Food, safety, disiplina sa Japan, binabalik-balikan ni Kris

BUKAMBIBIG ni Kris Aquino na Japan ang favorite travel destination niya. Kadalasan, kasama ni Kris ang mga anak niyang sina Josh at Bimby, and they make an average of six trips to the Land of the Rising Sun each year.

Isa sa kanilang dinarayo sa Japan ay ang Sanrio, the makers of Hello Kitty and friends.

Sa biyahe nila last February 22, itinaon nila ito sa opening ng Japanese kitchen brand Asvel.

“I think it would be that because Grade 1... because all my maternal lola, her sister was in the diplomatic corps, she was assigned sa Japan. I felt so proud kasi I was one of the first who had complete na Hello Kitty, you know, the magnetic pencil case, ‘tapos with all the ano, ‘tapos ninakaw,” kuwento ni Kris.

“And my mom (late former President Cory Aquino) said, ‘See, because you brought it. Nag-show off ka, kaya tuloy nanakawan ka’. Sabi ko, eh siyempre, ‘di ba, gusto mo ipakita na you were the first one to have it.”

Aside from Hello Kitty, Kris said Kiki and Lala of Little Twin Stars are her favorite Sanrio characters.

“I remember na sa Grade 1, I was only second honors. So my dad said, ‘Kapag nag-first honor ka...’ kasi at that point, nag-switch na ‘yung allegiance. Little Twin Stars na ‘yung gusto ko. So there was a doll house na Little Twin Stars, it’s all pink, ‘di ba? And then I was first honor, but when we’re gonna buy it na, wala na siya.” But here’s an interesting trivia: Her sisters—Ballsy,

Viel, and Pinky—travel to Japan more often. “There are people in our family na more than me... Me, siguro four times to six times a year, my sisters, eight times. Because naka-register sila doon sa mga budget airline, so ‘pag biglang may seat sale, bili agad. They take short trips and they’re the adventurous ones. They go to Fukuoka, Nagoya. They go to so many other places.”

Kris has many happy memories in Japan. “Every time we go, we’re just happy. We’ve never had a trip to Japan na the three of us were not happy. It’s our happy place.”

She also considers its distance and travel hours perfect for her health condition. Late last year, Kris revealed that she was diagnosed with chronic spontaneous urticarial, severe migraine, hypertension, fibromyalgia, overproduction of thyroid antibodies, and a form of lupus.

“There’s a restriction for me that I cannot take flights more than six hours until I pass the next test in April when I go back to Singapore. Because ‘yung air, ‘di ba, nagsi-circulate sa airplane? So Japan is perfect. Tamang-tama lang ‘yung timing.”

She went on enumerating what she likes about Japan, starting with the discipline of people.

“We love the people because they’re so courteous and helpful. Even though there’s a language barrier, they always try to be helpful. Second, they’re so efficient, pati sa tax refund, ang efficient nila. Ibinibigay kaagad. Not like with others. They’re really the best and you feel everything is so clean.”

Kris added that she feels safe there.

“Even if you walk around na 2:00 in the morning, walang mangyayari sa ‘yo. You’ll be happy and you’ll be safe.”

And what’s on top of her most beautiful tourist locations list? She named Niseko, a snowy town in Hokkaido, which she visited with her sons in January 2015, pero hindi na raw siya makakapunta roon ngayon dahil hindi na kinakaya ng katawan niya ang sobrang lamig.

Bukod sa Sanrio, food trip sa Japan ang isa sa highlight ng kanyang mga biyahe sa Japan.

“The boys they just adore it so much. They said even the American food daw, in Japan, they taste better. Okay, mayroon silang favorite na burger to avoid any conflicts with my endorsement, I’m pretty sure you know it’s opening soon, pero they said, they tried it in the States, they tried it in Hong Kong, but they said nothing beats daw the Japanese version of that.”

Kis also enjoyed eating Wagyu beef at GyuKaku restaurant in Japan.

“It was Sharon (Cuneta) who taught me about Gyu-Kaku—’cause we love Sakura, we love Yakiniku— value for money talaga, ang daming kinain.”