Got wind of this travel hack to take RB to Japan with a transit in Brunei itself back in Oct/Nov, with cheaper ticket prices and a stopover in Brunei to boot. Did a quick check for Sakura season and there’s no price hike too! What’s there to not like about it? Me being me, I procrastinated a bit before buying the tix, partly coz I was also waiting to see if anybody else would be interested to join. But eventually decided that a solo trip would be even better so stopped accepting applications hahah. But it did mean more people found out about the hack in the meantime, prices went up a bit which resulted in slightly unfavorable dates - could have extended to the weekend before my flight too but prices for that combi were expensive - then again I eventually found good use for that weekend with an impromptu QingMing trip so all’s good. 

I had a hectic work week leading up to the trip. Actually more like a hectic month but the last week was just the worst with issues blowing up literally every day including one day which GD was like “staff needed to be punished for this” oh well punish away ba. So I was totally ready to go away for a bit. 

Unlike the BKK trip couple of months earlier I did manage to get everything off my mind. For one there’s few text messages about work other than on a Tuesday afternoon where D texted about contract stuff and I spent a while replying. So I was able to fully enjoy the trip. 

I headed to the trip with a mindset that I didn’t need to be too frugal about spending. Cost savings from air tix helped a bit, and saving another night of accom in lieu of an overnight bus ride helped, so I upped my accom budget a bit. I do think I am at this point in life where I can afford to travel more comfortably, though I didn’t go too overboard (in fact I think I still have some trouble letting go of the restraint). But I lived well, ate well, didn’t track budget and spending, and I think that’s what made the trip enjoyable too.

Solo trip was always enjoyable. I didn’t have a set itinerary, I roughly knew where are the places I wanted to visit and I just worked them in as we go along, on the fly sometimes. If I want to stop longer or detour somewhere I can do so easily. That’s not to say that group travel is not fun - I do enjoy those too, just that I love myself some solo trip once in a while. 

On the destination - it’s my third time in Tokyo and second in Kyoto. I’d said it before - Japan is somewhere you can return multiple times, and will still find something different each time, depending on the season. Sakura season in Kyoto has been on my bucket list since the first time I stepped foot on Japan in 2017, and I am so glad I made it happened. Granted it happened at the end of the blooming period so it’s a bit more sparse than its peak, but it’s still a great sight. Kyoto I largely revisited places I’d been before, Tokyo this time round I stayed around Tokyo station and Ginza areas which I hadn’t been before, fitting in some time for usual suspects like Asakusa and Shibuya. Loved the Ginza area - mega cities, tall buildings are totally my thing. And there’s still much of Tokyo that I haven’t been to partly coz I gave up one day in Tokyo in favour of exploring Hakone - I think I didn’t enjoy Hakone as much but it’s a good experience. But a return trip is warranted then. 

Onsen and super sento - I think it’s a testament of how far I have come to have no qualms about fitting it into my itinerary - there was a time where I was deadly terrified of even the idea of taking off so much as a shirt in front of a second pair of eyes - but skin condition has improved even though discolorations are still there, body shape has improved lol, plus nobody is gonna remember you anyway so what’s there to be worried about? That said that doesn’t mean I am gonna strut around like that in future la hahah. The one in Tokyo and the Kyoto hotel was okay, I do like the outdoor one in Hakone where you look out to the hills, but maybe it would have been better if it’s private haha coz it turns out to be too noisy with all the chatter. 

And the last night at home. There’s a bit of drama with the passport, but I couldn’t ask for more. 

It was a good trip. The first long-ish trip post-COVID, great to see the world returning to normalcy. And to the next one (which isn’t too far away)!