Colour my sun.: Japan

Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts

26 May, 2014

Tokyo Trip - Day 7

Day 7 - Shinjuku National Garden, Shinjuku, Roppongi, Depart to Malaysia

This post is a brief combination of 2 days.

Since we couldn't visit Shinjuku National Garden on Day 6, we went to visit the next day - it was super sunny surprisingly @.@

By the way, this is my Sakura post :)

"Not a cloud in the sky, got the sun in my eyes, and I, won't be surprised if its a dream..."

Beautiful scenery. As expected of Shinjuku National Garden :)

Many trees were bald, and the grass wasn't green, but that doesn't matter, as long as I get to see Sakura trees! xD (I didn't intend for that to rhyme)

Sat on the puffy grass, ate some snacks, and took a selfie.

Spotted! A big sakura tree! It captured everyone's attention lol.

It was so sunny that I had trouble opening my eyes ><

The garden is really really huge! There are many sections of the garden that we wanted to look at, but, most of the flowers have not bloomed by then. I got lazy and ate potato chips on a bench lol.

My hands were so cold, it was hard to eat the chips. Somehow managed to take this photo lol.

What a peaceful place. I wish to go back during Spring time ><

Moving on to lunch with cousin, hello hello Tonkatsu :D

I can't remember what we did after lunch, so, I'll just get straight to dinner pictures :P

A yummy Japanese meal at an Izakaya at Roppongi.

I drank a small cup of sake but couldn't stand the taste ><

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Skip to the next day; the day we depart back to Malaysia.

We took it easy, walked around Tokyo one last time, had one last Japanese meal, and went to Donki again lol.

Me at Donki lol.

Japanese snacks and biscuits at a convenient store. This is just a small part!

My dinner with cousin and bro :)

I almost tried whale sashimi! >< I was really interested to know the taste even though I'm against whaling. Don't worry, after much thought, I didn't eat it in the end lol.

This summarises my trip to Tokyo, Japan.

I am so glad that I had the opportunity to travel to Japan - my dream. Thank you mum and dad for allowing me to go even when you were so against it T.T I really enjoyed it and I wanna return someday xD

The end of Tokyo Trip

-R

Tokyo Trip - Day 6

Day 6 - Shinjuku, Takadanobaba

We had many plans for that day; Edo Castle, Shinjuku National Garden, and Yasukuni Shrine at Ichigaya.

BUT! Sadly it rained :( We couldn't do much outdoor tourist-ish stuff, so, we stayed indoors most of the time. Thank goodness that day wasn't as cold as the rest but the rain made it chilly ><

The first place we stopped at Shinjuku was Kinokuniya. There are about 6 floors if I'm not mistaken, but, the only thing I was interested in are the magazines with free gifts lol. I don't know the term to describe it ><

I settled for Lis Liza lol. The price is cheaper by double the price compared to Malaysia!

Price: 1,200 YEN (if I'm not mistaken). My first Liz Lisa product xD Super adorable collaboration with My Melody <3

Soba for lunch! A rather big portion I would say, because it came with rice too lol.

After that, we went to Muji, Uniqlo and GU.

I would recommend to visit GU. Its a clothing store similar to Uniqlo, but I find some things are much more cheaper. Fashion wise, not bad :)

Also, that day was the worst day ever for me;
1) My feet were super swollen
2) My bunions hurt like mad
3) I was limping most of the time
4) Had to sit down a lot
5) Walked really slow

Take it from me, don't follow what I did; walk non stop without resting, wearing tight shoes + socks.

I suffered a lot that day - it was painful. I felt so helpless and old T.T

Since my feet were aching, we rested and had tea at Loccitane Cafe.

This is the best chocolate creme brulee I've ever tasted! A very good choice indeed :)

We sat beside a bookshelf filled with books only about Provence, a perfect opportunity to read and relax :)

Omg my face so round ><

After that, we decided to go to Takadanobaba to have a look see at Shimamura.

I LOVE SHIMAMURA! The fashion is awesome and its affordable. The amount of clothes to shoes, bags, hair accessories and etc is awesome! A highly recommend place by me! :D

Store Location: Odaiba and Takadanobaba

Unfortunately, that was all we did at for the day. We went home early for the day due to my poor feet :( I feel sorry that my brother couldn't make the fullest of that day because of me ><

Walking continuously has taken its toll on me on Day 6. Don't worry, Day 7 will be better! :D

The end of Day 6

30 April, 2014

Tokyo Trip - Day 5

Day 5 - Disneyland, Maihama

This was the day we went to Disneyland! We weren't crazy excited but we looked forward to it - it was our first time to Disneyland after all.

We hoped to arrive at Maihama by 9am, but, we didn't wake up as early as planned. In the end, we reached Maihama around 11.30am ><

By the time we got down from the train station, IT WAS SO SO SO SO SO SO SO CROWDED! WHERE DO ALL THESE PEOPLE COME FROM??!??!

I lost my mood to be active lol. I ended up being lazy and didn't take many photos. The crowd was massive and the queue was insane.

Me and bro saw a long long long queue for one of the rides that we wanted to ride, so, we thought we were smart and proceeded to get a FASTPASS for that ride. It was 12PM when we got our FASTPASS. The time to return for the ride? - 9.30pm. We ditched the ride of course -.-

It was a sunny day but it was really cold too. Since there were crazy queues everywhere, we only managed to sit the not-so-amazing rides. The only fun rides we sat and enjoyed was Star Wars and Peter Pan. The Snow White ride was cool too but really creepy and scary ><

Also, the minimum waiting period for each ride is 30 minutes. Some queues can go on for 2 hours or more. We definitely skipped that.

Like I mentioned earlier, I lost my mood because;

1) You don't get to ride many rides

2) You have to queue for ages (I really mean ages)

3) You don't get what you paid for (literally)

4) You can't walk freely because its so packed

5) Lastly, everything is so expensive at Disneyland

I know I'm ranting a lot here, but, ITS TRUE!

If you are planning to go to Disneyland or Disneysea, be prepared for what I just mentioned. Also, don't expect too much - like you will have a blast and ride all the rides and have no queuing worries.

Note: To avoid the long queue to buy tickets at Disneyland/Sea, purchase them online, print them out, and walk in like a VIP :D

The only thing I truly truly truly enjoyed was the parade - it was really awesome! You can tell that there's a lot of effort into everything. Stay back and watch the night parade too! - that one is the best! :D

Please excuse the blur photos lol.

I've uploaded some of the night parade videos on my Instagram - Rachchl. Do check it out!

Don't mind me. It was really really cold ><

It was really beautiful and magical :)

Conclusion:

- I found that I wasted my time going to Disneyland because of Rant #1-5 (see above). The only enjoyable moment was the parade, but other than that, you can really do without it.

- If you are looking to buy Disneyland merchandise, you can get it outside of Disneyland - right outside Maihama train station there is a big store. In other words, you don't have to go into to Disneyland. BUT! If you are looking to buy Duffy merchandise, you can ONLY GET IT AT DISNEYSEA.

- Enjoyable food to try at Disneyland are the Chocolate Popcorn (I ate so much lol) and the famous Turkey Leg; a big, juicy and delicious piece of meat for 500 YEN.

- Get yourself at least one souvenir! There are loads of different types of key chains there; I suggest you get yourself a special/unique/limited edition one. Though it is quite pricy, just one is enough then no more lol. Price per key chain is 700-1,000 YEN onwards.

- Majority of the crowd at Disneyland are local Japanese high school students.

- The students there have a lot of Disney merchandise on them. I'm guessing that would be really expensive? ><

- Do not be tempted to buy the headband/caps! Most likely you will wear it once and once only. Price per headband is 1,000 YEN onwards.

- Lastly, despite of what I ranted about, I'm not disappointed of Disneyland. Disneyland is truly a beautiful/magical/fun place. The only thing I was disappointed about was that I couldn't enjoy it to the fullest ><

Well, next time its Disney Sea lol.

The end of Day 5

Tokyo Trip - Day 4

Day 4 - Asakusa, Akihabara, Shibuya, Omotesando

On our fourth day at Tokyo, we were much more relaxed and laid back. Instead of going around the city, we went to visit Sensoji Temple at Asakusa.

It was a very sunny yet chilly day. Everyday was around 10-12 celcius - very cold! Had to wear my winter coat all the time, and, even though its very sunny, you just can't beat the chill and wind lol. The wind at Tokyo can't be compared to Melbourne though - Melb is way worse.

Also, Asakusa is not as hectic as the heart of Tokyo, it is far more traditional and 'slower'. There were a lot of tourists at Asakusa actually. Well, I was one of them lol.

Breakfast :) Don't underestimate convenient stores' snacks! They're really yummy! :D

The entrance - Kaminarimon.

Nakamise Dori - a lot of touristy souvenirs.

Souvenirs ranges from keychains, food, toys, umbrellas, slippers, and a lot of traditional Japanese stuff.

Sensoji Temple.

Five Story Pagoda.

A kind Japanese man volunteered to take a photo of us. Wait, he actually snapped a lot of photos with my camera, my phone and his own camera for his own keeping lol. He even thought that my brother was my boyfriend -.- But he was very nice and helpful!

Its funny - I feel very tourist-ish during my trip at Tokyo because I don't dress nor look like Japanese (at least I don't feel like it) but many people mistake me as Japanese.

A white foreigner looked at me while showing his camera and kept saying, 'kudasai kudasai'. I spoke English to him but he continued saying 'kudasai kudasai'. You're welcome lol.

Ahhh. This heated lantern felt sooo nice in the cold xD

The view of Tokyo Skytree from the temple.

Okonomiyaki for lunch :)

At the bridge.

Next stop, Akihabara!

We got lost at Akihabara and walked around aimlessly for almost an hour because we didn't know which direction to go. Thank goodness we had 3G ><

Akihabara is really an anime paradise. There's mandarake, figurings, manga, and maid cafes almost everywhere.

We went into a girly comic shop and I felt left out because I was the only girl in the shop - all the other customers were males lol.

Anddddddd.....around 4pm, I felt peckish and decided to try a Maid Cafe! <3

Out of all the maid cafes there, we tried Home Cafe :) I can't remember what street or where is it nearby to because it was very in promptu and random. Sadly, we couldn't take any photos of the maids or the place - the maids are so cute!!

I ordered a cup of hot Caramel Milk and this was what my server drew for me :D

Since I ordered a set of one meal and one drink, I get a free photo with one of my favourite maids!

She's so cute and adorable! Though her voice was quite annoying @.@ And I feel so plain standing beside her lol.

What I can say about going to a maid cafe is that;

1) It is expensive and unreasonable

2) The service is good - they entertain you

3) There is an entrance fee - I paid 500 YEN per person

4) Food is just mediocre

5) Just go for a one time experience and enjoy the service

6) If you're looking to take photos - no can do

7) Be prepared to do some funny movements before you eat/drink - they will guide you

Anyway, that was a fun experience! - won't go back for a second time though lol.

Moving on, honestly, me and bro were bored walking around Akihabara. Maybe because we didn't have an aim to be there lol.

We went to Shibuya again that night and had dinner at Omotesando with cous! Can't remember the location and name of restaurant again ><

This meal felt like an Ikea meal lol.

Also, it was really really cold that night. I remember how bad I wanted to hide indoors >< Thank goodness we took a cab back to Roppongi. From there, we strolled back to the apartment.

Saw these beauties on the way! <3

I've never seen rainbow roses before! And yes they're real! :D

Blue roses - very pretty too :) Reminds me of the Blaue Rosen manga lol.

The end of Day 4