Sincerely, Alison: 2017

Tokyo 2017 - Part 1

15:20

Going to Tokyo was a graduation gift from my parents. It was just a short 4 days trip. 4 days may seem short, but it was enough for me to fall in love with the city. I reassure you, I will be back, Japan!

I took the midnight flight from KL to Tokyo so when I landed, it was 8am which meant that I had a full day to explore Tokyo. Since my brother was already staying in Tokyo, he met up with me at the airport and we took the train back to his girlfriend's place where I will be staying.

Tip: It is a lot cheaper to buy daily or weekly train passes instead of buying each ticket at the stations.

My brother's gf had an extra pasmo card lying around and lent it to me so I didn't have any trouble buying tickets, only had to reload it when credit runs out.

The first place we went to after we left our luggage was Asakusa and had lunch at Ichiran Ramen. We were quite lucky because there was no queue when we arrived.

I had the ramen and half-boiled salted egg at ¥1020 (~RM38). The broth was so rich and flavourful! Nothing like I have ever tasted in Malaysia. Highly recommended! Looking at that bowl of ramen makes me wanna have a bowl right now.

We went to Sensoji Temple as it is a very popular tourist attraction. Apparently is was the last week of summer break in Japan which meant everywhere we went to was super crowded.

We explored the back alleys in search of Matcha ice-cream

¥350 for an ice-cream which is roughly about RM13

Japan being Japan, we naturally saw a few mascots roaming around in Asakusa.

Saw an Owl Cafe, was a bit tempted to walk into but decided not to because there was an entrance fee. 😐

We went into Don Quijote in Asakusa to shop then to Ueno.
By the time we reached Ueno my legs were starting to hurt from walking so much. lol. So went to Tully's at Ueno for coffee then continued to Ameyoko.

I had a short cafe latte for ¥360 (roughly the same amount for a cup of tall Starbucks in Malaysia) whilst my brother shared a matcha green tea with his girlfriend.

We didn't buy anything in Ameyoko but instead went into an arcade. One machine caught my eye tho. It has *ahem* mini massagers! 😂

My brother wanted to bring me to Ueno Park but it was already past 5 and the park closes at 5pm so we headed to Ikebukuro to shop before dinner.

My brother had made reservations for us at Kura Sushi for dinner.

Tip: Make reservations before heading to this restaurant because there's always a queue.

Each plate of sushi is only ¥100! What's special about this place is for every 5 plates you get a chance to win a capsule toy. We ate 20 plates but only got 1 toy. You just put your plates into the disposal chutes after eating and it calculates for you hassle-free!
Would definitely be back again for sushi because ¥100 per plate is a bargain in Japan!

We walked around Ikebukuro after dinner then just head back and called it a day.

Till next time. xoxo

Writer's Block

17:43

For the past few months, I haven't posted anything even though I had drafts of travels posts lined up. I think it's just me being lazy. I would open this blog, update a lil and just save. My daily routine would consist of me waking up then doing what needs to be done then going back to sleep, and repeat the same routine again the next day. Like a mindless zombie.

I just need to get myself out of this headspace. I'll be back, soon.

xoxo

13 Reasons Why

17:43

Spoiler Alert!

I know I'm a little late on the hype train but I bet you probably have heard of the popular Netflix show 13 Reasons Why.

Actually I had refrained from reading any articles or spoilers before watching the show so that I wouldn't spoil any surprises from the show. I didn't know what the title of the show meant at first. 13 reasons why what? It made me more intrigued to find out what the show was all about and why all the hype. I watched the whole season in two days because it leaves you hanging at every end of the episode wondering what happens.

But I got to say kudos to the creators of the show for creating awareness on teen suicide but on the other hand I find that it is also a very dangerous show to watch.

Reasons why I find it a dangerous show:

Making yourself heard by killing yourself. Literally what the show is about. That's what Hannah chose to do so that the others know why she killed herself and how they were part of it.
Blaming everyone for your suicide except for yourself. She blames 12 people for her suicide except herself.
There a two sides to every coin. We only hear Hannah tell her part of the story, her side of the coin.
Not reaching out to others and reporting it to anyone. Hannah tried to but never said anything about being bullied or raped, expecting others to understand and know how she feels. No ones knows unless it happened to them. So never keeps quite about things like these. Talk to someone who you think cares about you like your parents per se.

However, its still a great show tho.

Who's excited for Season 2?

Kuching

Bla Bla Bla Restaurant

12:41

It's been years since we last visited Bla Bla Bla that I don't even remember the last time we came here.

My dad wanted to have a small gathering with a few of his friends so he chose this place since they got it renovated and added another place for drinking. They gave us a private space for our dinner. Dinner was so so even though the presentation was pretty. But the lamb and fish dish is really good and totally recommended. My brothers and I invited a few of our friends for second round after dinner.

Black chicken soup

Fish head dish

The lamb and fish dish. The must-order dish.

We headed to their newly renovated space beside their restaurant for drinks after dinner. They had a karaoke setup so drinks and k-session for the night!

This is their location for those who wish to visit their restaurant :

The same row as The Junk Restaurant

Address : 27, Jalan Tabuan, 93100 Kuching, Sarawak

Tel : 082-233 944

Convocation

Lil' Brother's Graduation

17:07

Click here for Ipoh Trip

We were in Ipoh last November for my lil' brother's graduation from Universiti Technology Petronas (UTP). Unfortunately my big brother wasn't able to join us due to work commitments. #marineengineerlife ☹

So my brother scheduled a photo shooting session on the night before his graduation at his friend's studio. I don't have the studio photos but we did manage to take a few with my own camera in the studio tho. Studio lightings are the best.

Jumping forward the next day to the day of the convocation. My brother's session was in the afternoon but only both my parents were allowed in the hall since there was only two tickets. So the rest of us had to wait outside the hall until the ceremony was over. We actually went to the nearest kfc to wait.