Showing posts with label Shirahama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shirahama. Show all posts

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Japan-Kansai Trip 2016 - Day 1

Every year around CNY we will make use of the extended holidays to take a long holiday. So far for the past 2 years we have chosen Hokkaido, but this year the missus decided it's time to break away from that routine and go to Kansai instead.

An overnight flight to Haneda, transit to Kansai airport, just because direct flights were either full or exorbitantly expensive.

I had been sick the week prior to the trip. In fact I was still very sick prior to the flight but adrenaline somehow took over and I sort of revived once we landed in Japan.

Unfortunately my wife was left with the task of packing and preparing for all of us and left out the international driving license. That meant our initial plans to drive around Kansai had to be changed into one reliant on the rail network.

Upon recovering from the shock, first we cancelled our car booking, before checking the routes available to us. Nanki-Shirahama was so far South that it wasn't shown on the rail network map. Nothing a bit of Internet couldn't fix. 2 changes of the ride and we were on the Kuroshio rapid to Shirahama. 


The overnight flight, transit flight from Haneda and multiple train rides finally took its toil on J and he basically shut down his engine while on the 2-hour ride..


At the end of the 3-hour or so journey was a wonderful seaside town with a very different look and feel from Osaka, Nara or Kyoto.

We first made our way to the Toretore market to enjoy a good afternoon sashimi and outdoor BBQ seafood lunch. 




After lunch we took a taxi to our hotel, which overlooks the famous Shirahama beach.


We took a little walk on the beach as there was a bit of time before check-in. The wind was piercing cold but the sand was wonderful. I could imagine what the place would look like in summer.


After a 10-15 minutes walk we were both cold and tired so we tried our luck at the hotel even though it was only 2:30pm. Thank goodness for Japanese hospitality and we were lead to our room.





Our room was on the top floor, with a semi-outdoor bath which overlooked the beach. It was a welcome reward after all that traveling. 

Hotel: ホテル三楽荘
Room: Around 48,160yen for 1 night (39,360yen after utilizing our Jalan.net points) including b/f and dinner

Dinner was...






Friday, January 15, 2016

Kansai Drive 2016!


Photo of a deer in Nara taken from my last trip back in 2013

Air tickets booked...
Hotel reservations done...
Rental car voucher obtained...

I think we are ready for a holiday to Kansai region soon~ My first trip back to the region after my last visit in 2013 to Kyoto, Osaka and Nara. This time round we hope to do a drive around the region and hopefully cover places we've never been to before.

Day 1 - Shirahama
Day 2 - Nara
Day 3 - Kyoto
Day 4 - Arima Onsen
Day 5 - Osaka
Day 6 - USJ

A bit of onsen on days 1 and 4, a bit of sight-seeing on days 2 and 3, a bit of fun and shopping on days 5 and 6. I think the balance is pretty good and I hope I can show little J some of the magnificent sights on offer~ I've found some interesting links below which should help me plan the detail itinerary...

Takeda Castle Ruins
http://www.city.asago.hyogo.jp/0000001275.html

Driving Guide to Osaka
http://car-me.jp/articles/3035

Driving Guide to Kansai
http://car-me.jp/articles/3287

Any suggestions will be much appreciated~