Grandchamp's Gourmet @ Peak Vista, KK

Susan always never fail to impress me when it comes to my birthday. =) And this year, she brought me for a dinner treat at Grandchamp's Gourmet. So this restaurant definitely looks classy as it is and they serve a wide range wine to pair with cheese if you are really interested in wine. Besides, they do serve main course meals (French style) as well. As for the price, it's quite reasonable for the food that they serve and presentation wise, it was fantastic! Hmm.. And for the service, I guess it improved a lot as compared to those comments from Trip Advisor.

 Beef Steak... Just nicely done.. I hope that I can make this one day! =)

Nuluh Lapai Hike @ Telipok

It is great to capture the beautiful sun rise at Mengkabung Bridge which is just nearby (roughly about 3-5 min drive from Nuluh Lapai starting point) before the start of any hiking activities.

Beautiful view of Mt Kinabalu from Mengkabung Bridge.. 

Japan Trip 2017 Summary

Japan Trip 2017 Summary (Click on the high-lighted part for the link)

Day 1: Part 1 Tokyo Arrival

Day 2: Part 2 Tokyo Kawaguchiko Lake and Kawazu River

Day 3: Part 3 Tokyo Asakusa, Skytree Tower and Shibuya

Day 4: Part 4 Tokyo Odiba Onsen, Mirakan Museum, Toyota City Showroom and Divercity for Gundum. (Last day in Tokyo)

Day 5: Part 1 Kyoto Fushini Inari, Higashiyama and Gion Districts

Day 6: Part 2 Kyoto Kinkakuji Temple (Golden Pavilion), Arashiyama Bamboo Forest and Kiyomizudera Temple

Day 7: Part 3 Kyoto Nishiki Market and travel to Osaka!

Day 7-8: Part 1 Osaka Dotonbori and Namba, Universal Studio Japan and Takoyaki Museum

Day 9: Part 2 Osaka Osaka Museum of Housing & Living, Tenjinbashi Shopping Street, Umeda Sky Building, Cafe Sky 40 and Hep Five Ferris Wheel

Day 10: Part 3 Osaka Osaka Castle, Osaka Tennoji Temple, Tsutenkaku Tower, Hozenji Yokocho Alley and Hozenji Temple

Day 11-12: Part 4 Osaka Kuromon Market and Shinsaibashi Shopping St.

Enjoy and have a nice day =)

Japan Trip (3-14 March 2017) Part 4 Osaka

Day 11 and 12 (last day), Kuromon Market and Shinsaibashi Shopping St.

It was basically "free and easy" most of the time after visiting Kuromon Market. Most of us had our own last shopping destination e.g. Shinsaibashi Shopping St. and Namba Station before getting back early to AirBnB to pack everything up.

Kuromon Market is just like Nishiki Market but it has more fresh stuffs e.g. seafood, fruits etc as compared to Nishiki Market. Whatever you have not tasted in Nishiki, you can get it here! We just got ourselves an empty stomach before going there and filled with lots of food before starting our last shopping spree day. =)

Japan Trip (3-14 March 2017) Part 3 Osaka

Day 10, Osaka Castle, Osaka Tennoji Temple, Tsutenkaku Tower, Hozenji Yokocho Alley and Hozenji Temple.

First destination for the second day using the amazing pass was Osaka Castle (free entrance, included in the pass). This is one of the famous tourist spot of all time. If you want to get a nice picture of the castle, make sure to be there early!

Japan Trip (3-14 March 2017) Part 2 Osaka

Day 9 (3rd day in Osaka), Osaka Museum of Housing & Living, Tenjinbashi Shopping Street, Umeda Sky Building, Cafe Sky 40 and Hep Five Ferris Wheel.

To start off the day, we bought the Osaka Amazing 2-days pass for 3000 Yen to travel around freely for these 2 days. The pass includes free rides via trains from station to station (not including JR and some other line) and free entrance for many tourist destinations. Thus, to maximise the usage, try to allocate 2 consecutive travelling days around Osaka only! You can log on to their website to find the place to buy the pass. After buying the pass from Namba St, we traveled up to Tenjinbashi St to visit a few place. If you want to wear the kimono costume at the cheap price, you can get it at Osaka Museum of Housing & Living. 500 Yen for 30 minutes but you got to get there early to get an early queue. 

Osaka Museum of Housing & Living.. Right above the station, look out for the sign board to lead you the way... The museum was not big, spending about 1 hour there was sufficient for us..

Japan Trip (3-14 March 2017) Part 1 Osaka

Day 7 and 8 (1st and 2nd day in Osaka), Dotonbori and Namba, Universal Studio Japan and Takoyaki Museum.

We arrived at Namba from Kyoto at around 5pm but we checked in into our AirBnB late at around 7pm because we couldn't find the place. After leaving our luggage at the AirBnB, we headed out straight for dinner at Mikino Tempura Restaurant at Namba area. 

Our AirBnB in Osaka, walking distance to Dotonbori, nearest train station is Nippombashi St.

Japan Trip (3-14 March 2017) Part 3 Kyoto

Day 7, Nishiki Market and travel to Osaka!

We left out luggage at the AirBnB and traveled to Nishiki Market from Fushini St. Nishiki Market is a shopping district where you can find a lot of food, from the raw to the cooked one! To travel there was easy, we took the train to a nearby station and walk about 10 minutes to the place. 

Baked cheese tart, fresh from the oven! Pretty from the outside, yummy from the inside! =)

Japan Trip (3-14 March 2017) Part 2 Kyoto

Day 6, Kinkakuji Temple (Golden Pavilion), Arashiyama Bamboo Forest and Kiyomizudera Temple.

To move around Kyoto to tourist spots was a bit complicated and time consuming as compared to Tokyo or Osaka. Kinkakuji Temple and Arashiyama Bamboo Forest were quite far from the place that we stayed. Thus, we took a train then a bus ride to each of these destinations.

Japan Trip (3-14 March 2017) Part 1 Kyoto

Day 5, (Kyoto Day 1)  Fushini Inari, Higashiyama and Gion Districts.

We arrived at Kyoto St. early in the morning (before 6 am) and there were no shops open yet. So, we just clean up a bit at the washroom, sent our luggage to the locker and headed out to Fushini Inari!

Kyoto Station early in the morning!