Japan three most scenic views (日本三景) #2 Itsukushima shrine (厳島神社)

One week after Amanohashidate I visited hiroshima for 'nihon sankei' #2;  Itsukushima shrine in miyajima, hiroshima prefecture. It was supposed to be a 2 days one night trip, but because november-december is high season for tourist visiting japan we couldn't find ourselves a hotel room so we decided on a one day trip, beside the main attraction of this prefecture is the miyajima where the shrine located :p

Actually I visited this shrine 3 years ago when I first arrived in Japan, but i was so unfortunate that the toori gate was under maintenance so they covered it. I promised to come back again and I did. I visited others hiroshima attraction during my first visit such as the atomic bomb museum, so this trip is solely for the sake of that Toori gate. To hiroshima from Osaka is not cheap (at least for student like me); return shinkansen ticket are 17160 yen ( with student & return trip discount). Bus trip takes 5 hours and cost 5000 yen one way ( if I'm correct).

From Hiroshima station take the local train to Miyajima guchi station (410 yen) around 30 minutes, then from miyajima guchi station walk 5 minutes to the miyajima ferry pier; return ferry tickets are 360 yen. If you have japan rail pass you can get on the JR ferries for free. there are two ferries operator from this pier. It takes 5-10 minutes to reach miyajima pier. 

Beware of the deers!!! they are everywhere and very aggressive, especially when you have foods with you. Itsukushima shrine is a 10 minute walks from the pier, it was very crowded with local and foreign tourists when i visited. You can smell the grilled squid, oyster and other seafood along the walk which are very tempting.

The toori gate itself is breathtakingly beautiful, stand tall on the calm sea water. I approve this place as one of the japan's best views. We were blessed with a nice weather that day, which we found very rare, usually bad weather always accompany us in our previous trips. Admission fee to the itsukushima shrine is 300 yen (If my  memories serve me right). There is a ropeway to the top of the mountain which cost 1800 yen for return trip, We didn't take the ropeway, we thought that it is too expensive, we prefered to spend that 1800 on oysters.

After miyajima we went back to the hiroshima station to eat hiroshima style okonomiyaki, the famous local cuisine. this hiroshima style okonomiyaki differs from the osaka style is they use less fluor, more cabbage and a choice of noodles, soba or udon. I like the hiroshima style, I wish i bought some from hiroshima station.

Matsushima in sendai will be the next nihon sankei that I'm going to visit. I plan to visit in december 28th but I already have 2 winter vacation with friends in January to shirakawa go and kinosaki, so I will safe matsushima for spring or summer.

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Japan three most scenic views (日本三景) #1 Amanohashidate- 天橋立

One of my goal before leaving Japan is to visit Japan's three most scenic views (日本三景), by the look of it I can accomplish this mission by the end of 2015. Last week I visited  amanohashidate which means 'bridge to heaven'. It is a sand bar at the sea of Kyoto, reading Kyoto many of you would thought that it'd be close to Osaka. But this one is the other part of Kyoto, it's a 2,5 hours bus ride from Osaka. one day trip is highly recommended, since not so many attraction in this area.

To view this sand bar, there are two view land from both ends, I went to the one near the amanohashidate station, return trip to the top with lift chair or monorail is 850 yen. I took the lift chair it's more interesting. At the viewing ground there are some bench facing the sand bar with instructions to stand on the bench with your back facing the sand bar then bent down and looking at the sand bar from between your legs. I tried this position but I didn't see it any difference from looking the normal way, but many japanse shouted 'kireii...kireii' when they did this position

I spent only 10 minutes at this viewing park, then went down to rent a bike and crossed the sand bar to the other side. Bicycle rental is 400 yen fro two hours, there are so many rental places that you can choose. Cycling is the best way to cross the sand bar, but if you have more time you can also walk leisurely. There are not many things to see at the other side, I wanted to go to the nairaiji temple, but it is located at the mountain and i was wearing the wrong shoes :p.

At 4PM I already back to shopping area, because my bus was at 16.45. Most of the restaurant are seafood restaurant, and the omiyage are all about kani (crab). I bought the kani miso ramen, it's very delicious. I arrived back at Osaka around 8.30 PM. 

I kinda like the solo trip I did recently, If i had to wait fro my friend to go with me I will never go anywhere. from now I will do most of my trip solo, Next week I will go to Japan most scenic view #2 itsukushima shrine in Hiroshima and at the end of the year i will visit Matsushima in Sendai.

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Friends visit

March has been a very busy and fun for me. Several of my friends from Indonesia cama to visit me this month. Sure march ls not the best season to visit Japan, the famous sakura has not bloomed yet not to mention the rain that often come in every seasonal changing.

On march 12th they arrived in Osaka. I was happy to see them again after two years. They complained about the cold temperature after they breath the japan fresh air. I told them before that in march the temperature already warm around 15-20 degree. But this year temperature a little bit off than the usual. In march the temp was like 2-10 degree.

Anyway after arriving at my place, they rested for half day. At night we went to the famous tourist spot in Osaka "dotomburi". We also took the famous rakugaki photo "purikura"

The second day, the destination is Kyoto.a little bit off the schedule, because i had to go to the lab for some experiment. For the second day we visited the "fushimi inari shrine". Famous for it thousand red gates.

From fushimi inari shrine we went to the "pholosopher's path" near the ginkakuji. It was a disappointment since the sakura has not bloomed yet the path looked really dull. We just spent like 5 minutes there then we continued to "kawaramchi-gion" the area where tourist flocks together. They shoped a lot here. A lit of sweets and also souvenirs.

Third day we strolled around Osaka. First stop is Osaka castle. We got to see the plum blossoms at Osaka castle

From Osaka castle we went straight to Umeda for another "oleh-oleh" shopping. Then after shopping at 5pm we went to Umeda sky building to see the sunset at 6PM. Cold winds and cloudy clouds, it was not possible to see the sunset. 

Fourth day, we visited Kyoto again. "Kinkakuji" was our first spot. I forget how many times i've been to this golden pavilion, but still it amazed me every time i visit this temple. The Golden pavilion just beautiful 

From Kinkakuji we went to "kyoumizudera" then  off to "arashiyama". I visited arashiyama two years ago in autumn and it was really beautiful, in march it was really dull. My friends said she disappointed with the bamboo path because its different from the photo that she saw.

Last day we went to Kobe. I am sure there are a lot of tourist spots in kobe but i only been to one which is "harborland". We spent half day in kobe before went back to Osaka.

In the end at 6pm our journey ended. It's time for them to take the bus to the airport. They bought a lot of things. I hope they really enjoyed Japan. For me it was such a pleasure and happy time spent with friends. Completely forgoy with my brain damaging experiments 

Now i go back to the lab...working hard for my phd.

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Serum + Moisturizer is a must have items in your skincare routine

I've been faithfully using Dior cleansing water as make up remover, Dior snow cleansing foam, Diorsnow lotion, Estee Lauder ANR serum, Diorsnow anti spot serum, Estee Lauder Advance timezone cream(now using Revitalizing supreme) and estee lauder ANR II eye cream. I know that every each of them gave contribution to my healthy skin, but it cost me a lot of money. Now that I do not receive RA money from my professor anymore, I kinda short on money so i was thinking to minimize my skincare cost while still using the same brands. I tried using some drug store skincare but it broke me out and my skin became dull and lost its radiance.

So I did a little experiment with the three combo, tried to eliminate the non essential one. First the serum, since serum is the most expensive care amongst all. I use two serum ; ANR and diorsnow, I will not repurchased the diorsnow since now that dark spot is no longer my concern. so I tried combination with or without one of the three. I find out that serum and moisturizer is essential for your skin, you need to use both of them in order for its to give result, you can't just use one of them. On the other hand I think that lotion is not necessary for me. I use lotion as a in between moisturizer after i cleansed my face and before i apply my night skincare routine. I find that my dior cleansing water is enough to keep my skin hydrated for 1-2 hours before i apply my night serum and cream.

Another product that I find to be essential is eye cream . You can't skip eye cream. I ran out my ANR eye in september and I didn't repurchase it again. My under eye area became dry, new fine lines appeared and the puffiness just ugly. So two weeks ago I purchased Clinique all bout eyes cream which cost only half of the ANR eye price, it restored the hydration in my under eye area. 

I'm gonna keep my dior cleansing water, ANR serum and estee lauder revitalizing supreme. Talk about revitalizing supreme, i find that this cream is very good, you can use it AM and PM and it last long because you only need a little for face and neck, I'l repurchase the clinique all about eyes once i hit the bottom. 

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