Why am I back in England...

Damn it, a girl I met in Phuket told me Hanoi would be cold and shit, I really was hoping it would be different for me but damn it, it's 13 degrees, gloomy and raining. What is this, if I wanted to be home then I would have gone home. Plus I have only packed summer clothes... This is going to be fun.

Only a few more days then off to Hue which hopefully will be warmer as I get more south.

Can't waste the day even if it's raining so off sightseeing like a tourist :)

Can't wait to come back.

To Bangkok of course, not England... I do miss my mum and even my sister (already seen my grandma in HK), and my friends too.

Next stop: Hanoi

Decided the best route into Vietnam was actually to take a plane and it was only 45 us dollars so why not. It does mean a lot of sleeper trains or buses down back south but the journey would have been the same the other way round.

I'm so hot.

And I mean temperature. It's not a nice hot like Phuket, it's humid, it's sticky, it's sweating everywhere and not looking in my best state.

Bangkok just for a day and a night, I tried so hard to make it count, but honestly I'm sweating and it's ridiculous. Thank god I'm coming back here later when I can do it properly. Plus after the night I have had, I think best to have a chill out day.

Today included walking around markets with Kat then we gave up when we saw Rory and headed for drinks in air-con.
It was still lovely to spend some time together before we all head our separate ways.

I don't want to leave.

It's been such a good week. The beach is beautiful and the most important I have met some amazing new friends. I feel so sad to be leaving. But acutally it's also good I'm leaving, I don't think my liver can handle another night of drinking. The chang beer and the buckets are too good.

Last night I met my fate! Usual night of chilling out with everyone outside and drinking and I start talking to a guy who just got here in Phuket and he tells me he lives close to me in London, then he also worked in Scribbler the summer before I started working in Oct, whatttttt. I never meet anyone in London that has any connection to me what so ever and on the otherside of the world I meet someone that does, what is happening! That night was my last night in Phuket, had to say goodbye to my roommates, the girls and the hostel. :(

On to the next adventure! Ko Phi Phi.

Big Buddha, Phuket

Oh man, I really need to learn how to scooter, it seems like it's the only way to get round the island. Well there's also the tuk tuk but it's so expensive!! The whole island is very hilly so even if I did learn, I think I would die and that wouldn't be great. I need to be alive for full moon and Songkran!

Anyways I sucked it in and went for a tuk tuk, I thought if I was going to hire one, I might as well do it for the whole day and see everything. So today was a beach, a huge Buddha and lots of temples.

I honestly find temples so peaceful, I don't have a reglion and I don't think I believe in god but there's something about sitting with all the faithful people. I can sit there for hours. This temple was very gold and over the top but what isn't over the top in Thailand! My first temple in Thailand and I'm impressed so I think Bangkok temples are just going to be amazing!

The big budda was BIG and white. It's still under contruction but it's still very impressive. It's on top of a mountain so getting there took a while especially when it felt like the tuk tuk barely could head up it. If you're not into the buddha then go for the view, you can see most of Phuket up there.

I know most people don't go to Phuket for the temples or the buddha but I was getting a bit bored of the beach and needed some culture injection.

#hotdogsorlegs

Bungula road

My hostel, kool backpacker, is on one of the busiest street in the whole of phuket and I love it. The location is so perfect for going out, heading to the beach and food.

Went out for 150baht buckets and ended up getting more and more, plus I'm loving Chang beers! I'm so hangover right now that the beach doesn't even look appealing, my friend actually told me to go sweat out the hangover, I think I'm going to be sick. Everyone is so nice here, I don't think I can leave, I love it way too much already.

It def makes a change from boring old England.

I'm here!

It's 5am, I'm finally lying down in my bed after waking my roomates up. :S 

Not a grat start to the trip, I already lostt 100US dollars... Yep. Arrived at Phuket airport, took an hour to go through the border, then found my bag on the floor next to the belt opened. Ah so annoyed, thank god I only left 100 in there otherwise I would be more upset and thank god I have insurance! Going to have to try and claim it back somehow.

Couldn't sleep, it's now 10am, went out for a walk, I can def cook an egg in this sun. The beach is beautiful, that's where you are going to find me for the next few days to get over my bad luck!

Another Airport, Another Adventure

Back in Hong Kong Airport, it's starting to feel like my home there.

Finally finished all my work in time and got some extra money for the trip and all packed, money ready, woooooooooooooo. First stop: some well needed sun in Phuket!

It's better than the movies

Kenza

Sony building and shopping central.

I been travelling since end of June and the trip actually began in New York as my own celebration for finishing my degree. Honestly what a way to celebrate, I fell in love in NY and I can't get enough of it. Anyone reading this, give me a visa, job in NY please. Designer here!

Anyways, getting back to my point, so there I met a lovely guy who has been travelling for a year and somehow after a few months he's ending his trip in Japan so here I am meeting up with him and seeing kenza.

I def don't have the money to be shopping here but window shopping and seeing some amazing window displays is still pretty good. And for all you tech livers, there's the Sony building, not a fan of Sony, just go anyway, go get up to date with the upcoming tech, try it out and play away! They honestly don't mind at all. Plus everyone I mean EVERYONE is so nice.

More sushi, YUM! Final destination: Tokyo.

I'm so excited about Tokyo. It's going to be weird being in a place so modern after being in so many traditional places. Also going to meet a friend of mine that I met in NY, which would be lovely.

For now here's some sushi.

Noodle, woooo, chinatown

Cup noodles anyone? Roller-coaster after? Then Chinatown in Japan!?
All this in One day! Pretty exciting day really.

This morning I headed to the cup noodle museum in Yokohamma where there's also a mini theme park Cosmoworld next to it. The mini theme park had this amazing roller coaster where you dive straight underground with water splashing you as you go down.
Don't be confused, yes I did go to another noodle museum but this is not the same! Cup noodles are the instant kind which we all cannot live without! Well I know I can't live without it.
In the museum it talks about the life of it and how it came back and the revolution it created. I was actually really inspired by all the you can do it quotes in there. I took a few photos of them. You will be surprised how much the company cup noodle owns. Inside you can also make a personal cup noodle which of course I did. I would def say it's worth a trip if you're there.

The roller-coaster was amazing, if it lasted longer it would def be better but for a such a small theme park, fair enough. Worth a visit if you're visiting the cup noodle museum next door.

Chinatown was well more over the top than I thought, it is def bigger than the London Chinatown which I did go quiet often. Some of the buildings were actually actual copy of the real ones in China which was quite cool I guess but to me it's still very over the top.

Madness at the Tokyo Tsukiji Fish Market!

Tsukiji Fish Market
Famous for its 5am Tuna sales, the crowd, the market and the SUSHI!

My god this blog is turning into foodporn, I really should be fat for the amount of food I have been eating on this trip. Anyway, don't really need a description except that the sushi was amazing, the most amazing thing was they make it right in front of you and you just can't imagine how fast they are!

Cute overload at ikumimama homemade donut!

Animal Donuts! So cute that I felt bad eating it!

Only in Japan, will there be animal donuts, sigh.

Not easy to find either, located on a busy street in Kanagawa-ken, it's jsut a little bakery shop on a corner.

But as I arrived it was crowded by people, and most of the animal donuts are already sold out, my fault really for going at 6pm... 

I went for the classic cat donut and it was so yummy, wish I got more really!

Head to their site to see all the different animals! SO MANY! http://ikumimama.com/

Shin-yokohama Ramen Museum!

Ramen Galore!

Taste all the different kinds of ramen in Japan under one roof!
Also instead of buying big bowls, you can buy little taster bowls which is great if you want to try everything but even the little bowls can be really filling. If you're not a fan of ramen then still go because it's set like you're living in the 60s, everything's vintage.

All the ramen shops feature a diferent kind of ramen, soup base or the way you eat the ramen. As always the Japanese out smart everyone by introducing an electronic ticket system which makes all the transaction faster. The machine does everything, you pick, you get change, you hand the ticket over, you get ramen!
Here's me next to the ticket machine and all the tickets left behind!!!

And ALL THE RAMEN!!!

Going up a hill at Lake Kawaguchi

Went up to the top of the hill to see Mt, Fuji but unfortunately it was covered by clouds. Even on a good day, Mt. Fuji is hard to come by which is a real shame really for any travelers who wants to see it. It's incredibly lucky I even got to see the top once.

Here's a photo of where Mt.Fuji is supposed to be, yep behind all that cloud... At least it's a nice view with all the maple red leaves.

Off to Shin-Yokohama, here's a lovely doggy I saw on the way!

Day 4 Mt.Fuji & Lake Kawaguchi

The incredible Mount Fuji!
On clear days, the top of the mountain can be seen but on cloudy days like my day chances are very slim.

I only saw the whole Mt.Fuji in all its glory for a brief 5 minutes before it was covered by clouds :(
But still it was amazing!

Before & After

Only stopped off at Mt.Fuji for a few hours as it was on the way to Lake Kawaguchi, the view from the lake should be able to see the mountain, so let's hope the weather clears up tomorrow.

Leaving the mountain and off to see Mt.Fuji

So excited! Here's me with a cutie before leaving the freezing mountain.

Day 3 Nagoya & Kawanehon-cho

Beautiful day seeing the famous Nagoya Castle and its palaces, eating a lot and then heading up a mountain.

You might recognise it as the Japanese castle with the green roof, either way it is defiantly something to go to Nagoya for. It's pretty impressive inside and out.
The view you get from the top floor of the castle can look out onto the city for miles, obviously won't be as impressive as a bird's eye view of Tokyo on the Sky Tree but it's really beautiful to see that the castle still remains in a modern city.

It seems we also came at the right time, there was some kind of plant competition going on and I got to see some amazing bonsai trees with flowers!

After a busy morning and afternoon seeing Nagoya, I had some more green tea ice cream and headed off to Kawanehon-cho, which is up the mountain. Took 4 hours to get there and up those horrible curvy upwards road.

Kawanehon-cho located in the middle of nowhere is a little village full of hot springs for locals and occasionally tourists to enjoy.

The little hot springs hotel that I stayed in called Miyama was traditional and full of locals, so local that no one spoke any english but it was lovely and homely. The food provided was never ending and so yummy. All the foods cooked was local produce which made it even better. With no internet, it is so peaceful and quiet. It's definitely a place you would head off to to relax and forget about your busy life.

Day 2 in Japan

Today have been a very full day.
Went to a town dedicated to deer called Nara, fed them, got chased by a lot of them for food and saw a beautiful temple.

Had a really good tofu lunch and went to ninja village in Koka.

Right now I'm at Nagoya and will be exploring the town tomorrow but I can smell the food from the hotel and I'm hungry!