[2023: JAPAN SPRING – Osaka Day 02, 03, 04]

We planned to spend a leisurely weekend in Osaka for the 1st leg of the trip before heading into the Mountains for our hikes and temple stay.

As always, starting off the day right with really good (and inexpensive) breakfasts, after which we mostly walked to our destinations for the day. The weather in the days that we were in the city was in the very comfortable mid-teens, thankfully we managed to avoid the worst of the sudden heat wave that drove the temperatured into the high 20s in the 1st week of May.

Day 02 was our 1st full day in Osaka, we walked from our hotel in Shinsaibashi to the very bohemian and interesting district of Nakazaki-cho. It was full of the type of shops that always defined Japan to me – the clusters of Zakka-type interior shops, the interesting fabric shops, next to cool dessert cafes and an eclectic mix of other types of cafes and retail. The streets were very walkable, although it was a much larger scale than what I remembered, but there were enough unusual streetscapes to keep the journey out of the mundane.

We went to both “Taiyonoto” and “Kaya Cafe” as written up here in this blog. The vibe of this little cluster of shops reminded me of the time spent in Shimo – Kitazawa in Tokyo so many years ago.

We ended our 1st day at a dinner place near out hotel in the basement of Parco – where the whole basement turned into this bohemian drinking place – with all sorts of offerings for the alcohol inclined- food was merely there to complement the alcohol! It was really happening and heaving in an otherwise quiet mall.

Day 03 was again another walkable day – although we also bought the weekend tube pass, we ended up mostly walking around the areas we decided to explore.

We revisited the architectural masterpiece of Namba Parks – a mall that pioneered the outdoor / indoor garden shopping experience way back in the 1990s, where it was unheard of! It was also conveniently connected to the train station where we will be taking the trains to Koyasan, so we went in there to pre-book our reserved seats. There’s actually a 2-day pass that included the return journey, but we were not able to book that as we decided to spend 2 nights in Koyasan.

Day 03 was a relatively wet day, but one of the truly joyful things about this trip was to just aimlessly walk around the whole day, without much time pressures to do too many things in a day. We stumbled into this cafe pretty much enroute into one of our meanderings.

Our last day in Osaka was a very fine day – so we headed back to some of the shops and areas we enjoyed the last few days. To purchase stuff for the girls (at Yodobashi – the largest electronic shopping centre) we bought a nifty photo printer that looks so much fun! & I spent way too much on unessentials like MT tape and drooled over really cool camping gear here.

Of course we also looked at architecture throughout – besides the wellknown pieces in Osaka, also the lesser know but equally expressive ones enroute to our destinations. Lunch at Knots Marketplace – a converted print shop into a cool cafe and bakery was absolutely amazing.

On our last night in Osaka, we also booked on a whim the entry into TeamLab Botanical Gardens art immersion experience. We had totally no expectations at all and was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable it was! Also fully recommend the cafe at the start of the park for a really yummy dinner!

[2023: JAPAN SPRING – OSAKA Day 01]

Our first trip back to Japan after Covid, this trip was an on the spur purchase even before the borders were open for Japan travels due to the epidemic. Luckily, I also had the foresight to purchase the flexi option for scoot, which meant that the flights were also able to be changed without any extra costs (only to top up the fare difference if there were any). As soon as travels started to open up, the cost of flights also increased astronomically. So much so that there were very little ‘affordable’ options for the year end travels!

Being back in Japan after so many years away was interesting. In the years that we’ve not been back, we have continued our Japanese lessons, so that for this trip, I felt that we can finally understand (up to a certain level), conversations that were taking place around us.

The last time we visited Osaka was many years ago – from the blog- it was way back in 2016!! I didn’t quite remember what it was like as a city, just that there was a lot of walking with the girls! For this trip, as it was just the 2 of us, we stayed in the heart of Dotonburi. V booked a fantastic hotel – The Flag, Shinsaibashi – that was absolutely central and so convenient.

Day 01 itinerary:

1. Arrive Osaka – take the reserve seats train from Kansai to Namba Station. You can just buy the tickets at the station or book beforehand online.
2. We opted to walk around the Shinsaibashi area, which as you can see from the photos – really felt like it was pre-covid days! Super crowded, lively atmosphere and really pretty!
3. Early dinner at Chiyomatsu – the chef is really an ex-sumo wrestler! Even though it was rather early – just past 5pm – there was already a line forming and patrons were already eating!
4. After dinner we just walked around Dotonburi and the lovely atmostpheric alleys of Hozenji Yokosho in Shinsaibashi.

[2022: Europe Winter – Day 14 – 15 – Annecy – Paris – Sg]

Our last leg in Paris before heading home!

We had a really nice accomodation in this relatively new hotel (which will be infinitely better if the shower was more powerful!) The best thing about the hotel had to be the Bistro / Restaurant on the 2nd floor, which meant that we did not have to look for a place for dinner on our last night as well as breakfast on our last day.

We spent the last morning in Paris really just walking to the Pantheon (about 30 minutes from our hotel – but it was relatively good weather by then!) and had one of the best asian (Jap) meals on the trip.

Best memories of these last 2 days in Paris – how the girls were a lot more aware of the amount of luggage that had to be packed and carried. How everyone really banded together to make sure we all got safely to the airport (with connections that had to be changed last minute as the station we wanted to change at was closed!)

Goodbye Europe! It was a super long, super crazy, super eventful 15 days of family time. We really made the very most of it (i think!) and as far as “revenge” trips go – this has got to be all the way up there of doing the most in as many days!

As with all our holidays, we will dearly miss the times that we spend with each other, the closeness we had, the memories we made. Whilst thankful that we’re all now back home to our regular lives, we will definitely cherish these past 15 days! (of course we also have almost 10k worth of pictures to relive them!)

[2022: Europe Winter – Day 11 – 12 – 13 – Annecy]

These last few days in Annecy were such a needed break after the hectic days in 2 major cities of Paris and London. We didn’t really do much, we even eschewed an earlier planned day trip to the ski slopes of Chamonix, instead taking the advise of the locals, decided on the lesser known but just as quaint nearer mountain town of La Clusaz.

My best memories of these last few days will be to have leisurely breakfast with fresh bread from the nearby boulangerie, the smell of wonderful coffee bought from the farmers market, leaving the apartment as soon as we’re ready to explore the town in the early morning with V while the girls sleep in. The beautiful scapes that define this part of the world.

We were also very lucky to be 2 min away from a very nice (and inexpensive) michelin star rated restaurant. We spoilt ourselves those last few days in Europe – it was so nice just to chill out and take things slow.

La Clusaz is a 45 minutes bus ride from Annecy. It was relatively straightforward to get from the city centre (where the train station was), by the hourly busses that ran from there. The tickets were also all electronic, with everything being loaded onto a prepaid card and we can just tap in and out of the busses as we got on.

As we bid this alpine town a fond goodbye the next day, we agreed that perhaps there should be more of “this sort” of travelling, we are just not that cut out for hectic city travels – and this time around – 2 cities back to back were just perhaps too much!!

Goodbye Annecy! Thank you for the beautiful memories.

[2022: Europe Winter – Day 11 – London – Paris – Annecy]

Our longest travel day within Europe – we caught the 7am (!!) train from London back to Paris, transferred from Gare du Nord to Gare de Lest, and took the delayed train from Gare de Lest to Annecy. All in around 8 hours of travelling! So we were super super happy and pleasantly surprised at how delightful the accomodations in Annecy were.

Beautiful 3 bedroom apartment right in the middle of the old town, the Air BnB was right smack in the heart of all the activities that we could possibly want to do.

Aside from the difficulty of carrying 2 very heavy large suitcases up really old staircases, the apartment had all mod cons – including a much needed washing machine and excellent provision of cook and table ware! So excited to be calling this home for the next few days and to explore the Alpine town of Annecy and it’s surrounds.

[2022: Europe Winter – Day 09 – 10 – London]

Spent the last 2 days in London mostly going around by Buses, visiting friends, going to stumbled upon cafes and making the most of the weekend markets – in short, the best memories that London meant for us.

Day 09 – Chalk farm, Camden market in the morning, then British Museum, tea with S&C, and a takeaway of traditional Fish & Chips from a chippie near the hotel.

After almost 10 days on the road, we were ready to just take it easy and not do very much. The weather turned from super cold to just rainy as well, so the days in were very much something we relished.

The last full day was spent with friends we used to hangout with all the time in London. It was really fun to see them again with the 2nd generation in tow. We also caught the longest and most thrilling World Cup Finals to date at their place!

Sorry for the massive photo dump! We took soooo many photos this trip. It was really crazy. Anyways, just to put it up here for the memories and future reminiscing.

[2022: Europe Winter – Day 06 – 07 – 08 – London]

Summarising the rest of the London days into 2 blog posts (because it’s now the end of year celebrations and we’re all still pretty jetlagged!) 😛 It’s been a rollercoaster of experiences in London. I think I was expecting lots of nostalgia (which didn’t really happen), more excitement at the new buildings (which was sadly rather underwhelming), and perhaps new discoveries. One thing that really stood out for me during these few days in London was that it was probably a very nice city to LIVE in, but not to VISIT. The need to cramp all the notable experiences into a scant few days made each day seem like an insurmountable feat with long distances to cover – & the early sunsets & gloomy english weather did not help.

We visited the Kings Cross Harry Potter gift shop, had really awful Bottle Beer (cross between cough mixture and caramel) Continuation of a lacklustre shopping experience at the nearby Coal Drops – but we had one of the best sandwiches (with truffle chips!!) at Sons + Daughters there.

From St Pancras, we took a trip down memory lane with our regular hangout spaces at Liberty’s London (where I used to just visit after school to check out new fabrics / clothes / bags) & the hippest street (in those day) Carnaby street. The girls predictably checked out (and spent a happy hour!) at the Brandy Melville outlet there.

Ended the night with a really special dinner with my ex-boss S and his partner C. On reflection, the best parts of this trip back to London definitely was the meeting up with all the old friends and family. That was probably the part that I missed the most about living in London. The company and conversations we used to have, the comfort food we always prepared.

The next day was probably the day with the most step count of the London leg – with Spitalfields market in the morning, to Westminster Abbey and Big Ben, then Buckingham Palace in the twilight. After dark it was Natural History Museum & Harrods.

Lots of photos to remember those days though – looking back – it’s hard to imagine we did so much in so little days!

[2022: Europe Winter – Day 05 – Paris – London]

We caught the Eurostar from Paris to London bright and early in the morning. It was a very pleasant journey, although the train was delayed by 1 hour (you get *very little* compensation from Eurostar if your train has been delayed by anything longer than 60minutes, so we were glad ours was just at the 60minute mark). Going from St Pancras to our hotel was also relatively painless. Until we found out that our room was on the top floor of an old Victorian unit and there was no lift! 😦 Poor V had to lug up 2 really large and heavy suitcases up rickety narrow stairs.

Our first re-introduction of London to the girls were unfortunately marred by the petty pickpocket crime which happened round the corner at a neighbourhood pub, where we went for a late lunch of Fish and Chips. It was incredibly audacious as we were all fully present at the time of the crime and almost couldn’t detect that anything was tampered with if not for V being sure that his travel wallet was moved and how the bag was left unclasped. We spent the rest of the day frantically calling hotlines and credit card companies, as well as the London Police, but was not able to stop 2 transactions that were fraudalently charged. It was a good lesson to us all – not to let our guard down – which we kind of did given the false sense of security of “coming home” to London after so many years. Also at the ease and speed in which these petty crimes happen! We’re just relieved that no one was hurt and the only grievance is the pain of hard earned money lost and the punch in the gut of being so gullible.

After lunch we walked to our old hangouts in Covent Garden – the girls were after the Glossier shop – which was really nice and warm and had comfortable seats for us to wait for them! Of course they also had to visit London’s Brandy Melville (which conveniently also had a store at Seven Dials in Covent Garden). Covent Garden has changed quite a lot since we were there – there are so many new buildings now, with very much more spruced up architectural spaces. The new courtyards were rather impressive, but we were too distracted by the earlier incident to be fully absorbed in re-discovering London.

We were so zonked by the end of the day we decided to take a London cab back to the hotel. The girls were predictably thrilled by the ride.

[2022: Europe Winter – Day 04 – Paris – Disneyland]

Started the day with lots of anticipation for the “happiest place on earth”. It was a super cold and chilly day but that did not deter the girls from wearing their “fit” for Disneyland! These were the spots for the daily ‘fit check’ vlog that the girls are upkeeping.

The girls had a lot of fun, though me and V were a bit disgruntled as everything about that day just felt super off. The weather was horribly cold, the crowds were relentless, there were queues on every single ride and F&B establishment we were at.

But we had nice photos of the day – so I suppose that’s good enough!

As night fell, we were slightly worried about the crowds at the return train journey back into Paris, but it was quite unfounded as the trains were surprisingly empty! Had crepes and smoked sandwich for dinner at the creperie next to our hotel as we were famished after a day in the cold without much food!

[2022: Europe Winter – Day 03 – Paris – Champs Elysees]

Our last full day in Paris (as it’s off to Disneyland the next day & then to London!), we could not go to the museums as planned, but instead did the most step count of the trip (24k + steps!) and walked along the Champs Elysees instead.

But first the very unglamorous part of the trip – doing laundry at 7am in the morning. Thankfully there’s the ever yummy croissants and creamy hot chocolate – and good company – to perk me up!

Some really nice candid shots of our discoveries enroute to the Notredame construction site, with the girls really hamming it up for the camera! I love the shots of the christmas decoration backdrops and also the very picturesque river views.

K didn’t want to leave it to chance so the priority was to make sure she was able to make her purchase, then V also decided that he will get his shoes and we went back to Samaritaine. G tried on the super cute Moonboots (if only we were going skiing!). After that it was to the Louvre (to take touristy shots) and then to Champs Elysees. We also had one of the best lunches in Paris – at a Tex Mex shop! (also, IMHO, the Rue Saint-Honore is a way nicer street than the more touristy Champs Elysees)

The photos taken at the golden hours are always the prettiest of the day, but unfortunately after that it’s all dark and gloomy and cold…..

No photos for dinner as we bought really expensive but not that yummy salads and snacks from La Grande Epicerie de Paris.