By: Ambung
Finally…Tokyoooo! If you haven’t read the first part of my Japan adventure, you better do so first, because you’re missing a lot.
After checking in to Sunroute Plaza Hotel Shinjuku, we went to Akihabara, an area where you could find a sheer number of electronics. Well…we didn’t intend to buy anything here, but visiting Tokyo seems incomplete without strolling along this street. Besides, we heard about a famous kebab corner not far from the station, served by Turkish muslim, so it is halal :D. I enjoyed sightseeing and taking photos here as some shops have cute and colourful anime/manga drawing. I also noticed 2-3 stores have a cosplay in front of their stores handing out leaflets/vouchers.
From Akihabara, we caught metro train to Shibuya, one of the liveliest areas in Tokyo, besides Harajuku and Roppongi. Totally a must visit. Not only is it a haven for shoppers, it also has a vibrant nightlife with huge TV billboards, neons and crowds of young tokyoites. Recognized the crossroad from movie Lost in Translation, for sure I didn’t want to miss a chance for striking a pose with a background of the busiest intersection in Japan. Well, at least now Scarlett Jo and I have one thing in common 😀 Another top spot to take pictures is at the statue of Hachiko, the legendary loyal dog.
At Shibuya and in front of Hachiko statue
The only fashion store I stepped in was H&M. I did plan not to shop anything which I could find in Kuala Lumpur. Since there’s no H&M in Kuala Lumpur , so when I saw the big signboard i thought it’s okay to buy 1-2 pieces here. Browsing the four (err…or five?) story-shop, tried to find something cute to be worn tomorrow in Disneyland, I finally walked out empty handed. I don’t know, at that moment I did not feel like shopping fashion stuff. Perhaps because everything seems to be more costly here and I’d rather spend my budget on skincare and souvenirs.
Along an alley opposite the station I saw more than 3 drugstores in a row including Matsumoto Kiyoshi. They suddenly reminded me of my FD fellows, Deszell and Erweniati who asked me to buy them some skincare and sunblock. So I walked in to those shops and ended up with not only their stuff but also..errr 2 bottles and 1 jar skin care plus 4 bottles sunblock, for myself 😀
Plan for day 5 and 6 was probably the main reason we were so keen to revisit Japan. We spent two full days in Disneyland and Disneysea. No..no..we didn’t stay in any hotels inside the complex, though I wished to do so. Hence, we were off at 8 AM by JR train to Maihama, a bay area where a huge complex of Disney Resort Tokyo was located. I felt pretty worried seeing the sky looking quite dark. The train, particularly in my car, was full of children and their parents, complete with their Disney’s attributes. I got entertained to see these Japanese parents, they didn’t hesitate to sometimes ridicule themselves by wearing mickey’s ears on their head, goofy hat, colorful Disney tees. Well, hubby and I also wore Disney t’shirt that day, I even brought along my stitch’s ears from last year visit, but I was too embarrassed to wear it on the train 😀
I was a bit disappointed to find it was already raining in Maihama. While hubby didn’t want to wear the Snoopy in Disney, I didn’t care…I wore my Elmo raincoat. So here I… eh Elmo was…getting lost in Disney park :D. We bought two days passes and decided to go in to Disneyland first and saved Disneysea for tomorrow.
The park was still really adorable and magical with their fantastic and super helpful crews. Furthermore, at the moment Disneyland had Easter Wonderland theme, so cutey eggs were everywhere! It was Wednesday but the park still had a big crowd of Japanese. Just wondering, didn’t these locals have to go to work and/or school? 🙁
We had no chance to re-experience Winnie the Pooh Hunny Hunt Ride, undoubtedly it’s one of the most popular attractions, always a long queue there. But this time we finally managed to ride Space Mountain and Monster Inc. (the newest in this park). Thanks to fast pass system as it’s a massive non-fast-pass queue at Monster Inc. In the afternoon, the queue on some rides were much better so we were able to ride Big Thunder Mountain 3 times! This one is hubby’s favorite while my favorite of all is watching the Jubilation parade in the afternoon.
Nonetheless, we truly had a great time today in this happiest place on Earth. I think I don’t need an anti-aging cream in my life If I could go here whenever I like as it really makes you feel forever 10. Oh, wait…guess I need high SPF sunblock 😀
The day after we went to Disneysea, luckily the weather was perfect, sunny and bright so I could play around the park Elmo-less. The rides in Disneysea are more for adults. The landscape is just amazing. If Disneyland Tokyo has Cinderella Castle as its icon, This one has a gigantic volcano mountain from The Journey To The Center Of The Earth. Read the park’s website before the trip, we had known that this ride was closed for maintenance from May until July.Though we already anticipated it, still…we felt a little bit of regret. For us, this ride was the greatest in this park. However the crowd was so much better than Disneyland, even getting better in the afternoon. We could go 2-3 times for The Indiana Jones and The Raging Spirit, with less than 10 minutes queue :D. And though we already knew what would happen in The Tower Of Terror, we still got that thrills!!
Time does fly really fast in this kind of place and today’s enjoyment nearly came to the end. We wrapped up this blissful day by watching the Braviseamo show at Mediteranean sea and doing some shopping 😀 Sayonara Tokyo Disneys !!
Yokohama was our last destination before we flew back home to Kuala Lumpur the day after. I was sooo glad that Miaridho, a FDer from Saitama Japan told she and her handsome son, Aksa, would come to Yokohama and meet me at Redbrick Warehouse. Wow…wasn’t it cool that we had an FD meet up in Yokohama ? 😀
From Tokyo, we had a stop at Yokohama station and transferred to Minato Mirai station. If you come to Yokohama as tourist, you won’t miss this shopping mall’s underground station. Many major attractions were located around it. From here, we walked along Waterfront Promenade. Just follow this path and we would reach several tourist’s spots. It takes about 15 minutes walk to Redbrick Warehouse.
Redbrick warehouse, Aka Renga in Japanese, carries dozens of shops and eating places. So we met Mia and Aksa there. Then we all had lunch together. Although it was our very first meeting, we really had a good chat. It felt like we had known each other so long :D. During the meal, we were planning to have dessert in Bashamichi after lunch . Bashamichi sells various flavour of ice cream filled in a doughnut ( for me it tastes like a crispy cone, absolutely not a doughnut). But somehow…we forgot! I remembered right after they went home. However I did try it..twice! Before and after going to Yamashita park.
Aka Renga
With Mia and Aksa
Basamaichi Ice Cream
Yamashita park is just 10 minutes walking distance from Aka Renga. It is a beautiful seaside park where you could just stroll along the waterfront or just simply sitting on the bench, taking pictures, and having a light conversation with your friend/partner, like I did. Heaven. I could sit there for hours.
If we did not had dinner appointment with husband’s friend, I’d love to see more sights around and had dinner in Minato Mirai complex. So when dusk fell, we left Yokohama and headed toward Hard Rock Cafe Roppongi, the meeting point. Famous with its nightlife, Roppongi is a place to hang out for youngsters and expatriates in Tokyo. I personally do not like the atmosphere, it is just too crowded and packed for me. Probably because it was Friday night. The cafe itself was full up. So after chatting away for over 2 hours, we had to say goodbye to the friend and went back to our hotel since we had to take 7 AM limo bus to Narita Airport. Such a pleasant day to end our trip.
PS:
Oh…thought I need to display this picture so those who plan to have a trip to Japan, make a note to buy these various flavours of kit kat and the mochicream at Narita Airport 😀
