Most times, traveling to a new place is fun. Excitement kicks in just as you arrived to the destination; eager to explore, and ready to embark on an adventure. Woohoo!
Unfortunately, there are times when the excitement quickly fades away, due to various reasons. Things may not be as you think they would be, when you were planning your trip; your expectation of a destination may be higher than the reality.
I have faced that kind of situation several times, and although I tried my best to enjoy my time while I was there, I don’t feel the need to go back to those places. Here are three of them:
Tokyo
This may be shocking to most of you, because I am fully aware of how popular Japan is to most Indonesians. When my friends went to Japan, all I heard from them when they came home was about how great their experience was. The food, the culture, everything seemed perfect for them. Even some of them visited Japan 2x a year, on different seasons so they could have different experiences.
The only time I went to Japan was back in 2003, with my parents. We only went to Tokyo on a week-long trip. I think it was sometime in January – winter time. Our itinerary was pretty standard; we went to Tokyo Disneyland and Disneysea, we went to Tokyo Dome, Akihabara, Shibuya, etc . All of them were interesting tourist spots (who does not love Disneyland?). Of course, we also ate delicious Sushi and I remember buying yummy Japanese snacks. I even consider Japanese food as one of my favorite!
But, something about Tokyo made me feel uncomfortable.
The hotel that we stayed in was a typical Japanese hotel. It wasn’t Ritz Carlton or anything, instead it was very small. Everything was in micro-size to me. I mean size-wise I’m nowhere near a giant, in fact I can consider myself petite, but still I found everything was so small to my standard.
Also, everything in Tokyo was so fast. Think of the famous Shibuya crossing scene for example. Tons of people crossing the street at the same time, it somehow made me feel lost. Plus, everything was in a language that I don’t understand. At that time, I think there were not many English signs on the street; mostly everything was in Japanese.
Nowadays, I have to say no whenever someone asks me to go to Japan. I’ve been there once, and I think there are other destinations that I have yet to visit, before I go back there again. Perhaps if I ever come back to Japan, I’ll spend more time outside Tokyo, where I can simply enjoy good food and the pretty scenery like I’ve seen from my friends’ posts.
Ho Chi Minh City
I’ve written my experience previously in this post. In general, Ho Chi Minh City to me is just like a much older version of Jakarta, so I don’t think I need to go back. Plus, there are so many motorcycles on the road!! Hahaha sounds so familiar, right?
If I ever set foot in Vietnam again, I’ll definitely opt for Hanoi or Hoi An 🙂
Kuala Lumpur
Distance wise, Kuala Lumpur is very close to Jakarta – less than 2 hours flight. There are a lot of cheap flights too, making it a popular destination for Indonesians. I’ve been there several times when I was younger with my family, and then I went there with a friend of mine in 2013 for a weekend break.
I don’t quite remember my impression of the city when I went there with family, but I clearly remember that I did not feel anything special when I went there as a grown up. Again, I think it is very much similar to Jakarta with all the malls and shops.
The only thing that made me excited at that time was the fact that British snacks/food were easier to find in KL than in Jakarta, including Nando’s!!! Well, Nando’s can’t be considered as British food, I know, but it’s just something that I used to go when I lived in the UK. In contrary, I love Penang so much and will definitely go back again if I had a chance.
So those are the 3 cities that I don’t feel like revisiting as a tourist. I’ll share 3 cities that I would really really really love to revisit in the upcoming posts.
Now, what do you think about those cities? Do you also have a city that you don’t want to revisit? Feel free to share in the comment section 🙂
Christa Bercerita 
I totally get what you meant about Tokyo – I am going again this September though because I love Japan. Perhaps traveling with your own itinerary will help? I don’t do all the Disney thing stuff (since I don’t like them) and my last trip revolved around food. I don’t mind the small hotels though – the most important for me is the experience 🙂
Cities that I don’t want to revisit? That’s tough but I have not visited enough places in the world that I don’t want to come back. I still want to visit all of them, even a dodgy city like Philadelphia has tons of potential (when it comes to food (again!) LOL)
Well food is the only thing that makes me consider to come back to Japan hahaha :))))))
Totally agree with KL. I do not find any interesting places or activities to do there.
It’s so similar to Jakarta!
Maybe you can try Kyoto, it’s more wonderful than Tokyo. Yea Tokyo is not nice to be visited. KL is almost same with Jakarta. One more city I don’t like is Singapore, maybe little bit shocking for many people as well hehe. I feel like i am in jail in Singapore, too many rules haha. Also I had bad experience in Singapore immigration. They were not nice and arrogant. I definitely won’t go again to Singapore. Sorry.
Yes if I ever come back to Japan I think I’ll skip Tokyo and go to Kyoto/Osaka.
I can see what you think of Singapore, plus it’s not nice to have a bad experience 😦 But, in contrary I love Singapore. I go there at least once a year when I have spare money (and can find cheap tickets hahaha) just for a weekend break hehe
I don’t like KL either and now I kinda have to (temporarily) “live” here…well not KL but Subang Jaya. It’s quite nice in SJ, not as crowded as KL but I find it quite hard to find food that I like. I dunno maybe I am bored with the same old Malaysian food, or I’m not looking in the right places or maybe I just miss Indonesian food haha!
I think it’s the latter Gy heuheuehue. What kind of food you can find there? Peranakan food? when I went to Penang I loveee Nasi Kandar hahaha, can you find it there?
Nasi Kandar I’ve never tried but has seen it around. Mostly nasi lemak, Indian food, “Indonesian” food (they claim to be Indonesian but doesn’t taste like it bahahahhaaha)
Agree! Tokyo is so crowded, I hate it when I have to take train in Shinjuku, so many people and tourists and they move so fast it makes my head aches 😅 But I think it’s almost the same with Kyoto and Osaka especially the tourists spots, they’re always crowded. I’ve been to Ho Chi Min city once and kinda regret I didn’t visit cuchi tunnel at that time. That city reminds me of Indonesia in early 90 when I was little, especially for their tv programs haha.. In my opinion, everything looked so old school 😁 Not to forget the super noisy mornings I had, the impatient drivers and their honking habit.. 😱 For KL though I agree there’s nothing much to see there but since I spent 4 years living there, it’s like a third home for me and I miss all the food haha.. I’m not sure I have cities that I don’t want to revisit though, maybe the least cities I want to visit but I’m open to second chances 🙂
I visited Cuchi tunnel and did not like it.. being there made me feel uneasy with all the war stories and how they showed the “traps” hahaha. Definitely not for me, although I think historians will like it hehe.
Yes hehehe in this case I don’t mean I won’t ever ever visit those 3 cities again, but i’ll opt for other cities first because there are still a lot of places I am yet to visit! 😀
setujuhh sama KL,
tapi aku mau ke sana lagi bulan Juli,
cuman buat transit doang sih ke Penang 😀
Ah, aku suka banget Penang 🙂
Kayaknya dari tiga itu aku harus bilang KL yang males di datengin lagi. Terakhir kali kesana waktu liburan pulkam kemarin karena suami musti keluar Indonesia untuk perpanjang VOAnya. Rasanya 11/12 aja ya sama Jakarta. Ga tau kenapa.. hahaha Tapi karena liburan sama ortu jadi tetep berasa beda lah. Cuma kalau ditanya mau kesana lagi atau ga.. hmmm… cari kota lain aja deh..
Nah kalo Toyko aku malah mau bangeeeet. Belum pernah ke Jepang sama sekali dan niatnya kalau sampe ada dana ke sana mau sekalian lama.. 2 minggu gitu.. huahahaha.. aamin aja deh.. 😀
Amiiinn hehe kalau ke Jepang jangan Tokyo nya doang kali yaa bagusnya, sekalian ke kota2 yang lain jg.
Iya mungkin karena KL mirippp bgt sama Jakarta kali ya jadi sebagai destinasi kurang menarik buat kita. Kalau buat orang lain mungkin sebenernya seru2 aja hehehe
Agree with KL….sama aja kek jakarta ya chi. Tapi kalau disuruh balik lagi trus gratisan sih gapapa hahaha. Btw aku malah pengen ngerasain nyebrang ala2 orang di tokyo..Lol efrk nonton Tokyo love story dulu jaman SMP.
Iya kalau gratisan sih mau donggg Jo hehehe, kalo bayar sendiri mending dipake ke tempat yg belum pernah 😀
Hahaha iya ya Tokyo love story ikonik banget yaa 😀
Surprised that you mentioned Tokyo. I really enjoyed my visit there. For me, a city that I dont want to visit again is Rome! Dirty, unsafe, crowded, full of tourists, and messy.
Yeah I know it’s a bit weird hehehe. Ah Rome, haven’t been, want to go but not on my priority though.
I feel you about KL. I love Tokyo though, maybe I was there with my best friend and she took me to little nooks and corners and I definitely love the culinairy experience. One thing I complained that Tokyo was bloody expensive.
I gues if there’s a city that I don’t want to revisit, it would be Bandung. But it is my hometown so I could not avoid it 😛
The only thing that makes me want to go back to Japan at this point is the food actually.. hahaha. Oh yes I remember it’s expensive too because my father did not let me buy anything while we were there hahaha. Normally when we were travelling I would get some pocket money, but not while we’re in Tokyo lolllll :p that explains now!
Btw.. I love Bandung,hehe, easy getaway from Jakarta 😀
I love Kobe though. I think a city has to own a character to make it interesting. Like Bandung, for example 🙂
Interesting. I’m gonna be in Tokyo next week.
Hope you’ll enjoy it! 🙂
wah, berarti saya aneh mbak… setiap kota yang saya sudah kunjungin, kepengen ke sana lagi…
contohnya, kota Valencia yang punya cerita buruk itu pun, tetap pengen ke sana suatu hari nanti lagi…
Tokyo, saya malah cari celah biar bisa dapat kolaborasi research ke sana, biar bisa tinggal setidaknya setahun atau 6 bulan… pengen kenal kultur nya lebih jauh.
Ngga dongg Nin, aku pun kalo ada kesempatan pengen aja ngunjungin lagi hehehe cuma ini karena kesempatan terbatas dan masi banyak daerah yg belum didatangi, mending gausah balik ke 3 kota ini hehe.
Moga2 dapet kesempatan yaaa buat research nyaa.. pasti seru deh! 🙂
betul juga, masih banyak list kota yang belum dikunjungin dan ngantri ya…
amin. makasih ya 🙂
Same here I don’t like Tokyo too. It’s just the same like any other big cities. Though I like big cities too but I don’t know somehow Tokyo is not my cup a tea. Same as Eva, I don’t like Disneyland too basically I’m not a big fan of amusement/theme parks, either Disneyland, Universal, etc. If I go there, it’s just for my kids😜 I’ve never been to KL and do not have intention to go there either😛
*high five* on Tokyo! hehehe. I am dying to go to NY and I can imagine it will be as hectic? but still I really want to go. In contrary I love theme parks esp Disneyland Ri, it’s in my bucket list to visit all parks hehehe 🙂
NYC entah kenapa atmosphere nya beda sm Tokyo, Ta. I love NYC😜😍 I think, perhaps in NYC there’s still old/antique places, big park, mixed culture?
Since I was little I’ve never like theme park, don’t know why. I have no reason just not interested in it🙄
Great post! I’ve never been to East Asia. What did you think of my latest post?
Thanks! Maybe you should visit one day. Do you have Norwegian decent btw? I didn’t know about the holiday previously, interesting post!
I don’t. German/Russian/Central European.
Yeah I didn’t go to Disneyland Tokyo, I think if you make your own itinerary it might be different. I loved Tokyo, but I’d rather go visit the other towns or places in Japan, to see more. KL never really interested me at all, like Hong Kong, so would not choose to go there.
Maybe.. but since I still have a lot in my to-go list, I’ll skip for now hehehe. Btw why don’t you like HK? I’m going this fall! hehe
hmm concrete jungle, but the islands are great!
agree for KL and HCM city…karena belom pernah ke Tokyo hihihi 😀
Tujuan jalan2 berikutnya kah? 😀
er…nggak berani bilang ah chris…pamali, nanti begitu bilang malah kejadian revisit lagi hahaha…
tapi memang harus ada unsur kejadian yg bikin enggak banget
hueheuhe kalau terpaksa ya revisit sihhh.. cuma karena aku masih banyak destinasi yg belum kesampean, mending kemana mana dulu baru balik ke 3 kota ini 😀
Wah kalau kamu gara2 ada kejadian yg nggak banget ya.. kebayang sih, rada males balik pastinya hehe
Sama, sama. KL ya gitu aja gitu. Well. haha
Tokyo belon pernah tapi kayaknya ada rencana kesana hehe.
HCMC aku suka tp karena panas jadi agak2 gitu deh haha. Aku suka Sapa dan Halong Bay. Cuman kalau belanja aku seneng sih HCMC.
KL,
Emmmmm ini kayak pintu kedua orang Medan kalau mau keluar negeri. Ke JkT kejauhan soalnya.
So KL kayaknya tetep seneng walau lama2 kayak biasa aja sih cuman karena kita orang Medan jadinya kota ini penting bgt hehe. Buat aku yaaa
Kota yg aku gak pengen balik lagi……emm so far belon ada sih 😄
In one point, I agree with you, Christa 🙂 For me, the city I don`t want to visit again is Kuala Lumpur. Simply because I think it is so similar with Jakarta 🙂 So, up until now, though there are a lots of cheap ticket flight to go there, I still reconsidered to fly again there 🙂 And on the other hand, I would love to come back again again again and again to Tokyo because I heart Tokyo so much <3<3<3
for a guy like me, ho chi minh are great, with cheap gi..ups..beer I mean..some times you’ve just to feel the atmosphere..not about what you see but also what you feel. The air of the atmosphere can tell. be more sensitive with your five sense.
Totally agree for ho chi min and kl
Hai Christa salam kenal 🙂
Aku blom pernah ke Tokyo nih jadi nggak bisa ngomong hahahah, impiannya ke Jepang suatu hari nanti 🙂
Ho Chi Min juga belom pernah pergi, jadi nggak tau gimana (ini semua belom pernah hehhee)
KL setuju, rasanya males kalau suruh dateng lagi kayanya gitu2 doang. Tapi pas ke Penang beda rasanya, udah 5x kesana dan nggak pernah bosen. Cocok buat santai sejenak, nanti kalau kesana lagi kepengen ke Georgetown. Selama ini blom pernah kesana takut anak2 rewel kalau diajak jalan kaki keliling kota tua hahahaa…
Hai.. Salam kenal juga panggilnya siapa nih? 🙂
Moga2 kesampean ke Tokyo yaah hehehe dan semoga kamu suka disana..
Wah, aku ke Penang baru 1x, dan langsung jatuh cinta hehehe.. Asik banget yah kotanya 🙂
Makasih Christa…panggil aja Felicia 🙂
Ci if you think HCMC is older version of Jakarta, then try to go to Brunei -which I don’t recommend at all. Except the fancy cars,(disana Alphard mungkin semacam Jazz disini kali ya, so common), It will make you feel like you’ve traveled time to where your Grandma was still young! And the most happening mall is like Blok M Plaza, even smaller. The most boring city I’ve ever been..
Whew,, btw ngapain nyasar ke Brunei Rik? sounds so vintage! hehehehe
Ah, aku juga berpikiran sama ttg Tokyo, balik ke sana karna ke kota lain, ada teman deket. Tapi ttp akan berkunjung ke Tokyo karna overall Jepang. Kuala Lumpur juga sama mampir terus karna suka naik AA yg promo, transit d manfaatin ke KL, terus samaaa lebih suka Penang. Belom pernah k Hi Chi Min. Tapi ttp mau nyoba. Kkkk
Kalo Jepang, kamu paling suka kemana Yuna? hehehe
BAru beberapa kota yg dikunjungin, sementara Hakone dan Kyoto, Christa?
Aku baru ke Tokyo doang Yuna.. pengen ke Osaka suatu saat cuma pengen ke Harry Potter World aja hahaha, tapi denger2 Kyoto bagus ya 🙂
Kyoto bagus Christa. Pertama dateng ke jepang aku suka Osaka, pas berikutnya jadi suka Kyoto. *labil emang*
Nah kalo Harry Poter di Universal yah? Kebetulan aku gak suka theme park.
Hehehe iyaa di Universal, satu2 nya yg bikin pengen ke Jepang saat ini sih cuma mau kesana aja buatku 😉
Ah, mahal banget yah Harry Poter universalnya, ongkos tiket lagi. 😀 😀