Akiba/Asakusa/Tokyo Tower, Tokyo-DAY 1-3, May 2017

 Hi~ Ray and I went to Tokyo in the first week of May, known as the Golden week. We got a little lost, but managed to walk to Tokyo Tower🗼 from our hotel in Kamiyacho.

There was an event going on. 'Koinobori' is Children's Day and we thought the carps were colorful! 🐠🐟👦👧🎏

We bought Pasmo subway passes which require our names on the card. Cute design~

This is the famous Buddhist temple Sensoji of Asakusa. ⛩ The big lantern🏮 at the front was pretty impressive. 

Ray and I at a pond.

Also there are many souvenir shops lined up in front of it, so be sure to check it out.

After lunch, we went to Akihabara which is a few stops away. It's a big electronics town and a home to many otakus...😁🎮

 Mario kart cosplay!

Well this was a nice surprise. A group of mario-themed karts were racing on the streets! How much did they spend on those karts...?! Only in Akiba :D

Ryuk from Death Note

Roppongi Hills

Uniqlo store

Kamiyacho is near Roppongi Hills, so check it out if you need to go shopping like Don Quijote (discount shop) or eat and drink.

For dinner, I got a bowl of udon near our hotel. Around 500 yen.

I found these soles for my flat feet... so funny I couldn't find them easily in Korea. Does this mean there are more flat-feeted people in Japan? 😆 Till next post!

Tanah Lot, Bali DAY 4-6 July 2016

Hi! I'm back with photos from Bali, which are really overdue. We went to an oceanside temple called Tanah Lot. Since we stayed in Seminyak, we could only go to nearby tourist attractions that are about an hour away.

The weather was sweltering hot... keep in mind and bring sunglasses and hat to almost everywhere in Bali 🌞😎

Picturesque much? This temple may not be as well known as the Uluwatu temple, but also popular and on many magazine covers.

Near the entrance of the temple

Fortunately, it was not raining on this day :) In Bali, the rain comes and goes even when it's sunny--which can ruin your pictures.

Our Balinese guide told us that the temple was built around the 16th century.

We saw some monkeys hanging in the temple 🐒🐵  we wanted to see them close, but our guide warned us that they might steal things 😓

This guy looked friendly.

We also went to a coffee factory recommended by our guide.

Piles of coffee bags!

These paintings are made of actual coffee beans. The third one with a blue background is former president Obama. (he was at that time.)

They gave us a few cups of coffee to try, and I loved it! We bought coffee worth $100, ground and packed. I gave them to family and coworkers when I got back home.

The guide also took us to a big mall in Seminyak called Centro Mall.

My brother loves bracelets made of little seashells and wooden beads, so I got it for less than $10 here. (although it wore off after a few weeks 😆) Don't expect anything special here. Maybe spices...? They have a spice set which has 10+ wrapped in plastic bags so you can try them. Like cumin, nutmeg, and chili.

Our meals at the mall.  Fairly cheap.

Temples in Vientiane, Laos

 Pha That Luang is one of the most famous temples in Vientiane. 

 I wanted to go inside the golden temple, but tourists are only allowed to walk around the gardens.

 Outside the temple, there's a statue of a Laotian leader who fought for independence of Laos.

 I knew Laos was a Buddhist country, but didn't know there was literally a temple next to a temple like this. Explaining every photo would be really boring.

 This lying Buddha attracted me all the way from Pha That Luang. You can't miss the giant Buddha ;)

 This couple donned in traditional costumes was taking their wedding photos at the temple. Aww, how adorable! ^_^

People prayed to this wooden dragon for more rain during droughts. 

A Laotian salad. Lots of cilantro and mayo. Yep, that's crab cake...  According to a local, Laotians eat spicy papaya salad almost every day, like how Koreans eat kimchi.