Dear Dayre,
This is a photo from yesterday's sunset, right outside our apartment! PS. Dress is upcoming on TVD too 😊
☀️ Woke up at 4.44am today!!! ☀️
The purpose: to embark on a day trip out to Takayama and Shirakawa-go for sightseeing and exploration! #yinagoestojapan
Because travelling by Shinkansen takes roughly three hours from Kyoto to Takayama, we had to start really early so that we could have more time at Takayama and Shirakawa-go.
These are the skies at 5.30am. It was already getting light! By about 6am, the sun is fully out and feels almost like 8am in Singapore. It's so bright that despite me knowing that it's only 6am (which is 5am in Singapore time), I am already wide awake and ready to go. Which is good.
I'm so good at buying the subway tickets now 😂 Hopefully it will also be the case for Tokyo!
Shinkansen time!
We had to take two trains: from Kyoto to Nagoya and then Nagoya to Takayama.
Our JR pass is really fully utilized 😂 It costs about $350 for the seven day JR Pass!
📷✨ I've been almost exclusively using the 12-40mm pro lens and it's really a versatile lens! Though I feel that I may prefer the images from my prime lens (17mn and 45mm) more, it's so much lesser of a hassle when I don't have to keep swopping out the lenses.
Bought Macdonalds for breakfast from Kyoto station: this is some special muffin that tastes like a McChicken patty with tomato sauce and cheese! Pretty yummy!
We also got an ekiben from the store at the train platform!
I really love walking into every single convenience store and looking at what they have to offer me and my greedy stomach 😂
This is a beef bento box with beef sushi and then more beef with rice 😳 It's quite a lot of beef and rice even though the box looks so small and compact… For 980yen, which seems to be quite an ok price for a bento box.
The ride to Takayama was really long and I was napping through most of it, but it was also incredibly scenic and gorgeous!!!!!
Just look at this…… The waters were really blue and reflecting off the sky and mountains.
We are really blessed with the wonderful weather, it has been clear skies and cool nights everyday since we arrived. I was expecting the worst because September is usually rainy and typhoony but I'm so glad YZ's first Japan experience has been kind to him 😂
Crazy blue skies today.
Takayama is a city in the mountainous Hida region of Gifu, and it's a very quaint and beautiful city with an "Old Town" area that's been preserved in its traditional glory!
Also, Takayama is very very famous for Hida beef, apparently better than either Wagyu or Kobe! Don't worry, it's not just you. I didn't know about that before today too. 😂
I really give it to the Japanese, their sense of aestheticism is just 😍 Beauty is ingrained in their culture and it can be seen in so many aspects of their way of living and the country itself.
Doesn't hurt that the food in Japan is always good.. Random beef croquette at Takayama! 😋
Commercial break: I took a video of the Kichikichi chef masterfully making the best omu rice I've ever seen in my life and it's insane just watch the video but don't blame me if you get hungry 😂
After three hours of train and then another two hours of bus ride plus some more sidetracking and getting lost, we finally got to Shiragawa-go!!!
View from the observatory!
Apparently, because it's Japan's "Silver Week" holiday this coming week (it's a public holiday to honor the elderly), it's super crowded everywhere and that includes Shirakawago!
Our bus up to the village was supposed to take 50 mins but ended up taking 2 hours instead 😭
😍😁❤️
Beautiful weather is beautiful.
Dinner at Takayama was so good, we walked into a random izakaya and ordered Hida beef and some other amazing food!
The one in the video is slices of Hida beef with a mini greed and miso paste. Very interesting and very very delicious!