Japan: Celebrating New Year in Tokyo

I spent the last few days of 2016 (and the first day of 2017) prancing around Tokyo. So, here's a couple of things to do when you're celebrating new year's there!

Before the trip I actually googled for the iconic things that Japanese do to celebrate the coming of a new year and it's a rather big thing there. However, my beliefs are different from theirs so most of the stuff weren't exactly suitable. Still, I went to take a look for myself.

SHRINES

They're really big on that in Japan. There are all sorts of shrines for different purposes and I can't really explain them here because I myself have not much clue on the different types. On New Year's Day, many people will dress up in their Kimonos and pay respects at the shrine. One of the biggest in Tokyo would be the Meiji Shrine, so you can check that out!

Entrance into Meiji Shrine

Many people queuing up to pray

FESTIVALS

Because New Year's is quite a huge holiday in Japan, there are plenty of festivals around the shrine areas. There are games stalls and street food stalls selling Yakitori, Karaage, Squids etc. The food sold are mostly finger food, but my advice would be to skip dinner and just snack away! If you're in for the festive mood, you can also rent kimonos and walk along the streets.

Extremely crowded in the night!

Crab meat stick 

Street Food Stalls

CLOSURE 

The thing to take note of is that some places do close during the new year period. For example, I couldn't enter any of the gardens as they generally close from 29 Dec to 3/4 Jan.

SHOPPING

Some people say that there are huge sales ongoing during this period. I didn't see that many sales, but I managed to get great deals at GAP and Adidas! For a Singaporean, Japan is a whole lot cheaper for sportswear and GAP, which is rather strange since these are not Japanese brands. There are other shops that you should check out too!

• Stationery - Japan has the prettiest stationery ever! Check out Tokyu hands, Itoya (I personally spent hours at Itoya because it had 7 floors!!)
• Random electronics and just about everything - Don Quijote. They sell branded items (and non-branded ones) on huge discounts, ranging from underwear to cameras and watches. I was really amazed at the amount of things they sold there. Update: I just found out that they're opening a branch in Singapore!!! Whoopee!
• Household items - Daiso. They sell a lot more stuff in the Japan branches as compared to the international ones.
• Apple - it's cheaper in Japan. Enough said. I bought my iPad pro and apple pencil :P
• Japanese-brand clothing - Go take a look at random boutique stores! You never know what cool steals you may find!
• Sneakers - if you're into sneakers like I am, some sneaker stores sell Nikes for cheap!
• More sneakers - Onitsukas. Non leather ones go for 8000 yen and Leather ones go for 12000 yen. The japan made and nippon made stuff are a lot more expensive!

There we go! It's not too much but Tokyo is mainly a shopping area and Ueno is not that well known but there are hidden street gems with cheaper shopping so you can try that area! 

Japan: Snowboarding in Nozawa Onsen! [Part 2]

During the few days I was up in Nozawa-onsen, I was blessed enough to have encountered a heavy snowfall! When I woke up after my first night, I was amazed to find the entire place covered in fresh powder white snow! It was a magical sight to behold, especially for someone who hadn't seen snowfall before. Well, it was fortunate too, because it made my first try at snowboarding a lot easier!

Snowing heavily with lots of fresh powder!

 Is this not the prettiest??

For those who haven't snowboarded before, trying it out on fresh snow powder is a lot less painful when you fall, and also creates more friction (which works when you're trying to start out slow). So, I was extremely grateful. However, it's a double edged sword because it's harder to get up when you lock both feet on the board. 

It's rather difficult to get up once you've locked your feet on the board

Here's a brief introduction to snowboarding, to ease the fears of those who want to try it don't really dare to:

• Both of your feet are locked into the clasps on the board
• The normal way to snowboard is right foot down first. Going with the left foot down is known as goofy. By default, you will be given the normal one, but if you feel that the other way is more comfortable for you, you can try goofy the next time! Personally I found that I used my left foot more, so I will try goofy the next round!
• It requires a lot of leg control - just pretend that you're balancing on the bus or train without holding onto the handles
• The first trick you will learn is known as falling leaves. You will move down as though you are drawing diagonal lines down the slope. 
• The simpler way to move downwards is to control using your heel - dig in, you stop. Release, you go. You will be facing the downside of the slope.
• The more difficult way will be to use the toe-side. You will be facing the upside of the slope so you can't see where you're going. 
• The best method of travelling is to alternate between both heel-side and toe-side so that your calves don't hurt like crazy after. But it's not easy! 
• The other tricks you will learn are things like turns and all. I highly recommend that you go for a lesson on your first try to ensure that you learn the correct techniques and not develop any bad habits!

Pattern for falling leaves

Okay, so I thoroughly enjoyed snowboarding, but there were some things that I would have done differently if I were to do it again! The first thing I would change is to wear thick socks!! I can't emphasise how important this is. Because I was quite scared at first, I did a lot of controlling using my heels and calves. Hence, the back of my heels dug into my boots a lot and gave me a blister by the end of the day. Not to mention I rested in the tongue of my shoe to prevent myself from falling forward, so that hurt too. When I went snowboarding again the next day, I could barely put on my boots without it hurting. Also, I would also get a bandanna to cover my nose and mouth areas. The speed at which you snowboard might not be that fast, but if you're as lucky as I am to encounter snowfall during snowboarding, it gets windy and cold. The faucet on my nose wouldn't stop leaking. 

For those who are no longer amateurs at snowboarding, nozawa-onsen also offers slopes that are very smooth and nice to ski/snowboard! Not to mention, the view from the top is epic! The day after it snowed, the paths were all very well-utilised and you can travel down more smoothly.

After the paths were well-utilised

View from the top

Now, where do you rent your equipment from? 

I rented mine from Shirakaba Rental but you can just take a look at the foot of the mountain. There are many eateries and rental places. I used Shirakaba because they had some deals with the Ryokan I was at. If you do not have any gear, do not stinge. Go with the full suit - jacket, pants, snowboard, boots. 

I recommend that you check this website out for updates on skiing and snowboarding in Nozawa-onsen as they will update the opening hours depending on the amount of daylight and also the weather. They also show the map and the many ski-lifts that you can take to the various levels of slopes. When I went at the end of December, they closed from 4pm onwards because that's almost the time for sunset.

I hope that this is a comprehensive overview of snowboarding and how it's like in nozawa-onsen! I will definitely go back again so if you are able to, make a trip there! I'm sure you won't regret it (:

Happy snowboarding!

Japan: Nozawa-onsen [Part 1 - how to get there and accommodation]

I'm a December child and I've always loved the snow, but my parents did not appreciate the cold much so they refused to travel to places that snowed. So, when I finally had the chance to travel on my own, I wanted to find a place that had a 100% chance of snow. There is no better way than to find a location that's famous for skiing and snowboarding!

In Asia, there are mainly 2 places people go to for that - Korea and Japan. I've been to Korea 3 times and can travel like a local since I can somewhat speak the language and understand it (I'll post about that later). At that point in time, I hadn't actually experienced Japan much, so Japan it was! As mentioned in my earlier posts, I don't usually like extremely touristy places and would rather move around with locals, so Nozawa-onsen was good. It's a rather small town (you could walk through it in a short amount of time) and many Japanese locals go there during the winter season to ski and/or snowboard. 

How to get from Tokyo to Nozawa-onsen:

1. Fly in via Narita Airport.
2. Take the Narita Express to Tokyo Station [30 min].
3. Take the Shinkansen to Iiyama Station [1 hour 45 min].
4. Transfer to a bus that goes to Nozawa-onsen at the bus interchange [20-30 min] (you can approach the bus conductor or the customer service counter to get them to point you in the direction of the correct bus).

Some things to note about taking public transport in Japan:

• Buses leave the interchange at fixed schedules. They also have fixed timings to reach certain bus stops.
• Intercity trains such as Narita Express and Shinkansens are extremely punctual. They do not wait for any passenger. These trains are also very expensive. Be prepared to pay about 200sgd. 
• If you are travelling to many cities, my advice would be to buy the JR pass. You can feel free to purchase it from any website that offers it at a cheaper price.
• Their subways are pretty much the same as any other country. They use various cards to get on - Suica or Pasmo. I personally use Suica and it's widely accepted by different lines. For the Shinkansen, you should purchase the tickets from counters though.

Nozawa-onsen: Accommodation and Around the Town

Most of the accommodation there are ryokans (Japanese-style inns) and I would like to suggest that you try staying in one! But be prepared to sleep on futon mattresses. Ryokans are also strict about taking off your shoes at the front door. Thereafter, they will provide slippers for you to wear while walking around the inside of the inn. However, no slippers are allowed on tatami mats. 

Breakfasts at Ryokans have specified timings since the chef needs to cook quite a spread and they will prepared the food for you before you arrive. All the breakfast timings are early (8am, 8.30am). 

Typical Ryokan breakfast

You can take a walk around the town area. There are plenty of family-run restaurants, which are cheaper and really good.

Around the town - all snowy!

Very generous serving of a barachirashi don with umeshu

Stay tuned for Part 2: Snowboarding in Nozawa-onsen!

MalDIVEs

I went to Maldives in mid-december 2016. It was kind of a birthday trip of sorts and the main reason for going to Maldives was really, to dive. I hadn't gotten my Basic Open Water then, so I was intending to get it there!

A tip if you haven't dived before and wish to obtain a certification: look for centres that offer PADI certified courses. It's the most widely recognised diving certification in the world. 

Pre-Maldives

If you look at basic open water courses, you'll notice that they all contain 3 components - theory session (and final test), pool session, 4 x open water sessions. In order for it to be economical, it is advisable that you complete all 3 components with the same dive centre. However, I have claustrophobia and am really uncomfortable with wearing the mask required for diving and/or snorkelling. Hence, I signed up for the theory and pool session in Singapore with The Dive Company in case I panicked in Maldives and couldn't finish the open water sessions. The pool session teaches you simple skills that you'll need as a diver - i.e. mask clearing, simple navigation, hovering in water, emergency ascents etc. This is important so that you don't panic when you're 12m underwater in the open ocean. I completed it successfully and got a referral sheet to certify I had completed the theory and pool components.

So yay! I was all ready for the open waters in Maldives!

Arrival in Maldives
We flew Singapore Airlines to Maldives and reached there sometime at 10pm. Since we were staying at Hotel Jen on Male, they provided the free boat shuttle from the airport to the hotel. The hotel is pretty standard, reasonably sized, and the toilet had a glass wall with blinds drawn. The view we got overlooked the sea, so that was rather pretty!

Day 1
Breakfast was a simple western meal - ie toasted sandwiches and juice - at a cafe sort of place near the hotel. Honestly, the theme in Maldives should never be food. There aren't many options around and if you go to the islands it's worse so resorts tend to provide full-board with meals. The agenda for the day was to find a suitable Dive center and after that, to explore the area aimlessly! I really like just walking around cities like a local, so I tend to go for that sort of travel style to experience and see the local culture.

Agenda 1 was completed upon finding Dive Club Maldives! They're situated at a humble corner on Male but they also have other branches on other islands so be sure to check them out (:

We wandered around the streets in the afternoon - there is a particular street (Chaandhanee Madu) that had money changers with good rates, so it's advisable that you bring USD to Maldives and change there! That street has many souvenir shops that offer money changing services and it's possible to bargain for a better rate. If you do not wish to change to the Maldivian Rufiyaa, usd is also accepted throughout the islands.

In Male, you can walk along the jetty and you'll reach an artificial beach on the east of the island. It's all nice and stuff but nothing too spectacular I feel. I love the jetty walks though, the waters are clear and there are plenty of fishes to look at!

Day 2
Diving usually starts extremely early in the morning so you will need to be at the jetty by 8am. If you have motion sickness, it is recommended to pop an anti motion sickness pill 30 min before going up the boat. You should be fine for the dives. Thereafter, depending on the Dive centre, you will go straight to the dive site or pick up other divers/snorkellers along the way. For those new to diving, not to worry, there is always a briefing done on board the dive boat to help you orientate yourself to the emergency procedures and the type of dive equipment used etc. It normally takes about an hour to travel the dive sites since they are usually a distance away from land.

Then, it's time to put on your wet suits, check your BCD, tanks, and in you go! In my basic open water course, I had to perform some basic skills in the open water, so mask clearing and emergency assents were a given. Other skills you'll need to do include basic straight line navigation using a compass and being able to orient yourself on the surface. Besides the skills, you'll still have some time to explore the area and appreciate the beauty underwater.

In the waters of Maldives, the common fishes are:
Butterfly fishes, angel fishes, clown fishes, triggers, surgeon fishes
There are also many moray eels! Leopard morays, giant morays etc. It actually became such a common sight that after awhile you'll just be "Oh, it's just another moray."

Visibility varies depending on the time of the year and the weather that particular day. Honestly, when I went in December it wasn't that good, but there was almost no current.

We usually clock 2 dives in a day and finish at about lunch. Dive club Maldives did not provide lunch so that was free and easy. For the rest of the day, it is recommended that you just take a break and chill! Diving is tiring because of the changes in pressure.

Beautiful photo of a sea turtle!

Spotted Moray Eel

A whole school of triggers

Needle fish

Rays

Clown trigger

Day 3
We got sick for some reason so the entire day was spent recuperating :/

Day 4
Thankfully, I had one more day to do the last 2 dives to complete my certification! So day 4 was basically about the same as day 2. And at last, I am open-water certified! (Update: I got my Advanced Open Water in Nusa-Lembongan after that too!)

Day 5-6
We spent 2 nights at Malahini - Kuda Bandos. The entire island is rather small and it's just a whole resort on its own. My advice is go for the full board with all meals provided because there isn't any other food option there. It's a little more pricey but it really is very pretty. You can do water sports there, or just chill on the beach. They have various activities at night to keep you occupied and entertained so be sure to look out for those as well! Other than that, it's just nice to snorkel (bring your own gear or rent at a price) and walk along the beach.

The entrance walkway at night

 Lighted christmas trees along the beach

Lighted decorations for christmas

Just something to take note - the transport fee from the resort island to the airport island is rather expensive, so just be prepared for that (about 50 sgd per person).