Kyoto is without a doubt, one of the best known and most popular travel destinations in Japan, while Nara, once the capital of Japan some 1300 years ago, is full of historical charm too.

Today I am going to share with you 15 iconic places to see and things to do that you can easily access with your JR-WEST Kansai Area Pass!

Read my previous blog post on how to purchase and redeem JR-WEST Rail Passes online effortlessly!

Let’s start!

To all my readers who love Japan and have travelled to Japan before, I’m sure by now you already know you can make good use of your status as a foreign tourist to purchase rail passes that will allow you to travel conveniently while saving a great deal.

But indeed, there are many types of rail passes and it could take some time to take in all the info. I have written 3 blog posts on traveling to Kansai with JR-WEST Rail Passes, covering two passes which are the Sanyo-San’in Area Pass and Kansai WIDE Area Pass. You can read my blog posts below. ^^ read more

Hello guys! My journey in Japan continues and today I will be talking about shopping!

Shopping is one of the biggest activities we look forward to doing in Japan, especially for Malaysians and Singaporeans. And you guys have already seen my luggage filled with groceries on the last day of my every trip to Japan – that’s how important it is to me.

Today I am introducing Ito-Yokado, one of Japan’s largest tax-free supermarket chains offering good quality products at reasonable prices, and why it would be your one-stop shopping destination especially before flying back home for all your last minute shopping. read more

It’s Japan time again!

This time around I wanna bring you guys to Toyama, Nagano and Gifu area, on a self-drive trip.

We will be exploring these 3 prefectures by first flying into Toyama airport, rent a car and drive through the destinations. It will be a 5D4N trip of wonderful nature and rich culture in central Japan.

Read my Day 1 blog post here about abalone feast at Shima Peninsula.

Read my Day 2 blog post here about divine Ise and Matsusaka beef.

Read my Day 3 blog post here about Iga ninja and Iga beef sukiyaki

Today we are onto the last day of my #visitmie trip. I spend 4 good full days in one single prefecture and yet there are still lots of places I have not covered. #Ineedmorelifetimes.

Today we will be venturing into the very exciting Kuwana city to explore a beautiful botanical park, and some of the world’s top thrill rides that will guarantee to give your heart some good kicks. read more

Read my Day 1 blog post here about abalone feast at Shima Peninsula.

Read my Day 2 blog post here about divine Ise and Matsusaka beef.

It wasn’t until day 3 that I have come to realized that Mie is really blessed with everything. How long can you stay in Mie until you get bored? The answer is… until you get sick of eating good food.

Read my Day 1 blog post here about abalone feast at Shima Peninsula.

Mie Prefecture is blessed with the abundance of both treasures from the ocean and land. In my previous post we have had (actually just me, but it could soon be your experience if you allow yourself to! Hehe.) glorious abalone and other assorted seafood in the Shima region, today I’m bringing you to explore the crème de la crème of beef – Matsusaka from its namesake city.

But first, let’s pick up where we left in the previous post and start with a great lookout point in Shima region. read more

I’m sure you already knew about my #47PrefectureMission and that I have completed this life mission early June this year.

I visited Mie in 2016 for two things:

1.Ise Jingu Shrine
2. Matsuzaka Beef

The two things that Mie is probably most famous for. And these two things alone warrant a visit to Mie. This time around, I’m on a new mission – to go deep. Real deep. For all 47 prefectures. All over again.

I am a proud #VisitMieSupporter of 2019.

We Malaysians and Singaporeans love food. So in this series of blog posts, I’m bringing you on a journey with me to Mie, the paradise of world class gourmet all condensed in one single prefecture. read more

Okay, honestly? This post is going to be  a little overwhelmingly lengthy, because I will be introducing 3 different passes from three different railway companies for those of you who intend to travel to the Kansai area of Japan.

But stay with me here and I hope it will be a worthwhile read for you to make the best out of your next Japan trip!

In this blog post, we are focusing on the Kansai area of West Japan. While I believe all of you are familiar with the classic route to conquer Osaka, Kyoto and Nara, there’s so much more to explore within the Kansai region with just a couple of train rides. read more

I finally understand the reason why I am falling so far behind documenting my personal Japan travel journey now. For work trips and other sponsored trips, I can submit my blog posts overnight and I am very proud that I hardly ever asked for extensions and I think some of my clients are pretty pleased to receive a full blog draft 2 days post-trip.

This is my 56th visit to Japan, and despite all I know and love about Japan, I have never actually “lived” in Japan before. The longest stay was couple of weeks in service apartments.

So with the kids having a long summer break, we are spending 1.5 months here in Tokyo, and for the first time in my life, I am finally getting a taste of how it is like to “live” in my favorite city in the whole wide world.

Read my previous post on Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture.

Konpira Shrine, Kotohira

Kotohira (琴平) is a small town outside of Takamatsu city, and it houses the largest shrine complex in the whole of Shikoku – Kotohira Gu or Konpira Shrine – or nicknamed Konpira San by the locals.