Kansai Trip : Before Heading Home

Tadi malam saya baru buka buka foto Kansai Trip yang dari kamera (nowadays, I prefer take picture from phone than camera). Then I remember, I haven’t completed by travelling story to Kansai! Lhahahah!

It was on Saturday I guess, we took trip to Osaka Castle, the city’s landmark. It was built in 1500’s. Such an old building! The enterance fee was JPY 1000/person, yet kids under 16 and senior paid lesser fee.

Istananya ada 8 lantai, tapi ada satu lantai skip gitu, jadi total 7 lantai kali ya? Nah, kalau mau masuk, semua pengunjung harus ke lantai paling atas, The Observation Deck! Tenang ada lift.  Jadi kami antri lift.  And of course, it was holiday, such a long queue. I lost my patient and started to climb the stairs! Yes, all the way to 8th floor!

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We were waiting for the elevator that took the visitors to 8th floor of the castle, it was holiday season… so as my friends may guess, I lost my patience. The line was toooooo long. . Then I told my dad that I want to climb 7 levels (it doesn’t have 5th or 6th floor, I can’t recall). PS : all the visitors must go to 8th floor first, then seeing the museum by walking down the stairs. . “Just wait for the elevator, I’ll see you inside!”. He replied “I’m going with you!” “This is an 8-level-building!” “So?” . I insisted for him to stay in the line, he insisted that he’s still strong enough to climb! . And he made it, I was the one who was out of breath 🤣🤣🤣🤣 . So blessed to be his daughter! Stay healthy old man! i hope we can land in DME sometime later this or next year! 🙏🏽 #wheninOsaka

A post shared by Фитриянти (@sikiky) on Jan 22, 2018 at 6:22am PST

Well, that what happened!

Observation Deck

Lalu turun tangga dan mengelilingi bangunan bersejarah ini yang terdiri dari diorama diorama sejarah Jepang dan sejarah dibanggunya Osaka Castle ini.

Agak lama di sini, kami mengisi perut dulu. Nah, saya kan belum lari nih di Jepang, so saya pinjam sepatu Nike anak saya (kebetulan pakai jaket lari hari itu), so I ran in the middle of the day, around Osaka castle. It was 11 degrees, btw! 

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Osaka Castle Park is (as expected) nice ! Banyak yang jualan makanan juga. Kenyang jajan rasanya kita ngga makan siang lagi deh. Langung pindah ke tujuan berikutnya UMEDA SKY BUILDING.Letaknya tidak jauh dari Osaka Main Station.

Tapi karena masih agak sore, we had coffee in small shop.

Masuknya lupa saya bayar berapa, rasanya JPY 1000/yen juga, dan dibawah 21 tahun dan senior lebih murah juga. Jadi yang bayar full, saya saja.

Why we (I) bother to climb here? for this!!!!

Sunset from UMEDA SKY BUILDING

 

Before Sunset

Karena saya kesini musim dingin, sun set at 5 pm. Kalau mau lihat sunset di sini, di cek juga magribnya jam berapa (((magrib))). Karena bagusnya memang pas sunset sih. 360 degrees view of Osaka City. This is 41st floor I guess, there is a restaurant below, complete with sofa and…charging station. 

Lalu kami balik lagi ke Namba, makan malam di sana dan kembali ke Dountobori Area. Sebelum balik ke penginapan, kami beli tiket kereta dulu untuk esok hari. Cari yang semi express, it was JPY 1400/person.

 Keretanya hanya stop di tiga stasiun (dari Namba Station). There is unwritten rule, saying that you have to be very quite on the train. No speaking (loud) allowed (both with mobile phone or person to person). 

And on every trip, I get a bit melancholic I guess, sad to leave since little time to explore.  Seeing thru the windows of Osaka’s suburb and silently saying good bye.

hahahah!

Tempat lain yang menarik di Osaka konon, Osaka Aquarium dan Giant Ferris Wheel. Next time, perhaps.

 

Kita transit di Shang Hai, for four hours and arrive back to Jakarta at 11 pm. AKhirnya nambah cuti sehari anak anak malah ketiduran. Sejak pulang dari Jepang ini we had no domestic helper at home. Si bibik pulang ngga balik lagi karen ngga boleh sama anaknya *curhat* Males juga nyari asisten rumah, kriterianya harus sama dengan si bibik sih. hahahha. Lama lama terbiasa. Bagus juga buat anak anak mandiri dan memanage waktunya.

Saya ingat komentar adek saya di pertengahan 2017.

“Ke Jepang gih, mumpung masih kerja di Bank Jepang. Biar dapat feelnya!” Beneran, pertengahan tahun 2018 saya dapat tawaran kerjaan baru! hahaha! Cenayang juga dia! Jadi ini kantor saya sebelumnya, cabang  yang di Kyoto.

Former Office

Oh ya, teman saya, Agnes baru balik dari Jepang bulan lalu, dia komen

“Sudah ke Jepang, jadi malas ke negara lain ya?” 

Is it true? saya pribadi sih masih pingin re-visit Tokyo, ke Shirakawago (at any season) dan Hokaido pas winter. Walaupun orang Jepang jarang yang bisa bahasa Inggris, tapi di sana mudah sekali. Jajanannya enak.

Anyway, kata-kata saya di caption IG itu, bisa jadi kenyataan sih 😉 Semoga kesampaian, ada yang ingin post card? atau untuk anak Jabodetabek, saya give away Tumbler Starbuck deh! hahahhahahah

 

Kansai Trip : melancong ke Kobe

Yes, the city not Bryant #krik

Musim semi sudah mau kelar, catper musim dingin belum selesai juga. Saya sih masih niat rampungin catatan.

Anyway, jalan jalan di Jepang ini tidak sulit sebetulnya although you dont speak/read Japanese. Ada di google semua, it’s really in your finger trip.m

Karena 5 Januari adalah Jumat pertama di tahun 2018 dan #pencitraanitupenting, saya bikin jadwal untuk sholat Jumat di Kobe Mosque, the oldest mosque in Japan!

Sekalian menepi, Osaka is a big city and I have enough with big city! Ich habe die Nase voll!  :(( On weekdays, hidup saya aman sampai jam 8.30 am, the moment I arrive at Palmerah station, setelah itu senewen dengan rentetan klakson, debu dan macet! Rasanya ingin kulempar bom molotov.

Ok balik lagi. Hari itu hujan di Osaka. trip dari Namba harus pindah stasiun. Stasiun yaaaaa bukan pindah jalur macam di Stasiun Manggarai! Sudah sampai stasiun yang dituju, as usual saya ngga percaya diri, tetep lagi nanya ke orang lokal. Cem waktu di Fussen lah.

“Sumimasen…this train goes to Kobe?” Sambil nunjuk hp ke 3 orang ibu lansia yang sedang berdiri dekat pintu. They said “haik”

Dari Osaka Station ke Kobe Sannomiya Station butuh sekitar 30 menit with 5 stops.

Ngga lama, saya dapat duduk, setelah setengah perjalanan, salah seorang ibu itu nyamperin saya.

Obasan (an older female) : &@?;$@:@: *then her fingers formed V-sign* she explained to me Kobe will be another two stations.

Saya (yang sudah mengerti 2 stops lagi sampi Kobe dari google map tetap harus komen ramah donk. Namanya juga saya tamu )!

Haik

Wakarimasita ( I understand)

Domu Arigato Ghozaimasu (thank you very much)

Matane Kudasai (see you!)

Obasan : Nihongo jyouzu desune (you speak good japanese). And she gave me thumb up.
Nyiahahahahahha! Kuingin ambil phD di Waseda University rasanya!

On the train to KOBE

Sampai di Kobe, begitu ingin keluar stasiun, ada petugas manggil saya. Kasih peta! Service Excellence kali! Our southeast Asia look with me wearing jilbab! Ukhti ini  mau ke mesjid pasti! Mungkin begitu batin si petugas.

When the officer gave me the map, he explained in Japanese. Gw ho-oh aja

Rainy Kobe

Dua minggu sebelum ke sini, saya liat Instastory-nya Een, teman kuliah saya yang tinggal di KL. Kota ini tampak menarik di mata saya, namanya juga kota pelabuhan. Pasti ada asimilasi budaya, etc

Jalan ke mesjid sendiri nanjak dan angin musim dingin ini kok ngga santai yesss!

Rainy Kobe, can you see the hill?

 

 

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Jumat Baraqah. The first mosque in Japan, built in 1930’s. #Kobe #sikikykansaitrip #winterholiday

A post shared by Фитриянти (@sikiky) on Jan 4, 2018 at 7:13pm PST

While papa dan #2 sholat Jumat, kami nunggu di kafe dekat situ. Saya minta ijin mau nunggu agak lama. Saya ketik bahasa Inggris di hp untuk diterjemahkan ke bahasa Jepang biar yang punya kafe mgga keberatan saya nunggu lama di situ.

 

View Outside

Mana lagi hujan, suasana kafe-nya santai, view keluar juga bagus…bweuh, kalo saya penulis novel pasti sudah bikin cerita romens Menunggu di Kobe.

Setelah sholat, kami buru buru cari restoran…tentunya Kobe Steak! Aheyy! Kenapa musti buru buru, karena last order tuh jam 14.30 lalu jam 3 restoran tutup sampai jam 6 sore baru buka lagi.

Kobe Steak

 

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The famous kobe steak! いただきます Itadikimasu

A post shared by Фитриянти (@sikiky) on Jan 4, 2018 at 9:49pm PST

 

Halal Restaurant

Inside Mesjid Kobe

 

Rainy Kobe

Since it was raining, I cancelled my initial plan to stroll around harbor area, jump in Giant Ferris Wheel.  It was two degrees Celsius and extremely cold for tropical kids (with the wrong clothes.

Long Story short, ya sudah langsung kembali ke Osaka.

I finally spend time in the famous Dountoburi and snapped a pic of me with the famous Glico Man.

The Famous Glico Man

Eh giling yaa di sini, every other two people I met speak Indonesia! Banyak bettttt sis sis IG yang buka Jasa Titip! Berasa di Pasar Baru!

Kansai Trip : what I did and I did it wrong

One of them…. The Clothes!

As a tropical kid, I used to think living in 4-season-countries is very nice. You got to see leaves change color, longer day time in Summer, snow in winter, etc. when I arranged back my family photo album during road trip in the Northern Globe – in chronicle order – I easily put these stack to that, base on what clothes we were wearing.

when I came back to 4-season-country decades later, I forgot that every season might required different clothes.

What did effect me? I ‘wasted’ my money in Universal studio Japan.

Other thing, I forgot to purchase Express Pass, I took for granted to the fact that is was still new year holiday.

So tips for me

• Yes, it may cost another JPY 6,000 (?) for 5-ride- express pass, but for high season, it is all worth it! It took 2.5 hrs queue to hop in famous ride such as Harry Potter, Spider Man, Minion, Flying Dragon, etc. what a waste of time! Yaaa tapi balik lagi ke masing-masing netijen yeeees! 😉
• Do pay attention to the weather forecast, wether it’d be raining or shining on your chosen day. I know, thing I care nothing about since I live in tropical country. Fortunately, the weather was nice on my schedule.
• Btw, I bought the ticket earlier in Klook.com and it gave me 10% discount.
• Wear comfortable shoes, I cursed that I only take my boots with me
• I thought Uniqlo heat-tech was sufficient to deal with the cold, as it was fine during my Europe trip…teheeeee! I was in Europe for Autumn with low double digit temperature, forget that on winter, it goes to Single Digit (the lowest was 2 degrees, but still —- mind you, I live in tropical country almost all my life). I suppose to buy the Extra Warm Heat Teach from Uniqlo for both top and pants rather than counting on the regular one.
• I didn’t have proper breakfast, so after waiting for 2.5 hrs for Harry Potter ride, I-threw – up! Gosh! I got severe headache!
• The rest of the day went miserable, I couldn’t take another ride, I had to wait for my kids…waiting with not-so-proper clothes for winter (crap) during winter (double crap)!
• waiting in cafe is not really a good option since …a cup hot chocolate cost Yen 500-600. Bangkrut maleeeeh!
• My day was horrible!
• When I asked my kid to go home around 5pm (it was dark already) they wanted to try Flying Dragon when the ride goes upside down! Na’ah! I didn’t want to do it!

This is how it looks like.

• We were in serious debate, then…I heard a language I know! there were 3 young Indonesia female seems (almost) half of age, twice as my son’s age, discussing these ride as well. One of them Ira, wanted to go for a ride, her two friends refused. I – being sok akrab – greeted them and asked:

“mbak, ngga ada teman kan boleh titip anak anak saya yaaa?” 😀

• Of course, she nooded. Those girls work for Badan Pemeriksa Keuangan, (I talked to the other two while waiting) from different cities in this country, take a break before they rolled for another months of training. I envy generasi millenial!
• Then spending another 2.5 misserable hours waiting for my kids
• We (they) didnt ride Minion, I was too tired, suffered nausea, cant bear the cold In short, I was a bit sick and forget to bring Minyak Kayu Putih

But at least kids (of course) were happy, that was the second time for #1 back to Universal Studio the park and third time for #2.

The kids with Ira. Terima Kasih Ira! Dimudahkan semua urusan-urusanmu kelak ya! Amin!

Kalau mau sholat, pinter pinter cari pojokan aja ya 🙂

Anyway, if you’re wondering, that is the reason why I chose Namba Area to stay.

• My dad didn’t come with us to USJ. He can’t take the extreme rides of course. So he spent day by strolling Dountoburi Area. Buka JasTip harusnya bapakku! Hahahah. If I chose other area, I’m afraid he might get lost getting around with train.
• Namba Station is the closest Big Station to Kansai International Airport. We only spent our trip in Kansai, thus we don’t need JR Pass/ Shinkansen. Too expensive.
• Jadi kalau mobilitasnya pakai Shinkansen, mungkin sebaiknya pilih yang dekat Shin Osaka- atau Osaka Station.

Kansai Trip : Golden Temple and Bamboo Forest

January 2nd 2018

Ueda-san, our host in Kyoto prepared miso soup for breakfast. she also allowed us to use the tea, coffee, those Japanese snacks and candies that taste sooo great.

Miso Soup a new Year Tradition

She gave us Kyoto Bus Map, for us to get around the city. Kalau yang dulu sering ke Bandung sebelum era Grab, Uber, Gojek, inget peta Angkot Bandung ngga? kira-kira mapnya kayak gitu deh! Hahahha

Ueda-san took us to the closet bus stop, and the bus baru keluar dari pangkalan. So it was only the four of us, until it arrived at the Kyoto Station!

I highly suggest to use Kyoto Bus Pass for 500 JPY ( IDR 60,000). In case you get lost, or found interesting spot, you can stop on your desired bua stop. Jadi ngga rugi jek!

I purchased from the bus driver. And let me tell you, unlike supir Kopaja or Metromini, a bus driver is a very respectful job! Galak dan tegas lho mereka!

Kyoto Bus Pass

Kinkakuji Temple

Our first stop, the golden Temple! Kinkakuji Temple. It took around 30 mins to get here from Kyoto Station. A picturesque place, the must visit place in Kyoto, people said. The top two levels are covered by Gold! Mak…pengen gegoleran di sana!

We met a Indonesian family from Tokyo, the father works as a PNS dan dapat tugas belajar. We made small conversations while they have their lunch on lunchbox, and we were busy munching green tea latte and whatever.

Pas pamit berpisah, ayah saya terlihat jalan kembali ke arah mereka. Trus ngobrol bentar. Lalu suami istri asal Majalengka itu melihat saya tersenyum dan kasih jempol. Saya iya iya aja. Hahahah.

We took bus again to our next destination, the famous Bamboo Forest.  I saw many beautiful temples along the way. I should have stopped a long the temple.

It took 800 meters before we really arrived in Bamboo Forest, Arashiyama! Geee….people are everyyyyywhereee! New Year holiday! hmphhhh….

Bamboo Forest

We took a walk until the very top (yes, it’s a hill!) then instead of turning back, we continue the walk to Arashiyama Park! And believe me, it’s huge and BEAUTIFUL!!!!

“Nikmat Tuhan Mana yang Kau Dustakan”

At the end of Arashiyama Park

My initial intention visiting this area, to have a sip in the famous  like my sister did in the famous %Arabica Kyoto Arashiyama.  Not too far from this place, right in front of this lake.  Cem inilah…

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMLT25GjdwT/

or this

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMLPzRzDIMZ/

and in my case…!

It’s CLOSED! #CRAYYYYYYYYYY

TUTUP MALEHHHHH!!!!! #kzl! The owner travelled to Finlandia when I was there! SEBAL! how do I know?  from their Instagram account! nyiahahahhahahahhaha

Well anyway, just a little suggestion if you travel in budget (like…hmm me!) you can buy lunch in Lawson and have your meal in Arashiyama Park! There were also a lot of shops, cafe and else! Man, I love this place so much! I bought some souvenirs and eat a lot of snacks a lot! Japanese snacks are the best, I might tell you

We waited in coffee shop near by until about 5pm because I wanted to have dinner in Ayam Ya Karasuma Kyoto. !

Btw, we traveled by bus again. And from Arashiyama to the restaurant, I saw two factory outlets of sport attires (Adidas, Asics, etc) and Uniqlo! Though I’m not into shopping, akik agak lemah iman with those two! Uniqlo tuh gampang matching-in nya, ngga perlu diseterika lagi baju-bajunya!

Anyway, the restaurant runs by my high school friend who know lives in this city! The restaurant opens at 6 pm until 9.30 pm. To note, it was winter, so sun set at 5 pm! Man, saya kriyep kriyep. Winter is tiring and depressing for me, in some extent! Glad I was born and raised in tropical country!

My friend, Nola of course was very busy cooking for the guests, which mostly students from Indonesia and Malaysia students. We didn’t talk much! Matane Kudasai Nola-San! Ada rejeki kita jumpa lagi ya!

Then, taking a bus again to go back to Kiwa Guest House. Anak-anakpun bolak balik ke Lawson jajan! As long as Ueda-san hasn’t locked the door, I allowed them to do so. This city is one of the safest in the world!

Earlier that day, I saw a young man, leaving his shopping bag near the toilet, besides the vending machine. He was doing “the business” around 10 mins, after he got out the toilet, his shopping bag was still besides the vending machine! Di Jakarta mah, dah lenyap pasti.

Later the day, I asked my dad.  What convesartion took place in Kinkakuji Temple with that Indonesian Couple.

“Ngobrol apa emangnya?”

“Papa bilang waku kakak kecil, papa bawa kamu ke Tokyo. Sekarang giliran papa dibawa sama kakak ke Jepang”

Hati saya nyessss gitu! Happy that for once, I made him happy 🙂

Konichiwa Kansai!

Lanjutan cerita ini…

January 1st, 2018

So, around noon, our flight finally arrive in KIX, Kansai International Airport. After almost 28 years, I came back to this land of Sunrise!

Proses Imigrasi lancar, hanya kendala sedikit pas isi kartu. Alamat Guest House tempat nginap harus clear. Sudah itu proceed ambil luggage, keluar terminal untuk beli tiket kereta api ke Kyoto.

Sebelnya, saya sudah berkali kali nonton di youtube, what to do in KIX airport. Sudah hapal mati harus ngapain. tetap aja salah

Harusnya beli ICOCA card dan Haruka express train itu untuk turis bisa satu paket dan jatuhnya murah. Bah! Beginner mistake! But hell yeah! This is what one of my ABG did when we first arrived

Jajan di Vending Machine maleh!!!

Karena saya bekerja di perusahaan Jepang, banyak banget kan rekan kantor yang bolak balik ke sini. Lumayan, ada yang ongkosin koin. Hahahahah! Ada kali 2000 yen koin semua.

On the pic is my dad and us (me and my siblings) when we first arrived on this country via its capital city! Alhamdulilah, keinginan saya untuk rekonstruksi foto macam di Paris untuk saya dan papa dikabulin juga. Well, sort of! Hahahah! Dimirip-miripin aja lah. Mau booking ticket ke Tokyo saat itu sudah mahal sekali. Sama dengan kalo ke Eropa. Semoga ada rejeki lagi.

Anyway, setelah on board, naik kereta, THIS IS JAPAN! Oh em geee, train schedule is very precise to its second!

Belum yang orangnya tertib tertib sangat itu!!! Dan sepanjang perjalan,

on the train that took me to Kyoto, I cant stop smiling!

This train stop at 3 stations, Tenoji, Shin Osaka and Kyoto. Sekitar 1 jam sampailah saya ke Kyoto Station. keluar station cari Kintetsu Line yang Hadehhh …ini station rame betul! Cemana lah Tokyo Central Station ya? Akik pusing. Padahal pentunjuk sangat jelas sih.

Dari Kyoto Station, saya turun di Toji Station karena penginapan dekat sini. namanya Guest House Kiwa! Lalu saya…nyasar!

Dan ketemu orang Lokal sampai dua orang yang bantuin nyari! Masya Allah, baik baik bener ya mereka eventhough they dont speak English.

In short, setelah setengah jam nyasar, kita dapat aja guest housenya. Sholat, sikat gigi (karena belum sikatan hahahahah) kembali keluar cari makan malam.

Cheese Cake di Kintetsu Line

Sebelum berangkat, saya kan browsing di Youtube, kayak apa stationnya. One of the youtuber said, it’s sooo huge that you forget it’s a train station!