November 2023 is basically my second trip to Japan.

You can read about my first trip here.

In 2019, I used ANA (All Nippon Airways) and had a direct flight to Japan.

But in 2023, I used Singapore Airlines and must transit to Singapore first.

The first day of my trip was very exhausting, read below.

Basically, the itinetary is the same as my 2023 trip.

Although I wanted to go to Hokkaido, my mom and sister didn't want to go there.

My second trip is also with mom and sister again, the same as my first trip.

My departing flight with SQ would be around 18.00 o'clock.

But I only slept for an hour the night before (I really couldn't sleep and stressed a lot).

Since I should prepare the remaining belongings in the morning,

I didn't sleep anymore after taking a bath.

The most shocking news after that is, the plane to Singapore got delayed in rainy weather.

That means, I couldn't have time to change plane to Japan from Singapore.

Upon talking to the SQ staffs after immigration,

the three of us were given access to change plane to Singapore.

And so, our trip to Singapore with different plane begun.

 

After arriving at Singapore, five minutes after we checked-in through immigration,

the call to go inside SQ plane to Japan begun.

The plane to Japan was waiting for us, maybe?

Because we arrived late even though we had changed plane.

Thankfully, the journey to Japan was saved.

But I could only sleep only for 2 hours in the plane.

 

 

Arrived at Haneda airport Japan around 07.00 o'clock in the morning.

At the immigration, the lady who helped us check-in said that

I "look so young", which was weird.

Then, she asked about my age.

I didn't have enough sleep and a tired face, but she said I look young?

Nevermind that.

We rushed to change the JR Pass to the ticket counter, queuing for an hour.

Then, we went to Keikyuu line and arrived at Shinagawa station.

There at Shinagawa, we bought train bento and rode the shinkansen to Osaka.

In the afternoon, we spent a few minutes to buy Starbucks in the Shin-Osaka station,

the limited strawberry creme frappuccino, while waiting to check-in hotel time.

Actually, we were staying at the same hotel, which we couldn't stay in 2019,

Sarasa Hotel Shin-Osaka.

Now, I had chose the right amount of people to stay,

so I felt a little bit safe by that.

But another problem exist, we forgot the way to Sarasa Hotel.

We bought ICOCA for my mom first (because she lost it), and used stairways

to finally arrive at the hotel.

That was very tiring, since I only slept for two hours in the plane.

That, combined with the first day, I only slept three hours in two days.

The room for three people was big enough,

the bathroom and toilet were separated.

Because we were already tired from walking about 30 minutes

to the hotel, it's decided that we would stay at the hotel.

In the end, we only bought dinner at Family Mart, took a bath, and then sleep.

I'm glad I could finally able to sleep back then.

 

The hotel is spacious and clean.
 

 

 In the morning, our family had breakfast in the hotel because the price

was fair enough for the three of us included in the room.

 Even though there was a little breakfast variation,

they were very good and delicious, especially the waffle and karaage.

Be sure to try Sarasa Hotel when you're in Osaka.

We found an easy way on day 2 from Shin-Osaka station to hotel,

only 10 minutes walking.

 

Breakfast at Sarasa Hotel.
 

We rode shinkansen from Shin-Osaka to Kyoto station.

After that, riding the local train to Arashiyama again.

But now, we won't go to the bamboo forest.

I wanted to take a picture in front of Togetsukyo Bridge.

Before reaching to the designated Togetsukyo, my sister bought souvenirs

in the Miffy store nearby.

We also tried the matcha crepe ice cream.

Near the crepe store, there was a man sitting with his two Golden Retrievers.

I asked if I can touch them, and he agreed.

I think the man looks like Satou Takeru, just kidding.

Then I finally took a picture in front of Togetsukyo Bridge.

We only took a few minutes there.

After that, we tried eating at Arashiyama Miyoshitei 嵐山三芳亭.

It was an exiciting experience, since we didn't know how to eat it first.

There was a how to eat, written in the paper on every table.

The food was delicious, but meat was a little bit hard to chew.

Only some of them though.

After that, we went to Gion street again.

We only took a few pictures in Gion because we had been there in 2019.

Of course we should try Tsujiri on the street.

Tsujiri's store is not big.

There, we tried eating aki-iro ice cream and mom bought matcha latte powder.

Done with Tsujiri, we tried going to Yasaka Jinja.

There was a tiny festival stall, selling food.

But we didn't buy anything there.

 

Tsujiri autumn ice cream.

 

After exploring Sannenzaka in the afternoon,

I ordered coffee from % Arabica, which was Kyoto latte.

The hot latte combined with cold weather, it was a perfect night.

Since we should chase the shinkansen, we went back before 8 PM.

NB : After trying its Kyoto Latte, I always bought that in the store near my house.

Yeah, % Arabica already opened up store in Jakarta few years ago.

But I rarely went there.

 

 

 

 Day 3 was for Kobe.

In the morning, we took JR Sakura Shinkansen to Shin-Kobe station.

By using Hokushinkyuko and Kobe-Dentetsu Arima line train,

we finally arrived in Arima Onsen station.

Of course arriving there, we must try the tansan senbei.

It was cheap and easy to eat.

In 2023, the construction below the village is finally done,

making the scenery more beautiful there.

Of course after eating tansan senbei, the next should be Takenaka Meat Shop.

I couldn't forget how the pork croquette there melting in my mouth.

The best croquette I've ever had.

For evening snack, we tried Cafe de Beau, in front of Kin no Yu onsen.

I ordered hot houjicha and cakes.

It was a strange choice, but I couldn't go to Soba-ya Nakasa that time (closed).

That's why I ate cake as a lunch.

 

The antique Cafe de Beau.
 

From Arima Onsen, we went to some "plazza I don't know the name" in Kobe.

There, my sister was searching for her dollfie accessories.

I don't know the place, but we only took a walk for a while

and around 3 PM, we went back to Shin-Kobe station.

To fulfill our hunger before riding the shinkansen to Shin-Osaka,

we ate katsu rice in the Kobe station.

Then after the shinkansen arrived, we went back to Sarasa hotel.

 

It's not a Kansai trip without Nara for us.

My mom and sister were very happy to stroll the park with deers.

We also bought the Nakatanidou Yomogi Mochi on the street to go to Nara Park.

But we only stayed about an hour there, buying souvenirs etc.,

then went back to Umeda.

In Umeda, we had a walking tour around LUCUA mall.

My sister bought a cute bag at And Chouette, which was around 17,000Y.

After strolling around LUCUA, we went to Dotonbori.

 

As our dinner, we ate at Cinnamoroll Cafe Dotonbori.

Queuing time was only 20 minutes, which is very short.

A cinnamoroll kare, and especially the cake were all cute.

That was not a no.1 delicious kare, but it was okay for me.

The kare color is blue, which is very unique.

Then, we went around Dotonbori Glico sign for a while before going back to hotel.

Trying the famous ten yen cheese bread too.

We stayed in Osaka, so we had to explore around Namba.

First in the morning after breakfast, I walked through Kuromon market.

Trying one scallop and it was delicious.

So I wanted to try eating fresh salmon in a bowl of kaisendon.

The kaisendon we ate was delicious, even the rice without topping was tasty.

But because mom doesn't like fish, she only eat sushi, without the salmon (I ate them).

 

After filling up our stomach in Kuromon, we came back to Dotonbori.

Mom bought a mitarashi dango there, which was delicious too.

Again, we took a picture around Glico sign, because it was a good afternoon.

Even in the afternoon, there were so many people around Dotonbori.

After strolling in Dotonbori, we went back to hotel for tomorrow's another journey.

 

Day 6, we went to Tokyo by shinkansen.

This time, we arrived in Tokyo Station, not Shinagawa.

Our hotel is named To-sei Hotel Cocone Kanda, which means,

we should go to Marunouchi side.

Only took a few minutes to arrive at Kanda by 2 stations from Tokyo station.

Hotel was also big enough to fit the three of us.

And at the lobby, we could drink free coffee as much as we want!

After check-in at hotel, my sister asked to go to Akihabara on our first day in Tokyo.

Since it was Saturday, Akihabara was very crowded.

We got a bit lost actually, but finally managed to some place like Radio Kaikan.

I bought a few of Spy x Family merchandise.

 

 

Yanesen (Yanaka, Nezu, Sendagi) is actually on my list since 2019.

Thankfully, I could go there on my second trip.

In Yanaka, there was a famous stairway in front of the shopping district.

We ate a cat's paw themed cake there, which was very delicious.

The outside is crunchy, the inside is smooth of a cake.

After trying the cake, our journey went to the famous Amezaiku Yoshihara Sendagi.

It was actually closed until 1 PM, but the owner (Yoshihara Takahiro) was very kind

to greet us and began to make candy as soon as he let us come in.

My sister requested a white bunny and I requested a shiba inu.

I love dogs nowadays so I think it's cute.

The candy will get expired in February 2024 and must be kept in cold place.

Hence, we need to store in cabin baggage.

 

The lady could speak English.
 

The next place is the Nezu Shrine, which is only a few minutes from Amezaiku.

Nezu Shrine has a torii gate, a smaller torii compared to Fushimi Inari.

It was also very quiet at Nezu Shrine, only a few people could be seen.

We only took pictures at the entrance torii, then left to eat lunch.

There was a chain restaurant nearby for a cheap beef bowl, using a machine.

But I don't know the name, it is right next to the Nezu station.

The next stop is Ameyoko.

My mom bought a matcha powder again because she like it so much.

But there was nothing to do and there were too many people,

so we head to another place.

Because my sister wanted it again, we went to Akihabara.

There was a car free day so we could cross the street conveniently.

After strolling in a few stores, which she didn't buy anything though,

we had dinner at McDonald's.

Ordered two burgers, one of it was very delicious.

I think it was teriyaki chicken burger.

The other is Big Mac.

Big Mac tasted the same as in Indonesia though.

After eating, we went back to hotel.

 

 

This is the happiest place on earth.

It took about an hour from our hotel to Disneyland.

In the past 2017, I had been to Hongkong Disneyland.

The nuance was happiness and cheerful.

But too bad, it's very small.

Tokyo Disneyland is huge, so I thought I will be able to explore more.

 

As soon as we had entered the theme park, I must wait for my sister to change her clothes.

She brought a lolita dress, which took 30 minutes waiting for her.

Then, we saw a popcorn stall with honey taste (Winnie the Pooh).

It took about 15 minutes queuing until we could buy the popcorn & its bucket too.

 

I haven't buy S23 Ultra that time.
 

When we had finished waiting for popcorn, we bought lunch

in the Alice's theme restaurant (Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall).

We ate Flank Steak with Japanese Sauce, Meat Patty and Cheese

with Demi-Glace Sauce, another beef steak which I don't know the name,

and a cake as dessert!

The food there in Disney are very delicious.

There is nothing unworthed.

The only downside is the waiting time, almost 30 minutes to eat.

I thought we wouldn't fill our stomach looking at the small portion, but not!

They could feel our hunger until night time too.

After eating lunch, now is the time for afternoon parade.

Japanese people were all using their mat to sit around the street.

But we didn't know about it, so we sat without mat.

 When the show had finished, my sister went to another popcorn bucket booth.

It was a long waiting time, so after that, we sat again to watch another parade.

Sadly, we couldn't see the Christmas parade due to strong wind.

 

Because we didn't have a chance to try the attraction, next will be the one.

We chose to try Beauty and the Beast's attraction with 3 hours waiting time!

Yeah, we were queuing for 3 hours from 4 PM to 7 PM just for 10minutes ride.

The weather was very cold due to strong wind near the sea.

After coming back from the ride, we were shivering a lot.

The attraction was good and magical.

We sat on a cup-like chair and then being able to see the ride of Beauty & the Beast,

using videotron or something, which made it look like real.

Definitely a worthy experience in Disneyland.

I watched night parade after that, which was full of electrical parade.

But we didn't want to stay until fireworks, so we went back to hotel around 8 PM.

 

Beauty and the Beast castle at night.
 

The first place we went is Harajuku's Alice on Wednesday.

Too bad I couldn't post a picture there,

because taking picture is prohibited (I was told to stop taking pictures, sorry)

My sister bought a few things there, from hairpin to tumbler.

Then, we saw Ichiran Ramen with empty queue, so we decided to eat lunch there.

I didn't understand how to operate the machine in a ramen shop.

A lady waiting after us explained that we should insert the money first.

And it works.

We ate normal ramen at Ichiran without adding topping.

But it was tasty and cheap.

I understand why it's always full of people.

Thankfully we ate first before lunch time, because after that, long queue.

Having full stomach, the next place to go is Shibuya.

First, we went to Shibuya Parco with Pokemon Center.

Not buying anything there, we left and go to Shibuya 109.

Again, we didn't buy anything since the clothes were all for winter.

I don't know when to wear them so I'll pass buying winter clothes.

Going out from Shibuya 109, we crossed the Shibuya scramble

to reach Hachiko statue.

My sister had lost her phone with her Japan's 2019 photo in it,

so she went to queue again to take a picture with Hachiko statue.

 

 We didn't want to go back at the hotel quickly, so we ventured around Tokyo Station.

I ate bakery there, together with my sister and mom.

Eating bakery together with coffee, we were having a good time.

But there was too many salaryman sitting at the bakery,

so we shared seat to mom and sister.

I wanted to go to the shopping district in Yaesu, but we got lost around Marunouchi instead.

So we decided to go back to the hotel,

since tomorrow will be another hectic day.

 

 

 

Yup, this time is for Disneysea.

At first, I thought Disneysea would be boring because of the layout in all brown color.

My mom even said it looks like a fortress, not eye-catching.

I didn't want to go to Disneysea at all.

But a month before going to Japan, I finally agreed to go with my sister.

First, we got to go to the morning parade.

It was super exciting, since the parade is happening on water.

This has changed my mind about Disneysea.

After watching the parade, we rode on the gondola.

It was super calm and relaxing.

Then, we ate snacks around the gondola.

After that, time for another parade.

 

 The only attraction I tried here is Tower of Terror.

We should wait 1,5 hour until we could try it.

But mom might not want to ride on that, so it's only me and my sister.

Tower of Terror is an attraction where we sit down on a lift,

and then the lift goes up and down very fast.

But it only went down 2-3 times, so I didn't have scary experience there.

Right when I thought the ride got interesting and went down fast,

the attraction stopped there.

It's sad since I haven't experience the terror too much.

In Disneysea, we had lunch of fried rice, karaage, ramen, and another cake

in Vulcania Restaurant.

I don't have any hate at all, because they are all really delicious.

I think all foods at Tokyo Disney are delicious!

 

The next place is Mermaid Lagoon.

Of course I should try its sea salt ice cream monaka in seashell's shape.

I really love the sea salt ice cream there.

We didn't buy any merchandise though.

 

After Mermaid Lagoon, we just strolled around Disneysea's Aladdin park.

But because it's almost the time of night parade, the Believe! Sea of Dreams,

we decided to wait around there.

Waiting time until the parade was about 2 hours,

but we got the first spot to watch.

I had been wanting to watch Believe! Sea of Dream

ever since 2022 Kouhaku Uta Gassen.

And it's really a cool attraction with all the fireworks.

The singer for this parade is MISIA,

with the song "Kimi no Negai ga Sekai wo Kagayakasu".

I've known her since Star Ocean 3 game in year 2003. 

Wow I feel so old.

Even though we only took a ride of one attraction in each Disney theme park,

I feel satisfied.

Especially Disneysea.

At first, I didn't like it.

But after experiencing the theme park, I like Disneysea more than Disneyland.

 

Since it's almost the last day before departing from Haneda,

and since our departure time will be for 11 PM,

I don't want the last days to be tired.

So the only option is just lazying on the bed,

or strolling around Asakusa.

I didn't know that November 23rd is a holiday in Japan.

Asakusa was very busy and full of people.

We ate lunch at Yakiniku Like! and felt fond of it.

After trying omikuji (random fortune) in Sensoji Temple, we ate senbei there.

We also tried the melon bread with ice cream.

Because mom like it so much, we just had to buy another melon breads.

Since it's so hectic at Asakusa, we decided to go to Ginza.

At Ginza, our first destination was the biggest Uniqlo store.

We came inside, but didn't buy anything because they only have winter clothing.

And most of it can be found in Indonesia.

After that, we tried going to Ginza Six, but only for a few minutes.

That day, we had dinner at Hoshino Coffee near hotel.

Purchasing kare rice and coffee at the antique Hoshino Coffee decoration

makes such a good ambience and relaxing time.

We also tried the pancake there.

 

Today is the last day before going back home.

I would prefer to walk only a little bit.

So the lunch is Yakiniku Like! again near Kanda station.

Then, we went to Tokyo Station Yaesu building.

 

We arrived at Haneda airport around lunch time.

Mom was very tired so she wanted to sit and only eat from Seven Eleven nearby.

But my sister asked to eat in the okonomiyaki Hiroshima style restaurant,

There were too many portion and we also ordered gyoza.

Full stomach so we didn't have dinner at the airport.

We will get late dinner in the plane though.

There, at the airport, I bought Tirtir silver cushion and

the bag from Maison de Fleur.

I had been following Maison de Fleur instagram since my 1st Japan trip,

but only now I could buy something there.

The store is located at Haneda Airport Garden.

And my sister bought a fluffy bag from Tully's Coffee.

It was a hectic day since the two of us went back and forth from terminal 3

to Haneda Airport Garden numerous times.

I think I went to Airport Garden 3 times and to the Haneda observation deck,

where we could watch airplanes outside, 2 times.

Since our flight was at 11 PM, I kept wandering

at the airport until it's time for check-in.

Another problem arise because I couldn't use self check-in.

My name was wrong, only a little bit of it.

So, we went to the counter check-in and finally got approvement to board the plane.

No money included, thankfully.

Wow, from the first day, I had many problems with airplane.

I thought I couldn't go to Japan nor coming back to Indonesia.

Thankfully, after that check-in problem, I could go back safely.

While praying to go there again someday, the flight departed from Tokyo.

By the way, it turns out my name has been written wrongly

ever since I bought the ticket.

It is purely my fault, but SQ is too kind.

 

My trips overall are not too tiring.

Because of the problem inside my head,

I sleep a lot nowadays.

I think I can't go travelling too far,

although I hope I can go to Japan again.

There is no boring place in Japan.

Everything are so precious and calm.

I hope I can travel again to another place, especially Hakodate.

I really want to see the Goryokaku.

PS : Already booked another trip to Japan for March 2025.