Shopping - Travel With A Butterfly

Both Nara and Kobe are places convenient from either Kyoto and Osaka. While Nara is famous for its deer, Kobe is famous for its beef. Whereas I could spend a whole day in Nara, I would definitely spend less than half a day in Kobe… besides eating, there really isn’t anything else to do there! Well, except for shopping probably.

Nara

There’s going to be a lot of walking in Nara as the park is pretty big. I had a big luggage with me, since I just checked out of Osaka and planned to go to Nara first before heading to Kyoto for my accommodation at night. It would be ridiculous for me to carry a huge luggage around. Thankfully, there was a Nara City Tourist Information Center next to JR Nara Station where you can leave your luggages there from 9am to 7pm (Tel no. 0742 27-2223). Continue reading Nara Deer, Kobe Beef

Japan

A Vibrant Energy In Osaka

ByRyan Lee

Prior to this trip, people told me that a few days in Osaka would be sufficient. As a tourist after visiting the city, I’d agree. Osaka isn’t really a boring city. I am sure if I lived there, I would have fun there. It also gives off a fun, youthful, and vibrant culture to it. Not to mention there is a lot of shopping and good food there.

But Osaka is like any other city with its own foods and shopping. However as a tourist, you would definitely have enough time to visit all the important attractions within 3 days. Mind you, I was there for about 2.5 days… but from my research online and from my guidebook, I felt I have covered the major attractions that I had to see.

And Osaka is a convenient stop for you to travel to other major parts of Japan – Kyoto, Nara, and Kobe to name a few. And the nightlife there seems to be pretty happening on any given weekday. Continue reading A Vibrant Energy In Osaka

Japan

Let’s Drive: Tokyo (Japan Part Four)

ByRyan Lee

Out of the four posts in this series of posts of Japan, this title is probably the most misleading as I didn’t drive around Tokyo. After Nagoya, I returned the car near Shibuya and took public transportation for the rest of my stay here. As you may know, Tokyo boasts some of the most expensive parking and finding places to park isn’t easy. Even just driving here from Nagoya was a headache for the last two hours as I spent most of my time stuck in traffic.

Read part one: Izu Peninsula, Hakone and Gotemba

Read part two: Mt. Fuji and Fuji Five Lakes

Read part three: Nagoya Continue reading Let’s Drive: Tokyo (Japan Part Four)

Japan

Let’s Drive: Nagoya (Japan Part Three)

ByRyan Lee

This is part three of a four part series blog post. The first talked about my days in Izu Peninsula, Hakone, and Gotemba. You can read it by clicking here.

The second part talked about the climb to Mt. Fuji summit and Fuji Five Lakes. You can read the second part by clicking here.

This blog post will concentrate on Nagoya.

You can read about the 4th post, on Tokyo, by clicking here.

Accommodations

Nagoya – Dormy Inn Premium Nagoya Sakae. 2-20-1 Nishiki, Naka-ku, Nagoya Station / Downtown, Nagoya, Japan, 460-0003. Booked through www.agoda.com. Continue reading Let’s Drive: Nagoya (Japan Part Three)

Korea

Seoul – Shopping Heaven

ByRyan Lee

Quick tips about Seoul:

It is a shopping paradise
It’s also a food paradise (especially if you like spicy and KBBQ)
We didn’t do any sight seeing, but based on reading from blogs, books and other guides, there isn’t an astounding amount of cultural / historical / scenic things to do (as compared to places in Europe). A bit similar to Bangkok. They EXIST but it’s not abundant and should be able to cover in a few days for the major attractions
The people there know very little English. In fact, the salespeople in the retail shops actually speak Mandarin much better than English so prepare to bring some sort of translation book if you can only speak English
Transportation is very convenient
Although the transition between different train lines is a fair bit of distance… so plan your time accordingly
Many 24 hour restaurants
Felt safe the entire trip
very affordable (compared to HK)
actually Seoul is pretty much like Hong Kong except they speak Korean there instead of Cantonese

It’s definitely a trip well worth going, especially if you are into Korean Pop culture. I’ll show you the places we went (for shopping and eating) so you can have a rough itinerary for your next trip. Continue reading Seoul – Shopping Heaven