Atami/Risonare Atami: 1st July 2015

There was no sunrise as I woke up at 430am to check. I was in fact greeted by huge fog and clouds. Can imagine the weather on that day is really bad! So I went back to sleep hoping for better weather but still...

Cant even see a thing!

I went back to the buffet restaurant for breakfast. The treat was amazing and I had well..too full a stomach after breakfast in fact haha..

 The Breakfast Spread

Managed to see Becky again at the shuttle bus for our trip down to Atami station for our bus ride in Yuyu-bus. Yuyu-bus is basically running a route that bypasses all major attractions in the Atami Region. We purchased a one day pass ticket that allowed unlimited boarding in the day.

 On board Yu-yu bus
As weather was bad, we could not visit the outdoor attractions like the Herb and Flower Garden. So we made our way to Atami Castle, which also had a Atami 3D Trickeye Museum to our delight!

It was my first time visiting a trick-art museum so I was pretty excited about it. Before going there, we explored the displays in Atami Castle and we also played the toy which is getting popular in Singapore.

 The Challenging Game

After some phototaking...we proceeded to the trick-art museum. There were very friendly staff who guided us on angles to view each picture. Although we had some language difficulty, it was still great fun and the staff were also very kind to help both us take pictures.

So our adventure began :)...

I guessed we spent near to one hour doing wacky shots and expression with the trick-art images. It was very fun and loony to see what turned out in our cameras.. when we left the museum, the rain unfortunately continued as strong as ever. Everywhere was cloudy!! =(

I proposed to visit MOA(MOA美術館), the next well-known attraction in Atami, with the Yu-yu bus. By the time we reached there, it was already near 1pm. We were initially thinking to catch the NOH performance but realised it was only held on specific dates. So we just took some pictures to signify that we have visited this place haha. Actually MOA has a beautiful garden that is recommended to visit, but looking at the weather..we thought it will be wiser to find some food and warm ourselves up!

 Within MOA

So we took the bus back to Atami station and explored the nearby Nakamise street for our lunch.

Having the onsen-manjuu...so sweet!

The entrance of Nakamise Street

We chanced upon this small sushi shop and decided to give it a try. The food that arrived greatly pleased us with their huge serving size and size of sushi. Simply oishii! Looking at the rain outside while enjoying the splendid sushi was a great way to just relax during this trip..

By the time we finished our lunch, we thought of taking the bus to the Herb Garden but it was already too late. And we did not want to miss our last shuttle bus back to Risonare Atami. One disadvantage of taking shuttle buses is that you need to follow strictly to the timing and the bus timings do not occur every hour, only for specific period. So our itinerary was planned according to these timings. As we started to make our way back on the bus, rainbow started appearing!

 The first Rainbow!
 It was a magical moment!

 I rushed back to my room and assembled my photo gear but the rainbow that was initially seen on the left side of my room view disappeared. However, yet another magical moment appeared with another rainbow being seen at the right side now! Amazing! I took a few shots and it slowly disappeared.

As I was about to return back to my room, the 3rd rainbow appeared in the middle this time! My first time to see three rainbows consecutively in a day hahaha.. 

This kind of enlightened me since three rainbows were seen after a whole day's rain.. that things are not as bad and will brighten up with new hopes even if you have a gloomy day! Something to remind me whenever I meet with obstacles =D. I went straight ahead after for an onsen before joining Becky at the Japanese restaurant in the hotel for our dinner.

The dinner was simply sumptuous and I was so glad that we could enjoy the sunset view while eating.

This time, perhaps due to the heavy rain and looming clouds, the sunset was totally breathtaking!! Beyond words that I was busy snapping away while waiting to be served haha. Was very happy to see this on my last night at Risonare Atami as I wasnt sure if the view will be similar at Kai Atami. Also happy that although at the start of the day was all rainy and gloomy, we could still catch spectacular sunset at the end of the day!

Great food, Great View, Great Company.. This was a wonderful evening that I had and thanks lots to Becky and Hoshino Resort for making this possible ;D. I am looking forward to more adventures the next day!

An interesting Kiwi-beer to celebrate at the end of the day while relaxing at the lobby area!

Attractions:

1. (MOA美術館)

2.  Atami Castle

3.  Atami 3D Trickeye Museum 

4.  Yuyu-bus

Atami/Risonare Atami: 30th June 2015

After saying goodbye to Hiro, I took the local train to reach Atami. It was a long journey and I did not manage to get any seats, while holding on to my heavy luggage! I was also afraid to interfere with the steps of other commuters.

Then suddenly, I received a pat on my back! I was surprised to see the Thai tourist, whom we saw earlier at Nihondaira Ocha Kaikan! I seeked his help to take a photo of me with Hiro. And now I see him again on this train ride. We are heading to Atami too! What fate this is!! So with his company, we chatted about our travel adventures in Japan. He was a passionate traveller to Japan, coming almost every other month. I envy him as I saw his pictures taken everywhere like Matsumoto Castle.. haha.. indeed makes me feel very jealous about his travel life hah!

A photo taken together as we reached Atami station :)

I made my way to the exit thereafter and hoping to find the shuttle bus that will bring me to Risonare Atami. The bus left punctually at 3pm and started winding up the hill. Wow, I was very thrilled to know that Risonare Atami is in fact located at the highest among other accomodations in that region. This means one will enjoy very nice scenery from the hotel. I was happy to be received by the staff at the lobby. This is one of the resorts under the Hoshino Group in the Atami Region, which I was very priviledged to have a 2 nights stay. The staff who brought me around is a Chinese-origin so language was not an issue.

I was totally surprised at the size of the room!! Considering the fact that I also like the color Blue :)

After getting the whereabouts of this hotel and confirming the dinner time, I settled down and quickly made my way to the onsen! I was so in need of onsen therapy, hoping to get rid of my flu and it really did so! The view from the onsen was amazing and breathtaking that one can simply relax in the hot spring.

 

An onsen that looks like an infinity pool!

Clad in the traditional yukata, I wondered around the hotel to explore the various facades of this wonderful place. I saw the treehouse which was actually a venue for people to have tea/coffee in the afternoon as such serene environment.

Dinner time was round the corner so I went to the designated restaurant. That night was a buffet dinner and the choices were just too many to mention. Below are a few!

It appears that most people come here in families and huge tour groups. And they are mainly Japanese. I did not see many foreigners coming. I believe this place must be a great escapade for the locals as they have many facilities for the kids and the adults. Sitting next to my table is a Chinese lady. Since I saw that she is alone, I was wondering if she was also part of this Project HOshino and I initiated a chat with her and yesh, Bingo! She is also coming for this Project and I was really happy to know her and we decided to travel together on the next day =D

We had a great chat and decided to rest early,hoping that the weather will be kind to us as once again, weather forecast predicted that it will be a whole day of rain :( Nonetheless, friendships made overseas are usually the ones that complete a trip and we are definitely looking forward to discover more adventures together~~

Tokyo: 29th June 2015

This was an absolutely rare opportunity that I have decided to visit Japan 2nd time this year. Just after I came back from my Hokkaido wildlife photography trip in Feb 2015, I participated in a competition organised by Hoshino Resorts Group, which recruits 100 participants to visit a specific area in Japan and stay in their assigned accomodation. This is in view of their 100th year anniversary. Our task is to write a trip report which includes our travel experiences, the people we have come across and interesting aspects of the trip. I must say I was over the moon when I saw that I was selected for this.. which explains my 2nd visit to Japan in 2015!

So I travelled alone to reach Tokyo and I was very glad to enjoy the air-con-alike temperature, away from the hot Singapore at this time of the year. My flight was not a pleasant one due to a crying toddler sitting right beside me, so I did not rest at all throughout the flight!

Still, after picking up my luggage, I felt a sense of excitement as I went to find Telecom Square, who kindly provided me the Wifi Router for my entire trip, in view of my Hoshino participation.

 Service was quick and after collection, I made my way to the midori-no-madoguchi (JR East Office) located at B1 of the Narita Airport Terminal 1 building. I collected my JR East Pass, which was also a courtesy from HOshino Groups, for this trip. This pass was amazing as it allowed me to take trains on any 5 days of my trip within a 2 weeks period and I could reserve seats on all applicable trains.

I went ahead to board the Narita Express, which safely brought me to my first stop, Tokyo station. I spent a night at Tokyo before taking the train to Shizuoka city the following morning. To my relief, the hotel which I lodged in, Maranouchi Hotel, provided me a free upgrade for the room I am staying. I was over-the-moon!!

As it was still early before check-in time, I left my luggage at the hotel and went to the Tokyo Character Street. This was an iconic street as it comprised all the famous cartoon characters merchandise all in one area for you to shop and go gaga over these icons. I was very happy to see my Crayon-shinchan at one of these shops.

Purchased this couple where I DIY-ed their outfit and hairdo and faces from the Lego shop.

The Shin-chan merchandise

And my first lunch in Japan, the Omu-Egg Rice. Simply yummy!

Yes I am in Tokyo!

I was a little shag so I went back to hotel to do check-in and rested until it was sunset time. The weather was really good with breeze wind. I decided to do some snapshots of the ongoing traffic and the unique Tokyo station landmark during the blue hour.

 

It was time to unwind and relax after a day's work.

 

Some night shots of the ongoing traffic and people walking

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After shooting till 8pm, I went to Tokyo station at Gransta mall and had my bowl of soba to relieve my flu. The yummy fish that came along with it was really oishii.

  I was glad it had been a great day and looking forward to my adventures to Shizuoka the next day!