Super Short Trip to Hiroshima (and a small tips if you plan to go there ;) )


Setelah di timpuk aneka PR (dan masih menumpuk) karena dikejar deadline submit jurnal Maret ini, dengan gegap gempita seorang Marissa memutuskan untuk kabur ke Hiroshima. Jumat 23 Desember adalah hari libur nasional di Jepang, jadi yo wis lah… 1-2 hari juga ndak apa yang penting libuuuur. Karena niatnya memang “kabur” jadi yaaa ndak bilang-bilang sama Sensei kalau akan ciao ke Hiroshima. Walhasil Beliau dengan ceria dan senyumnya yang manis langsung memberikan “hadiah” berupa PR untuk programming dan research progress. Dengan senyum manis tersungging, kami mah ngangguk-ngangguk aja, sambil mikir “Waduuh harus gotong laptop nih”

Namun memang ya bocah-bocah durhaka. Saya sih bawa laptop, tapi alhamdulillah tidak disentuh. Saya kira saya yang paling malas dan durhaka dan akan diazab Allah, rupanya “sohib-sohib” saya di lab pun serupa! Mereka malah sudah menggotong peralatan ski dan kelupaan membawa laptop mereka :’D Alhamdulillah, di tempat tujuan mereka gak bisa ski karena badai MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Allah juga tahu siapa yang dosanya lebih serius perihal ini.
Lucu sih karena pada akhirnya malah dapat LINE dari para mahasiswa durhaka “Marissa, how about your homework? Wait! What homework btw?” hahhaa lha piye…
absurb lah my PhD life.

Hiroshima: A Recommendation if you are a backpacker with super limited time!
Saya sudah lelah ditanya “Mon, kira-kira di Jepang harus liat apa ya? Kalau ke tempat X berapa lama? Terus bayar berapa? Di Tokyo hotel yang murah apa?”
Ada beberapa hal yang salah kaprah di sini:

1. Saya jarang jalan-jalan… Kan kalian tahu saya ini “cat person” setengah mati. Keluar rumah? Capek? Lha… di rumah anget dan banyak makanan yaaaa ngelungker di balik selimut
2. Kalau kalian tanya Tokyo, saya sendiri saja…. yang 2 tahun di Tokyo masih menahan tangis kalau liat harga hotel. Akomodasi di Tokyo itu mahaaaaaaaaaal.

Tapi kali ini saya tahu,  rekomendasi jika kalian mau backpacker, hanya 1-2 hari, dan budget agak sedikit terengah. I recommend: HIROSHIMA.
Alasannya:
1. Main attractionnya tidak saling berjauhan, jadi kalau hanya ingin explore main attractions… pasti sempat lah.
2. Penginapan dan transportation cost tidak terlalu mahal.

Minusnya, yaaaa jauh dari Tokyo. Kalian bisa naik overnight bus dari Tokyo (12 jam) , naik shinkansen (sekitar 3 jam), atau take a flight ke fukuoka airport lalu lanjut dengan kereta atau bus. Kyoto juga super recommended sih, tapi ketika musim libur datang saya merasa Kyoto jadi terlalu ramai.

Dari Hiroshima station, kalian bisa langsung jalan kaki dan berjalan ke area kuil salah satunya Hiroshima Toshogu Shrine yang letaknya di Futaba Mt. Nah satu bukit ini ke atas itu kompleks kuil, jadi jika kalian kuat nanjak, mendaki gunung melewati lembah, kalian bisa melihat banyak spots di sini. One of my favorite adalah Kinko Inari Shrine, karena jalan menuju kesana menurut saya “camera-able” karena torii dengan warna merah menyala itu nendang banget di kamera

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Gate ke Toshogu Shrine

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Jalan menuju Kinko Inari Shrine

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Pemandangan selama mendaki gunung melewati lembah

Dari situ, harus ke Miyajima lah. Ini bagus banget! Jadi jika kalian ke Hiroshima dan gak mampir ke Miyajima, aduuuuh… bye~sayang banget. Ini agenda wajib! Sebenarnya sih si pulau kecil ini official name-nya Itsukushima, nama beken-nya ya Miyajima itu. Jika ada waktu lebih banyak lagi, kalian harus menjajal naik ke Mt.Misen.

Miyajima ini terpilih sebagai salah satu UNESCO World Heritage. Awalnya sih mikir, ya ampuuun sebagus apa sih? Kuil itu mau sebagus apa lagi?
Rupanya satu komplek pulau kecil ini, shrine area yang dikelilingi gunung dan laut. Jadi scenic banget sih. Better you see this one
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Cantik kan…
Belum lagi makanan di sini yang enak banget! Kuliner khas di Miyajima adalah tiram dan belut. Untuk makan siang saya menjajal goreng tiram di sini…. dan ENAK! Ya ampuuun enak banget. Untuk menghindari kalian yang bisa ngiler, foto sengaja saya blur HAHAHAHAHA
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Saya juga beruntung karena ketika saya datang, kota Hiroshima rupanya sedang mengadakan even light festival besar-besaran :’D dan venue illumination festival ini hanya 3 menit dari guest house tempat saya menginap HHAHAHAHAHAHA. Lucky Marissa…. untuk kalian pecinta bokeh photography, it such a heaven…
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Keesokan harinya, pastinya dong sudah sampai Hiroshima kok gak liat Hiroshima Atomic Bomb dome! Wah pelanggaran berat. Kebetulan tempat saya menginap juga dekat dengan area ini.
Nah Atomic bom dome, Memorial museum, dan Hiroshima castle itu areanya berdekatan jadi kalian bisa keliling dan lihat semua spots ini dalam satu hari dengan jalan kaki atau sewa sepeda. Itu pun kalian masih sempat jalan-jalan di tempat gaulnya Hiroshima di Hondori St.

Rekomendasi saya sih, ke Hiroshima castle dulu ya… karena dia agak jauh sedikit.
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Dari situ enjoy Atomic bomb memorial park.
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Saran saya, kalian HARUS masuk ke Hiroshima Peace Memorial museum karena it is open your mind banget, tiket masuk hanya 200 yen!
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Awalnya saya ke museum juga hanya sekadar nitip tas karena lokernya gratis (HAHAHAHHA). Tapi karena penasaran, akhirnya mampir juga dan rupanya memorable banget, dan setelah keluar museum kalian pasti tergugah dan bakal bilang “No more war in this world!”

Rasanya juga mau nangis ketika membaca cerita para korban bom atom Hiroshima. Makin sedih lagi ketika melihat origami yang dilipat oleh Sadako Sasaki-san, bocah cilik yang terkena leukeumia karena efek radiasi bom atom.
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Lebih sedih daripada film One Liter of Tears sih. Namanya bocah masih polos gitu kan, dia berharap dengan melipat 1000 origami burung bangau bisa mengantarkan doanya untuk sembuh terkabul. Aduh… aduh… gak kuat deh, it is too sad for me. Oiya ada bukunya loh, kalau gak salah terbitan Penguin publisher, judulnya Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes.

Budgeting!
Kalau kalian pecinta privacy, rekomendasi saya adalah menyewa kamar di Ryookan,. Ryookan ini rumah tradisional Jepang, tidurnya pun di futon alias kasur lipat. Tapi kamarnya luas, dan ada private room. Ada beberapa Ryookan di Hiroshima, jadi coba aja cari. kalau mau lebih murah lagi yang kamar di dorminatory room atau capsule hotel. Agak sakit punggung sih… dan saya kan rewel ya jadi males ahahaha.

Capsule hotel: 1500-2000 yen per night
Ryookan: 3000/4000 yen per night—–5000/6000 yen per night in peak time for private room
Hotel 3 stars      : 5000/6000 yen per night—- 6000/10000 yen per night in the peak time for private room.

Untuk transport ferry dari hiroshima city ke miyajima biasanya around 1000-2000 yen round trip. Tergantung kalian naik dari mana.

City bus dan trem 160-220 yen asal tau rutenya

Kereta 160-400 yen tergantung jarak

Just IMO sebagai mantan anak Tokyo, range harga di atas cukup rasional dan affordable.

Sekian deh laporan singkatnya.
Selamat jalan-jalan… 😉

 

Yummy and Happy places in Tokyo Skytree: My personal review


Well… so some people ask me to draw something again… I would love too but arggghh this is my last semester in master degree :’D but okay! I am checking “search keywords” in my blog and some people are searching for my review for some places in Japan. I am not really good in reviewing something, however I will try my best while it is not takes too much time 😉

My review today is: Tokyo Skytree… the tallest tower in Japan so far. But if you are student (or unfortunately a tourist with limited budget), go to the peak of this tower is considerably expensive, but don’t worry! there are still lots of fun you may found here.

However, I have limitation… I love foods (No love like love to glorious foods), but while I am Moslem I can’t eat everything. So, yeaaah I should tell you my review (of course) has a lot of limitation. But here it is! I also make a doodle for it

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1. Postal Museum Tokyo
If you are a philatelist, love stamps, love postcard, you can’t pass this place!
Small but neat and nice museum! While I am a philatelist and postal stuff lover, I can stay here for hours.
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You may see a long history of Postal system in Japan… and please don’t be surprised, you also can check stamps collection from all around the world! I am really amazed because I also found complete series of Indonesian stamps here, I can found it more complete than what I found in Indonesia.

It is very cheap also, just 300 yen you can enjoy and enter this museum! Then don’t forget to visit the museum shop, find some interesting postcard and send it to your beloved one (or maybe yourself :’D ) ah! if you lucky enough you also can find some old stamps for complete your collection. Good luck, Philatelist!

This is the address:
Tokyo SKYTREE Town Solamachi 9F, 1-1-2, Oshiage, Sumida-ku, Tokyo, 131-8139, Japan

2. Ice Cream in Hokkaido Milk Land
Hokkaido is famous with delicious sushi, awesome ramen, delicious food, and high quality milk. But as if you are in Tokyo and you just trapped in Skytree, maybe some hokkaido milk ice cream will make you smile 🙂
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I am Ice Cream lover, so no matter what I will always say it is delicious. But for me… it is very smooth and perfectly melt in your mouth. The price is slightly more expensive than regular ice creams, but if you really love ice cream…. I just can say: YOU SHOULD TRY HOKKAIDO MILK ICE CREAM!

When I went to Hokkaido with one of my best friend, before went back to Tokyo we bought Ice Cream, it sounds crazy because Hokkaido is somehow cold! But we just end up with complimenting the ice cream. Delicious is delicious….

3. Nana’s Green Tea
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I recommend this place because I like green tea! everything with green tea is awesome for me. The place is cozy enough for writing, reading, working, or just chit chat with friends. And they also have lots of fish donburi bowl, which is relatively “safe”for me :’D So… I enjoy everything here although I am alone there huhuhuhuhu…

Price range is around 400-1500 yen. I think that a reasonable price for a cafe. And uh oh… you also can try Uji Green Tea… but I haven’t try it so I can’t give any review yet.

4. Ganso Sample Shop
One of my friend asked me where to find Food Sample accessories. There are lots, one of it is Ganso Sample Shop
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Personally, I impressed with how great they are in making food sample… but shocked when looking the price :’D But we learn: Price is never lie. If you curious with the quality… okay then, I’ll give you the spoiler
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with the same price I can buy 5kg rice :’D and it will last for about one month..huhuhuhuhuhu… too much broken heart when visit this shop.

5. Tokyo Skytree Souvenir Shop
Of course… you can find some souvenir here. In 5th floor 😉

Others (I found it also interesting and fun)
1. Kyukyodo (for some sweet Japanese style stationaries)
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2. Clover leaf (for crispy taiyaki and cute waffle 😉 )
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3. Lupicia (I become tea addict recently, I tried lots of tea sent by my penpal from all around the world and I started to find some tea shops which has complete tea selection. This one is complete enough)
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That’s it 🙂
all picture here taken by my very old pocket camera while my brother challenge me to use my old camera instead of my DSLR. I hope the pic is still good.

Yeay! that’s it. Find your pleasure wherever you are 🙂