TRAVEL DIARY : OSAKA & UNIVERSAL STUDIO

2017 was definitely the year where anyone and everyone I knew had someone going to japan or knew someone who were planning to make a trip there. I as well, hopped onto the cheap flights that were offered throughout the year. We flew with Jetstar and Air Niugini (which I had never heard of before this point in time) which were brought off student flights for approximately $599 inclusive of tax etc.
For this Japan trip I was able to finally make a year 8 conversation into a reality. It has always been a dream and wish (well...personally for me) to take a trip overseas with 2 of my best friends.

A few days before we departed for Japan, I started to come down with symptoms that were similar to that of the flu. Hence why I had the face mask on. I didn't want to get anyone sick as I was sitting close to people for 8+ hours.

For this trip we decided to go all out and travel to other places other than Tokyo and Osaka. This therefore meant that we also had to purchase a JR pass which cost us approximately $360 AUSTRALIAN dollars. (TIP: it helps to look around as it seems like the price varies depending on what company you go for. This pass is only available for tourist to buy outside of japan. Meaning that you will need to purchase this pass a week or so at least before your trip and the tickets will be sent to you via slow mail.)

https://www.japan-rail-pass.com/

This is the website we used to buy our JR passes.

We arrived at Nartia Airport around 8PM at night. Now if you didn't know it takes a little while from this airport to central Tokyo (by the Nartia Airport Limousine Bus it took approximately 1 hour 30 minutes) so we made the decision to book an airbnb close to the airport that also included free pickup and drop off (cause I mean after a 12 hour flight and transit all you really want to do is relax and chill). The place we choose was amazing. Due to the airbnb we chose being in the country side, we were also able to experience the quieter side of Tokyo, Japan.

https://www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/15280599

This was the house that we stayed at for the first night. It's located in Yachimata-shi, Chiba-ken.

(TIP: when using airbnb and you're travelling with someone else or a group, you can use your friends code (if you have never used airbnb before) to get a discount. In my case my 2 friends had not used airbnb before and were able to get about $30 off the total of the accommodation cost (over $100). In addition to this the person's code you used will be able to get credit for future use, making this a win-win situation)

www.airbnb.com.au/c/schan991

This is my airbnb link if you'd like to get $30 off your accommodation cost.

DAY 1 SHINKANSEN to OSAKA

Running at speeds that reach up to 320km/h the Shinkansen was one of the most reliable and quick ways to travel from Tokyo to Osaka. We used the JR pass and got to japan in approximately 3-4 hours (sorry I can't remember the exactly time). One thing to remember is that the shinkansen does not offer any wifi on board, but you can eat and drink on the shinkansen.

One the first night in Osaka, we headed out to Dotonbori in the Namba district. Ate a lot of street food and shopped at Daiso to get all our necessities. I was seriously amazed at just how busy and bright this area was. There were advertisements and lights everywhere you looked. We also decided to stop at a random ramen store which was a mistake. I think if you're in this area to just stick with the street food. The ramen was definitely average, nothing special.

DAY 2 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

Let me start off by saying, if you're thinking of going to Universal Studios Japan, make sure you buy you're ticket online before hand. Also if you're thinking whether or not to get the express pass, I HIGHLY recommend it. If there's one tip I can give you its to do everything before hand! The lines to buy tickets are crazy. To the point where there were 2 sections of lines. 1 to buy an ordinary ticket and 1 to get into the place. Tickets were about 7600Yen with tax (which is about $91AUD) and the express pass was about 7400Yen (I'm not 100% sure on this as I can't remember what type of express pass we got. All I remember was it had all Harry potter express and about 4 other rides?)

When we entered Hello Kitty world, that moment was the weirdest time of my life. Also, we were too cheap to buy the photo so...

Keep out for the next post. Ill be posting about my time at Kyoto and Nara!

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PHOTO DIARY: Cairns Trip

Finally, after 5 months  God knows how many months I'm going to sit down and dedicate some time into this extremely long post. Instead of posting it into multiple posts, I'm just going to combine 3 days into 1 post to make things easier. So sit back and enjoy my Cairns 2015 trip with my kimchi, Grace. *cringe*

We had a lot of time to kill at the airport cause we arrived there earlier. (Thank you Anna and Zak for taking me to the airport!) Nothing really exciting.. I did buy my first Quay sunglasses called 'Modern Love' which you will see in a lot of the following photos (if anyone is asking) The flight was surprisingly was hard. I didn't bring my laptop nor a book or anything, really. Worse mistake ever. Grace was studying the whole time (I don't blame her, it was right before university started again and that only means exams!!) I think most of the time I sat there blanking out but after approximately 3 hours we arrived into cairns. We took a taxi to our hotel and surprisingly the cost came to only $25 (so cheap!)

We stayed at The Hilton which had an amazing location as well as view. Funnily, we got upgraded to a ocean view room! I had no idea what the view would look like though, since we arrived at like 8 and it was pitch dark outside. Being stupid me, I complained (we had so many issues booking with The Hilton) cause I'd already had a bad experience with them before even arriving. Can you imagine the shock when I woke up and saw this view?

Ok, to be completely honest, the photos don't do it justice. You just had to be there! the breeze, sunlight..just the general 'feel' (ahh, I miss it). Waking up and looking at this view was actually really so relaxing. To the left was actually the ports (which you will see soon. We went to this port to take a boat to green island) The rooms were nice but for 5 stars? hmm a little bit of a let down, very basic and old.

DAY 1

Barefoot Tours

This will be the warmest water you will get all day, so enjoy!

The horror, oh the horror. Our tour guide told us on our first stop that this lake would be the warmest we'd experience within the whole day. From my memory as soon as I hit the water I couldn't feel anything due to the shock of how freaking freezing it was.  It was literally 12-15 degrees. To make matters worse I have a huge fear of open water. Especially the ones like in the images below. Its so deep that you can't see anything yet so wide that if you went deep in the middle and there was a crocodile going to attack you, your basically gone. FYI our tour guide actually told us that there was a crocodile that lived on the other side. I tried to enjoy it but I think my fear just overcame me. Not even a swimming noodle could comfort me.

Somewhere through out the day we ended up at Millaa Millaa. This was probably one of my favourite places as it was so beautiful and scenic. The view was breathtaking, it looked like a painting or even a photoshopped image. 

Ok, so the next place was one of the last that we ended up at. Quick fact, this place is where they filmed some of the Herbal Essence TV commercials!

DAY 2

Green Island Day Tour

Spent the day at Green Island. We choose to go to an afternoon session which was from about 11AM to approximately 4-5PM. I was looking forward to seeing a real life turtle..but unfortunately I missed it (although Grace managed to catch a glimpse of one!)

I did have a lot of photos and videos but unfortunately I didn't save them and somehow managed to erased them.Therefore,I lost a majority of the photos and therefore will end the post here.

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Welcome 2016

I think for every blog, theres always a need for that mandatory new year's post. Nothing lasts forever and it seems nice to simply, reminisce. Countless people, phones, updates and selfies maybe telling me its January first, but in reality I never feel like it's any different, It's just like any other day.

I always feel more thankful as the year comes to an end, and a new year beings. It gives me the opportunity to remember the best moments in 2015 as well as remembering vague memories of heartache and stupid thoughts. But honestly, I suppose that by growing older each and every year I'm supposedly more wiser, I dare even say more mature. I  struggled on this thought, considering how much less I felt that I grew this year as a person. Doing what I hate, learning what I disliked. Basically following through with my horrible life choices and receiving the consequences of my actions accordingly. 

2015 has been a year of mixed emotions, a year of comfort. I'll leave it at that. 

Hopefully 2016 brings much needed change and exhilarating plans.

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The start of 2015 update

My wall that I decided to cover with images from David Jones catalogue. Cheap ass 10/10

Hi everyone! I'm sorry I haven't been updating. Its a combination of being lazy and busy. Uni has started again, I've gotten a new job and blogging just hasn't been on my mind lately. Plus I know I keep telling everyone tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow! IM SORRY.  Not much has happened since 2015 started and I don't really post anything on this blog anymore thats personal for that reason. I HAVE NO LIFE! 

Uni started with, The Toga Party. Each year being held at GP @ QUT. This year the DJ was Will Sparks. 

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