Japan Part 3! ♥

Went to Japan back in September 2010 and I've put off completing the Japan series of posts long enough.

Alas, part 3- Tokyo! Here's Part 1 & Part 2.

Upon arrival in Tokyo, we headed to the Asakusa district of Taitou city, Tokyo. A popular tourist area in Asakusa is Nakamise street. It is literally a street with rows of shops on both sides selling a variety of snack foods and trinkets.

My brother and I walked along Nakamise and found it too crowded and boring so we headed out to the adjacent streets nearby. I noticed afterwards that the entire tour group had spent their 2 hours hanging around Nakamise street only. Be more adventurous people!

The shops along these inner streets had some of the same stuff being sold at Nakamise for a fraction of the price. So if you do find yourself touring Nakamise, don't spend too much time there. Walk out onto the other streets and check out more stuff.

I drank too much Evian while I was there. It was only 120 Yen a bottle :P

We later went to Ginza to get our shopping fix. Most of the ladies in the tour group only wanted to check out Burberry's Blue label (a line exclusive to Japan that's also more affordable than the original Burberry Prorsum line). I find the Blue Label line's bags to be a tad...ugly. Well, the ones I saw there at that time were.

Headed to Kabuki-cho in Shinjuku for dinner. Again, I apologize for the lack of pictures. All we had was a very bulky and hard-to-use DSLR camera and most of the pictures were taken by my brother, who was really lazy to take pictures. If only I had my own camera back then :(

Stayed at Keio Plaza Hotel, not too far from the Shinjuku area. That's the view from our room.

The following day, we went to the infamous Tsukiji fish market. It was pretty crowded as the streets were narrow. We had lunch there at this really small eatery that only seated a maximum of 8-10 people at a time! Best Anago donburi I've ever had though. Sashimi donburi are recommended as the seafood is as fresh as it gets.

We bought a lot of Japanese grapes, peaches and persimmons. There was a specialty bunch of grapes that cost 3000 Yen (that's RM100+) and they were apparently rare and in season at that time. They tasted sooo good. Flesh was plump and juicy and they were seedless.

After Tsukiji we went to Harajuku. There, we checked out Takeshita street.

Extremely crowded. Mostly boutiques and little cafes line the street. If you're into Japanese fashion trends, there is a boutique called WonderRocket that you would love to check out. The wonderful Tutuanna boutique is also located on this street.

Takeshita street is apparently famous for its crepes but we didn't have any :(

My brother must've spotted these group of uhm, cosplayers? Haha.

Well there isn't much to see at Takeshita street really. I wish we had the chance to check out Shibuya and Omotesando but we were so pressed for time, grr. So if you are going to Tokyo, do not waste your time at Nakamise and Ginza. Even Kabuki-cho, Shinjuku was boring.

I blame the tour agency for coming up with such a sucky Tokyo itinerary! :(

Our last stop before flying off the following day was Narita. We had dinner at a buffet-style family restaurant. You grab raw marinated cuts of meat and grill them at your table. There are other Japanese foods as well. I particularly enjoyed the DIY crepe station. I'm quite good you know :P

Since we were all so special and deserving of a treat, my dad decided to pre-order Kobe beef and Kurobuta (lit. Black pig) meat for the group. These were bought outside of the restaurant and we just grilled our meat there- after requesting permission of course.

I've had enough Kobe beef to last me a lifetime. 4-5 pieces is all you really need because the meat is so rich with all that marbled fat. Eating too much in one sitting just leaves a greasy feel in your mouth. And the fatty beefy taste lingers on. For a few hours. Or days depending on the severity of your Kobe beef fix.

Flew off the following morning. I miss Tokyo city so much! I wish we never had to keep to the itinerary because there's so much of Tokyo left to be discovered...

I wish I had a camera back then! Ugh think of all the pictures left untaken...and uncaptured memories...

I will return to you, Japan. Soon...real soon.

Japan Part 2 ♥

Still on the first day. We proceeded to Hakone soon after we landed in Narita.

Japanese countryside on our way to Hakone. During this trip, they played "The Last Samurai" on the bus, haha.

The ferris wheel near the Gotemba factory outlet center in Shizuoka. We didn't go to Gotemba but they carry brands like McQueen, Ferragamo, Prada/ Miu Miu & Armani; just to name a few.

Getting closer to the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park and Lake Ashi.

Voila! Lake Ashi in Hakone (also known as Hakone Lake). The lake is known for its views of Mt. Fuji and hot springs.

We first had lunch at a huge restaurant facing the lake. The building has a souvenir/ gift shop on the bottom and the restaurant's on the upper floor. Clockwise from top right: Kakiage, Shinjoage (Money bag tenpura), Miso soup, Tsukemono (Pickles), Small glass of Sweet Sake, Specialty sweet miso paste, Grilled mackerel (Saba), Dessert of Almond Jelly cubes (Annin Tofu) and Preserved fruits, Oden (Tofu, Konnyaku, Gobomaki), Chawan mushi, Soba, Glass noodles & Grated vegetables tossed in spicy vinegar).

After lunch, we went on board this huge pirate ship. It was drizzling and the air was freezing thanks to strong wind. Due to the weather, going up Mt. Fuji was pointless as the skies were cloudy so we chose to explore Lake Ashi instead. Mt. Fuji was scheduled for the next morning.

Spotted this uber cute Japanese girl and my brother took a picture. :P

From Lake Ashi, we proceeded to a Memorial Peace Park located in the same area.

Posed with Mr. Monk dude. Damn, just realized the lions were looking at me. Creepy.

Gorgeous view from our hotel in Hakone. I believe that's part of Lake Ashi.

Mt. Fuji and clear skies :) The trip up Mt. Fuji was most enjoyable for me. When we were on the 5th level on the volcano (the highest the bus will take you), the view from Mt. Fuji was breathtaking but looking up at the volcano itself was...interesting but boring after a while.

Lake Ashi, visible from Base 5 on Mt. Fuji.

My younger brother on a platform with a telescope that allows you to look over the city.

Before exploring Lake Ashi, we went to Owakudani that is famous for its hardboiled eggs cooked in sulphuric water, turning the eggs black.

Eggs go in there...

And come out black :P


That wraps up Part 2 in Hakone. Stay tuned for Part 3 in Tokyo!

Japan Part 1 ♥

Ah, a much awaited blog post after taking way too long off posting.

On September 15, we flew off to Tokyo with my dad and his colleagues. Our group was just nice with 25 people. The day we left, I had such a hard time thinking of what clothes to bring, I brought almost the entire wardrobe and came back with only a few pieces worn, eeesh!

Oh and pardon the lack of pictures! I didn't have my own camera with me as I have...NONE. My dad brought back this huge-ass Nikon DSLR from the office and my lil' bro used that to take most of the pics- which isn't a lot either.

Spent the night on board a Boeing 777 and sat next to this guy named Sato. We spoke in Japanese (I was having a fairly tough time keeping up but managed to keep the conversation going :D) and he's been staying in Cameron Highlands for 6 months every Winter and 4 months every Summer; for the past 9 years! He says there's a fair number of Japanese staying in the apartment building he stays in and that they all love the cool weather contrary to Japan's harsh Winters and rather hot Summers.

OK PICTURES!

#1 Bye bye Narita airport.

#2 I believe this is the Fuji Television Network building. D:

#3 LOL my brother spotted this teeny tiny duck in the river. I wish we had ducks in our city rivers here but they'd probably die either from being caught and slaughtered or swimming in polluted water...

#4 TOKYO TOWERRR!

#5 On our way to Hakone, the bus made a stop at a highway rest area and the convenience store there was HUGE. There was an amazing selection of food- sushi, bento, yakisoba, sandwiches, salads, cold cuts, boiled eggs, breads etc. Great variety for a convenience store. There was even softcore porn magazines, hahaha, but we didn't take pics.


#6 A Japanese convenience store would not be a Japanese convenience store if it didn't have cup noodles. Behold, the cup noodles in all their glory.




#7 Below are potato sticks in cups! I see Pringles :P

#8 Assortment of candies and gummies :D

#9 Ohmygoshlookatallthedrinksi'mgonnadie.

After the stop, we proceeded to Hakone, a town in Kanagawa that is famous for its hot spring resorts. We first went to Lake Ashi for lunch and I will write more about that in Part 2. :P