Oh Hi Tokyo ❤ Day One

Yes less than a year from my Summer trip to Japan in 2012, I found myself back in Japan once more during Spring this year.

Firstly, I have never seen the Spring/Cherry Blossoms in Japan. Coming back to Asia for my 3rd year placement gave me a tempting opportunity to visit Japan again. An opportunity too good to resist ;)

Secondly, I. MISS. JAPAN. every single bloody day of my life since the last trip T.T

so just a few clicks of my mouse, at fare ticket websites and excruciating accommodation search ( NO JOKE this tourist season T.T)- I WAS ALL READY FOR JAPAN.

This time would be my 3rd time in Tokyo, and my first time in Kyoto and Osaka :)

EXCITING SHIT.

Air Fare

My air tickets were a BARGAIN. i usually have shit luck in life but when it comes to Japan, ALL THE GOOD STUFF HAPPEN TO ME :')

For 604SGD (not rupiah okay) SGDDDDDDDDDD- I got a return Delta airline flight to Tokyo Narita.

Dude, i know Western airlines are not bloody amazing, but at least it's not Budget airlines (I WOULD DIE.)

although Delta Airlines uses old planes (in this era when every other airline uses A380s. ok no im exaggerating) and the stewardess aren't as er...pleasant-looking as SQ's or Emirates, at least we were served meals and had our in-flight tvs.

Food was crap and the in-flight entertainment selection was limited (you actually have to PAY for more movie titles), but hey, it's only 604 SGD and fuck i'm going to Japan, nothing can upset me :D :D :D 

Narita Express

The Narita Express is probably the best airport connection into a city you'll ever sit in THIS WORLD.

Enough said.

#OnlyInJapan

Family Inn Saiko

This is my 2nd time staying with them, I don't know why I would ever choose somewhere else to stay in every time I come to Tokyo, especially when I know the local neighbourhood so well.

First timers may find the inn difficult to locate, but once familiar, you won't even need the map  they provide their guests with.

Soon enough, I simply remember every turn to make, every shop/house/ vending machine I pass.

I love the Kanamecho neighbourhood, so tranquil so lovely so Japanese :3

First Dinner

There is absolutely no lack of food options in Japan. I was more like, SPOILT FOR CHOICE.

But it was my first night of my trip I was sure of what I want.

Good. SUSHI.

wait, who am I kidding. EVERYTHING in Japan is GOOD.

This isn't Tsukiji (Fish Market) standard but already better than most sushi places outside of Japan; and satisfying enough for the first night.

Plus the sushi chefs and waiters were SO attentive and come running over to you the moment you look up from your food (so Japanese). You don't even need to raise your hand or signal.

#OnlyInJapan

Since it was pretty late after dinner and I was exhausted from all that travelling I decided to head back to the inn. But as usual I spotted my greatest weakness in Japan- DRUGSTORES. 

The norm is, I run in, pick up a basket, fill it with alot of vanity stuff and unnecessary beauty items enough to last me 3 lifetimes, then pay and exit the store, thinking my life is bloody awesome.

Major Japanese drugstore are recognisable by the huge "medicine" (YAO in mandarin) sign on buildings.

Otherwise you just install a Drugstore Detection radar in your brain, like me.

 Japanese KitKat madness starts NAO T.T
and I end off my first amazing night in Tokyo with a unknown pomegranate yogurt drink I picked up from the local supermarket in Kanamecho, minutes away from Saiko inn.
Delish. and I'm off to sleep in my comfy futon bed, knowing in a few hours it will be morning and I will be waking up in Japan.

x

Odaiba お台場, Tokyo Bay

As the Yurikamome train pulled further out of Central Tokyo and into Odaiba, I was greeted with the magnificent view of the man-made Tokyo Bay.


Odaiba is like the "other world" to visit in Tokyo for entertainment, shopping and just fun fun fun!

First stop, Lunch at Kua Aina!

Odaiba's Kua Aina is one of my favourite-st outlets in Japan! (I haven't been to Hawaii's so I can't say much, but I have been to the one in London ^^) ...you get the view of Tokyo Bay and the imitation Statue of Liberty. 
Go ahead and enjoy your burger and fries and bubble tea with the lovely view of Odaiba!

Pokemon cars at the Toyota showrooms! Can you say KAWAIIIIII already? :D

I really like Odaiba, definitely a must-go the next time I'm back in Tokyo again!

Yokohama hakkeijima sea paradise 横浜・八景島シーパラダイス

Reaching Hakkeijima sea paradise may seem a pretty tedious task to many tourists- from Shinjuku station you get on the JR Shonan- Shinjuku Line and get off at Yokohama station, then hop on the JR Negishi Line and get off again at Shin-sugita station, then hop on the Seaside Line and you'll arrive at Hakkeijima station finally, after..... just a little more than an hour. 

Is it really all that worth it?

You bet it is.

Besides, the ride on the Seaside Line was delightful. 

The train carriage is visibly smaller than the usual size of trains on all of Tokyo's main subway lines. The floral curtains lining the train's windows, made the whole ride feel like I was on some elementary school trip to the beach.

This seems to be a special edition of a train line serving, well, the Seaside. 

I wish I snapped a photo of the interior of the train carriage itself, now that I think of it, I was too busy bouncing with excitement, along with the other Japanese passengers.

Yes, strangely enough, most of the other people who visit Yokohama's Hakkeijima sea paradise are locals, the Japanese themselves!

To be honest I think that's well good, because the locals support their own tourist attractions- implying that there is business/events/activities all year round and not just the tourist-y months. Also, these tourist attractions do not become greedy over-commercialized money-grubbing full of ill-mannered uncouth brats lacking common sense people from another culture (lets' just say they are sadly, Asians, like me. and hail from the country with the largest population in the world)

Pardon my bluntness, but I have had some pretty bad experiences in HongKong DisneyLand which were FILLED WITH THEM. 

the day Disney announced the Shanghai Disney Resort, must have been the day the world rejoiced as one- Thank You God, let them have their own.

Back to the point, Yokohama's Hakkeijima sea paradise is a must-go!!!!

There's plenty to see and do! 

Unfortunately I only had time for the Aqua Musuem & Aqua Stadium, which includes tickets to the Marine Mammals Show & Dolphin Fantasy & Fureai Lagoon. 

I must admit we hit the malls the moment we got off at Yokohama station in the earlier part of the day, and got...carried away.

No worries, I'll be back for more next time! :D 

Just a panel of glass separating you from the lovely sea creatures, or in some cases, PROTECTING you from the huge scary ones! Like the special exhibition for whale sharks, who do not perform fancy tricks to entertain you but swim around their tank in circles all day, and still leave you in awe of their magnificent presence.

While waiting for the next animal show at the Aqua Musuem & Stadium, we popped by The Dolphin Lagoon which is a smaller exhibition just minutes away. 

I love dolphins, they're cute and intelligent. I vaguely remember I used to tell my mum to stop making tuna sandwiches for me because dolphins were dying from all that tuna-catching! Can't even remember if it was those icky soggy tuna sandwiches or my genuine love for dolphins.

The last photo above of that ugly looking fish is called a Mola Mola aka. Ocean Sunfish. Im sorry but i have to say this poor guy really has some bad genes. It was all alone in a tank in the Dolphin Lagoon, im pretty sure it isnt a dolphin, maybe a distant relative or something and it really looks like some sort of shark's fin that fell off a shark and grew eyes and mutated into some erm...Sunfish which doesn't look like a sun.

Is this what water pollution is doing to our fishies!!?? :O

The animal show is brilliant. Only in Japan ;)

I'm pretty sure I let out a gasp of delight a couple of times or was caught with my mouth hanging open.

Thing is, the dialogue is all in Japanese but somehow or rather you get the gist of the whole show, i mean how hard can it be! 

Animal trainer says something, animal does brilliant trick to wow the crowd or animal quirky response to amuse everyone. You don't need to know Japanese to figure that out ;)

Plus, because of the lack of Japanese translation, I stand by my point that Yokohama Hakkeijima sea paradise has not been over-commercialized, you're in Japan so you pretty damn well adapt to the language, culture, lifestyle or go home. Simple.

As if Japan has not amazed me enough, the Fureai Lagoon experience was life-changing.

It's basically an exhibition where the sea animals swim up to the surfaces and you can touch them, or stick your hand into tanks to touch a whole variety of sea animals.

Of course, being Japan, initial hand-washing and hand-sanitizing is essential. We had to queue up in an orderly manner at the sinks near the entrance, all the adults and kids alike. Cute.

Believe it or not, the bigger ones like the dolphins, really enjoy human contact.

My virgin experience touching a shark!

Well, not a whale shark of course, but the mini black houndback something shark. Pardon my bad memory and lack of sense to at least snap a photo of the exhibit's sign.

But it was an amazing experience. 

The dolphin's skin was smooth and squeaky, but this shark's skin has a rough but luxurious texture; running your fingers along gives you a tingly feeling, like you were feeling the outer of some handbag made of some really rare animal's skin. It's almost like, "WOW God created something this beautiful."

At that very moment, the inner animal lover in me (yes the very same one who wanted to save the trapped dolphins in tuna nets at 8 years old) decided- That's it. No more Shark's Fin soup for me.

It's a great place for the kids and families, what better way to educate kids than to take them out of boring classrooms and homes- out into the sun, and allowing them to have first-hand experiences with real-life animals?

You don't need a whole lesson in class about wildlife conservation. Like me, just let them touch a real-life shark. :)

That aside, I have to mention that Quil fait bon tarts are arguably the best in the world.

We bought them on the way to Hakkeijima sea paradise, in one of the malls connecting to Yokohama station. But I'm pretty sure they have many stores around Tokyo too.

The box packaging is absolutely exquisite, the Japanese take their packaging very seriously you know.

Though I wonder how much waste is produced in Japan each year :/ but im sure these clever people have come up with some sort of trash-eating robot ^^

The tart is unbelievably fresh, not overly sweet like how fruit tarts are made with artificial flavourings, sugar, additives, canned fruits and more crap. The flavour and taste mostly come from the fresh fruits/ compote/ cream/ pastry...............................oh Japan, won't you just take all my money.

Tokyo Skytree (東京スカイツリー )

I don't understand when people say they're avoiding Japan because of radiation levels or earthquake/tsunami risks.

Why don't you just lock yourself in your room and throw away the key :)

Tokyo Sky Tree is Tokyo's newest baby, as of 2012.

Apart from the tower's observatory and viewing decks, there is plenty of shopping and eateries.

Queued for nearly two hours just to purchase an entrance ticket! But again, it was worth it! 

Strange enough, my friend who lives in Tokyo, said if it weren't for me, she would never see the need to visit the SkyTree.

"But...but... you LIVE here and this is amazing!" :O :O

Mind you, she is the same person whom i mentioned earlier, that lives in Tokyo and has never been to Tsukiji Fish Market. 

Well i guess that's the way the locals roll.

I really love the Japanese people for their enthusiasm at work. My friend and I decided to buy a photo standing on the glass floor and the staff were unbelievably bubbly and animated, we were laughing while the shot was taken.

Found my much-waited leopard print edition Tokyo Banana cake here too! 

HOW BLOODY AWESOME IS THAT. Leopard print cake with chocolate custard filling.

Only in Japan.

Went for some sushi right after.

My friend said i would survive perfectly in Japan even with my basic Japanese, or lack of.

Because i knew how to say sumimasen and how to order food, so i would never go hungry in Japan.

That's good to know ;) hahaha!

I love love love LOVE sushi.

Im sorry, nuclear radiation you don't scare me. try harder.

I was introduced to a kind of sashimi- raw white flatfish. I forgot the name in Japanese.

IT'S SERIOUSLY THE BEST!

i know there's tons of japanese seafood out there that i've never tried, i really want to try them all! :')

Sanrio Puroland: Every Hello Kitty fan’s dream come true.

it takes you almost an hour from Shinjuku to get to Sanrio Puroland, which is located at Tama Center Station. Not even forgetting putting yourself at risk of getting lost while changing lines amongst the complicated network of Tokyo's subway system.

After all, she really is only a fictional cartoon character cat with NO MOUTH, is tall as 5 apples and weighs as heavy as 3 apples. 

IT WAS ALL WORTH IT.

Sanrio Puroland is bursting with cuteness and is definitely not only for the young but also those young-at-heart- also known as Me.

Like Disney, Sanrio is magical. 

There's something about watching live performances by life-size characters on stage.

Sure, the adults know it's really human beings in costumes but watching children clap their hands in delight or sing along to the songs, really does bring out the child in everyone.

There's something about sinking your teeth into a warm and chewy Hello Kitty waffle, oozing with a variety of different fillings- Chocolate, custard, cheese etcetc.

I dont know about you, but at that moment i had the paper bag of Hello Kitty waffles in my hands i felt like Life was perfect, nothing else matters <3

and besides, they were tasty! Not some marketing ploy by evil adults to cheat kids of their money.

There's also something about eating lunch out of a Hello Kitty bento box. It may be only Japanese curry and rice, but hell was it delish! Plus you get to bring home the bento box which is super kawaii!

And no one says No to Kitty-shaped donuts!! :O :O:O

Or popcorn from a Hello Kitty popcorn machine...

Puroland is not a proper amusement park, but it's really a day of you and your camera creating cute memories with Kitty and her friends. 

Sanrio, Take my money. The Sanrio merchandise shop is one of the largest in the world. 

I knew that if i didnt buy something, i would NEVER EVER find it elsewhere in the world and thus, die a very unhappy soul. Thank you Dad and Mum, i don't know what i'd do without your money you :').