Labuan Bajo

Hi all!

I flew to Labuan Bajo over the weekend for a short getaway towards the end of August and it was wonderful. Flying over was pretty interesting…we had to walk on the tarmac to get on the plane in Singapore (which was a first for me in Singapore airport). Then my luggage came out during transit when it was supposed to be put straight through to Labuan Bajo. Our hotel driver arrived late to pick us up, so we were surrounded by taxi drivers who were hounding us to take up their cab rides.

After we were all settled in, we walked about the island (really small) and came across one of the harbours situated near our hotel.

The thing about this place is that it is still in it is developing phase. So it is not as crowded when compared to say Bali. But you can tell it’s headed in that direction when the food here is more Westernised in nature.

Fried goreng pisang (fried banana fritters) sold along the road. Their banana (the green type when ripe) is different from ours, slightly less sweet, slightly tougher. Didn’t form a really good goreng pisang.

A noodle cart.

Each time you walk pass a laundry place, there’s this strong smell of fragrance that wafts pass. Not a good place to wash your clothes if you are sensitive to strong scents.

The dried fish market. Really strong fishy smell and this was as far as I could go. There’s baskets of dried fish being sold. And lots of flies.

Ended the day with dinner at La Cucina, where there was a wonderful view of the sunset. The food was also really good and it was here we discovered how fragrant their black pepper was. I brought back 4 bottles.

La Cucina. Address: Jl Soekarno Hatta, Labuan Bajo, Flores 86554, Indonesia

Free bread platter. Though the bread was stale so the sides was pretty tough. But the bun (white part) itself when pretty well with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar combo.

My tuna pasta! It’s really good with tuna chunks (instead of the flaky canned tuna) and tasted even better when topped with their black pepper!

A look of the restaurant from the harbour and a closer view of the sunset.

There was this pasar malam just round the corner of our hotel and we had dinner here one night. My friend was craving ikan bakar really badly. The interesting thing is you can choose your fish here form  the stalls and have it cooked for you. But you need to choose the correct type for each dish. My friend chose a fish that had too many bones and the flesh was sticky to the bones so it made it hard to eat the meal. It was a good was to end our day and till the next post, bye!

Nikko

Hi all!

I’m finally down to my last post from my Japan trip in Mar/Apr. My last full day in Japan was spent at Nikko. If you do not have a JR pass, you can get a day pass from the tourist information centre located right outside Asakusa station. However, my JR pass did cover the JR ride down to JR Nikko, so I bought the chuzenjiko onsen pass (2000 yen) from the local Nikko train station (right beside the JR station) instead. This made it cheaper and I could enjoy unlimited bus rides to/fro to the places I wanted to visit. Side track, my first and only picture with the Shinkansen, just for memory sake 🙂

I actually dropped off at the wrong stop and ended up at taking the ropeway (600 yen/adult) to a viewing platform. It is actually quite pretty to see the water flowing from Lake Chuzenji to form the Kegon waterfall. This was not in my initial plan because it was slightly pricey and my money was stretching slightly thin by then. But as I mentioned, I blindly followed the majority of locals who got off the bus, wrongly assuming it would lead to the observation deck to see the waterfall up close. It turned out to be an unorthodox hiking point of sorts for the locals as they started climbing up an unmarked path with warnings of bears into the forest. I was slightly befuddled and lost at this point and headed back down to the carpark to await for the bus. Spent some time looking at the bus stops led me to realise I got off 1 stop early. Silly me!

Finally at the correct place! The elevator ride (return) costs 550 yen and it gives you the opportunity to witness the falls up close. In my opinion, this is truly the best way to enjoy and capture the beauty of the falls.

Had suiton (vegetarian dumpling soup) at this store below – located right outside the Kegon falls elevator. It totally hit the spot in this cold weather. Topped it up with a yuba croquette (fried tofu skin) and a cup of amazake.

From here, headed down to Toshogu shrine (1380 yen/adult) which I was hesitant to visit because of mixed reviews about how overrated it was. But I genuinely enjoyed my time here even though part of the main shrine building was under construction.

The “hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil” monkeys are located here and they are honestly quite small (though not the smallest of the iconic wood carvings).

Right opposite the monkeys are the Sonozono elephants.

The tomb of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

The super small wood carving of the sleeping cat (nemurineko) of the Sakashitamon gate that leads to a flight of stairs to the tomb. 

Beautiful paintings of the dragon on the ceiling.

Aside from that, there’s the Honjido hall that house the “crying dragon”. This is due to the acoustics of the ceiling (where a dragon is painted). Only when one stands under the dragon’s head, can a ringing sound be heard when 2 blocks of wood are clapped together. This is performed by a priest and it is pretty cool to witness it. Unfortunately, no photography/videography was allowed in the hall.

Ended the day by popping by Shinkyo bridge which was located in the middle of the road. You can pay a fee to get on the bridge, but I think it is best seen at a distance (and free). Nikko can be fairly expensive to visit as a day trip, but it was worth it. Till the next post, bye!

Tokyo II

Hi all!

Since I ended my visit to Kamakura & Enoshima early, I decided to further explore Tokyo (while checking out the ticket purchase for Nikko the next day). I headed to Asakusa because that’s where the tourist information centre is located.

Passing by all the stalls en route to the iconic Sensoji temple in Asakusa.

(Old) Tokyo station. I literally stepped out of the station just for this. Although, I did get more snacks within the station itself as souvenirs for friends and family back home.

Cute little koinobori (carp streamers) that is used to celebrate children’s day and Tango no Sekku at Tokyo Dome. They simply reminded me of a scene in one of crayon shin-chan’s episode. Also, the wind in Japan are really strong. Me (& almost everybody else) were being blown away (literally!) by the wind. Each time the wind passes, we are forced to move forwards a few steps. There’s no denying the force of the wind (or face toppling over).

Ended the day with a meal a shake shack. Been wanting to try this place ever since I’ve heard about it. There’s no shops opened in Singapore when I visited, so I had the shrooms burger and it was fantastic. Super juicy and flavourful (albeit pricey for just an à la carte burger).

Walked over to the nearby mall for a cup of soy green tea latte at Starbucks and further discovered the Japanese attention to details. They literally hand you a tag that says soy to ensure that when you get your cup, it’s made with soy and not milk. So appreciative, especially because I’m allergic to lactose and have experience my drink being made with milk a couple of times. So I actually do a little sip each time to ensure it is soy before stepping out of the shop. Also found a supermarket (unfortunately nearing the end of stay) and it was life-changing. Japanese supermarkets are really very fun. I did went a little overboard with soy milk tasting and purchase. Rounded off the day with more snacks shopping at Don Quijote. Fortunately I brought a spare (huge) foldable bag to stuff it to the brim with all more snack loots. Would have totally failed in packing if I didn’t have that bag with me. Till the next post, bye!