- Me feeding the deer ☺ -“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page. “- St. AgustineThe End-year Holidays before my senior year in high school starts, I went on a vacation with my family to Japan. We departed from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Kuala Lumpur and arrived at Kansai International Airport, Osaka at 6 o’clock in the morning. The flight took 450 minutes to arrive at the destination. The first place we visited was Nara, Kyoto. Nara is second only to Kyoto as the richest collection of traditional sites in Japan. Nara is home to some of the country’s best temples and shrines, along with several fine gardens, museums, and traditional neighborhoods. Nara is a compact city packed with first-rate sights, including the famous Daibutsu (Great Buddha) at Todai-Ji Temple, Kasuga-Taisha Shrine, and Nara-Koen Park, with its famous semi-wild deer. Well, I liked Nara-Koen Park the most. The park was very breathtaking. Nara-Koen Park is lined with pleasant pathways and dotted with ponds. Undoubtedly, the most interesting feature of the park is the large population of semi-wild deer that roam the park and I got to feed the deer with ‘Shika Senbei’ (pack of deer crackers).
On the second day, we went to Universal Studios Japan as it is one of the must-dos in Osaka and especially because I’m a fan of Harry Potter. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is without a doubt the main highlight while visiting. I mean who wouldn’t want to forgo our muggle (normal human folk) status for a day and immerse ourselves in a world of magical possibilities. Growing up, I pored over the Harry Potter books and films. I even went to the lengths of rereading all the previous books whenever a new one came out (yes I read Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone 7 times). The ride of Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey was very fascinating, I felt like I was really on a floating broomstick playing Quidditch with the Gryffindor team. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to try out Butterbeer but I bought some souvenirs from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and other sections so it kind of help fades my disappointment away. I also went on other rides and attractions. The most thrilling of them all was The Flying Dinosaur. I have to wait for 120 minutes to get to my turn. In spite of waiting for so long, the ride was really worth the wait. It is not the ‘sit-down’ roller coaster, but the passengers will be suspended face-down in midair as if they are being held in the talons of a pteranodon. I felt like flying through the sky with these dinosaurs! We went back to our hotel at about 4.30 p.m. because the season in Japan was autumn so the daytime is longer than the night-time.
- Me in front of the Hogwarts express 💕-
On the next day, we went to Arashiyama, Kyoto. There were bamboo groves along the walk to get on top of the mountain. There was also a long river when I went down the mountain. Pleasure boats were available to rent on the river. Overall, the scenery of Arashiyama was very aesthetic. In the next days, we just went on sightseeing in Osaka.
- Me with astonishing scenery 😍 -
After six days we stayed in Osaka, we moved to Tokyo by a bullet train. In Tokyo, we went to astounding places such as Ueno Park, Tokyo Skytree, Roppongi, Mount Takao and Tokyo Disneyland. Mount Takao gave the best and superb view of Mount Fuji. Mount Fuji is the tallest mountain and most iconic landmark in Japan, the height of the mountain is 3776 meters from sea level. The mountain has its very special features. However, my homeland’s mount is higher, Mount Kinabalu with its height of 4095 meters from sea level (I’m proud to be a Malaysian). We had a lot of fun at Tokyo Disneyland, its slogan says ‘Happiness is here’. I guess it’s true, I’m always happy every time I go to Disneyland. The fireworks were superb. Tokyo Disneyland is the best Disneyland in Asia. After 12 days in Japan, we went back to our homeland from Narita Airport on 2nd December 2017. The vacation was exhausting yet fun, we enjoyed every place we went and cherish every single moment we created. I hope to go to northern part of Japan next time.
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