This September, we spent 15 days road tripping in New Zealand around the South Island, and had the best time of our lives. It truly felt like exchange days, where there was so much anticipation and excitement leading up to it, and when it happened - it was a dream come true. PLUS I finally did skydiving after missing the chance 3 years ago! 

Watch our full vlog here:

For those travelling to New Zealand, sharing the route we took: Christchurch - Tekapo - Mount Cook - Twizel - Wanaka - Te Anu - Milford Sound - Queenstown - Franz Josep - Arthur's Pass - Christchurch.

Thanks for watching! 

Love,

Ven

We spent 10 days in Japan about 2 weeks back, flying into Osaka, going to Kyoto & Tokyo before flying back. Here's a vlog of what we did - which is mostly just eating. I've detailed down the places we went down below.

OSAKA

 🏮 Dotonbori🏮

Lots of food options in this area! 

🍴 Ichiran Ramen

🍴 Takoyaki balls (next door to Ichiran)

🍴 Okonomiyaki - this dish is an Osaka Speciality 

🏯  Osaka Castle 🏯  

🍦 CREMIA soft serve 

It's a milky soft serve with THE BEST CONE. If I were to describe the cone, it's the same texture as the 白い恋人 biscuit. The soft serve was a little too milky for my liking (Jason loved it), but anything for that cone. 

🍴 PABLO cheese tart

🏮 Tenjinbashi Suji🏮

A shopping street with lots of small shops and food options! Walk into the small lanes (outside the sheltered lanes) to discover local spots, mostly food.

🍴 Tayutayu Namba Sennichimae (Pork Yakitori) 

We stumbled upon this place while walking in the small lanes, and it was THE BEST pork yakitori I've had. Everything is pork, and you get to try different parts like heart, ear, etc. It's a really local spot so be prepared for some communication issues, e.g. we wanted one serving of each for sharing but they gave us double the portion since I guess they thought we meant one for each of us. We finished it all anyway! Food was great, service was nice and warm despite us being the odd tourist there. The pork stew was also really good. 

🏛 Cup Noodles Museum 🏛 

We got to customize our own cup noodles by choosing the flavour and ingredients (with a price of course)! It's quite a fun/different thing to do, and also interesting to see the hundreds of different cup noodles they have. After customizing, you can try the different flavours of cup noodles from the vending machines!

🌇  Omeda Sky Building 🌇  

One of my favourite things to do is catching the sunset in every country I go. Watch the sunset from this high rise! Do check the sunset timing when you go and try to go up at least 30 - 45 minutes before it sets to get a good viewing spot. There is a small fee to pay, but I do think it's worth it!

🍴 Yakiniku M Dotonbori

We had THE BEST BEEF of our lives here - I kid you not. They serve Matsusaka beef, one of the three major types of wagyu in Japan. It is pricey, but worth every penny. We ordered a platter to share and were literally counting down and in tears when it came to the last piece. Try to make a reservation as it is very popular, we made a last minute reservation the day before and got a 9pm slot. It's located in Dotonbori, next door to Ichiran. 

KYOTO

⛩ Fushimi Inari Shrine⛩ 

After walking through hundreds of torri gates (what the orange structures are called), we decided to ditch plans of climbing up to the top of Mt Inari and just have lunch mid way - with a view overlooking the city.

🐟 Nishiki Market🐟

A traditional food market where you can find all sorts of fresh seafood, and bite sized street food. Do try some!

🍴 Kyoto Gogyo (Ramen)

Located beside Nishiki Market, this place is known for their Burnt Miso Ramen. This ramen taste quite different from others I've had, worth a try but I still prefer Tonkotsu base. A friend mentioned that the Karaage chicken is amazing too.

🏮 Gion🏮

Gion is an entertainment district of Kyoto, filled with old buildings, performing tea houses and Geishas if you're lucky! We did see 2 Geishas walking along the old houses. We went there in the day and night, and I preferred the night time atmosphere as it was quieter and had more 'feels'. The day time was nice too however a little crowded.

🏮 Pontocho Alley🏮

A small lane with many restaurants, some are facing the Kamo River so you can enjoy dinner with a view. However, they are all rather pricey and often includes a high table charge.

🌊 Kamo River 🌊 

Instead of paying a high price in the restaurants/bar, we bought beer and snacks to sit by the river to enjoy the night. 

🍴 Coffee Inoda - for Breakfast!

🎋 Arashiyama🎋 

We rented bikes and cycled around town! Some of the sites to visit:

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove

Tenryuji Temple (UNESCO site)

🍴 Kichi Kichi Omurice

The ever so famous Omurice! Food was rather pricey and not fantastic tasting, however entertainment was definitely there!

🗻 Fuji Kawaguchiko Onsen Hotel Konansou 🗻

A Ryokan in one of the five lakes around Fuji. Enjoy the Onsens within the hotel, they also have a private bath for you to book (at a cost). Our room included dinner and it was truly a wholesome Japanese meal, with great service as well. We would have been able to see the full view of Fuji if not for the clouds😢 

TOKYO

🏙 Shinjuku🏙 
🛍 Shibuya🛍
Known to be the center of youth fashion! You can find the more trendy Japanese clothes in this area.
🍴 Ippudo

🍴 Kushiwakamaru (The Stick Factory) - Yakitori 

🐟 Tsukiji Fish Market🐟

🍴 Sushi Zanmai

🍵 Aoyama Flower Market Tea House 🍵 

🛍 Harajuku🛍 

🏮 "Piss Alley🏮

A small lane best for supper spots!

🍴 Gyukatsu Motomura

🍵  Koffee Mameya 🍵 

🍴 Harajuku Gyoza-ro

🛍 Ginza🛍 

High end shopping street with a 12 story Uniqlo!

🍴 Tapas Molecular Bar @ Mandarin Oriental

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🚄 TRANSPORT

We took mostly trains from one city to another. From Osaka to Kyoto, we took JR rail lines. From Kyoto to Lake Kawaguchiko, we took the Shinkansen service (bullet train) to Mishama station, then took a bus to Kawaguchiko. From there to Tokyo, we took an express bus that took us directly to Tokyo station. Within each city, we bought one-day passes to get around using the normal train services. For some places like Kyoto, we had to take the JR rail to get around which are not included in one day passes. Nevertheless, we feel there is no need to get JR pass.
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Feel free to leave a comment if you've got questions!

Thanks for watching!

Love,
Ven

Really happy to be sharing highlights of my Bali trip in March! 5 days of the sun & sea with the best company. Will be sharing a detailed itinerary right here on the blog really soon :-) 

Thanks for watching! 

Love, 

Ven

Love, 

Ven

Burgers & Lobster

Chicken & Waffles - Christmas Market

Smack Lobster Roll

Flat Iron

Shake Shack

Thanks for reading!

Love,
Ven