Finally managed to set some time aside to start documenting my trip to Tokyo, Japan few weeks back. I mean I will type it down bit by bit because I am such a slowpoke, I do things at shockingly slow pace so I can't afford to sit down in front of my laptop the entire day just to blog.
I was really looking forward to this well-deserved holiday. This time round, everyone made it for the family trip =D but it might be the last family trip that I will go in the next few years.
See, I really love travelling with family because they are the ones that can tolerate me and my (NOT VERY, BUT) somewhat weird & stinky attitude. The entire trip was so enjoyable that I would love to go a second time, but I guess I focused too much on the negative parts which caused me to have the above thinking.
The day before departure, the awesomest friends and I met up for dinner at Saveur and later dessert at Dessert Bowl. Coincidentally, MG needed to exchange some TWD so we went Lucky Plaza. I changed S$200 and the exchange rate was a dollar for ¥101 at Lucky Plaza, the rate is pretty good but usually I feel there isn't a need to travel far just to get a good rate since I'm changing a mere S$200 and it would only affect the cents/ones digit that I'll be getting.
On the day of departure (21st June), we woke up really early. Bro & I took the bus to the airport while the rest of them cabbed there. We haven't met for more than six months, so it felt good taking the public transport together and talking about random stuffs (I can't remember anything now).
Had a quick breakfast at the terminal before we board the plane. 6½ hours later we finally arrived at Haneda International Airport!!! Dad's friend, Pak Wong, was there to pick us up. We took the train to Mita station and off we go to check-in to Richmond Hotel. And my gosh, they have so many exits! I have no idea how their different lines work up till now. LOL I would probably get lost if I were travelling alone in Japan.
Our first destination was Shinjuku's Takashimaya for dinner. We dined at this really quiet restaurant (the name of the restaurant is too chim so I didn't bother remembering). I ordered the Ooebi-Tempura Soba that costs ¥2,268 (appx. S$22). We walked a little around Shinjuku's Uniqlo and decided to call it a day.
Sometimes I am playful like this. LOL (I wouldn't say its childish)
Our first stop for the day was Sensō-ji located in Asakusa. It is the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo. I've seen extremely majestic cathedral, but Sensō-ji is huge and grand for a temple. Then we took a 15 minutes walk from the temple to Tokyo Skytree. On our way, we saw this cool-looking boat and wanted to take but we saw the queue was very long so we decided to drop the idea. The view up at the Tokyo Skytree is remarkable (idk I ran out of vocabulary to use) but I prefer the view at Berlin Tower though.
After that we proceeded to Tokyo Solamachi for a quick walk. I soon found myself savouring 2 Cold Stone ice-cream sticks and the Taco balls (I think it's the wrong name). :p Yumz!!! We continued our walk along some streets then went in a four storey building that has Uniqlo and another Japanese brand. There was nothing much for me to see so I went around taking sassy photos with the items LOL.
It was soon dinner time! We met Pak Wong at the subway station and he brought as to Roppongi, which was supposedly the "most popular nightlife district for foreigners." Our dinner was settled at Hakata Ippudo, a really nice and cosy restaurant. We shared the huge table with two groups of strangers and there was two pots of plants(?) in the middle of our table. Anyway, I ordered the Shiromaru Classic's Chashumen (¥980) and Gyoza. Mad love their Gyoza!!! Then, we went to the Shibuya crossing before we head back to our hotel.
(WILL UPLOAD THE PHOTOS NEXT TIME.)
On the third day of our trip, we woke earlier than usual because Dad booked a one-day tour for Mt. Fuji and Hakone. Halfway through the ride to Mt. Fuji, we had a 35 minutes lunch break near Fuji-Q Highland. We went to explore a little and took lots of photos, as usual.
When we finally reached the fifth station of Mt. Fuji, I got so excited yet disappointed. It was probably 13°C and it reminded me of Germany! I thought I won't have the chance to experience such chilling weather in recent years. On the other hand, I thought we were going to climb up, but apparently not. But anyway, we went in the souvenir shop and there it was: the highest altitude post office in Japan. I took out the post cards that the tour guide gave, wrote a brief note and stamp it with the chops that they provided before dropping it down the post box. (Already received my post card!) We went out to take more photos and then that is when the sky decided to be kind to us and clear the fog for a few seconds. We caught sight of Mt. Fuji! I took off my outer wear while we were walking back to the tour bus. Although, I shivered a little but I love the cool breeze!
Next stop was Mt. Komagatake. We board the ferry at Hakone Kojiri Terminal and cruised Lake Ashinoko to arrive at the Hakone Komagatake Ropeway. Bro and I ran up the Hakone Shrine Mototsumiya and we didn't sweat at all! But it was freaking hot inside the Ropeway, possibly due to the crowds. Our one day tour ended at Odawara Station where we board the Shinkansen back to Tokyo. I love the Tokyo stations, they have stores underground, food everywhere! *drool*
We settled our dinner at this Japanese restaurant. (Duh, I obviously don't know the name because it was in Japanese.) We had to order our food and pay for our meals through the machine outside the restaurant but it was not foreigner-friendly because there was only Jap characters. Sad to say I haven't been able to finish up most of my ramen meals, and this time is no different. Most restaurants only serve the beef or pork which is bad for me because I like neither of them. Then, we took the train back.
Next morning, Mom and I went to the store beside our hotel for a quick shopping while waiting for the rest to prepare. It was more of taking pictures and have fun for me LOL. After brunch at Jonathan's, we head to Imperial Palace. It became so warm that day, the heat got really unbearable. We had to walk some distance from the Imperial Palace to the Nijūbashi (double bridge) and during which I saw a couple of guys running topless. WTH? IT WAS SO FREAKING HOT I EVEN TOOK OUT MY UMBRELLA.
Anyway, we walked to Hibiya Station and went to the Fish Market. Before that, I bought 2 drinks because idk that's what I like to do when I'm overseas. Then everyone starts to drink the drinks I bought. (Y U NO BUY YOURSELF!!?) By the time we arrived at the Fish market, most of the stalls were closed. I bought a packet of matcha mochi(?), but I regretted shortly after 'cos it tastes weird. Well, anyway we walked along one of the streets and spent hours inside the four storey DAISO. It's the only shop that I spent a lot buying all the junk food (mostly for friends).
At night, we went to the Tokyo Dome City right across our hotel to have dinner at Obon de Gohan. I had the Grilled Swordfish costing ¥1,188 and the parfait with bean jam flavoured with matcha powder. I just cannot get enough of green tea!!! :p
So it happened that the Japanese has a baseball match going on somewhere near the Tokyo Dome City/LaQua and when we were strolling along the place, lots of people wearing the orange UA shirt came out from the indoor stadium (I suppose). The entire Tokyo City Dome was filled with orange! Then a Jap guy tapped me on the shoulder and gave a thumbs up for like three seconds, I don't know what that meant though...?
The fifth day was a long but fun-filled day. We took the train to Tokyo Disneyland! WOW I must say the entire Disneyland is so so so magical. Although it was painful during the wait for rides. But still, we enjoyed ourselves. We had lunch at Eastside Cafe. It was more of a three-course meal kind of restaurant and the interior looks grand. I'll not go into details about Disneyland in this post, maybe the next? We shall see again. By the way, Tokyo Disneyland holds meaningful memories for my parents 'cos they went 25 years ago and it was cute when they posed for a photo at the exact place with the same pose.
Next afternoon, we spent our time at Sunshine City's Konica Minolta Planetarium. Sounds cool? So basically the "author" explained everything about the stars, how to spot the different kinds of stars, when and where you get to see them, and etc. with all the moving images right above us. We had western food for lunch before heading to one of the four storey Uniqlo stores.
Dinner at Genki Sushi was really satisfying! Plus it was super hassle-free. We didn't have to wait for the waiter/ress to take our orders and worried not being able to consume all that we ordered. :-) Each of us has a small screen infront of us and we can order up to a max. of 3 every single time. Then our orders will be delivered to us through the conveyor belt and after taking the plates down, we have to press the
And good things come to an end. Our last day at Tokyo has finally arrived. :( We walked along the streets of 上中 and then it was the "get off at different stations and see different things" kind of day. Architecture buildings, Japan's mini Statue of Liberty, car show, Tokyo tower, Museum of Maritime Science from the outside, and etc. Some of them are in Jap characters and I have no idea what it is.
Lunch and dinner was superb. We lunched at Tsurumaru. I managed to consume the bowl of ramen myself and even ate half of my sister's ramen because yums, IT TASTE GREAT. Then Pak Wong brought us to dine at this fanciful restaurant (you know when I don't mention the name of the restaurant, it means that it's in Japanese). We ordered double of everything, the steamboat, wings, etc. I only managed to take photos of some 'cos too busy eating. The total bill adds up to ¥22,291. I heard the restaurant is where they will bring government officials from other countries to dine in when they visit the Singapore embassy in Tokyo.
After dinner, we checked out Richmond Hotel and checked in the Royal Park Hotel at Haneda Airport. With a mere few hours of rest before we departed the next morning.
By now, you would have noticed that the frequency of us entering Daiso and Uniqlo is high. You have no idea how mad I was entering Uniqlo stores. It was all about Uniqlo this entire trip?! OMG. What's with the mindset that wherever the shop originated from would be cheaper than in our home country? Apparently it is not true for Uniqlo! From what I see, the prices are really similar, with the exception of perhaps a few items. :( Going Uniqlo once or twice is fine, anything more than that really makes my blood boil. This is something that I am upset about for this trip.
There are some things that I noticed while having my holidays...but I want to hurry clear this post by today. So next time maybe...
The world is a book, I can't wait to read more of it.
さようなら! 👋
Labels: Holiday, Summer Break, Travel Affairs
