EVACOMICS BLOG

I wasn't aware that there is this waterfall within the city until my friend said that we should visit it.

Fushimi Inari Taisha is the head shrine of Inari (rice) in Kyoto. It is located right next to JR Inari station so it is very easily accessible.

On our second trip to Kyoto, we wanted to target a temple with red leaves so we shortlisted temples in the North that turn cold earlier than those in the city area. Jakko-in was chosen because my friend thought the other nearby temple: Sanzen-in did not have enough red leaves.

Arashiyama Out of the 5 days we were in Kansai, only 1 day was good sunny weather so we decided to visit Kyoto. The skies were beautiful finally after days of cloud and rain. Our first stop was Arashiyama to visit the temple garden and bamboo forest.

We were looking for elsewhere to visit besides Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe and chose Wakayama because we had never been there. A quick google reveals Koyasan, a UNESCO world heritage site that consists of a mass cemetery and temples set on a mountain. Commuting time was around 4 hours from Osaka that consists of train, ropeway and bus, so it isn't too bad compared to 5-6 hours to southern parts of Wakayama.

It was rainy after we got into our hotel on Sunday (15 Nov) so we decided to check out something indoor like the world-renown Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan.

Shinsekai was a highly recommended place to visit from my yoga classmate who claimed that the place appeared to be a pop out town from anime and has good fried food. The name literally means New World although it was created in 1912.

This museum was opened in 2011 but I did not visit when I was studying in Tokyo.

I would not have come here if not for my friend who was into Little Twin Stars from Sanrio...

This year hasn't been good to see red leaves due to the more than usual number of rainy days. One of the popular spots is the "Momiji Kairou" at Lake Kawaguchi. Momiji means red leaves and the English translation can be "Momiji Tunnel" or "Maples Corridor" although they are two separate but close-by places on the map. A "Momiji Matsuri" festival is held every year from the end of October to mid November with road stalls and romantic night illumination so it is a popular destination during November for people to see both Mt Fuji and red leaves.

Tokyo One Piece Tower is an indoor amusement park based on the famous manga/anime series "One Piece". It was officially opened in March 2015 with much hype, so is it worth the trip and your 3,000yen?

It is very difficult for foreigners to rent apartment in Japan due to language barrier and lack of guarantor. The rental procedure is also very complex and you are required to pay lots of fees like gift money, key-change fee, agent fee, deposit and first month rental. I blogged about this bad experience 4 years ago when I first went for my house hunting: Rental Nightmare in Tokyo . However with this CLIHO shared house, you can rent your own private room in a Japanese house setting and environment easily.

Feng jia Night Market 逢甲夜市 This was my 3rd time to Taiwan but I had never visit Tai Chung City. Locals say that the only night market that is crowded all the time is the Feng Jia Night market. My brother booked an airbnb location close to the night market so it was really convenient to visit there almost every night. However because I was traveling with my mum, siblings and young nephew, so I had to help bring back food each time...

 And the first people I met was Wackymons and folks from Elex Media!

Earlier in Oct last year on my post about my trip to Japan , I mentioned that one of the reasons I returned was because I was invited for a company's staff magazine interview. One of their sections is called "TALK!", featuring someone not from the company who is actively promoting themselves outside of Japan. ( Click here to download a bigger size  or click here for the translated article by Shizuhi! ) So now, the article has been published and I can reveal which company it is! TADAA~ Yes, it was my honour and privilege to be invited for an interview for an article in Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal's staff magazine called "鉄の絆" (literally means connection through metal, but you should imagine it more poetically). Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal is the world's second largest steelmaker, so you can imagine how nervous I was...

If you want a nice restaurant in Tokyo to chill out with friends/colleagues and experience traditional Japanese culture at the same time, this is it! Shinjuku Awaodori Restaurant  (新宿 阿波おどり) is a new Japanese traditional dance themed restaurant located right outside Shinjuku station's East exit and sits right next to ABC Mart (shoe shop). Very convenient!

Kochia is actually Bassia scoparia (syn. Kochia scoparia), which is a kind of grass that turns red during fall. You can see the sea of red at Hitachi Seaside Park (ひたち海浜公園) in October but 19th Oct was the last day in 2014 to see this plant before they change to brown.

Kawagoe Festival is an annual event held every year in the 3rd weekend of October. The place is within 40mins train ride from Ikebukuro and has buildings preserved from the Edo period.

Akihabara Well actually we went to Tsukiji for early sushi lunch first but I won't blog about it since I already covered the topic in my  Tsukiji article  last year. Do note that they will be moving out of Tsukiji in early 2016 to allow redevelopment for Olympics 2020.

My friend had never visited Mt. Fuji before so we signed up for a day tour from HIS Travel. We departed from Shinjuku early in the morning and we reached there within 2.5-3 hours by bus. This wasn't my first time at Mt. Fuji's fifth station and you can read about my previous trip here , when I visited a farm and an ice cave.