I did miss out some of the places listed in the itinerary, however I did not remove the destinations because I want to leave it for readers' references If you want to know which places I visited, readers can refer to my regular travel post. Places I Recommend And Do Not RecommendAlthough I am still able to put more ‘ X ’ on some of the places, putting into consideration that everyone has different preferences; some places which I do not like may be a favourite place for someone. Moreover I feel that I do not have the right to say a UNESCO awarded attractions to be a place not worth visiting. Hence I decided to list down the places I went with some of my opinion and let readers decide whether the places are worth visiting. Places I Hightly Recommend Kyoto
Food (The food outlets listed below, all food are delicious)
x HEP Five Ferrier Wheel @Osaka - At night, view from the top is average, not impressive to me. x Amerika-Mura @Osaka -Items sold were not to my liking. Mostly sweater and printed shirt. x Ameyoko Market @Tokyo - Items sold were not to my liking. Crowded with tourists. Overall View on the other AttactionsOSAKA Shitennoji Temple- Just for sightseeing. Sumiyoshi Taisha - visit the place if you are interested in architecture and buildings Dotonbori - Popular place, known for its shopping street and street food. Osaka Castle - The surrounding is a ideal place for pictures taking in a clear blue day. Nice place to take a stroll. Universal studio - Be prepared of crowd and long waiting queue. KYOTO Fushimi Inari Shrine - consists of rows of Tori, ideal for picture taking. Nothing else to see. The place will be crowded if you visit the place at a later timing. Kinkakuji - Very crowded. Visitors are not allowed to enter into the golden building. Not interesting to me. Kiyomizudera - great for pictures during a clear day. There is a shopping street in front of the temple. Ryoanji temple -main attraction is rock and peddles. Not interesting to me. TOKYO Aoyama Flower Market Teahouse @Akasaka Biz Tower -interesting and nice ambiance. Food are limited to tea and dessert. High price tag. I recommend this place because I like the unique ambiance. Cat Mocha @ Ikebukuro -The place is spacious and the environment is peaceful. It does not make me feel suffocated or uncomfortable. Recommend for cat lover or those who are curious about cat. Disneyland – who never want to visit this place as least once in their life time? Be prepared for crowd and long waiting queue. Recommend to spend at least one whole day in the place. Rooftop @Tokyo Plaza - Not recommend for view. Good place to chill Senso-Ji Temple @ Tokyo -A nice temple. There is a rows of booth outside the temple selling food and souvenir. The place will be crowded if you visit the place at a later timing. Tokyo Tower – Night view from the observatory is not impressive. I think is more worth it to take picture of the Tower from the ground level. Tokyu Plaza Mirrors @Tokyu Plaza -If you get the angle right, you are able to capture a nice picture Takeshita street @ Harujuku- very touristy. Sell interesting snacks like by youngsters ExpenditureFor the whole trip, I spent a total of SG$3932nett (include air-ticket and insurance) Using ShopBack (Singapore cash back system) I was able to get back SG$50.64 (for booking air-ticket, booking accommodation, admission ticket) For the USA, you can use Rakuten. Tips to Save You can buy admission tickets from: (get cashback by booking through ShopBack (Singapore/ Malaysia), Rakuten (USA)
Do you know at some train stations and at most attractions, each place has its own seal stamp? If you are a solo traveler, I think this can be a little game you can play with yourself; prepare a book or prepare some pretty paper, visit each attraction and collect the stamp (sometimes the stamps are not placed at a visible area. You will need to find it or ask the staff) It is like treasure hunting and in another words, an old fashion way of what the current social media called, 'check-in'. Just a little notice, get prepared to walk a lotttt
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I took the Rapi:t Airport Express train from Kansai Airport to Namba During the month of my visit, the train was having an upgrading promotion hence I paid a regular seat at ¥1,130 and I was upgraded to Super Seat. Note: It is a little cheaper to buy the train ticket online The journey on the train was pleasant. There were not my people in my cabin. How I collect my ticket First of all, after I exited from the Airport immigration, I needed to go to the opposite building, where all the trains were located. I went to the counter and presented my ticket to the staff. As I am not fluent in Japanese, the staff presented me a paper of instructions written in English for me to read through. At the train station the staff will inform you the next available train. Hence in another word, when you purchased the train ticket online you need not worry about missing the train timing. Shitennoji Temple It is a very big place. There is nothing much I can say, just admire the building and enjoy the good weather. My next destination was Sumiyoshi Taisha I took the Hankai Tramline from Tenno-Ji-Ekimae and alight at Sumiyoshitorii-Mae Station You can pay by the IC card The image take from Osaka.com Note: You cannot reach Sumiyoshi Taisha by subway. You have to change to another type of train. The above picture is Sumiyoshitorii Mae station (Hankai Line) On the left hand side is the entrance to the shrine. On the right hand side is the direction to Nankai Line Sumiyoshitorii Mae (Hankai Line) and Sumiyosha Taisha (Nankai Line) are very close to each other and close to the shrine too (you can see the shrine when you got out of the train station.) Compared to Sumiyoshitorii Mae (Hankai Line), Sumiyosha Taisha (Nankai Line) is a few steps further from the shrine. Sumiyoshi Taisha The place is very spacious. The architectures are very unique and eye-catchy. All the red buildings are enclosed and there are two main paying halls which visitors could pray outside. Amerika-Mura While I was doing the research, I came across a video where the locals recommended the most popular shopping area and Amerika-Mura was their first choice. From my research, this place is known for youth fashion and imported fashion. However, I was disappointed when I visited the place. The place did not have the crowd as I expected to see in a popular place. To me, I think the place is boring. The fashion is not to my liking, most shops are selling clothes like sweaters and printed shirts, hence I do not recommend this place. Dotonbori The place is very vibrant and busy at night. You will know that the place is REALLY crowded; the pictures I took were full of people. At this place, you can find many shops selling many Japanese signature dishes, like takoyaki, kayisoba, okonomiyaki, gyoza and etc. My advice is, eat whatever you want! Because if you are traveling to a few provinces during your trip, you may not get the second chance to eat all this food whenever you want (at least not in Kyoto and Tokyo) The popular sign board, which all tourists wanted to take a picture with.
Photo taken in the day or night has its own beauty. Just need to take note that, taking a night photo by phone, you may not be able to capture the true colour of the signboard (that happened in my night pictures) Tip: If you want to have the whole signboard to yourself, without strangers being part of the background, I recommend you to take the picture under the bridge. the place has fewer people. If you stayed near the place, you can visit the place in the morning, when there are less people Fuku Hostel Namba Osaka Before I start sharing my itinerary, let me share with you guys, the hostel that I stayed in. The hostel I stayed in was a decent place. The basin area are usually clean and dry (except at night) The hostel does provide simple cereal breakfast. The place is not difficult to find. It is near to Subway stations and many eateries nearby. It is also walking distance to Dotonbori. My one complain is, during my stay I was assigned to the top bunk. Hence whenever I climbed up to the bed, it felt like I was doing some intensive muscle exercise. Do note that the place has limited spaces for you to put your luggage. So if you brought a big luggage, you will have to put it at the corridor where people do walk pass. Osaka Castle My companion and I spent spent our time around the castle. We did not enter into the castle. The outer area is a pretty place to take pictures. Above are some unedited pictures I also visited the Illusion museum, which I think is nothing interesting It is nothing compatible to Trick Eye Museum. There are two type of cruise near Osaka castle, the Golden Wasen and the Aqualiner Aquatic Bus sightseeing boat. As the first cruise departure time was not within our timing so we skipped that and went for the second cruise instead. As we bought the Osaka Amazing pass, we did not need to pay for both cruises. Tenjinbashi-suji This place is said to be a shopping arcade and items sold here are cheaper. To me, this place is boring. Items sold do not cater to young adults. In Osaka, you can easily spot shopping area with such design/concept hence you can skip this place if you are attracted by its concept. However some good points about visiting this place. The place is less touristy and there are quite a few food outlets. Hence you can dine in peace, without joining the crowd nor paying for overpriced food. HEP Five Ferries Wheel
To me, the scenery from above is not very wow-ing We went for the ride as it was included in the Osaka Amazing Pass. Spent my day in Universal Studio. There were lots of people. My first destination, of course, had to be Hogwarts. As expected the place was very crowded. As you explore the area, you will see a few beer barrel selling 'Butter Beer'. It is a non-alcoholic drink. To me, the drink is too sweet. If you want a real Butter Beer, I think you can get it in the restaurant in the area. The place has a very cute vibe. It gave me a good mood. At here, you are able to have a taste of minion related snacks which you cannot find anywhere. The Minion bun tasted good (meat filling) The Purple Minion tasted so so, it consists of whip cream, caramel and a few nuts wrapped between cookies. Snoopy Studio & Universal Wonderland In my mind, I always have this complaint, there is Doremon fair, there is Hello Kitty exhibition but where is the Snoopy fair? Where are the Snoopy fans? Hence when I got to know USJ has this Snoopy studio, I cannot wait to visit the place! It was like a dream when I entered the merchandise store. Although I am a Snoopy fan, I am a rational one ;) As you can see from the picture, I did not go crazy, I bought items which I can use. I do not mind buying key-chain and soft toys, but I do not like the design (as you can see from the video, not very pretty) If you are a rational buyer, like me, and you really want to buy some Snoopy souvenir, I will recommend you to buy the towel, cardholder and cookies (you can keep the container) View of one part of the merchandise store Buying USJ TicketI bought my ticket from KKday, Studio pass and Universal Express™ Pass 4 (Standard)SG$171.37, Shopback SG$5.79 If you want to buy an Express Pass, you will have to buy the Studio Pass too. Studio Pass allows you to enter into the venue and Express Pass shortens your waiting time. There is single rider queue too which I think is the fastest. For popular sites, like Despicable Me and Harry Porter, there is time entry. Hence check on your soft and hard copy of you entry pass/ confirmation to check the time you are allowed to enter into the site. Trying Local Street Stall
We had our supper at this street eatery located near to our accommodation. The menu was in Japanese language. Luckily we understood Chinese and had our google translate, so we were able to make the order without much fuss. Some pictures credited to my travel companion In each province my friend and I visited, we had at least one highlight activity. In Osaka the major highlight was Universal Studio Japan In Tokyo was Disneyland In Kyoto that was Maiko photo taking (an apprentice geiko/geisha) Shop Information: Gion Aya 499-8,Shimogawara,Higashiyama,Kyoto,Japan TEL +81-75-532-6666 (Open daily unless announced) http://kyoto-maiko.com/english/plan When we reached the place, we had to fill up a form, about our personal information, what plan we want and what posture we want to be photographed and etc. The plan I chose was the backyard package (¥13,800), with two additional studio pictures (+¥2000) and one CD (+¥2000) As it rained, I was worried about how were we able to take a nice backyard picture when the lighting was bad and the ground was wet. But my worry was unnecessary, the shop has a mini backyard which is specially used for taking the backyard photo. The experience was incredible, seeing myself turned into another person. The staffs were friendly too. That day, for that particular time slot, there were only my friend and I, the two of us. I think that was the reason why the photoshoot went on so smoothly and the staffs had more time to help us. More information We reached the place at about 2.45pm and left the place at about 6pm. Our package actually includes a walk to Yasaka Shrine but probably due to the rain, the activity was canceled. We started the activity by changing into a white kinomo innerwear Then we proceed to makeup and dress up. After the photoshoot, we had to remove the makeup (the place provide cleansing oil). The staffs helped us to clean the chest and the back. After that, we had to wash our hair (because of the hair spray) and blew it dry (the shop does provides all the hair necessity including flat iron and curling iron) Tip: If you have the time, I will recommend you to take a look at the kimono design first before you visit the place. So that you will not be overwhelmed by the selection. You also need to make quite a few decisions on the spot. Like, the design of the obi, the type of hair accessory, the colour of the basket and the colour of the fan and etc. Of course, you can let the staffs choose for you, but I think it is better to choose yourself as you know your preferences better. While taking selfish, remember to take a picture of your back view. It is a totally different view from the front. One of my little regret. Yasaka Shrine After that, my friend and I visited Yasaka Shrine which is very near to Gion Aya. We had an delicious unagi dinner, at Takashimaya, near to our hotel. The set cost 3087.50yen per pax Centurion Cabin & Spa Kyoto During our stay in Kyoto, this was the hotel that I stayed in. Out of all the hostels I stayed in, this is the one I like the best. The hostel provides almost all the basic necessity, towel, shower gel, makeup removal, facial wash, toner, lotion and etc. Basically, you do not need to bring anything when you stayed in this hostel. It provides an unlimited cotton pad, cotton bud and comb however you will have to purchase the toothbrush. I think each branches provides different unlimited free items. In the Tokyo branch, the hostel provides free toothbrush and comb. *Note: What I had mentioned was what I had seen in the Ladies (necessity provided) and my room category (free items) The hostel does have a public shower room, located at Level B1. The shower room is very Japanese too, decorated with Japanese painting. It also has an onsen located inside the Ladies' shower room. I highly recommend you stay in their Superior Capsule Room ONLY which the room and the dorm are very spacious. There is a spacious walking place in the room and you can fit your big luggage into the dorm. My friend and I booked our accommodation separately. She booked the dorm of other category. She said that the room was very cramped and there was very little place for people to put their big luggage hence later she paid extra more to upgrade her room to my room category. I did not know how cramp the room looks like, as I did not see it myself, but I trust my friend's opinion hence I only recommend the room category I stayed. Above was the breakfast provided by the hostel.
The breakfast station was located just next to the reception. The food provided was very simple, almost all salad dishes, I do not think the food provided are filling enough for a guy. The dishes were almost the same during my stay at the hostel. Day 5 was a busy day. Our itinerary was filled up with attractions. Firstly, we spent the morning at Arashiyama. Later we had to rush to Kinkakuji and Ryoanji Temple, before its closing time. A map of the attractions I will be going. Red Line is to Arashiyama. Blue Line is to Kinkakuji, Ryoanji temple I took the Keifuku Kitano Line to Arashiyama. There are a few transport companies offering the ride to Arashiyama. The line which brings you directly to the heart of the busy street is Keifuku Arashiyama Line (purple circle) to Arashiyama station. Kimono Forest It is located just next to the train terminal (Keifuku Arashiyama Line) The place is very pretty. I believe it will be more beautiful at night, with the light beaming inside the tube, enhancing the colour of the material. Bamboo Forest It is not as pretty as what I expected, only some parts of the places are ideal for pictures. I have to declare that the day before I arrived, Osaka did encounter a typhoon, hence there was fallen bamboo. However looking over that point, some parts of the plantation were empty, some parts of it were mixed with untrimmed trees and grasses. The straw lined along the bamboo plantation dampened the view of the place. I am not sure whether this place is worth a visit. Yes, the view is nice but I am sure there are other place which can offer a more spectacular view than this. View of the Bamboo Forest Video taken at Nonomiya Shrine Tenryuji Temple I entered the place through the garden, as it is located near/in the bamboo forest. Admission: ¥500 for gardens, additional ¥300 to enter buildings. I think this place is worth the visit. The place is huge and the environment is very pretty. Pictures taken at Tenryuji Temple Garden Sagano-Yu My companion and I had our lunch at Sagano-Yu It was said to be a contemporary interior cafe The environment was cozy. The food and service were okay, nothing to complain about. Tofu Pasta Set ¥1500 Tofu Pasta ¥1180 Matcha Latte ¥680 Togetsukyo Bridge That day was a gloomy day, hence the pictures taken were not very pretty. Ryoanji temple Even with the crowd, this place still made me feel calm. However, I do not understand the hype for visiting this place just to see the rock garden. Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion) The place was crowded with people (many rude and inconsiderate ones) I also do not understand the hype for visiting this place. Visitors came here just to take pictures of the building, from far and visitors are not allowed to enter into the building. After leaving Kinkakuji Temple, continued to walk straight crossing two streets, I came across this kawaii shop. The items sold in this shop are very colourful and cute. It is an ideal place to shop for souvenir. The cat I bought cost ¥650 each. The shop is called Manekine kono de or Manekiya (as seen in 3rd picture) If you are interested in the shop you can visit its official website to find out an outlet nearest to you. The shop that I visited was located outside Kinkakuji Temple, google map Some pictures credited to my travel companion Fushimi Inari Shrine It rained on that day But luckily the rain was not heavy, it did not affect my schedule. To climb from the bottom to the top of the hill will take more than 45 minutes, hence I did not climb all the way to the peak. On my way to Kiyomizu Temple, I took a route which was less crowded (picture 1 ) I took another route when I left Kiyomizu Temple which has many shops and very touristy. As my first destination was Fushimi Inari Shrine, I had climbed many steps and walked a steep slope on the way to Kiyomizu Temple, hence I did not climb to the top of Kiyomizu Temple, Therefore I was not able to share the pictures on top of the hill Kiyomizu Temple was my last attraction in Kyoto. After that, I took the Sinkansen to Tokyo. If you want to buy some souvenirs or locally made foods, I will recommend you to reach the place 60 minutes earlier so that you will have sufficient time to shop before your train departure time. This is the hostel that I stayed in Tokyo. The lobby and the normal dorm are located at different location. The lobby is located in between the two building, one has to walk through the alley (picture 1 ) The dining area is located next to the lift (right hand side of picture 1) The hostel has a small lounge which is clean and neat. I was standing right at the door while taking the picture. Room Tour touThe category of the room I stayed in was called Capsule Room for Female. Lockers are provided for guests to put their small belonging. Luggage is to be placed at the corner of the room We did experience some unhappy incidents in this hostel. During my stay, my friend and I tried to pack our luggage in the locker area. As that was the only place we could pack our luggage without disturbing others. Then a staff came up to us and told us (in a rude and unprofessional way ) that a Japanese guest phoned her and complaint that we blocked her walkway. Because of that incident, from then on, we packed our luggage at the corridor area (before entering the locker room) Of course, we were unhappy, the Japanese guest complaint without coming to us first (that is how a typical Japanese tourist will react) Secondly, the staff treated us rudely. Thirdly, we felt like we were being told off without doing anything wrong (how could we not block the walkway when the hostel has limited place?) Another incident, Our initial plan was, we will stay in the hostel for the first night. The second night we will stay at Mount Fuji and check-in to the same hostel the following day. That night, we told the reception about our plan and the staff confidently agreed that the hostel was able to help us keep our luggages. The next day, when we went to the reception, the staff on duty rejected our request. I was pissed off by their inconsistent reply.
As a tourist, our time are planned properly (what time to leave the hostel, what time to reach the bus terminal), Hence because of the sudden incident. we had to rush to the metro station, hoping that we were able to find a locker big enough to fit our large luggage (the lockers in the subway are always in use hence sometimes it is difficult to find an empty locker.) We were lucky to find two empty large lockers on time and not miss out express bus. Centurion Hotel Residential Cabin Tower, Breakfast PlaceThe hostel's breakfast is decent. The menu is the same every day. My simple breakfast.
Moreru Mignon This shop has two outlets in Tokyo one is at Disney Resort and the other is at Shibuya 109 The outlet I visited is at Disneyland, at IKSPIARI I visited this place because of its unique and vibrant decoration. This is one of the kawaii shops which you can visit and take lots of Instagram worthy pictures. On the way to Disneyland. There is nothing much I can say about this place. Just share with you guys some of the pictures I took. AM ParadeI did not take a many pictures of the rides I rode. Above are some of the limited pictures that I took. PM ParadeCan you imagine how sad I was when I realised that I lost some of the clips I took during the Night Parade and the famous Firework T_T
Hence I can only show you guys the post I shared on my Instagram: Disneyland Firework and Tokyo Disneyland Dream Light parade For the above video, I do not remember what the program is called. What I know this is a special program. The live sound effect depicts how I felt at the moment. Bus to Mount Fuji The Express bus terminal just next to Excel Hotel Tokyu. My companion and I bought the ticket the day before. Firstly, it was for us to be familiarised with the route to the bus terminal ( we intended to leave Tokyo early) Secondly, we wanted to make sure we were able to buy the time slot we wanted. Our bus journey to Kawakuchiko was smooth. There was a toilet cubicle on the bus hence you did need to worry about finding a place to do your business ;D Kawaguchiko Station Above are some pictures of how Kawaguchiko station looks like. If you planned to go to the Fuji Subaru 5th station right after you reached Kawaguchiko station, you needed to plan the time carefully. The last bus departs from Kawaguchiko station to Subaru 5th station is at 2.20pm during the non-climbing season. The last bus departs from Subaru 5th station to Kawaguchiko station is 4.20pm during the non-climbing season. That means you have to reach Kawaguchiko station before 14:00 (provided you have no other activity after that) The bus I took departed from Shibuya at 10.40am and reached Kawaguchiko station at about 12.30pm. We took the 12:50pm bus to the Fuji Subaru 5th station (the journey will take about 60 minutes) It was a bit risky as we had limited time to figure out which bus to take and we needed to queue to buy the ticket. But luckily, we managed to catch the bus. Above is a guide, where you should go when you reach the place. Fuji Subaru 5th Station At the place, you will find a row of shops (about 3-4shops), all selling souvenirs. In the distinctive building, level one consists of souvenir shops and the second level is a dining area. There is a small shrine in the area too. In the distinctive building/ main building, there is one restaurant at both level 1 and level 2. As both selling the same dishes, hence I think both restaurants are the same. The second level is a dining hall, with one restaurant. We had our lunch at the second level. There is a shrine at the Mount Fuji. We spent the night at Kasuitei Ooya. Above are pictures of their lobby which I did not managed to explore. My friend and I chose this hotel because while doing the planning, I wanted to stay in a traditional Japanese room and my friend wanted to have an onsen experience and this hotel met both of our needs. Hence we decided to close our eyes and splurge on this hotel. The service was good. We were led to our room by a staff, who also explained to us the facilities in the room. Imagine they are doing that to all guests...that service would be so personal. Room Tour *See pictures' caption When we were in the room, my friend and I were figuring how were we supposed to sleep at night and how we should lay out the sheet. When we returned to the room after dinner, we were surprisingly delighted to see that the sheets had already been laid out for us. Fyi, we communicated with the two services staffs (who served us) in Mandarin. Gourmet Dinner For dinner, a staff waited for us outside our room and we were ushered to our own private dinning room (the dining room is at the same level as our room) OMG! It felt like I am some rich woman. We had a hearty and luxurious meal. Each dish was exquisitely presented on the table. *See pictures caption Onsen The hotel has two public onsens and one private onsen. From my experience, I think that you do not need to book a private onsen. If you go to the public onsen during the odd hour, you can basically have the whole onsen to yourself. During my stay, I went to the onsen twice, about 10.30pm and 6am. At the onsen area, the hotel does provide skincare products, like cleanser, toner, moisturiser and etc. Breakfast Breakfast was another meal which I enjoyed. I was expecting us to have our meal on a table and a chair. Therefore I was presently surprised when I got to know that I was to have my breakfast in Japanese style. If you want to look in-depth, the hotel actually does have some flaws which I can overlook (since I was only staying for a night)
The television looked old. There was spider web at the corner of the window frame. There was a layer of thick dust on the traditional window frame. Although there were some minor flaws, my overall experience with the hotel was excellent. I like all the things about the hotel. Some pictures credited to my travel companion Because my friend and I need to catch the Express bus to Tokyo, hence the next morning, we only managed to visit one attraction. Do note that the train at Kawaguchiko has departure and arrival timing hence if you missed the train, you would have to wait for about an hour for the next train. Arakura Sengen Shrine The shrine is located near the train station. But still, you have to wait a bit to reach the entrance of the shrine (2nd picture) From my research, it stated that we have to climb 398 steps to reach the top. And I had to say, it was exhausting. We had to stop here and there to catch our breath. It took us about 20 minutes to climb up to the top. The scenery is very pretty. There is nothing else you can do at the top, just taking pictures and taking in the scenery. As we missed out train and we had an hour to spare, we decided to have our lunch at the cafe next to the train station. Ordered a bowl of soba which cost about ¥550. Aoyama Flower Market Teahouse The reason why I chose this outlet out of the others in Tokyo is because of its interior, From the pictures shown on its website, I felt that this branch was the most beautiful one. The place is a combination of cafe and florist (there is an entrance directly to the cafe next to the florist.) We entered the place from the florist, spent some time admiring the beauty of the flowers first before we proceeded to the cafe. This teahouse does not offer any main course, except dessert and tea which has its pro and con. The pro is that there is fewer people; customers can enjoy the environment better. The con is that this place will not be the customers' first choice if they want a proper meal. We ordered a rose tea and a white wine which cost ¥500 each. The dessert cost ¥1000 Total we paid ¥2160 (include ¥160Tax ) Below are the cafe information Official website: http://foreign.aoyamaflowermarket.com/foreign/teahouse/pc/# The outlet I visited was at Akasaka Biz Tower. Some pictures credited to my travel companion |
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