Finally updated this blog after almost a year! So much has happened these past few months and well, maybe travel is the only way to make me get back into writing again.
I finally did it, I finally went to Japan before I turn 30 this year! ❤︎
I’ve always wanted to go to Japan in a cooler climate but we got the tickets on sale. We immediately booked the tickets even though it will be summer over there. Luckily, it wasn’t as hot as expected! I got to cross off one of the things from my bucket list, too. I got to wear a yukata!
The yukata is one of Japan’s traditional clothing. It’s basically a kimono but worn during the summer. I’ve always fantasized wearing one ever since I started watching shoujo anime where the female lead wears a yukata for a date with the male lead. They eat, watch fireworks together, confess, and kiss. Heee. Just thinking about it makes me all sorts of giddy.
Sadly, I wasn’t with a special someone when I went hahaha. I was with a good friend, tho. She didn’t want to wear one but she was super supportive. It was a bit pricey (3,000 yen) but the moment we got into the shop, I’m like, whatever. I’ll just do it. Besides, I always try to wear traditional clothing whenever I go out of the country. I did it when I was in Korea (hanbok) and Taiwan (cheongsam), too 😀
A quick photo with Hello Kitty wearing a yukata (she definitely looks a hundred times better than me)
We arrived in Kyoto around 4pm and I didn’t want to spend a lot of time to look for yukata shops anymore. I went to the first one I saw because it has a cat cafe beside it, heee. When I tried to go around and look for other shops, the price is pretty much the same so it wasn’t really that bad. If there’s one thing that I regret, that’s the fact that I wasn’t able to pay for my hair, huhu. I’m a cheapskate and didn’t want to spend another 500 pesos for someone else to style my hair for me. But when I saw other girls with pretty hair, it made me kind of sad. Hehe.
Anyway, when I got into the shop, one of the staff assisted me. Didn’t know that even a yukata would require that much clothing. They sort of bound my chest (maybe bigger boobs won’t look good?) and made my waist look smaller. I just tied my hair into a ponytail, and that’s it. The slippers were a bit too big for my tiny feet but it was okay. They gave me a bag for my stuff, too. Look at the details of the ribbon at the back! I would have chosen a different color but what do I know? Hehe.
There were a few girls wearing yukata around. I wish I was a bit thinner because this suits smaller frames T_T Anyway…
Here’s the full outfit, look at all the colors!
I thought it would be difficult to walk around in slippers but it was okay. There were a lot of people and it’s hard to take pictures without photobombers everywhere. Marion’s photography skills were put to test, lol. The pictures turned out great!
Huhu, this feels very anime-ish to me!
I love this shot so much! The colors are so pretty :”) And I was so lucky Marion loves taking pictures and I’m a very willing model. It was the first time I traveled with just one person and usually, I’m the one who takes pictures of my friends whenever I travel. I like taking pictures but I love having my pictures taken, too. Haha! Marion’s a bit shy so I’m sort of embarrassed I have so many photos from our trip and she didn’t have a lot compared to mine 🙁 She seemed to enjoy taking photos, tho! Hehe.
Maybe I do belong here.
We had no idea that the shrine would require for us to walk for hours. Good thing that even before we went even further, we saw the map and realized it was a hiking trail! I couldn’t walk in those slippers for too far and too long. I was sweating too much because of the layers of clothing! We also came across tourists who went in the opposite direction than ours because they would like to return to the main entrance as well. A few steps later, we joined them and went back.
We ate meat and drank coke in a corner and it was a nice experience 😀 The food tasted great, I was wearing pretty clothes, we enjoyed laughing and talking and people-watching.
Another favorite shot!
I was required to return the yukata by around 6pm so I went there just a few minutes earlier. The staff kept saying “kawaii kawaii~” and I kept thanking them but maybe they said that a lot to their other customers, haha. We should have went there earlier so I could make the most of my Php 1,500 (lol) but oh well. At least we had a lot of photos and enjoyed this experience overall. I know I enjoyed and I hope Marion did, too.
So yay, I’m finally done with the first part of my Osaka trip. I haven’t finished blogging about my other out-of-the-country trips yet but we’ll get there… someday 🙂
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I’ll be tagging my Japan posts using the Japan 2019 tag for easier tracking 🙂