This time, I;m visiting the Disney Sea. It’s flooded with people throughout the year, seems like there is no off-season here. Tokyo Disneyland is located in Urayasu city, Chiba – right outside Tokyo. The best way to get there is by taking the JR Keiyo line from Tokyo station to Maihama station. When you reach Maihama station, it’s about 10 mins walk to the Disneyland, or take Disney Resort Line at Resort Gate Station to Disney Sea Station. Direct Bus from Yokohama, Shinjuku, Haneda Airport, or Narita Airport are also available.

The Monorails at Tokyo Disney were cool!

Ok, the magical journey begins on this Disney train, which comes complete with grey checked couches and are well themed with Disney characters.

Upon arrival, you will need to purchase a Passport which includes all attractions. A one-day-passport costs me 5,500 yen while a 2-day -passport will cost 10,000 yen per adult. There is also a Starlight Passport which cost 4,700 yen for admission to the park after 5pm on certain days.

I make my way behind the super long queue at the main entrance of the park and bought a ticket. I was told about the crazy line, but heard that you can purchase your tickets at some Japan travel agencies, or Tokyo Disneyland Ticket Center located in Hibiya subway station if you want to save time.

There are all sorts of characters around the park.

Bump into one of the classic Disney heroes – Aladdin signing autograph…

Not just water craft can be found at DisneySea!

Journey To The Center if the Earth! The giant volcano.

Fast pass ticket.

Mediterranean Harbor. It resembles a southern European seaport with waterfront buildings and waterways.

The Mickey Stage Show, a 30 mins extravaganza showcasing about 10 of Disney’s classics with dancers and wonderful costumes!

Here comes Donald, Minnie, Mickey and Goofy.

The ending.

For Disney magic that never stops, you can stay at their official Disney hotels – Tokyo DisneySea Hotel MiraCosta, and Tokyo Disneyland hotel – the Disney Ambassador. . There are direct buses from Narita Airport to these hotels, and free Disney shuttle buses to Tokyo Disneyland from their Disney Resort.

We are never too young or too old to visit Tokyo Disneyland.

So… is there any job vacancies in Tokyo Disneyland for me?

Find anything about Tokyo Disneyland here.

• Hong Kong Disneyland
• Shanghai Disneyland in year 2012
• Shanghai Pudong International Airport – Latest Airport Shuttle Bus Schedule
• Pudong International Airport Long Distance Bus Schedule
• Tokyo the Metropolitant

This was the first time I got my own room, a very tiny private room… 2m x 2m… haha, I could not hardly believe it. Everything is small in Japan. But I love it here so far…everyone is so polite and friendly, streets are very clean, convenient stores are surprisingly fun and food is decent. People take time out to have lunch together…. everything is so kawaii (cute), vending machines everywhere, its new and exciting !!

A one-day pass is a must when travelling using subway in Tokyo. It’s a lot cheaper and you get unlimited ride. Cabs in Tokyo are expensive.

I went shopping the next day — let me tell you, the shopping here is unreal. It’s unending… neighbourhood by neighbourhood. You could literally spend several days shopping in SHIBUYA alone….. and GINZA, SHINJUKU as well……it’s OVERWHELMING. OMG~~ and the electric city IN AKIHABARA, I spend almost half a day to look at the cameras and mobile phones … It’s very cheap if you buy in duty free shop.

The famous Tokyo Tower.

The Tokyo Tower rose up like a smaller version of Eiffel Tower in red and white, built atop a small hill top.

Nice apartments in city.

Architecture

Pets hotel.

It’s always expensive when talk about foods here. But they are cheap compare to Osaka and Kyoto . I found 180 yen ramen !?!!? Udons at 280 yen… subway fares are cheaper too…

I shop like crazy on my last day in Tokyo, and I got only half a day to do my shopping. But unluckily, shopping centers in Tokyo are only open at 10am and close at 8.30pm……my flight back to Shanghai is at 4.55pm (6 May)…… it takes more than an hour to reach Narita Airport from my hostel…

Sayonara Tokyo!

• Kyoto The Ancient City
• Tokyo Disneyland – Japan Landmark
• The most expensive cities in the world
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Fushimi Inari Shrine is famous for its thousands of closely-spaced orange torii gates that wind over the hills of Inariyama beyond the entrance to the shrine, creating spectacular, bright tunnels.

Inari shrines honor the patron deities of agriculture and business, ensuring a constant stream of worshippers and the individual torii are donated by merchants hoping to get ahead in business, and they are not cheap. You will notice dozens of small statues around the shrine of the fox deity (kitsune) – the messenger of Inari.

Admission is free and it is a good hike to the top. It can be access by Fushimi Inari station (Keihan Line) or JR Inari station from Kyoto station.

• Kinkakuji – Kyoto Golden Pavilion
• Kyoto The Ancient City
• Tokyo the Metropolitant
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The roots of the art of Japanese garden date back to antiquity. Initially, Japanese gardening was under the fundamental influence of Chinese and Korean immigrants. It was not until the Heian period (794-1185 AD) that it became exclusively a Japanese affair, being still a hobby rather than profession or even art. Later on, the monks of Buddhist temples came to assert themselves as garden designers and it was Buddhism, namely its contemplative form "Zen" that created the original, truly Japanese form of gardens known as karesansui – dry or rock garden.

The garden itself is a series of boulders, all together 15 "floating" in a sea of raked gravel. Accordingly, it’s only 14 can be seen, and when one has attained enlightenment, the 15th will become visible.

Many explanations are given for the rock arrangement and minimal decoration. Probably all that can be said that it is highly influence by the ideals of the tea ceremony, in which wabi – honesty, rusticity and understatement are held esteem. The idea of wabi resonated well with the Zen of Buddhism, which incorporated tea Architecture into the temple design, leading to gardens like Ryoan-ji. Wabi is also a powerful design technique that combines simplicity and understatement to allow the viewers’ imagination to "fill in the blanks".

• Kinkakuji – Kyoto Golden Pavilion
• Osaka Castle – Himeji-jo
• Kyoto Kiyomizudera Temple
• Osaka Umeda Sky Building – The Floating Garden
• I love Japanese food

I made it to the Golden Pavilion and had a good experience taking it all in. Kinkaku-ji is a Zen temple, formally known as Rokuonji and is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. It is constructed in 1937 as part of a new residence for the retire shogun. The pavilion was converted into a Zen temple after the shogun’s death.

Pheonix at the roof top.

The Zen-influenced Golden Pavilion has delicately curving roofs and the walls and eaves of the second and third stories are covered with fine gold leaf, surrounded by a calm lake and gorgeous Japanese Gardens. The architecture is a symbol of Kitayama culture. However, this pavilion is not original. It was burned to the ground many years ago and was rebuild again. The gold leaf is five times thicker than the original coating. You almost need sunglasses! Be sure to explore the surrounding as well. Kinkakuji is probably Kyoto’s most famous and certainly most photographed temple garden. No trip to Kyoto is complete without seeing this Pavillion.

Behind the garden… Statues

You can access Kinkakuji by city bus to Kinkakuji Mae, remember to get a one-day pass and you can use it for public buses or subway. Take bus number 101 or 205 from Kyoto Station. You can also take the Karasuma Subway line to Kitaoji station from where the temple can be reached in a short bus ride. Admission is Y400 and it opens from 9:30 am to 5pm. There were a lot of people there, but it was still worth it. Arrive early to avoid the crowds. You have to visit here if you are ever in Japan.

• Kyoto The Ancient City
• Famous Japanese Garden Ryoan-ji Temple
• Kyoto Kiyomizudera Temple
• Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine – Kyoto
• Hong Kong Disneyland

Scene that I’ve seen when I came out JR Kyoto line station.

Kyoto one day-pass for subway and buses – 1200 Jp Yen.

Temple in the city.

Kyoto streets with vending machines everywhere.

I had my ramen at a small shop when I reach Kyoto. Its the most delicious ramen I’ve ever had. The soup is warm and the noodles are hot !! Food and subway are very expensive in Kyoto. The most cheapest meal I had is 500 Japanese yen for just a bowl of tempura udon ~

Stairs, stairs… and stairs!

The most unexpected thing is, there’s a lot of staircase !! haha, although I think the stairs are what attributed to me losing basically 1 pound per day during my 3 days visit in Kyoto. I’d visited some temples with fantastic architecture which took 2 hours to climb to the top of the mountain… I’m glad I trained a bit back in Shanghai cause I have been walking a lot of miles (or kilometers) since i got here…….

The backpackers hostel that I am staying in Kyoto is very very clean. I met a few Australians and British here. In the evening of 3rd May, l leave Kyoto to Tokyo. It tooks around 2 hours by Shinkansen (bullet train)….. It’s super FAST !!! A normal train would takes 10++ hours to reach Tokyo… can you imagine that !??!?!?!

• Tokyo the Metropolitant
• Tokyo Disneyland – Japan Landmark
• Kinkakuji – Kyoto Golden Pavilion
• Hong Kong Disneyland
• Kyoto Kiyomizudera Temple

The main hall of Kiyomizudera Temple, stands in the wooded hills that offers you a nice view over Kyoto city. Below the terrace, you can taste the spring water that believe to have healing power.

Kiyomizudera ("Pure Water Temple") is one of the most celebrated temples in Japan. This temple was addded to the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites.

This temple features a unique style in which the building faces out over a high precipe with the floor supported by long pillars.

• Kinkakuji – Kyoto Golden Pavilion
• Shanghai World Financial Center
• Osaka Umeda Sky Building – The Floating Garden
• Kyoto The Ancient City
• Beautiful WuXi ~

I need to walk further down the street to take the whole view of the building.

Below the building, looking up…

The escalator at the top, connecting to the floating garden.

A panoramic landscape of Osaka. You can view through a full 360 degrees.

Another view from the open roof top observatory floor.

Old Japanese house behind Umeda Sky building.

• Osaka Castle – Himeji-jo
• Osaka – a city of stunning diversity and culture
• Famous Japanese Garden Ryoan-ji Temple
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• Shanghai World Financial Center

It’s all began over half a millenium ago, Osaka Castle was build in 1496. The temple functioned from the begining as a fort against the attack of surrounding feudal warlords. The famous tiled roof of the main tower is the first thing visible, the ridges culminating in cornices depicting great leaping golden carps, and the extensive black facings beneath the uppermost roof bear an array of nature – inspired designs done in gold.

The journey begins at the only point of access across the inner system of moats, the Sakaura-mon gate which leads to the inner courtyard.

The scale of the outer protective wall. Each clans was allocated a certain length of wall to build, based on how many bushels or "koku" of rice than clan produced. The largest weighting about 130 tons.

The entrance.

The 8th floor contains an outdoor observation deck. This photo shows a Shachi (roof tile in mythical ocean fish) that is found at the peak of the roof.

NHK building can be viewed from the Castle.

Street performing inside Castle compound area.

Monk… you can put some money in his bowl, but is this real or fake… I don’t know…

• Osaka Umeda Sky Building – The Floating Garden
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• Osaka – a city of stunning diversity and culture
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• Nanjing, China

Well, Japan… another very different place. I guess my experience really started at the airport…going through customs, had my backpack searched…. but it was all good, they were friendly and I guess they were just doing their job.

I took airport limousine to Osaka city center. Osaka is a water metropolis. Not only because of its proximity to the sea, but also because of the numerous rivers and canals that crisscross it. It was over the water that most commerce flowed to, through and from Osaka. On the way to the city, I saw lots of sailing yatchs, industrial area, beaches…. and flamingo ~~

My next big encounter was the subway. What can I say…. they don’t have any English translation at all!! They have lots of routes, you got to spend some time to really look at the map. If you intend to travel to Japan, make sure you get a 7 day or 14 day rail pass. Travel without it is grosly overpriced and much more if you want to catch the Shinkansen (bullet train) anywhere else.

A few other strange things about Japan. Its not a very friendly place to visit if you are looking for friendly, hospitible locals. Not many people speaks english here, and they always round of some japanese that I have no hope of understand. A Japanese phrasebook would come in real handy. Japanese are very kind and will try to help you as much as they can if you ask them. However, you will always seem to get strange looks from the locals, I guess I’m ‘gaijin’ (foreigner)…..

So far everything has gone extremely well. The weather have been magnificent… sunny and warm during the day with a bit cooler evenings.

This is my guest house Sumo Backpackers , located in Nakatsu in the heart of Osaka. It’s very central and only a minute walk from subway Midosuji line at Nakatsu station and a 15 minutes walk from the JR Osaka station. When you arrive at Nakatsu station exit 2, you can call them and they will go and pick you up.

If you prefer to find yourself, simply turn right at Exit 2 at Nakatsu station, walk two alley ways over and turn right at the 2nd alley and its on your left about 40 feet down.

The owner, Okuda-san is very friendly and nice. She was extremely kind and helpful which make my entire stay memorable. People staying here were really a great crowd and you will sure make some good friends here!!

Sumo is converted from a traditional Japanese house with very limited space. Common area like bathroom, wc, living room, library and internet access are at the downstair (smoking allowed). The shower doesn’t lock, but other mates seems to respect closed door. They provide free internet access, tv and DVD access. They have lots of magazines, books, Japanese comics, travel guides…etc.

Message written by many backpackers over the years!

Steep stairs lead to the upper floor where the 10 bunk beds are. Its a very small house, so they are limited to 10 capacity. At the entrance of 2nd floor, there were one big communal sleeping area with really loud metal lockers in the middle, bathroom at the 2nd floor did not have a working sink and a bit dirty. That’s why everyone prefer using the bathroom downstair. The kitchen was at the 2nd floor but no one is using it or otherwise, the cokking smells would go directly into the bunks.

Check-in and office hours: 16:00 – 22:00
It is advice not to choose your arrival time before 16:00 and after 22:00.
Check out: 8:00- 12:00 noon

All in all, I would recommend to single travellers who needs a somewhat central base to all the signts in Osaka. Bring some cash, as they do not accept credit cards. You can exchange your currency at Kansai International Airport. Price from around USD25 and may vary from season.

Will update soon… c-ya!

• Osaka Umeda Sky Building – The Floating Garden
• Shanghai Pudong International Airport – Latest Airport Shuttle Bus Schedule
• Osaka Castle – Himeji-jo
• Pudong International Airport Long Distance Bus Schedule
• Tokyo Disneyland – Japan Landmark