Thailand & Japan

สวัสดี & こんにちは. ( Hello in Thai & Japanese)

Where to begin this was literally a trip of a lifetime! My girlfriends and I had started talking about making this trip into a reality about a year in advance to our initial travel dates. We slowly booked AirBnB's and flights. Then over some phone calls and long group chats plans became more solid. Then the next thing I knew I was getting Thai Baht, getting packed up, and ready to go! Julie and I planned to be there the longest out of the initial four gal group over time the group grew and at one point we had seven girls all together. I spent a total of 32 days in Asia. I remember the feeling of anxiety I had prior to leaving due to my not knowing the language of the place I was traveling to. I do not know why I was so worried of signs not being in English in the airport and I would just be completely stranded haha! TOTALLY was NOT the case! There was english signs and most people understood english and were able to help out!

Travel Itinerary:

October 30th- November 5th: Bangkok, Thailand- Got Thai messages. Attempted to see Grand Palace but was extremely packed and didn't want to deal with the crowd so Julie and I checked out Golden Mountain then Wat Po & saw the Reclining Buddha. Julie and I had a girls night out on Khao San Road. Which was a lot of fun and a heck of a story haha! Four of the girls came in on our 3rd day in town. =] We went to the Floating Market- Awaphua market had lunch on river then went to check out Maeklong Railway Market. Also checked out Wat Arun and Wat Benchamabophit while in Bangkok.

November 5th- 10th: Krabi, Thailand- Took a boat out to Riley beach. Another day we took a full day tour of some of the Phi Phi Islands. It was seriously crazy haha! The weather wasn't all that great at the start of the day which was worrisome but ended up clearing up and it was an adventure filled day. Also don't fly drone off a boat haha! Another day Iris & I went to Wat Thum Sua (Tiger Cave Temple)- Seriously one of the greatest mind, body, and soul experiences we had in Krabi. To get to the top of the temple you have to climb 1,237 steps. Our legs burned for days hahaha BUT the views and mental clarity were totally worth it! We continued to explore around the area as well checking out the Wonderland loop as well. In this loop you get to see Monks performing their daily activities and you get to see their homes as well. It was a humbling and peaceful experience there. Our villa we rented was amazing as well and the hosts were so sweet with us!!! A lot of time was spent lounging around and using the pool! Great spot!!

**As a side note we had a heck of an adventure leaving Krabi to go to Chiang Mai haha our flight with Nok Air was all over the place. The flight was initially to go from Krabi to Bangkok then to Chiang Mai. After a lot of unorganized chaos we were able to get to Bangkok then once we landed were promised a hotel room but no hotel information had been given to us and at this point it was 10:30pm with no end in sight I brought up to the girls that maybe we should hire a "limo service" to get us there by 6am. The main issue was that the Lantern Festival was going to start the next day and I was worried that flights would not be able to make it in and we would miss it. So we hired a driver haha! We got there to our Villa in the morning and were able to get to enjoy our next stop! haha! Critical thinking travel skills! You gotta learn to roll with the punches!**

November 10th- November 17th: Chiang Mai, Thailand- When we booked this trip we had no idea that the dates we chose were going to be the dates that the Loi Kathrong & Yi Peng festival would be happening. It was one of those perfect coincidences. I am so happy we were able to experience this. This city was my MAJOR highlight of the trip. The vibes and experiences were amazing for me. We started off with checking out the Sunday market on Ratchadamnon Rd. There we stumbled upon beautiful temples & ate street food. The next day we explored the old city and found a spot along the Ping River to watch the Loy Krathong & Yi Peng Festival. This was an absolutely phenomenal sight to see. The Thai celebrate the first full moon in November and release lanterns on the river as well as in the sky. The lanterns help to float away their past mistakes and negative thoughts. The festival is a purification ceremony to enlighten the mind. The festival was on 11/11/19 for my 11:11 lovers ❤️ I also was shown, by a beautiful Thai local, how to create the lanterns that float on the river. While in Chiang Mai we took a day trip to see the Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep & the Sticky Waterfalls. We were blessed by a Monk at Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep. We also checked off the Chiang Mai bucket list: attend Lady boy show & have a fish pedicure. 😅

Oh and how could I almost forget!!! We went to be an elephant caretaker for a day! Which was AMAZING!!! It was an ethical experience! No elephant rides here! You just get to admire, walk along the side of these calm and gentle beauties! Such an amazing experience!!

November 18th- November 21st: Osaka, Japan- I loved that this was the first city we visited when hitting off our Japan trip! The atmosphere and vibe was a lot different but really neat. Osaka was Japan’s first Capital. The location had been chosen due to its port popularity. Now Osaka has been labeled the “nations kitchen.” They really do take their food seriously! I learned a thing or two about sake too haha 1. Warm sake is cheap sake and 2. A brown ball that is displayed in front of an establishments means that make sake. The ball is called Sugidama (cedar ball) when the sake is freshly brewed the brewery will place a new green cedar ball and as time goes by and the leaves brown & the buyer can know roughly the age of sake the brewery has for sale. Cool right!

We stopping at the Glico sign. It was neat to learn about the history of this advertisement. The candy company, famously known to make pocky sticks, first came up with a heart shaped caramel candy for athletes to help give them strength and energy when performing. We also got to see Kuidaore Taro. He was once a restaurants advertisement. However when the restaurant closed, the locals fought, and he remained to stay as a local icon.

We decided to take a day bus tour to go to Nara & Kyoto. It really made for an interesting tour. When we booked it the description listed it was for English, Chinese, and Korean- well when we got there they put us on the bus that only spoke Chinese. There was no English tour haha. So it was quite interesting. We made the best out of it to say the least lol! It was relaxing & convenient to use the transportation to get to the cities & top sites. We first went to Kyoto: the Bamboo Forrest, Kinkakuji Temple, and explored the beautiful area. In Nara we went straight to buying deer cookies and feeding the deers lol Then we took a peek at the Todai-ji Temple. The tour was fast moving which only allowed us a limit amount of time in each site but the transportation was so easy. Here’s my fun tidbit: Did you know that if you bow your head to the deer in Nara Park they will bow their head back!?! **Especially for a deer cookie!

November 21st- November 24th: Kyoto, Japan- I really loved this city! Fall was in full swing and absolutely gorgeous! It’s a progressive city that still maintains its roots in culture & tradition. Our Airbnb included electric bikes that Julie & I took total advantage of. Everything was pretty much a 20 minute bike ride away.

I was super excited when I read that in Kyoto there are 17 UNESCO World Heritage sites! We explored the Nishiki market, ate some fancy gelatin desert, roamed the Nijō Castle, and ate a lot of great sushi! Lol

We booked an AirBnb experience to go explore with an awesome local,@akari.japanese, who took us through the Gion area and helped us to spot out Maiko’s & Geiko’s in a respectable manner. We got so lucky cause we did get to see some! It was amazing to learn about the tradition, career, and about Kyoto’s culture.

I booked an AirBnb experience with a local to show me around and hike up to the top of Fushimi Inari taisha. It was absolutely amazing to see all the Torii gates and to get a better understanding for how the Japanese pray. I also learned the symbol for mountain which is 山! After the tour with Jun I went and headed out to see the Byodoin Temple. I was super excited to visit because I had seen it’s replica in Hawaii!

The last night in Kyoto, Julie and I, went to a tea ceremony. I was super excited because they would dress us in kimonos which made for such a beautiful experience. We learned about the purpose and tradition of the tea ceremony’s and their formality. It was beautiful! 👘

All in all Kyoto stole my heart!

November 24th- November 26th: Yamanashi- Two words... Mount Fuji!! 🗻🍁

When Julie & I had been planning for this trip to Japan- my one request was that we stop and get to see this beautiful sight! I am so happy we did! We traveled by train and bus to get to Yamanashi. We found a beautiful place to stay on AirBnB called Peace&One. Jun picked us up from the bus station and took us to the AirBnB

On arrival we met a beautiful couple from Malaysia-@silverfishnic&@ritchie_jumpingfitness! Thankfully they liked Julie’s music choices at dinner! By the end of the meal we were all sitting together and chatting! Those are the moments I love the most from traveling! Meeting and learning about new people.

Our AirBnB was honestly in the best location... We got our first sights of the amazing Mount Fuji on a walk right outside of where we were staying. It was so beautiful. Fall was in full swing which was an added bonus! Then we went on a *beginners* dirt biking tour to a see spectacular viewing spots of Mount Fuji! It was absolutely phenomenal. After our ride we tried to go to a local theme park that had closed unfortunately right as we arrived but nonetheless we still roamed around and explored what we could!

Our AirBnb, besides having so much beautiful nature surrounding us, had its own Onsen! We had taken full advantage of this as well! This was definitely one of my favorite places in Japan. Such a great place to get to recharge in!

November 26th- November 29th: Tokyo, Japan- Tokyo was a beautiful city and I had such a great time! The first night in town we went and checked out an AirBnb experience of the Shinjuku night life with @gentle_yoshi. Julie and I had a blast and loved closing the night out with the group at a karaoke bar! When in Japan go to a karaoke bar!!! I loved exploring Tokyo we explored through the Akihabara district, went to the Roppongi hills observatory deck, and roamed through Harajuku.

My favorite memory was spending thanksgiving eating Hotpot with our new friend!

November 29th- December 1st: Osaka, Japan- The last stop! I was happy that I got to spend my last two days revisiting Osaka!

It was a heck of a mission to get to because I almost missed the train to the airport and didn’t realize the hike we would have to do to the train station but thankfully Julie and I were able to rush and make it haha. I took this part of the trip solo. Immediately when I got into Osaka- I went to go see the Osaka Castle, strolled through the Amerikamura and Shinbashi districts.

The next day I literally just hung out and relaxed to prepare for the travel I was going to get into the next day to head back to the US. On my last night I took another airbnb experience! It was for a food, sake, and sightseeing tour! It was on of the best local experience tours I had been on. The tour guide had so much to teach about the area, culture, and food. I was initally thinking to skip out but I’m so glad I hadn’t!

All in all this was a phenomenal trip and I am so happy I got to experience it with the people I got to experience it with!

Such a trip of a lifetime ❤️