Just keep swimming~ 
Just keep swimming~
Just keep swimming~ 
swimming~ swimming~ 
May 24th, 2012
Our last day in Japan (´；ω；｀)
Today's plan was Disney Sea. We arranged to meet Obako at Maihama station. Of course, as always, we were late again....Sorry Obako... I guess this is why you have such bad image about Indonesian people always being late. Sorry, too, Indonesians m(_ _)m
Kamiko joined us at around 3 PM :)
The kind Kamiko holding the Disney map, guiding us around Disney Sea. One map down! Because of the strong wind lol.
Duffy peeked. How cute XD
Disneysea was great. The design and atmosphere, everything was so well-designed to pleasure the eye. The grand palaces, the volcano, the water show, all the attractions were wonderful. It seemed to have everything you could ask for.
But i hated the waiting lines. Wait for 50 minutes only to get on a less than 5 minutes ride?
Me no likey.
What did we eat there? Hmm let's see...
I had melonpan outside Disneysea resort. Some of my friends had sandwiches from one of the Disney restaurant. Obako bought us curry popcorn. It was delicious :) We also bought gyozadog. Yumz. It tasted just like our bakpao daging in Jakarta.
Oh and Obako treated me strawberry tea. It was not as what I expected.
I thought it would have strawberry taste... It was just strawberry-scented bitter tea!
I felt weird smelling the sweet scent with my nose and yet it tasted bitter on my tongue. So... I added a lot of sugar into it. And Obako and kamiko looked surprised... Is it that weird to put 3 small sugar packs into your tea in Japan? (｡･ ω<)ゞてへぺろ♡
Our flight was about 11.30 PM.
We left Disneysea at 9! LOL
Because!!! Two of our friends suddenly went missing. Obako helped us search for them, and when we finally found them, Obako was missing! lol
So yeah, when everyone was finally together, we had only a very short time to reach the airport. Obako led the way. He seemed more panic than us x) 「急げ、急げ！」he said running.
We also forgot where our locker was ahahaha and again Obako helped us with it. Kamiko helped me bring the big Kyoto bag I had. We were all running XD
We reached the airport just in time ヽ(；▽；)ノ Again, the time to say good-bye had come...
Thank you, Obako!
Thank you, Kamiko!
We had a good time on our last day in Japan!
Most importantly, we got to the airport in-time!
Thank you, Japan! ♡
May 23rd, 2012
Back in Tokyo :) Tokyo's blue sky welcomed us again. This time we stayed at a guest house called Khaosan Tokyo Samurai, about 10 minutes walk from Asakusa station. We could see Tokyo Sky Tree from afar. And also a big golden poop-like statue on top of a building lol. Sorry but I really thought it looked like poop >___<
Today's plan was to visit Ueno Park and Akihabara.
Ueno park was beautiful.
Green and calming.
Birds chirping.
A cute duck walking wiggling its tail.
Young mothers with their babies picnicking on the grass.
Taking a walk under the shade of trees just made me happy. 癒される～(´▽｀)
Then we took a walk around Akiba. The guys were pretty excited seeing a maid on the street lol. I went to a bookstore *happy* and bought Nao Tukiji's gorgeous artbook, 'Nostalgia'. Aaaah~ I was thrilled beyond words (*´∀｀*)
It was interesting to see each floor of the bookstore had different genres. There was a floor full of girls comic, another level for boys comic, another one for adult comic, and so on.
The guys went in and out electronic stores. Anime manga goodies shops. We bought some stuffs at the duty-free shops, too.
Back at the guest house, after freshen myself up a bit, me and momo took a train to Shibuya, where we would meet one of my friend, Toshi-san. The boys would go to Harajuku, so we parted ways for this evening.
Uhhh but again we got lost... somehow we took the express train and it didn't stop at the station we wanted. This time I remembered to call (laughs). I called Toshi-san to tell him my whereabout, and apologize for being late. We took the train back and got off at Harajuku Station, where Toshi-san had already waited for us. We ended up meeting the boys there lol.
I desperately made another call to his cellphone but he didn't pick it up ◔_◔
And around that time a man came closer and asked, 'Excuse me, are you guys from Indonesia?' Ahaha, it was him! ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ And I got to meet Pim again ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ hohoho
He drove us to a sushi restaurant at the Tukiji Fish market.
Thank you so much for the treat, Toshi-san! ♪
Thank you for driving us back to the guest house, too!
Thank you for helping us with our hotel booking!
Thanks a lot!
ありがとうございます！
May 22nd, 2012
We were in Osaka.
Early in the morning, I went to the post office to mail some omiyage to onikutan. It was not so far from the hotel.
Asking around for direction from the locals, walking along the small street that tourists rarely traveled, common Japanese houses on my sides, trying to reach a mutual understanding with the post officer who could not speak English. My little adventure.
First, we went to Osaka-jo (Osaka Castle). It had a vast park with trees and flowers everywhere. Oh how I love parks！♡(´ε｀ )
These flowers are fake, right???
Someone photoshopped them and put them in Osakajo, right?!
was what I had in mind when I saw it lol
Ohoho, takoyakitakoyaki takoyaki takoyaki!!!! We also bought ikayaki and okonomiyaki.
安くて美味しかった♡
Dancing trees :)
What's this?
Loving this plant :)
She said hi.
The castle :D
There were many school kids in the park.
Blue hats, yellow hats, red hats.
I wonder what the color means
What are they looking for?
小鳥！Cute bird brothers!
The tallest school girl in this picture came to me and said, "Hello, my name is Nanako, what is your name?" Wah, how cute and brave! I wouldn't do it when I was her age! XD Then her friends came to us, too, and wrote down our answers on their notes. Or was it me who wrote down my name and country for them? Hummm...
My friend was trying to catch one of the birds for our dinner that day. We ran out of cash and were willing to do anything for food.
Just kidding.
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Our next destination was the Kaiyuukan. My friend who came to Japan in 2011 recommended this place. So there we went.
Cute mascot :) Saw him everywhere in the train stations.
The train announcer sound in Osaka was different from Tokyo. It was funny to hear.
Kuma Kafe across Kaiyuukan.
Would love to try it... if only we had time...
Here we are!
Cute interior.
A penguin meeting.
Drawings on the wall
That's not some random guy, That's me!
Kaiyukan was a beautiful and wonderful place, very well designed, too. I personally think it's a romantic place.
Too bad it was dark so it was hard to take pictures inside. Giant fishes were swimming gracefully. Some octopus were hiding inside the tree trunk at the bottom.
I saw manbou for the very first time haha it was so weird!!!! Weird shape and weird face! Everytime it passed by, my friend called it 'ikan jelek' which means 'ugly fish' hahaha
All the fishes were so huge! Too bad I once ate the 悪魔の実 so I can't swim :/
I think I could ride on one of the mantas.
There was some sort of a department store next to kaiyuukan where we had our meal before we headed to our next spot. I had a Subway sandwich with wasabi. If I remember it correctly that is.
There was a One Piece store, too. many Chopper x Hello Kitty stuffs were displayed. Pretty absurd lol.
From Kaiyuukan, we went to Shinsaibashisuji-Dotonbori
Aren't those butts inviting? lol
We tried kaiten sushi here. It was my first time :)
There was a button on each table to call for staff wow I was amazed XD haha
There were many street performers there. And shops, one of them had a memorable female staff repeating 'irassyaimase' nasally.
And also.. many male hosts? Why none of them came to me? (´д｀)
LOL As if I want them to (--;)
I also bought thisssssssssssss :D Famichiki!! Family Mart Chicken! hahaha it was on pigg back then and everyone said it was delicious, and they were right! Hot crispy chicken on a cold night mmmm (´∀｀*)
We only had one short day in Osaka. I didn't get too see much. The prices were considerably cheaper here.
A good reason to come again someday :)
Time to head back to Tokyo~~ ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ
May 21st, 2012
Uuuu （；＿；） 
As you can see, it was a beauuuuuutiful temple >w< I love it so much. 
Later he gave us his name card, and wow he was a Professor!
Still in Kyoto. We went to Kiyomizudera and Fushimi-Inari
Was she asking for money?
Cute pottery :)
That love stone ;)
A pair of "love stones" placed 6 meters/20 feet apart, which lonely visitors can try to walk between with their eyes closed. Success in reaching the other stone with their eyes closed implies that the pilgrim will find love, or true love. One can be assisted in the crossing, but this is taken to mean that a go-between will be needed. The person's romantic interest can assist them as well. (pasted from wikipedia :P)
I did try it too with my friend momo. My eyes were closed but I could feel the floor lines under my feet, so I walked following them and reached the other stone successfully. lol does that mean I will need a guidance to find my love? :)
恋愛成就 ( ´∀｀)
Bunnyyyyyyy so cute XD
Found an interesting device in the toilet!
Push it and it will play the sound of flushing water! XD
tokoroten :)
I should have bought a yukata when I was in Kyoto arghhhh *regrets*
A handsome rickshaw driver ;)
Seems like he'd had to work a bit harder (;´д｀)
( ﾟーﾟ)ノ)"ｶﾞﾝﾊﾞﾚ
What's that what's that! Out of nowhere! A Ghibli shop spotted! :D
Totoro greeted us in the front! Wah x3
Next destination, Fushimi Inari :)
It was so faaaaar.... We walked and walked and when we finally reached the bus stop to wait for the one to Fushimi-Inari, we just found out from the information board that it only came every one hour (°д°) gaaaah
And a weird thing happened when we were waiting. A middle-aged guy who were standing next to us suddenly walked straight to the middle of the street (;ﾟДﾟ)危ない! My friend, tux, quickly grabbed his arm and took him back to the road side. he sat there for a while doing nothing, then laid down on the street... then he woke up and went somewhere... Wonder what was wrong with him...
What a clean river :) When will Jakarta have one?
伏見稲荷に到着した。
Buuuut we got lost in it....
You see, those red gates looked all the same... we just kept walking and walking... When we realized it, the sky had gone dark and it felt like the more we walked, the colder it got. And no one was around. No information board. Just the continuing red gates lead to nowhere.
My friend said, ''Seems like if we walk more we will reach the top of a mountain''
:(；ﾞﾟ'ωﾟ'):
There was only one thing we could do, which was to trail back our way down. It was a loooooooong walk... My feet hurted and I was supposed to meet onikutan in Osaka at 7 PM. Now I wouldn't make it...
When we finally reached our original spot, it was already so late. We walked back to the bus station and while waiting we saw this very small store (like only about 1 x 2 meter!) selling food. It's called takosen. We were hungry so we bought it. Warm and tasty, it was good! And it was so cheap o_O;;
When the bus came, it was already 7.30 :( I finally got to email oniku from my friend's laptop and he was already waiting at out hotel in Osaka Orz
Back at our guest house, we got our luggage, walked to Kyoto Station to get a train to Osaka.
We asked for direction in the train from the guys sitting next to us. They were Taiwanese so they could speak Chinese fuuuh, what a relief! XD They told us which station to stop and change trains. And for a while we felt at ease.
But a Japanese man sitting across us started talking to us. He said he was on his way home, and he would go to the same place we were going, so he asked us to just follow him. The problem was, the station he mentioned was different from the one the Taiwanese had told us.
In confusion, we decided to follow the Japanese man, because we thought he couldn't be taking the wrong line to his own house. And... we were wrong!!!!! He suddenly apologized, saying he made a mistake, and we should have gotten off the train 3 stops before. And that he was drunk!!!! Lol I felt like punching him! But well, at the same time it was an adventure... We took a picture with him while waiting for the next train lol
Lesson of the day, do not trust a drunk man (not even if he was a Professor!).
Look at the time >___< ahhh onikutan....
We reached our hotel around 10 PM Orz It's a nice hotel called Chuo Selene.
After putting my luggage in the hotel room, I quickly rushed outside to find a public phone booth. I called onikutan's cellphone to apologize. I'm so very sorry, onikutaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan--- I still feel guilty even now. m(>_<)m
Thank you for coming to see me.
Although we couldn't meet at the end.
おおきに！
After cleaning up a bit, we went outside to grab a meal. There was a ra-men shop across our hotel. The chef was a very young man!! Pretty cute, too. We were surprised haha... too bad we didn't take a picture x)
And so, the Kyoto trip is over. The next one will be about Osaka :)
Thank you for reading!
May 20th, 2012 
After cleaning ourselves up a little bit, we went to Kinkaku-ji. 
We climbed up the stair and on top of the hill there was this wide space to sit and relax.
There was a guy sitting across us and I was pretty sure he wore a long skirt (＠_＠;) I kept wondering if he was gay or was it a new trend there? lol and he had a girly bag, too...
I had to write about this. First we ordered at the counter and paid up, then the staff gave us some sort of small device. I didn't get it at first. while waiting we grabbed a seat, and oh, suddenly that device rang! It was a sign that our order was ready and we could get it back at the counter haha I found it pretty amusing. And one more thing... after meal, we had to put bowl, cup, chopsticks and tray here
LOL we didn't know and we didn't do it. After we were done, we just left them on our table. 
This was the street in front of the temple. There were many shops alongside. Too bad most of them were already closed :( We were too late.
Last night we took a midnight bus from Tokyo and we arrived at Kyoto Station early in the morning.
We bought a one-day-pass bus ticket, and headed to our inn, called Kyoto Tour Club. It was a very nice semi-ryokan type guest house with futon and tatami.
The Kyoto bus was really cool. It had information about direction and location of temples, spoken in 4 languages, Japanese, English, Korean and Chinese.
Kinkakuji! Prettier than in Pigg! haha
What plant is this?
Pretty leaves
Cute girls in yukata :D
There were many students! School trip??? Just like in manga!! :D
We bought some souvenirs, and I bought a pink omamori XD
Then we went on to Nijo Castle. It was a very big castle with palace and gardens and a moat. Shogun lived there (?), I didn't really pay attention to the information board haha Orz was just trying to enjoy the view (T__T)
My feet felt cold ー＿ー I had to put on my socks... I liked my bunny socks and my flat shoes, but they were not meant to be together lol looked so weird that I laughed at them. But... I needed them to warm my feet up... Orz
We went back to the guest house, took a bath and had a meal before we continued to Gion.
There were some restaurants near our place. But they don't have English writings (´；ω；｀) We passed by and we had no idea what they sold. Finally we got into a place called nakau. I tried udon and since then I'm hooked XD
yums！いただきます！ :D
Aw sorry nakau staffs (;´д｀)
Next! Gion. I don't know what temple or shrine it was. Can anyone tell me?
It was beautiful :)
Ufu, bunny!
Back at the hotel, I was so tired that I fell asleep without washing my face or brushing my teeth
あぁ 疲れた (o´Д`)=з
May 19th, 2012
It was the day that I had always been waiting for. We would go to Ghibli Museum in Mitaka woohoooo (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o))) Thanks Iijima-san for helping us buying the tickets! I am forever grateful! ✩
We were late but the kind staff at the entrance let us in :) We got another ticket for watching movie. It was a cute ticket! (*´∀｀*)
And the museum itself was MAGICAL!!!!
I felt like I was in dream. Stepping into a big room with beautifully painted ceiling. All the pretty details on the windows and doors, the tunnel, the rooms, the staircase, the fluffy nekobus, and oh the Totoro zoetrope!! Aaaaaah I wanted to take pictures so bad so that I won't forget the feeling (´；ω；｀)
But we were not allowed to take pictures inside the museum (´д⊂)
We watched a short movie called Mei and nekobus (めいとこねこバス)
It was so short yet so great.
Sitting there in the beautiful Ghibli Museum's cinema along with kids and their parents.
Watching Meichan's cuteness and playfulness on the screen.
Thinking about how I had made so far to a country I always adored.
Feeling overwhelmed, tears just fell off my cheek w Lucky it was dark so no one could see me :P
I visited the shops and rooms with sketches from Ghibli movies.
I can't explain how wonderful it felt ヾ(*´∀｀*)ﾉ
Yummy hotdog :P
Cute pavement :P
My favorite place outside the Ghibli Museum is this staircase.
♡(´ε｀ )
I finally came to see you!
It was noon when we left this place. I wished to stay here forever (´；ω；｀)
We went back to Shinjuku station and decided to take a walk around Shinjuku while waiting for our midnight bus to Kyoto.
Street musician :)
An interesting shop lol
What did I do in Shinjuku?
Window shopping, taking pictures and trying Japanese curry?
That is all I can remember... I guess I left my mind in Ghibli Museum ahaha
Okay, to be continued tomorrow, Kyoto! :)
I should have written about this since looooong time ago *lol*
I went to Japan last year in May. Despite all the troubles I had, it was an amazing experience. Remembering it now makes me want to visit there again :)
Okay, let the journey begins~ (*´∀｀*)
May 17th, 2012
I woke up at 5 in the morning, took a bath and had my breakfast. I went to the airport at 5.30, I was the first one to arrive at around 6.00. There would be five of us, two girls and 3 boys. While waiting for my 4 other friends, the pretty red sun rose.
The flight was around 8.45 AM. We went to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for flight transfer (waited for 6 hours!) and had lunch, then continued from there to Haneda Airport, Japan.
It was almost 11 PM when we arrived in Japan.
We spent a night in the airport, sleeping on the long benches there. ワイルドだろう~ XD
Many tourists were already sleeping there lol… seems like it was a famous spot for spending a night. It was good for our wallet :P we saved taxi and hotel fee, long life airport benches! Hooray!
May 18th, 2012
I was the last one to woke up.... So embarrassing... all the shops had already opened, people passing by could see me sleeping Orz
Anyway, that morning it just came to my senses that
I'M IN JAPAN! :D
The Japanese writings on information center and shops, the Japanese warm greetings from staffs, the busy Japanese walking fast going somewhere.
I'm in Japan!
I'M IN JAPAN!!!
We took a train to our guest house, Khaosan Tokyo Ninja (about 10 minutes walk from Asakusabashi station). What's with this crazy train map!
The train was cramped x_x many students going to school and workers going to work. Japanese everywhere (duh, of course! XD). They are all so stylish and neat! My friend momo ask for direction from a handsome guy sitting next to her (´▽｀) he couldn't speak English but kindly helped explaining our stop using his smartphone.
Out of the station, for the first time, I saw Japan's blue sky! :D I feel so...
COLD!
It was a clear blue sky with warm sunshine but a cold wind blew!
What a strange weather. Along the way to our guest house, I noticed beautiful colorful flowers blooming on the sides of the pedestrian. We didn't have this in Jakarta. We have trees but rarely flowers. My friends were in awe, too, lol so we took some pictures! xD
Here is some of our guest house photos!
It was a nice place :) With funny bedrooms! Capsule? I wonder how a big tall American can fit in! XD
There were some funny drawings on the walls!
After putting our luggage, we went to Asakusa temple. A pretty Japanese girl who speaks fluent English helped us get there :)
I couldn't believe I saw the pretty temple with my own eyes and not just from my Pigg screen lol happy XD It was so crowded there.. full of students and tourists and food and souvenirs stalls, it was hard to walk ＿|￣|○
I didn't really know what to do in a temple, so I just imitate what other people did :p
I bought some souvenirs and tried ningyoyaki. Can't remember the taste now lol
There was an event that day. Some policemen asked us to make way for a parade :D People with beautiful costumes and music instruments passed by.
We went back to the guest house to take a little break. At noon, we headed to Shibuya to meet some... pigg friends!!!! ヽ(´Д`；)ﾉ But dammit we got lost! The train map was too confusing, okay? And when we finally reached Shibuya station, hey, where is that exit with hachikou statue??????? ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ Gaaaaaah
We were an hour late (or more?)... Orz I felt like crying. The sky went darker, I saw hachikou's statue and walked toward it in panic. And suddenly a monkey jumped out in front of me (°д°)
Just kidding, it was not a monkey.
It was Iijima-san lol and then I met Pim and Kamiko and Obako and Kasoan waaaaaaaah >___<
皆さん、本当にごめんなさい！待っててくれてありがとう！
Then Iijima-san led the way to an izakaya. Shibuya street was full of people walking here and there. Like a human flood. Traffic lights. Neon lights. People talking. Tall buildings.
On our way there I told Iijima-san we got lost, and he said. 'You could have called my phone'
I was like...
'OH!!!! Why didn't I think of THAT!? Stupid me!!!
I'M SORRY, GUYS (T ^ T)
We reached the bar at 18.30. It was in a high and not-so-big building, the bar was at 9th floor. We had to take off our shoes and put them in lockers. We walked through an alley, with rooms alongside and people chattering, to a small room, consisted of a long table and 2 rows of long seats. Everyone are so kind, we ate and drank and chatted and exchanged gifts :) I brought more stuff home than when I came haha! Thank you, everyone! ♡
We also got a cake! 'Welcome to Japan' was written on it (*≧∀≦*) How lovely!
I was in a room with Japanese friends I only had met online.
No cute short big headed characters.
No google translate.
Just real people talking with mixed languages.
It felt so surreal.
I was so nervous I barely talked, though, hahaha (ｰｰ;)
But I remembered I smiled all the time like an idiot..
It can't be helped :P I was happy, hehe!
Some friends played UFO catcher, kamiko won a Giggle doll (Giggles is a character from happy Tree Friends) and she gave it to me わーいヾ(＠⌒ー⌒＠)ノ Obako got a pair of My Melody chopsticks and gave them to me, too ( ´∀｀)アハハハ Then I got to meet Niji~~ She just got back from work. Thank you for coming to meet us, nijiiiiiii ♡
We also wandered around Shibuya and visited some stores.
I remember as we walked, the cheerful Kamiko pointed at a building and said to me,' 'ブルーライト、カラオケ'' hehe I guess she wanted to sing for us! XD
Japanese friends took us back to Shibuya station. I felt like I didn't want to go back yet :( But it was late and we have Ghibli waiting for us the next day. It was time to say good-bye (´ー`)/~~
Thank you everyone for coming to see us.
Thank you and sorry for waiting for so long.
Thank you for treating us dinner.
Thank you for showing us around.
Thank you for making us feeling welcomed.
Thank you thank you Thank you!!!!
ありがとう♡
Today I got this! :D
It says '9 Beautiful Autumn Stories'
I illustrated for 2 of them x) One is a story about a cat, and the other one is aboutan autumn fairy
Sneak peek!
Sorry they're not good photos (^_^;) I'm never good at photography orz
And I also got the book signed by the writer! yey!! XD
The other stories are beautifully illustrated, too!
Again, the writer's stories were inspired by the beautiful autumn scenery she saw when she traveled to Japan & Korea.
I'm so jealous! x) I want to experience the colorful autumn, too!
Someday!!! ヾ(＠°▽°＠)ﾉ Money come come!!
Thanks for reading! （*＾-＾*）ノ~~ﾏﾀﾈｰ
Hello hello :) How are you guys doing?
Last Sunday I went to Jak-Japan Matsuri 2012 with my friends. I promised maruko I would blog about it so, here it is :D
It was a cloudy hot day.. I arrived at the area around 3 PM and my stomach was a bit upset (I don't know why!) My friend went to the store nearby and bought me some medicine (´・ω・`) It was so kind of him! o(^-^)o
The place was soooo crowded >___< Argh!
Last Sunday I went to Jak-Japan Matsuri 2012 with my friends. I promised maruko I would blog about it so, here it is :D
It was a cloudy hot day.. I arrived at the area around 3 PM and my stomach was a bit upset (I don't know why!) My friend went to the store nearby and bought me some medicine (´・ω・`) It was so kind of him! o(^-^)o
The place was soooo crowded >___< Argh!
The design of the dashi (?) has a barong on top :)
We saw the tea ceremony,
We left before the bon odori :( *sigh* But I was tired and I just wanted to go home and see if my mom was okay. (My sis texted me around 6 and told me my mom fell off the motorcycle. I phoned her and she said she was okay but meh, I am a worrywart. She is okay now :) )
(c) Budi ST
Japanese calligraphy,
(c) Budi ST
ate takoyaki,
took some pictures,
(a cute pattern on the clothes of an ojisan in front of meヽ(゜▽、゜)ノ)
watched paper sumo battle o(^▽^)o
sat down and listened to depapepe's songs played by local guitar artists,
took a picture with kitty chan,
(c) Budi ST
and last but not least, had our friend take our nars picture haha
(c) Budi ST
An ondel-ondel waved us goodbye as we left the event area :)
It looked scarier at night! lol
We left before the bon odori :( *sigh* But I was tired and I just wanted to go home and see if my mom was okay. (My sis texted me around 6 and told me my mom fell off the motorcycle. I phoned her and she said she was okay but meh, I am a worrywart. She is okay now :) )
Will I go again next year? Hmmm we'll see :P
Okay, matsuri report done!
Thanks for reading :D
(c) Budi ST