make a reservation in advance but we were quite lucky to be able to rent it.

I suggest you should make one if you're planning on renting some or if you don't know how, like us, come to the place rather early. 

We reached the place at 12pm and they say the kimono will only be available at 12.30pm.

The place we rented is inside Kyoto Tower, level 3 if I'm not mistaken.

Sorry to say this but I seriously had to drag my feet while using Geta (read= traditional Japanese slippers)

I had to seriously take it off to climb and go down the stairs :)

My friends were okay with it tho.

Probably it's just me... right....

Nevermind... continue with the story now..

We headed to the infamous Fushimi-Inari Shrine afterwards. 

Spent a lot of time there taking pictures and walking around.

It's a bit difficult to get the proper shot without anyone behind because it's a pathway and it's super crowded.

Me in real life :)

Found this super good Matcha Ice Cream with the crackers thing on our way back from the shrine.

It has a good Matcha taste and bitterness yet still slightly sweet.

The cracker is so darn good as well.

There are so many street foods along the street around the shrine.

Too much that we stuffed ourselves too much hahahaha

We had Takoyaki, super long sausage, and I can't remember what else for now. lol

Overalls, everything is pretty decent. Not great, just average.

Hokanji Temple

The world-renowned Omurice - Kichi Kichi.

Well, the chef is very humble and friendly.

However, this is a taste preference.

Personally, I dislike red wine sauce and I think that's the sauce he serves with the Omurice.

The egg is egg-celent, tho. 

We ordered a plate of chicken and soup of the day as well,

because each person must order at least one.

The chicken is pretty good and the soup of the day was corn soup and it was delish!

SOOOOO

there you go!

The story of my Osaka trip.

Tokyo post will be up soon kay?

Stay tuned! xx, Julia.

5 Guidelines for Newbie in Businesses

I wonder if there's anyone still interested in reading blogs/articles...
Well, I don't write as often as I do because I have nothing to talk about.
But today, I would like to share some of my experiences which I thought would be useful for some.

Disclaimer:
I am definitely not a successful person (yet. hehe) or even someone to look up to.
I'm just here to share and let you know what I've learned.
You may agree or disagree with me and you are very welcome to share your thoughts with me through the comment section.

Moving on to the topic.

Lesson #1: FIND YOUR PASSION

Everyone has their own passion. No matter what it is, you will find one.
You might like food, sports, cars, fashion, beauty or even gardening; there's always something you'll enjoy doing. Because if you enjoy doing what you do, you'll unknowingly put all your heart into it.
There's nothing one can't do if they love what they do.
As for me, I just have this love for food.
I love love love to eat and passionate about cakes.
I enjoy eating them as much as making them.
So that's my passion: Baking.
If I were to choose "Eating", I would have been a food blogger.
I had that in mind for sure but I just get too lazy sometimes. Hehehehe

Lesson #2: EXPLORE OPPORTUNITIES

Once you've found what you love, you need to know what you can do about it.
For example, if you like gardening, you could become a florist or maybe plant your own plants.
There are lots of stuff out there, so go and ask your family members, friends, or even try to do a research about it. When you've opened up your mind, ideas will just keep on popping in.

Lesson #3: THE EXECUTION

We'll stick with the gardening example.
After you decide what you wanted to do, becoming a florist, for example, you need to know how to become one. Search for classes or short courses near you. You'll need to spend a little, but remind yourself that you'll get much more in the end.
Once you've got the lessons and such, you need to find your supplier.
Well, your flowers gotta be from somewhere right.
Thus, find your supplier.

Another major key to remember is to always be aware of your consumer/customer.
You have to know what they like and dislike.
Always ask for opinions and accept them willingly.
One will never grow if you keep insisting on your likings.
It's not for yourself anyway, it's for the people.

Lesson #4: MAKE IT SPECIAL

You'll probably think, there's a lot of florists out there, "How am I gonna compete with them?"
The real question is, what are your specialities.
Every business has to has its own speciality.
There should be a thing that differentiates one from the others.
For example, for the florist, you could have a very special flower that only you can have or maybe a very unique looking packaging or box.
There's a lot of things you can do if you have done your research properly.

Lesson #5: BE UPDATED

If you have run your project or business, never be dull.
You need to be up-to-date and keep up with the new world out there.
The world is rotating and changing each day.
So always try to find new ideas and a way of implementing it to your work.
There's nothing worse than being outdated.


So there you go.
5 simple guidelines for a newbie in the business world.
Remember that nothing happens overnight.
Everything does take time and effort.
Each day is a new day to learn a new thing.
and business is a rollercoaster ride; it goes up and down.
But always do your best and pray for the rest.

Maldives for His 25th

It's my baby's 25th Birthday this year and I wanted to make it special.
Truthfully, I didn't give him anything last year so I need to make it big this time.
Anyways, as some of you know, we went to Boracay for his 23rd.
My boyfriend is an island guy. He prefers the beaches over the city, in which is a total opposite of me.
This year, I brought him to Maldives for his birthday present.
He didn't know at first (of course. it's a surprise). He didn't even know where or when we are going in the first place.
I only told him we are going to an island and we're transiting through KL and will be staying in KL for few nights.
My boyfriend finally found out when we were about to board from KL-Male.
He kept asking me and he googled it. He didn't even know what or where is Male. hahahaha
He googled and found "Male Paradise" at first and thought that it's actually a place.
But soon enough, he found out and the surprise was kinda ruined. (uhh thanks babe)

A short birthday message for my baby:

"Happy 25th Roni Chandra. I hope I'll be the one to celebrate your birthdays for the rest of your life. I love you so much and will always be. To always be with you is all I wanted. Happiest birthday, once again, Love."

If you're wondering, the flight from KL-Male is 4hours long and from Male, we still need to take a seaplane or domestic flight + speedboat.
Because we were arriving late night, there's only the domestic flight + speedboat option.
The domestic flight only took 20 minutes. The airplane is a small one, so yeap, it scares us a lot.
After the flight, we needed to ride a speedboat to the resort.
It should have taken around 30-40 minutes but shit does happen.
Our speedboat crashed onto corals when we were picking up a guy from another island.
The engine broke down and we were completely stuck in the middle of the sea.
It was intimidating, but me and my boyfriend just acted cool and tried to relax.
There were few staffs on board and some were trying to fix the engine and the others tried to contact the resort.
A few moments later, one of the staffs told us that the resort has sent a speedboat to pick us up but it will take a while because we were still quite far away.
Around 10 minutes later, a speedboat from other resort saw us and it was so nice of them to help us. They are from the Amilla resort.
They moved us to their speedboat and brought us to their resort.
It was a very warm welcome given by the people there.
They talked to us and gave us drinks.
We felt so much better afterward.
After quite some time, our speedboat finally came. We reached our resort around 2 A.M.
The time difference between Male and Indonesia is 2 hours. Male is 2 hours late.
One lesson learned is that it's quite dangerous to ride a speedboat at night because you can barely see anything., but the one thing that's very relaxing and mesmerizing is that the sky is soooo beautiful. The stars are so bright and there are so many of them. Literally, a sky full of stars.

Due to the incident, the manager gives us a complimentary of sunset cruise watching.
One of the staffs actually told us that it's the first time it happens and they are very sorry yet thankful that we are okay.

If you haven't known already, we were staying at Furaveri Island Resort and Spa.
The hospitality is amazing. The place is so clean that you'll barely see any ants (no joke).
The people are so friendly and they are always smiling.
Honestly, we were kinda worried at first because well, not to be racist or anything, but they're black (like Indians, to be exact).
But after a while, we notice that they're super friendly and humble.
Apart from the super nice people, the downside of this resort is that there's nothing much to do or explore.
The resort only has one restaurant and one bar and one small souvenir shop. That's it.

So for 4 nights, me and my boyfriend had breakfast every morning, chilled in the room most of the afternoons, took some pictures in the evening, and had in-room dining at night.
It was pretty boring for me after 2 nights.
However, if you're the kind of person who likes to chill in a place and just lounging around, then you'll be good. It's the perfect place for you to go.

The sea is so clear and beautiful, but I only went down once and it was on the last day morning before we left. Hehehehhe

Food-wise, their curry and any fish dishes are the bomb. The Maldivian Tuna Pizza is my favourite and surprisingly, the Indonesian Nasi Goreng is damn good, too. And later we found out that there is an Indonesian chef behind the goodness hahaha. We actually met him twice.

Anyways, there's not much to say about the island or resort other than it's beautiful, the people are very friendly, the hospitality is awesome, and the food is bombdotcom.

If you ever wanted to visit Maldives, be sure to do your research on what's there to explore on the island other than diving or snorkeling.

Sooooooo,
I think that is it.
Thank you for reading and I hope it's useful for some of you!
xx, Julia

Watch the Vlog here!