Why did I mentioned ‘matured’ to describe a guest from an underdeveloped
(I was about to use ‘third world’ to describe my country. But after I researched,
I found out that there are people considering Philippines as not a third world,
maybe a level higher than that. But I will not discuss about that here) country
to one of the most established country in Asia?
I first landed my feet in Japan way back 2004; I was still
in High School. My mom used to do this surprise trips for herself when she was
younger, well actually it was me and my dad who were being surprised at that
time. We got there through Philippine Airlines, it was my first time to ride a plane
and so I did funny things like pressing a lot of buttons I see there. It was a
very memorable moment, first time I’ve been to Disney Land (though I was having
a bad day because of migraine), first time I went to Ochanomizu, Tokyo; I
almost drooled literally because of the music shops around. The food and people
were great. If there’s one thing I don’t like about Japan that would be the
scary feeling that all this Asian mostly Japanese horror films are almost real
because I was right there living in a house same with the movies. Haha. And so,
I really hoped that I would go back there someday, until my current company
gave incentives to the whole office and planned an international trip. The original
plan was to go to China but then during the planning there was flu spreading or
at least there was news that there is indeed flu in China so my company decided
to change it to Singapore. But most of my office mates had already gone there
and so Japan became the theme and everyone was so excited! I am shocked because
when it was still China I decided not to come, and yes, Japan is my deal
breaker that time.
I literally had no sleep before our 7am flight. The only
time I get to rest my eyes was during our fly. 4 hours is travel time, but I
had to stretch and stretch my legs so I napped for roughly 2 hours.
Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrival at Kansas
Airport,
Osaka Aquarium
Kaiyukan
Osaka Castle
Lunch and Dinner
at Dotonbori
Day 2: Universal Studios
Lunch at Universal
Shinsaibashi shopping
Dinner around New
Otani Hotel
Day 3: Kiyomizudera, Kyoto
Tōdai-ji, Nara
Lunch at The Buffet Style Sara, Kyoto
Dinner at Ramen house in Dotonbori
Free time-shopping
Day 4: Free time- bike around
Departure
We stayed at New Otani Hotel
I thought I will not enjoy this trip as much as I enjoyed going to
Tokyo 9 years ago. I actually felt like not going back, it’s some place you can
feel more than home (without your loved ones). I feel safe, comfortable, even
if I’m just reminiscing I still feel like dashing through clouds while sipping
cold drinks.
If ever given the chance, I would live there.
