My last trip to Tokyo opened my eyes wide: that I should never go to more than one city except in a group tour.
I mean, back in 2024 I went to three cities and got burned out.
I was happy, undoubtedly, but was not satisfied. It was my first visit to Japan and apparently I made a bad decision that I kind of regret, although the decision itself was made due to my lacking of information and zero experience. But the thing that I regret most may be the lack of photographs that I take during that trip, the second one is the fact that I was tua di jalan because I took the wrong train to Takasaki so it took many hours, also the train ride to Kyoto took around 6 hours including the transit. Oh, also, it was very tiring to go mobile from one hotel to another bringing such huge suitcase filled with too much clothes that I ended up not wearing all of them.
| I lost my Suica and didn't manage to buy Icoca 😢 |
Even so, that first one still made me so happy. Generally, visiting Japan just simply made me happy.
In the first trip, I fell in love right away with Van Houten's hot chocolate that I find at vending machine. It was THE perfect drink for winter, not to mention it was delicious. I also enjoyed buying little food at konbinis, and started from that day at Maebashi having big cup noodle for dinner (or breakfast) becomes my new habit during travels. All thanks to those omega-3 soft-boiled eggs at the konbinis, because I swear to whatever gods worshipped by human beings, cup noodles combined with soft-boiled eggs is beyond perfect and it has the same value as Family Mart's Famichiki combined with egg sando. It's just that not all countries in the world have Family Mart let alone their Famichiki, so I guess it's something that is Japan-only.
![]() |
| Oh well, I didn't have photo of this combined with egg sando on first trip |
Bad news, I didn't find Van Houten in the second trip. I don't know whether it was because it was still autumn or it was discontinued, and I'd like to have a little time to mourn if it was discontinued. And since I haven't moved on from Van Houten, I didn't drink any bottled chocolate drinks from vending machines because I was worried they would not be as good as Van Houten.
Wow, me and food and beverages.
The other memorable things during the first umrah was me trying to pray at Yasaka Shrine, you know, that one where we throw coin, clap hands, etc. The experience itself made me so happy even though it doesn't mean I believe in the related faith, so I did it again and again and again in shrines I visited at the second trip 😂 even though each prayer only contained with the same wishes, it was so fun to do. The next fun thing (that makes me broke) is buying so many charms to grant certain wishes, I even bought two Hello Kitty charms in the second trip 😆😻
| I didn't have photo of me praying so enjoy this one |
| me thinking it was sakura tree |
There's this little moment about buying charm back in Osaka. I was way too invested with gacha back then (well, until now, actually) so when I found a charm gacha at Tsutenkaku Tower--that only consists of love charm and money charm--I drew once and got the cute pink love charm which is a phone strap, so I put it on once I returned to Indonesia and yeay I got a boyfriend 😂😂😂😂😂 just kidding, well 50% serious although I have this little faith that all the gods in Japan had actually conspired to unite me with him even since before my flight 😂😂😂😂😂
| the country where glass floors don't scare me |
I was glad to finally have ramen in its origin. Not that I really want to die after doing it, though. I just never thought that 3 of the 4 ramen places would be found at Kyoto.
...
Chocofit, stop writing about food.
No, I swear I would but that ramen story was important because it's my purpose of life.
Months after the first trip, I started to regret that I didn't take much photos of views while I need them for phone and computer screensavers and backgrounds. I believe it was due to me being too mobile, that my brain didn't function fully to take photos meanwhile nearly every corner of Japan that I visit was photogenic. This motivates me to take the second trip, not to mention that the mobility keeps me from exploring THE Tokyo. I mean, what's the point of visiting Japan without exploring Tokyo?
So, there I took the second trip by the end of 2025. This time it was all Tokyo and my core purposes were Miffy and maple leaves, which is why I chose to go in autumn.
Since I only stayed in one hotel during the trip, I felt free and much happier. I was satisfied, even though I know I might be able to see and do so much more if I put more effort to wake up early in the morning (but NO, thank you, not when the temperature was 5 degrees). Every single day was only spent to explore places I've been excited to visit and adjusting my itinerary to my true interest. No more tua di jalan, no more dragging that heavy suitcase. All for me and my serotonin. Oh and I even took direct flights so bye bye long-time transits 👋
As a revenge to my stupidity back in Osaka when I missed Ichiran Ramen because the place was underground while I already walked back and forth in front of it without noticing, I took a chance right at day 1 to have dinner at nearby Ichiran. Turns out it was kinda far from the hotel and I even needed to walk through a long crossbridge over some railways 😦 and this time I was stupid again because I was starving. I mean, I knew I was starving but I decided to dine at the touristy ramen with long and winding queue, sometimes I'm surprised of how I can survive this life with this capacity of brain.
The next days were all fun and games, pure joy and happiness with a little bit of getting lost at, the usual, stations. It may be autumn and the low temperature may and may not freeze me outside, but this trip reminds me that low temperature is nothing compared to the wind. It just felt like air conditioner before the wind.
![]() |
| not Bekasi citizen facing autumn wind |
Honestly, the daily temperature in the first days didn't force me to put scarves on until that one damn wind at Omotesando 😓 I mean it was my sixth day and I've always been fine without scarves (wait no, I got chilled by the wind at Wednesday night on my way back to hotel but eh~), so I thought what's the use of scarves anyway, most especially because it was still a little warm in the morning. While I thought that Omotesando wind has hit me enough, it got worse at the inside of Ueno Station. I understand that the place was half-opened but it still didn't occur to me how the freezing wind can fill the room not any slightly different than when I was outside. All for that soon-to-be retiring Suica's penguin store, where I ended up not purchasing much due to the unbelievable prices (well, excuse me for being a citizen of receding country which currency value persistently degrades day by day).
But anyway, back to the topic, this second trip truly made me happy. Despite finding it hard to take photos of me with tripod, I still took way much more photos than in the first trip, even I had three Instagram story highlights! I had that much fun and I really wanted to share them all as much as I wanted to keep the memory closest to my heart and mind. I also wanted to have enough photo stocks for backgrounds and screensavers so that I would not think that I'm lacking of them again that may lead me to plan the third trip.
...
...
...
Well, I still want to do the third one, though 👀
But really, bet me, it would not happen this year because I want to go ski-ing this time, also I really want to experience snow so my next destination must not be other than Hokkaido area.
Wait, but...I actually wrote this wish last week...
![]() |
| maybe I can switch it to Miffy Cafe Bangkok? |
Honestly, this year I really want to visit Taipei, Taiwan, because I know how easy it is to apply for visa and I've been quite well-informed that the country resembles Japan, only the currency is cheaper and more people speak English. But then some people told me not to go because the country had been kinda occupied by China again, so they thought I might find it hard to return home.
Well, but, doesn't it sound nice? It means I can #kaburajadulu without effort, no? 👀
Anyway, back to the topic again, I was so happy to explore (not all) Tokyo. It was fun to get lost, take many train rides, walk through some places and enjoy all the views and vibes all by myself. The greatest point of solo trip is I can focus on myself and everything I do, including every step I take, every stop I made, even every little dumb thing I did becomes core memory. It almost feels like the world revolves around me and it makes me super duper happy. Mind you, Tokyo is clearly crowded and over-tourist, even it was almost impossible to take photos of me alone and empty spots, but I love being there. Despite the fact that I haven't visited the whole city yet, I swear I want to return there if anyone asked me to or, even better, funded me to. I think my sister would ask me to accompany her someday soon, because she really wants to go to Sanrio Puroland, which I didn't visit because it was too far from my stay at Ikebukuro, same reason why I didn't go to Disney Sea. As for me, LET'S FUCKING GO~!
Oh, before I end this post, I need to express my gratitude of finally being able to visit Tokyo Tower and the adorable Gotokuji Temple! I actually planned to visit Tokyo Skytree in my itinerary but a day before the planned day I had a doubt and checked some reviews, and ended up coming to Tokyo Tower BECAUSE how come I didn't think of it before? It was THE Magic Knight Rayearth location! Who knows I might be invited by Princess Emerald to come to Zephyr, become a Magic Knight, and save the land?
Welp, but I wasn't 😒 not even Mocona summoned me to participate in the trial to become the new pillar. How unfair.
I am super delighted to finally reach Gotokuji Temple by the next day. Honestly, I didn't have high hopes because I didn't want to wake up early to avoid less crowd, but I still headed there and...well, yeah, it was super crowded but thankfully I still managed to pray, buy charms and merchandises, and take photos of me. It was super nice to be there, even with that big crowd the place was still cozy. Those cat statues were super adorable too, I wish I can take better photos of them.
I didn't realize this on the second trip. I knew since the first trip that I understand why people love and choose to go to this certain country and ignore the others. I understand it very well. Oh, and, I haven't written about my Miffy adventure yet, but I think I'll save it for another day because I want to combine it with the one in Singapore.
See you after Sapporo!
...or, Nagasaki? 👀


























