Pre-Japan 101

Japan has always been a country I yearn to go. So I was really excited when our honeymoon destination was set to Japan. It was definitely the first time I took part in extensive planning and researching for a trip. If you are planning a trip to Japan, do read on for tips prior to your trip!

Photo credit

1. Determine which season you would like to experience.
   Dec-Feb: Winter ☃
   Mar-May: Spring 🌸
   Jun-Aug: Summer ☀
   Sept-Nov: Autumn 🍁
   
   Spring is definitely the most peak period as people swarmed to Japan to view the beautiful cherry blossom 🌸. Do you know that cherry blossom season may differ depending on the location? The best time to view cherry blossom in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto would be around end of March to early April. You can check JNTO for more specific information.
   
   We managed to book cheap air tickets from AirAsia and our travel period was end of May to early June. We missed the cherry blossom season but that also means that we avoided the crowd, which I thought was a good choice for our first trip 👍.
2. How many places do you intend to cover? 
   We booked our air tickets to and fro Osaka. We only found out later that people usually fly in to Tokyo and depart from Osaka. It would be costly for you to travel Osaka-Tokyo-Osaka as train tickets are not cheap in Japan 😓... As we want to have a leisure trip, we decided to focus our 12 days in Kansai region. We made the right choice 👍as Kansai is so huge that we couldn't finish exploring the region! For our trip, we explored Kyoto, Osaka, Uji, Nara, and Kobe.
3. It would be good for you to check out the estimated weather of Japan ⛈during your trip. If you are planning to go to Disneyland or Universal Studio Japan, I would strongly advise you to pick a date that is sunny⛅. I will explain why in my next post.
   
   If you are expecting a lot of rainy days☔, it would be good to purchase a raincoat. Else, you can also buy it in Japan. Do note that most Japanese would use only transparent or white rain coat. So if you buy a blue, pink or orange raincoat, you will look like the odd one out. They seem to prefer umbrella over raincoat as well. Most Airbnb would provide umbrella so you really don't need to bring your own.
   
   Interesting fact:
   In Japan, you will be required to put your umbrella at the rack outside of the shop or restaurant. Don't be alarmed if you cannot find your original umbrella when you come out. Japanese has this weird umbrella exchange culture where you could just take whichever umbrella you want at the umbrella rack. So blend in and exchange! Else, bring an umbrella that is extremely colourful and I'm sure nobody would take it.
4. Spend your Fridays stalking on Klook 😆
   You would be able to purchase most passes and tickets from Klook. This saves your time spent on queuing as most passes can be redeemed just by showing your mobile vouchers. We purchased our Osaka Amazing Pass , Randen Pass, Universal Studio Japan ticket and PocketWifi at Klook.
   
   Why Fridays? Because Klook normally has promotion on Fridays. We were one of the lucky ones who managed to purchase a buy one free one USJ ticket 👏 from Klook. Remember to keep an eye to Klook's Facebook as well for their latest promotion.
5. Bring a comfortable pair of shoes. 👟If you are not engaging with any travel agency, it would be best for you to bring along a pair of comfortable walking shoes. Believe it or not, I could easily walk up to 23,000 steps a day in Japan. It dropped to 1,500 steps a day when I'm back in Malaysia. No wonder I don't really see people who are obese in Japan. 😮
6. Book your accommodation early and have some backup plans!
   We booked our accommodation through Airbnb. If you use this link, you will get RM120 travel credit for free! It is best for you to book your accommodation that is near to train station as it not only saves time but also saves energy. We heard so many stories of Airbnb host cancelling the reservation last minute, so its good to have some backup plans. We are thankful that we don't have to experience that.
   
   Tips:
   In Japan, there is a one-time fee charged by host to cover the cost of cleaning their space. So you have to pay for cleaning fee every time you change accommodation. Hence, its best for you to stay at the same place and make a one day trip to other city.

That's about it for now. I will try to cover more soon so stay tuned ! 😉

The Proposal

Usually when couple plans to step into marriage life, the couple would have already hinted each other through conversations/actions. For example, checking out on wedding fairs, asking how many kids would the partner want in future, which area is best to live at, would you want to stay with your family after marriage, etc.

I would suggest for guys to plan early on proposal if you plan to surprise your partner. It is seriously not fun anymore when aunties and uncles get involve in the process. They spoil all the fun when they kept pestering you and questioning when you would get married. Pft.

And ladies, if you have a childhood dream of how your marriage proposal would take place, its best for you to share with your partner to avoid any disappointment. Although there are people who tell you that you should let it flow naturally, don't need to care about what people say.

Few things that you should hint/share with your partner on your preference on marriage proposal:

1. Venue. Should it be private or public?
2. Flowers. Yes or no?
3. To kneel or not to kneel. 

Well, I personally do not care about one karat diamond ring and fancy proposal. All I wanted was a private proposal with flowers. And the guy has to kneel once in his life so that I can fulfill my fairy tale wish. Ask and you will be given :)

For Christian couples, I would strongly suggest you to go through pre-marriage course even before marriage proposal. It benefited my husband and I greatly and kind of set the expectation for us. It also allows us to understand each other better. Pre-marriage course is also mandatory for most churches if you want to hold your wedding ceremony in church.

For more details, you can check out DUMC or KL Wesley.

Things to Buy for New Place

For those who have recently moved into a new house, you may be quite clueless of how to organise your things, and what to purchase. The least you want is to purchase a lot of stuff and pile them up around the house.

Here are some quick tips with a little help from Mr. DIY, Daiso and Ikea. Mr. DIY will be your most frequent place as they sell useful stuff with a reasonable price. I've been going to Mr. DIY more than Daiso since the price hike. 

First, you will need to make sure your plates and pots do not scratch your tiles or drawers. So, its best for you to install drawer mats in your kitchen cabinets.

You can also get some baskets from Mr. DIY to organise your things.

The towel bar from Mr. DIY is around RM25 only. I install one in my kitchen as well to hang my hand towel and table cloth.

In case if you don't have any cooking utensils at all, you can get these from Ikea (except the wooden rolling pin on the left is from Tesco) at a really reasonable price.

Wooden spoon @ RM5.90

3 piece kitchen utensil set @ RM4.90

Dish washing brush @ RM1.50

Pastry brush @ RM3.90

Can opener @ RM6.90

And these from Mr. DIY.

Dish drainer from Ikea@ RM24.90

Cutlery stand from Ikea @ RM7.90

Charcoal sheet from Daiso to keep your refrigerator fresh from any odor.

Waste bin from Ikea @ RM3.90 each. One for normal waste, another for recycle items.

Shampoo rack from Mr. DIY. But this is not as user-friendly as I thought. If your bottles are big then it should be fine. If not, the bottles will keep falling around, which is rather annoying.

Something for your wardrobe as well! Multi-use hanger from Ikea @ RM14.90

Okay, that's all for today. 

Happy shopping! :)

Next

Tick-tock, tick-tock. What's next?

Ladies, especially those who are around 30s, that may be on your mind after 3 - 4 years being in a stable relationship. You feel anxious as your family keep pestering you on getting married. You feel left out when your friends start building their families. You feel annoyed of the aunties that keep asking you on your status. You feel worried of why he has not pop the question.

Here's rojak view of why...

Men always feel that it is too early to get married. They worry about finances. They feel that they do not have enough money for the proposal, wedding, ring, honeymoon, house, renovation, etc. They feel that they are still young. They think you will wait for them.

Hence, ladies, you will need to let them know that you do not need fancy wedding, extravaganza honeymoon, one karat diamond ring, etc, etc. That's if you really don't mind :)

You need to analyse with them. If you get married at the age of 35, get pregnant two years later, give birth to a baby by 38 years old. By the time you are 60 years old, your first child would be 22 years old. Your parents would most likely be around 85 years old. You can do the rest of the calculation if you plan to have more kids or get married later. Would your parents be still around to see their grandchildren? These questions will normally strike them to think and hit them with reality.

Tick-tock, tick tock.

Single to Double

Why am I still single? 

If you are asking that question, perhaps...

1. you just want to be so.
2. you haven't find the right person.

I found myself asking the same question five years back. People around me were too occupied with their family and partners. As I am from the other side of the South China Sea, I was always alone and bored in this city. So, when someone finally asked me out, I took the leap of faith and went out with that person. 

It is important to note that when you are assessing others, the other person is also evaluating you. Hence, if you don't want to be alone forever, here are some tips for you. This comes from someone who recently got married :D 

Here you go!

1. Make yourself vulnerable. Give yourself a chance to go out with someone you don't really know. 
2. Expand your network or social circle. Go out and meet more people.
3. Don't judge too quickly. Give the person benefit of doubt. Go out with the person a few times before you make a conclusion.
4. It is normal to argue or fight in a relationship. If the person doesn't make an effort to say sorry and patch things up, perhaps he/she is not the right one. If it is your fault and you don't bother to do likewise, then perhaps you don't feel that he/she is worth it.
5. If you are in a relationship for more than three years, nearing the age of marriage, you need to start discussing the future with your other half. Better to communicate earlier than later.
6. If you are together for more than 5 years and he/she still haven't pop the question, drop some hints. If you are bold and comfortable, ask and find out more.

That's all I can share. Hope this helps!