6 Things To Do In Okinawa, Japan - Part 2

For Part 1, click here.

4) Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium

One of my last tour I joined before I came back to KL. The Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium is located within the Ocean Expo Park in Okinawa, Japan.

The best part of the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium was the Whale Shark in the aquarium. Never saw a whale shark before, I didn't know it was so huge! The whale shark was like the king in the aquarium swimming round and round. If I'm not mistaken they have 3 whale sharks in the aquarium. You can have your lunch beside this aquarium as well, they do have a cafe too. 

Website :http://oki-churaumi.jp/en/index.html

Didn't manage to eat here because too crowded.

Maybe next time I should try to swim with a whale shark? I heard Koh Tao, Thailand can dive with a whale shark and some went to Cebu, Philippines as well to snorkelling with whale shark too. Those places much nearer than Japan. 

Okinawa Sweet Potato Shop.

I couldn't recall the name of this place. You can easily get this product at Kokusai Dori but this building itself is selling everything from all kind of snacks especially sweet potato and desserts as well. All the Taiwanese tourist (Same tour) bought from half-dozens to 1 dozens of snack. As you know Japan snack was never cheap to eat. The best part of this shop was the sea view and of course FREE WI-FI! Time to checked in. =D

5) Kokusai Dori Street - Naha Main Street

Everyone's favourite place! Shopping and Food!

1st Pic - Can you spot Tune Hotel logo? Own by Air Asia. I pass by Berjaya office as well in Okinawa too but I was on the bus. Looks like a lot tycoon Malaysians expanding businesses into Japan. 

Tune Hotel already opened at Okinawa but no Air Asia direct flights to Naha, Okinawa yet. How come? =X

2nd Pic - Heiwadori Market.

3rd Pic - Prius Taxi and A&W. My Favourite food =P

4th Pic - All about mango desserts.

5th Pic - Kokusai Dori main street.

6th Pic - Pink Octopus at Heiwodori Market.

7th Pic - Guardian of the Okinawa Island. All the souvenirs were this guardian of the island. 

8th Pic - River and the monorail nearby Kokusai Dori.

6) Ashibinaa Okinawa Outlet Mall

This outlet mall has more than one hundred brands and they do provide free wifi too. I went to TomiTon food court to have lunch. Daiso located at TomiTon too and everything only cost 100 Yen (RM3)! The best place to do shopping. Hehe.

Two of my friends ordered 500 Yen (RM15) food. Actually, they didn't know it was for kids! HAHA. The owner allowed them also. Hmmm, great ideas for girls to order since it was smaller portion yet rice plus noodles and Ice cream as well. Sounds good right? My curry katsu rice cost me 600 Yen (RM18) didn't serve with Ice cream also >.<!.

6 Things To Do In Okinawa, Japan - Part 1

It's been a year, I didn't updated my blog! Maintaining a blog was never easy like Instagram (@foodlovers). Just clicked upload picture and shared it to all followers with few descriptions. My very first Japan stops will be at Okinawa, Japan.  

Have you ever heard of Okinawa before? Most of the people wondering where is it located of this island. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost prefecture of Japan.

Source ://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8358331.stm

1.Cape Manzamo 万座毛

Cape Manzamo is a scenic rock formation near Onna Village (Onna-Son) in the Kunigami District of Okinawa Prefecture.

Cape Manzamo comprises all of these spots! The symbol of the cape was the top left picture. Cape
Manzamo has a 20-meter high limestone cliff which looks like an elephant's nose. I was there for only 20 minutes due to time limited for joining a tour. Wished to stay longer and enjoy the view.

Opening Hour
- Open 24 Hours
Shops 
- 8.00 to 18.00
Price
- Admission Free
Access / Public Transport
- 90 minutes from Naha Bus Terminal by the #20 or #120 bus. Get off at Onna-son Yakuba-mae Bus stop.
Address / Location
- Onna, Onna-son Kunigami-gun, Okinawa, 904-0411


2. Yakiniku Station Bambohe, Kokusai Dori

Last visit on Naha and I choose this restaurant as farewell. You have to make bookings first when you arrived there and they will be giving you selected time slots to eat due to a lot customers. If you planning to eat during lunch then you better make booking during morning. Are you a meat lover? This is the place and heaven for you! It's just crossroad next to the market on Kokusai Dori and 5mins walk to Yui Station.

Price is quite reasonable and actually cheap, 1150 Yen (RM37.50) for weekday lunch, 1380 (RM45) Yen for weekend lunch and 1960 Yen (RM63.90) for dinner. For 90 minutes max and all inclusive.

Meat selection around 10 including pork, beef, steak, sausage, minced chicken, small fish.Other selection include vegetable salads, soba, fried noodle and rice, dessert, appetizer, soft drinks and ice cream of blue seal. I loved squid ink soup at here and tasted so good! 

Address / Location

1-3-47 Makishi | Hotel Yamanouchi Okinawa, Naha, Okinawa Prefecture 900-0013, Japan

Contact

+81 98-861-4129

3) Busena Marine Park, Okinawa

The Busena Marine Park are located at Okinawa Kaigan Quasi-National Park. This was the highlight attractions of the tour I joined that day. You don't need to get yourself wet to see underwater sea life! How awesome right? They do have underwater observatory as well. 

Underwater Observatory Tower @ Busena Marine Park. Not enough time for me to explore this, I felt so sad =(. This Busena Marine Park itself was a Hotel called Busena Terrace.

Website : http://www.busena-marinepark.com/english/index.html

By car

・About 60km--90 minutes--using National Highway #58 from Naha Airport

・About 75 minutes from Naha I.C. to Kyoda I.C. using the Okinawa Expressway, about 75 minutes

By Bus 

・#120: from Naha Airport to “Busena Resort Mae” bus stop (bus fare: 1670 jpy)

・#20: from Naha Bus Terminal to “Busena Resort Mae”bus stop (bus fare: 1580 jpy)

Coastlines of Okinawa, Japan (On the way from Naha to Busena Marine Park)

I'm using my IPhone 5 to take these picture inside the bus when I'm on the way by tour bus to my Glass Boat Tour @ Busena Marine Park. Thats the beauty of the Okinawa, Japan coastlines. I miss this view so much until I set as desktop wallpaper =D. I would love to do some picnic if I had another chance to return back there by just enjoy the breeze and eat some foods with your partner. 

Click here for Part 2

Cappuccino Garden Cafe @ Happy Garden OUG

Yoohoo readers, if you're still around. I heard about this cafe from my sister who got to know about this cafe from a friend. Directions given were misleading and the directions given online were even more misleading! One said it was near Steven's Corner. It's way far from Steven's Corner. @@ Not even walking distance from the mamak.

Anyway my dad knows the names of roads so we got there in one piece XD Judging by its interior I already like the place. I'm a cafe person I guess. Oh oh can paktor here :P This cafe is indeed a hidden cafe.

This cafe reminded me of a cafe my friend brought me to before Sunday service somewhere in SS I-don't-know-the-number. 

Below are the food and drinks my family and I ordered.

Everything tastes good.

Mushroom Soup, RM 7.50

Toast of Paris (essentially a French Toast but with better bread, not the usual bread), RM 5.50

Apple Juice, RM 6.80

This is a Fisherman's Pie. Costs RM 14.80. Inside there's fish, corn and potatoes. It's further described in the menu. The Shepherd's Pie looks the same so I didn't take a picture of it. Costs the same, RM 14.80

Hot Chocolate with Cream, RM 7.80

Lasagna Classico, RM16.80

Took a picture to show their Special Weekend Breakfast too for RM 9.80

Yeah, I would go back to try more of their food, especially the cakes!

EDIT:

Looks like I returned to this cafe sooner than I expected!

This time we ordered different food.

Latte Macchiato, RM 7.50

Spaghetti Meatballs, RM 15.80

Scrambled Eggs, RM 9.80

Botanic Omelette, RM 10.80.
Inside the omelette there's cheese, mushrooms, capsicums and tomatoes.

Chicken Porridge, RM 8.80

Address

60, Jalan Lazat 2,

Taman Bukit Indah (New Happy Garden),

58200 WPKL

Business Hours

Opens daily from 9am- 9pm.

Kitchen last call at 8.30pm.

Directions

Contact Number

016-2620718
03-7983 2118

Well, I hope you will enjoy their food as I did. Eat up!

Backpack to Busan and Seoul, South Korea - Part 3

For Part 1, click here.

For Part 2, click here.

This will be my last post for backpacking in South Korea. 

The best part of Korea throughout the whole trip was the weather. Temperature was around 16 degrees Celsius in the afternoon and 9 degrees Celsius in the morning. You can walk for the whole day without sweating!!! Best time for sightseeing!

It was very hard to find somebody to help us take pictures but we managed to get a nice Japanese man to help us take some pictures of us and we helped him to take photos of him in a few locations. Helped each other :) The picture above was at Nami Island, where Winter Sonata was filmed.

Red maple tree and green maple tree. 

First time seeing maple leaves.

Fish cake on the left and teriyaki chicken on the right. I love the teriyaki chicken! Each cost 2500 Won (RM7.70). There is a machine to cook the teriyaki chicken and you can watch the video in my Instagram account @foodlovers . A lot people ate the sweet corn which costs 3000 Won but I'm not a fan of corn so we decided to eat something else. 

This is the Cheonggyecheon Stream. Why can't Malaysia do something like this at our Klang river? A lot Koreans hang out at the stream at night. You can make a wish too by throwing coins. Looks nice during the day and night time.

Hello Kitty Cafe @ Hongdae. We ordered Caramel Latte and the taste was not as good as the local brand coffee called Angel In Us Coffee and Holly Coffee. It costs 4500 Won (RM13.80) for a cup of coffee. Nice theme cafe for hanging out at least once in a lifetime although I'm not a fan of Hello Kitty. This shop closed at 11pm because we were the last customer that day. LOL

There are 5 palaces in Seoul itself. We wanted to visit Gyeongbokgung Palace, which the largest, but it was closed for 3 months. How sad! So one of my friends brought us to another palace called Changdeokgung Palace instead. I would say that was the only attraction in Seoul, which was sightseeing palaces besides shopping only. 

Going back to Busan for the last two days where we'll catch a flight back to KL. Adeline and I decided to take the KTX (Bullet Train) back to Busan from Seoul Station. It can speed up to 300Km/h and took only 2 hours 50 mins. It costs 54 800 Won (RM168) for a single journey.

I still prefer the slowest train in South Korea called Mugunghwa which took up to 5-6 hours to Seoul from Busan because we get to see more scenery. It costs 25 900 (RM79) . At least I tried both and I could experience the differences between both trains. KTX has wifi but couldn't connect. South Korea is a country with the world's fastest internet speed but we couldn't connect to the internet and I was really speechless. (Perhaps the train was too fast! XD)

One of my favourite fountain show! It is inside Aqua Mall in Busan. There are 3 slots of fountain shows in a day. We watched this at 3pm. Very awesome fountain shows with words too and playing Super Junior songs. 

Busan Tower 

List of Expenditures

Day 7

6000 (Brunch)

4500 (Bulgogi Hotdogs @ Itaewon)

6000 (Reloading T-money)

54800 (KTX-Bullet Train to Busan)

3250 (Chocolate Drinks)

4000 (Dinner)

1500 (Ice cream and waffle) Divided between 2 persons

500 (Water) 

2250 (Bread)

= 82 800 WON / RM 253

Day 8

3500 (Dessert and gimbap)

5000 (Lunch)

2750 (Angel In Us Coffee @ Busan) Divided between 2 persons

4000 (Daily pass metro @Busan) 

900 (Snack)

4000 (Dinner)

= 20 150 WON / RM62

Day 9

1400 (Single Journey Metro) - Card

1300 (LRT to Gimhae Airport) - Token

7500 (Breakfast @ Airport) - Octopus Bibimbap 

= 10 200 WON / RM31

9 Days expenses = 288 130 KOREAN WON / RM882
Shopping             = 89 100                               / RM273
APPROXIMATELY TOTAL                       = RM1155

Flight           = RM 800 per pax
Room           = RM 537 per pax
Exp + Shop = RM1155 per pax
TOTAL       = RM2492 

Backpack to Busan and Seoul, South Korea - Part 2

For Backpack to Busan and Seoul Part 1, click here

Adeline and I went to Seoul on the third day of our trip. We took the slowest train in South Korea (Mugunghwa) and the cheapest way to go after comparing with the other 2 trains. It took us 5 hours plus to reach Seoul, but it would take about 2 hours 50 minutes if we took the KTX (bullet train).

Mugunhwa 25900 Won (RM79) and KTX 54800 Won (RM165)

I did take the KTX back to Busan on the last day to catch my flight back to Malaysia. Although the journey of KTX was the fastest but the Mugunghwa provided better scenery to enjoy such as seeing orange plantation, paddy fields and grapes farm. The picture above shows how the Busan Station looks like. Nice right?

Paddy fields all the way to Seoul.

This was the hostel I stayed called the Little Pencil 2nd Hongdae for 5 nights at Hongik University station neighbourhood at Seoul. This hostel provided washing machine, hair dryer, kitchen, microwave oven, refrigerator, TV, air conditioner, floor heater, passcode door and free WIFI. All of the facilities are SAMSUNG brand!

Average 1 night per room that I booked through Agoda cost me RM130. This room is twin sharing and it has a toilet attached too. One of the best budget room I had ever stayed compared to the rooms I stayed in Hong Kong or Thailand! There is a Chinese receptionist from Hong Kong too and she can guide you everything from food to shopping.

Everything is beyond excellence for the price and the quality of the facilities for this room.

Namsan Seoul Tower at night. You can choose to take bus or cable car to this tower.

You can bring some locks to lock it at this big heart stainless steel by writing some love message. 

It's not a convention centre. It's the National Museum of South Korea.

Pavillion mall KL? This is the National Museum. Damn NICE right?? Best place to get some knowledge and it's free entry. Guided tour from Japanese language to Mandarin are provided upon request at the counter. There are 6 sections which covers 3 whole floors. There are gold on display in this museum too.

Ice cream cone @ Insadong. View my Instagram account @foodlovers for the Twins Sundae picture!
It cost 2000 Won (RM6) for a sundae.

List of expenditures at Seoul

Day 4

1500 (Rice Ball)

23000 per person (Nami Island -Winter Sonata place) including transportation, entrance fee and ferry.

8000 (Magnet at Namsan Tower)

7500 (T-Money) 5000 won credit & 2500 purchasing cards

900 (Water)

6500 (Dinner)

Day 4 = 47 400 Won / RM145

 *Nami Island is located at Seoul outskirt and advanced booking is required.

 *T-Money is a card like our Malaysian TOUCH & GO or Hong Kong's Octopus Card that could be used at any public transport and convenience stores to purchase items. 

Day 5

5000 (Reloading T-Money)

5000 (Brunch)

16000 ( Meeting up a friend to have Chinese food dinner at Myeongdong) 

9000 (Going up to Namsan Seoul Tower)

2250 (Hello Kitty cafe divided between 2 persons)

4250 (Fridge magnet)

Day 5 = 44000 Won / RM135

Day 6

10 000 (Reloading T-Money)

3000 (Egg Ramen @ Museum) One of the cheapest meal in the whole trip

3000 (Dinner divided between 2 persons)

3000 (Teokbokki for supper, teriyaki chicken stick & gimbap) Divided between 2 persons

1000 ( Tall sundae) Divided between 2 persons

3000 ( Palace entrance fee) 

1000 (water)

Day 6= 24000 Won/ RM73.50

For Part 3, click here.

Backpack to Busan and Seoul, South Korea - Part 1

It has been months I didn't blog and this time I will blog about Busan, South Korea. I'm not a fan of K-Pop and what made me interested to visit Korea instead of Taiwan? One of the reasons it's maybe I don't really like Taiwan food compared to Korean food. 

Gimhae International Airport (Busan) and thats Air Asia X at the middle of picture   =P

I bought the flight for RM800 return ticket including tax, choosing seats (RM70 return) and luggage (15KG for RM50).

First time flying so far and in my mind telling me for sure this trip will be very expensive for a student like me! I spent RM2000 for 9 days including (flights, rooms, foods),  RM200 (Shopping) and another RM300 for bullet train to from Busan to Seoul. Total whole trip spent RM2500 for 9 days. I will type down the whole list that I spent for the whole trip.

I'm staying at Gwangali Beach at one of those budget motel nearby here for RM130 (Air Cond + Wifi + hair dryer + Big TV) and bathroom attached. This is exactly the Sun City Motel entrance was and it is facing the beach.

Sunrise at the Gwangali beach

A must eat seafood noodle at Busan! Just for  6000 Won (RM18). Inside of the noodles consists of 7-8 mussels, 1 crab and squid. The noodles is spicy and it was perfect to eat at that weather there. Seafood was very fresh too especially the mussels.

This shop is located at the same row as Tae Jong Dae park entrance and just beside the bus stop where all the drivers wash the bus there. You can't miss it because it is the cheapest food at that same row of shops. No English menu so I'm just pointing at the pictures on the menu or pointing at the next table.


List of Expenditure @ Korea
Day 1 (Busan)

1200 (LRT)
1400 (Interchange Train)
11000 (Pork ribs with potato soup and vege) -Dinner
= 13 600 WON / RM41

Day 2 (Busan)

4000 (Daily pass train) RM12
25900( Mugunghwa Train to Seoul on day 3) RM78
5750 (Dinner)
820 (Coffee)
6000 (Seafood noodle)

Day 3 (Busan and Seoul)

2350 (Waffle for Breakfast)
6500 (Beef ramen and curry udon for lunch @ Hongdae)
1150 (Airport Train from Seoul Station to Hongik University)
5500 (Korean chicken chop style dinner @ Hongdae)
2500 (Bread)
500 (Water)

Total 3 days = 70750 WON / RM216.50

Advantages of backpacking at Korea
*Sky juice free at every restaurant and refillable too
*No service charge or government tax
*Nett price as shown in menu

Backpack to Busan and Seoul Part 2

Backpack to Busan and Seoul Part 3