We departed for Padang on Dec 21st from Surabaya after spending one night in my aunty’s home in Sidoarjo before. Arrived at IBIS Padang when Maghrib was almost over, we stopped by Masjid Sumatra Barat, which then becomes the most unique mosque architecture I’ve ever seen. After checking in the hotel, we started looking for culinary (of course! who doesn’t love Minang cuisine? <3) and ended up eating Sate Padang Donguang-Donguang (ok, I know it’s weird name). Don’t ask me what and why about that place because Aisar decided such things as usual. Alhamdulillah, I was satisfied with their authentic satay and also got to try teh talua (teh telur) alias egg tea – the tea is literally mixed with the egg. Yucks! But, believe me, it’s YUM! Tasted like milk tea for me.
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Category: Trip and Event
Documentation for the trips and events we’ve gone
See Narita Outside The Airport
What attractions can make you come to Narita city other than the needs for its airport? Not many. Even the nearest shopping center (Aeon Mall – if you need to buy more specific product rather than gift shops inside the airport) is still a few kilometres away from the airport. Narita was just a spacious farming area in the northern Chiba which then transformed into “city” after Japan’s main airport is built there. However, although there is a few attractions in the area, according to my little research, some places are very interesting for us such as:
- Narita Yume Bokujo (成田ゆめ牧場) – a ranch like Mother Farm, good for family
- Naritasan Park Area – very old temple Narita Shinsoji surrounded by beautiful park, with two pagoda
- Museum of Aeronautical Science
- Some orchards to pick the fruits (Blueberry Noen, Koyama Noen, Kuwata Fruits Farm)
and out of Narita City yet still within vicinity
By the way, what’s all this talk about Narita? Is it a recommended place to go? Hehe.. yeah, we never aimed to explore out of the airport too until one day in the last month, Aisar had to spend one night in a hotel at Narita city because he had morning flight to Germany for another business trip. It would be rushed to arrived at the airport if he took train in the Day-D. Of course, I and Musa got along him with pleasure 😀
Once Aisar flied, mom and son adventure begun! Unfortunately, we could only make to Aero Museum and Narita Shinsoji temple, plus bonus walking down the historical Omotesando shopping street. You can watch a glimpse of both places in my photos and videos below.
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Free Kids-Fun Indoor Tokyo: Fire Museum
A member in Tokyo Playdates group I follow on FB shared that his kids had fun at “Fire Museum” in the post I commented when I really needed idea to take Musa out with zero yen. In the next day after I read his comment, I repeated my trip to Shinjuku, exactly with the same route like our visit to Shinjuku Gyoen, except I had to go two more stations farther.
Generally, Musa enjoys outdoor places more than indoor destinations, moreover museum, but recently he used to be afraid to the darkness and big displays of museum. LOL. With this Yotsuya Fire Museum he was so. We entered from the basement, which has real-size of fire trucks from now and old ages, and the most scary thing for him, which actually super cute: toy fire-truck with a character robot that can respond you if you step in the designated point by moving its head.
Trip to Aichi – Day 2
We had unforgettable experience in the Day 1 from Toyota city. This second day we met our Japanese friends, who were fellow Michiganders, at Kariya city, and visited an Indonesian food company at Nishio city, Sariraya. Both cities are located in the southern Aichi.
BREAKFAST WITH LEFTOVERS
Menginap di AirBnB itu enaknya bisa masak atau ngangetin makanan, minimal buat sarapan lah.. lumayan banget menghemat waktu. Dibandingkan harus ganti baju untuk keluar beli makanan dulu atau sarapan di ruang makan (kalo hotelnya nyediain), mending usaha dikit buat ngusir rasa males-masak-karena-liburan demi sepiring nasi dan telur dadar 😜. Nasi pun kalo di Jepang ada yang instan jadi tinggal dipanasin aja.. tapi pagi ini kami kebetulan masih punya sisa dari makan malam di restoran halal Kashmir kemarin. Makanan Pakistan nggak pernah gagal memuaskan selera kami deh pokoknya, walaupun rada aneh dan baru pertama kali ini lihat nasi biryani pakai beras Jepang 😂. Segitu susahnya kah dapetin beras basmati di sana? 🙄
Pakistani naan bread and mutton curry from Kashmir restaurant, Nagoya. We could finish only half of it and ate the leftovers for breakfast in the next day.
Pakistani chicken biryani, tandoori, seekh kabab, etc. from Kashmir too
Musa yang biasanya suka kambing tumben lebih tertarik ke naan (doi tetep gigih nyebutnya “pizza”) dan tandoori kali ini. Sarapan doi adalah dua itu tadi plus yogurt dan jeruk. BTW, saya sering ditanya tentang hal ini oleh teman-teman yang bawa anak kecilnya pergi dan biasanya saya bilang makanan doi sama aja kaya papa mamanya, cuma saya tambahin lemak dari yogurt, keju, atau kacang-kacangan atau yang dia suka semacam buah-buahan.
TV di penginapan alhamdulillah akhirnya bisa nyala juga channel digitalnya setelah diutak-atik Aisar, jadi Musa bisa tetap nonton program-program anak NHK pagi hari dan senam kecil dari situ 😆 Continue reading
Trip to Aichi 2017 – Day 1
Second long trip since we moved to Japan a year ago, this short escape also became our second visit to Aichi prefecture. We expect this time we’ll hpave quite enough time to explore Nagoya since at past we only checked in here to get off and ride the night bus, plus plan to visit some other cities as our destination now with the motivation to look for kid entertaintment 🤣.
(Lanjut dalam Bahasa)
Bus ke Nagoya dijadwalkan berangkat hari Kamis kemarin, 12 Okt, pukul 11.25 PM. Malem banget? Iya, namanya juga bus malam 😛 dan di Jepang ini mau ke mana aja kalo naik bus malam biasanya diset biar sampai tujuan pagi jam-jam 6-7 lah, jadi berangkatnya pasti larut, dihitung mundur dari waktu perjalanan, tergantung tujuannya. So far, satu atau dua dari kami udah pernah coba bus malam ke Osaka (2010), Nagoya (2011), dan Okayama (2012) dengan merk bus yang berbeda-beda. Jadi misal kalo ke Osaka berangkatnya lebih awal daripada ke Nagoya, tapi sampainya tetap kurleb sama jamnya.
Kali ini, kami menjatuhkan pilihan pada Willer Express bus. Untuk tarif bisa dicek di situsnya, ya.
DEPARTURE
Berhubung jam berangkat udah lewat jam tidur Musa, tentu saja kami berharap bisa menidurkan doi dulu sebelum berangkat. Cuma hari itu sibuk bangettt.. seharian saya nganter doi ke jidokan (children hall) buat ikut kumpul bocah, abis itu belanja grocery, ngurusin cucian karena ada baju yang mau dibawa, ngurusin sisa bahan di kulkas (baca: masak), packing, dan ada acara ngejahit jaket dan daster rusak segala. Maksa banget mau bawa baju yang lagi sobek. Itu belum termasuk nafsu datang ke matsuri di stasiun tetangga sore harinya. Hahaha. Aisar pun yang katanya iya-iya pas diajak ke matsuri, ditungguin nggak pulang-pulang dan jam 9 malam baru di rumah 😣 Alhasil, si bocah gagal bobo sampai duduk di bus. 🚌
Departed from Keikyu Kamata station near our home on 10:53 PM
Right across the Yodobashi Camera, Le Front Kawasaki, our bus was ready to go on 11:30 PM
EGA ♥ AISAR 