Japan Trip '08 - Paranomic Photos

Playing with a program which auto help u stitch up panoramic photos. Pretty cool. Good stuff.

Day 1: Beppu


Day 12: Kamikochi









Day 13: Shirakawa


Day 15: Mt Fuji

My deepest feeling for you...

Ever since then, I've been missing you so much. I love all the good points of you. You may have some bad points but I accept all of them, for they made you who you are. This feeling of mine, this love of mine, they have been deep down in my heart for so long. Will my feeling ever reach you?

I really miss you a lot...

I miss you, Japan!!

SEND ME BACK THERE!!!!


Darn... I have yet to start on my epilogue of Japan Trip '08.

Akan Datang.


P/S: 08/08/08 Toto 8 Million. My chance to get back to Japan. Although very small chance, it's still a chance! If fail, then I would really have to go the long way. =~~~( *Slacker Mentality*

Japan Trip '08 - Part 6

Let's go for the finale! I shall squeeze Day 17-21 in this last part! Tokyo nothing special to talk about, I think... Let's try!


Day 17


Officially beginning our Tokyo tour on this day. Started off the day with Asakusa 浅草! I think it's a usual thing for a big shrine/temple to have a shopping street before reaching it. The same was for Kiyomizu Dera and Tenmangu Shrine. The starting point of the shopping street and the Sensōji 浅草寺 was well signified a huge red lantern with the word <雷門> Kaminarimon which literally means "Thunder Gate". The shopping street is a good place to buy souvenirs too.

Inside the temple, Daji, Zm and Zw offered incense. And we also tried drawing a divination lot. All of them tio bad luck ones, only Zy and me got the good luck ones. Actually within the compound, there are mulitple other temples and shrines too. If you have the time, do walk around a bit more to explore them.

The day's itinerary was rather free and easy. Beside Asakusa, there wasn't really anything else planned. Zy and Cui were going to Yokohama to meet their friends. The guys, or maybe just me, didn't wanna go Yokohama and would rather explore more of Tokyo. Zy left us after Asakusa. Cui left us at Tokyo Station as she's not feeling well, so she wanted to go back rest for a moment first. So it's down to just guys for Day 17.


We went to check out on the Imperial Palace. Found out that entry to the palace is impossible, but with pre-booking/reservation. Shucks, I didn't know that. We could only admire it from outside. And ya, mind you. The sun was damn hot and along the way there wasn't much cover too. Ah.... The heat was killing all of us. Every now and then we had to water parade to make sure we won't concuss.


After that we went further up to Tokyo Dome to explore. Tokyo Dome looked like a Melon Bread to me. Round round with grids on top. I LOVE MELON PAN! SEND ME BACK THERE!!! There was this Tokyo Dome City shopping complex with its own theme city nearby. Zm and Zw went for it. Daji and me stayed behind lingering around. Not a bad place to shop around, btw. Finally saw 1 Uniqlo store. Explore and see what we could
get from Uniqlo. Shortlisting first.

Next stop, we decided to visit Tokyo University. We all knew Tokyo University from its red wooden gate. Often saw it on dramas and animes, so we gotta take a look at the actual stuff. Walking to it from Tokyo Dome was doable. A bit long nia.


Majority of the buildings inside the university were pretty old. High ranking universities usually have old compound because of its long history, as said by Zw. Went to check out their soccer field too. Saw this kawaii manager tending to her injured players. =~) Oh! The main campus had a pond in the middle of it too. But warning. Lots of mosquitoes lurking around the area, even when you are within the proximity of it. The pond was stagnant dirty water! Man, should have just skipped it.

Time to explore Ikebukuro too, our staying place. Went to the east side of the Ikebukuro (we stayed at the west side). Went through Sunshine City, that's where I stayed during my previous visit. Went to that stretch of buildings where they sell manga/anime stuff. There's this building, Animate, which has 8 levels selling manga and anime stuff. I was really impressed by it last time, so I gotta bring them to see it.


After that, we walked back to the train station and back to Kimi Ryokan. Along the streets, there were many game arcade centers and pachinko. We went in to the game arcade centers to check on their UFO catchers. The prizes didn't really entice us at all. So we didn't give it a try. Osaka's ones were better.

Nothing much after this, reached back @ Kimi Ryokan and the girls returned shortly after us too. Told them to meet at the common area @ 4am next morning and we went do our own stuff and sleep. Tsukiji 築地 Fish Market, you are next!

Day 18

It was only morning 4am and we were already starting our day. The tuna auctioning was opened to public from 5am to 7am. And we wanna to catch a glimpse of this big hooha that everyone was saying must see.

I tried to act smart, trying to navigate from Shinbashi Station to the fish market. Actually, if you take the subway, you will end up very near to the fish market and walk straight in you will reach it. But walking from Shinbashi will be slightly different. Never mind, somehow we made it. We actually went past the fresh vege/fruits section, then finally to the seafood section. The tuna auctioning was behind the seafood section.


The auctioning first began with potential bidders went up to inspect the tuna first. Then one guy would start to ring the bell and start chanting, almost like doing those chinese rituals, as said by Zw too. Those who managed to get their tuna will send their tuna for sawing up. Heads off, bodies split up. Sad tunas.


After viewing the auctioning, we went for fresh fish sushi! Got 1 particular sushi restaurant had a super long queue outside. In fact, when we first walked past, there was already a short queue. And it was only 5+am that time. Power! The queue was too long, so we had to choose the next best restaurant.

We had around 5-6 pieces of sushi and cost us 2750 yen. But within those sushi, 1 special sushi was the TORO SUSHI!!!! Toro is the tuna belly, the fatty meat of the tuna. Super nice!! But that single piece of sushi alone cost 800yen, around 10 SGD. Not cheap. The rest cost around 300-500 yen a piece. But all tasted excellent! FRESH FISH! The girls on the other side, as we expected, ordered the breakfast set which cost eh.. 3500 yen? Can't really remember.

Anyway, after that, we went back to Kimi Ryokan, washed up and rest for a while. Shagged can? Then we moved on to Disneyland. Had a short discussion when we were over there. We were choosing between either Disneyland or Disneysea. After checking out a bit on both places at the information counter and discussing, we chose Disneyland in the end.

As for Disneyland portion, I won't really go into details. Disneyland quite standard lah. Theme rides and parades. Everyone knows it. But the place was pretty beautiful lah. Btw, everything was in Japanese, the rides and shows. A picture speaks a thousand words. Enjoy looking at the photo slides! 96 thousands words waiting for you.

After Disneyland, we went back and slept early. The morning really shagged us out. Another day gone. 2 and half days left.


Day 19

Shopping day because we were going Shibuya 渋谷! Hot weather again. Everyday in Tokyo was hot. =\ Summer. When we managed to get to the main shopping district, we split up. Girls went shopping @ the Shibuya 109 - the whole building was selling girls' stuff. And we guys went walking around to look for our stuff. After much searching around, with some visiting of atas shops, we found Gap and Uniqlo! Gap was slightly cheaper than Singapore's one, but we already got our stuff @ Gotemba Premium Outlet.


So next shop, Uniqlo! YESH! I got myself 2 polo tees and 2 boxers there. Their jeans were cheap too. Around 20 odd SGD you can get yourself a pair of jeans already. Way better than our Giordano. After a short frenzy shopping @ Uniqlo, it was time to gather with the girls. And guess what? We saw Shibuya 109 for Men. =.=" We walked so much to find shops for guys when Shibuya 109 Men was actually just nearby.

Lunch @ a korean restaurant. And after lunch, our next stop was Roppongi. The girls were going for the Blue Man Group show. So we guys would be acting atas and walk Roppongi Hills. TV Asahi was nearby, we went to check it out to see if we could pay a visit or what. Lucky! 19/7/2008 happened to be the start of TV Asahi's open house for their 50th Anniversary!

They had this van with all the monitors inside. You can control the operations and what appears on the screen from there, like switching camera, slowmo, etc. Then outside there, they put their actual camera for visitor to have a hands-on experience. Zm went to try it out. The zoom was super powerful! Daji, you can throw your camera away liao.


Then we went inside to check on the exhibitions they had displayed. Posters of upcoming shows, mini game shows, etc. And I didn't know Doraemon belong to TV Asahi! So is Kamen Rider!


Okay, atas area now. Roppongi Hills. It's a cluster of atas shopping centers. Inside are atas boutiques like AX, and many other brands which I have never heard of. Found a starbuck, and we hid there until it was time to find the girls again. Next up, Tokyo Tower!


After coming out of the subway station, walked a bit and we immediately spotted Tokyo Tower. It was impossible to miss it. So bright and tall! No way you will get lost either. Just follow it. Don't know because it was a Saturday or what. There was a super long queue at the ticket booth, and another super long queue waiting to get into the elevator.

The waiting was worth it. We could really have a good view from the Tokyo Tower. Note that Tokyo Tower was situated kinda in the middle of Tokyo too. We were able to view Tokyo in all directions. We wanted to go up to the Special Observatory Level too. But the queue for it was insane too. So we had to give it a miss. Sadded. They sell exquisite souvenir over here too.

And, yup, that ended our Day 19. Day 20's coming. Also kinda marked the end of our trip. *Sob* SEND ME BACK THERE!!!

Day 20

Meeting my IA ex-colleague, Weilin, @ Akihabara 秋葉原 on this day. Akihabara is famous for 3 things now - electronics, anime/manga stuff and the mass killing. =D


AH! DOH! I forgot to bring her souvenir out. I was trying to act Japanese, you see. Japanese when they visit their friends, they will bring omiyage from their area and give them to the friends, as a friendly gesture. I brought omiyage from Takayama to visit her.

Met up with her, introduce her to my friends and vice versa, and told her I forgot to bring her omiyage along. But anyway, we would be going back to Ikebukuro for dinner, so I told her I'll pass to her when we were over there.

While everyone was looking at a manga/anime shop, I saw this vending machine selling canned hot soba. =\ Gave it a try. Not bad! Daji took a few photos of me eating it. Heard this canned soba thingy was only available in Akihabara. Interesting. Was actually intending to visit the maid cafes one, but I was kinda sian diao when I saw those maids giving out pamphlets. =

Oh ya, the cameras in Japan are really cheap! For the same model, you pay almost only half of what is selling in Singapore! It's that cheap. Only downside is that warranty issue. Spoil, then come back Japan to fix it lor! Simple! =)


Harajuku 原宿 next! Harajuku is another well-known shopping district. Weilin brought us around, and even introduced us the Johnny's shop. We managed to find out when she knows so much about that shop. She's a frequent patron of that shop. =.=" Or at least she said "used to be". We don't really believe her though. LOL.


Somehow we ended up in the atas area as Zm started his search on his Babari Blue Label. Btw, Babari = Burberry in Japanese. He was ordered to bring some Blue Label's bags back to SG. Oh! I finally found the Uniqlo I was searching for @ Harajuku! It was a shop featured in 都市大发现. This Uniqlo specialized in selling its UT, unique local designers' tees. But I didn't buy any. XD If I buy some more, my mum will sure nag at me for filling up the wardrobe so much.


After all the shoppings, we headed back to Ikebukuro and had dinner @ Momo Paradise, a shabu-shabu/sukiyaki buffet restaurant! We had shabu-shabu buffet there. =)) Free flow of meat and vege! And it's only 1500 yen for 90min! HOOT AH!!!!! Okay, shabu-shabu is very subjective. Some finds it too plain/boring while some, like me, simply loves it.

After dinner, Zw accompanied me to go back Kimi Ryokan to pick up the souvenirs. The rest went walk walk around, in particular the Uniqlo store. Zy wanna get some stuff from there. Back to Kimi Ryokan, pick up stuff, back to them, passed Weilin the stuff. Alright! Mission accomplished!

Then shortly after that, it was time that Weilin gotta go back home. It wasn't early anymore, 9+pm. Being gentleman, i offered to send her home. Zw and Daji joined in the gentleman ranks. Her area looks very much like Singapore with the apartments looking like HDBs. Pay her apartment a visit. Although only 18 square metres, it was kinda perfect for 1-2 person to stay in. But... but... it was really hot, steaming hot in fact! =\

Okay, we bid farewell and part our ways. Farewell, Weilin! Take care. Crap. Am I saying these here? She's on my MSN and I'm talking to her well every now and then. =.="

Sadded. That kinda sums up my whole Japan trip. Everything's coming to an end the next day. Sleep...

Day 21

天下无不散之宴席。Everything has its end. Haiz.... I'm so missing Japan now. SEND ME BACK THERE!!!

Anyway, we didn't really have much time left on Day 21. Only enough time to visit 1 place and we gotta make our way to Narita 成田 Airport. We decided to go Shinjuku　新宿, partly because Zm wished to find Babari or else his head might roll when he return home.

But quite suay lah. We wanted to deposite our barang barang in the coin lockers at the train station, but all the big lockers were all in used! Crap. So we had to bring our barang barang along to Shinjuku too. With those barang barang, we didn't really feel like walking around either. So we ended up sitting in a restaurant, Ducky Duck, and let time passed. While we were inside the restaurant, Zm and Zw were walking around looking for the Babari.


Hey! Although we kinda anyhow find a place to rest and eat, this Ducky Duck actually served good food! Nice pasta and Doria! And parfait! =) I've been wanting to eat a parfait since Day 1! Now with extra cash in hand, I decided to go for it! Time's up. Off to the airport. =~~~( The train to Narita Airport was pretty cool wor! Quite class sia.




Checked in our luggages. Had some extra time on hand, so it was last minute shopping time. Luckily for me, there was an Uniqlo store there too. Bought a dry fit tee and a dry fit berms. They would be good for sports, if I ever do so. And some hankies too. Can choose to give my mum or I can use them myself too.

Went through the immigration checkpoint, inside shopping now. Bought a few makans back. A few boxes of Shiroi Koibito (White Lover), roasted barley tea, and some other makan which looks good. Grabbed an Ebi Burger from Mac. Man! It was really good!!!! Okay, into the plane now. =~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(

*Fast forward* When the plane touched down at Singapore, the moment the wheel touched the ground, I was feeling really sad. Because that really marked the end of the trip. I miss Japan....... SEND ME BACK THERE!!!

I'll do the conclusion in a separate post, for a reason.

Stay tuned!