Japan Trip : Tokyo Day 1 - 2 (Part 1)
[#aggylowtravels]
Hello all!
Sorry for the delay, I have only got the time recently to edit all the photos from my recent trip to Tokyo/Osaka! :(
Okay so here goes...
I am going to split the entries into three - Part I (Tokyo), Part II (Tokyo), Part III (Osaka).
I honestly regret not going there for a longer period of time, but then again, it is our first time there all by ourselves so let this be
a good first timer trip - for now.
Haha.
Okay firstly, a few things to take note when you go to Japan.
1) They do not sell data SIM card over there.
Yup all their phones already have their sim cards inside them (or so, I have no idea how it works but I know it is very different, the way they work.)
So it's either you have roaming data which cost a lot or you have to rent a global wifi router.
I did the latter.
We rented it for 7 days at about S$72? Pretty cheap imo considered the fact that both of us are CONSTANTLY using it, and also using to load maps to find our way, etc.
Please don't ask me details like how many gb, charger, delivery details, usage details....
I don't want to advise the wrong things.
If you are keen, please go to : http://xcomglobal.com.sg , you may email them to ask any questions should you not understand how it works.
2) Their transport system is pretty confusing.
So do your homework properly before heading over there and always have a GPS/map with you!
E.g. Hub and I got lost at this freaking huge and confusing Tokyo Station.
It has too many lines and worst is the people there don't understand English too well.
We wanted to head to Sunshine City (Pokemon Center) but didn't in the end as we didn't have time.
The directions at the station pointed arrow-up and we thought that it is just an escalator away but....
actually it is 10-15mins walk away.
So please, plan reaaaaaally well before you go.
Or use some serious help from tripadvisor or someone's travelogue.
And please buy this - PASMO CARD (It's a more economical way to travel as it is their form of ezlink card!) - travelling expenses are quite heavy, to be honest.
We needed to top up our PASMOs every two days on average (we topped up 2000 yen everytime we do)
3) March-April is a good period to visit Japan.
And with that it means more crowds in most areas.
Even the locals come out to play when it's this time of the year as there are so many sakura trees lining up the streets and everywhere.
EVERYWHERE.
Oh and the weather is great too.
Temperatures are about 11-20 degrees.
4) The Japanese do not accept tips.
Yup.
We stayed at this amazing 4 stars hotel and the bellhop helped us with our bags and was super duper nice and guided us from lobby all the way up and yes, he didn't accept the 1000 yen note from me and told me that Japanese people do not accept tips.
And true enough I went to google, it actually means impoliteness to give them tips.
(I felt like a loser and punched myself multiple times after reading that T.T)
5) Eat sushi as a whole.
I'm sorry I need to share this as I thought this is quite important to them and it is pretty fun :D
Yes in Japan everyone eats sushi as a whole, do not take multiple bites as it is quite a rude gesture according to them (I dont know how and why too - maybe you can find out if you do, leave me a comment on my ask.fm okay :D ).
~~~
Okay enough of points to take note.
Let's start with Day 1.
Day 1 : SG to Tokyo (Nakameguro)
30th March 2015
So our flight from Changi Airport was 6am SG tiime, and we touched down at about 1.30pm Japan Time.
Japan time is an hour later than that of SG - i.e. SG 8pm, Japan 9pm.
Top : Pull & Bear
Pants : The Haute Theory
Shoes : Qoo10sg
The hub really love our new cam hahahaha
Yes I woke up like this (literally).
Sorry about my crappy hair but it's so tough to sleep on planes T.T
HOHOHO MOSHI MOSHI!
So we touched down, got our luggages and headed straight for the Narita Express train to Tokyo :D
Tickets cost about S$20 each (2000yen).
Before our 1hr ride, we went to the family mart to buy some Jap food/snacks.
I still remember the excitement! :D
I bought this pastry snack thingy!
It's really yummy you should try when you get there!
It's like chocolate pastry with many layers!
Hehe sorry for the camwhore too excited already :D
Yay reached!
And we took a walk to the hotel and along the way we saw......
SAKURA TREES!!!!!
(Sorry for being so overly-excited, because in Singapore
we see bougainvilleas at most :( )
They look white but the insides are slightly pink so from far they look light pink in colour :D
Hehe even their mail box is so cute!!
And not to mention their everywhere-also-have vending machines!
Ta-da this is our hotel for this trip!
I know this is a night shot of the hotel but we only manage to take photos of
the front part when we walked past it when we headed out for the night :D
WELCOME TO OUR HUMBLE HOTEL ROOM :D
First thing I wanted to do was to jump on this bed but cannot..... PHOTOS FIRST!
HAHAHAHA
So cute! :D
Alcohol for you?
Max love Japanese toilet bowls, got so many functions built into one :P
Outside view of our room!
I really like our hotel stay in Tokyo :D
Okay so enough of the hotel room, time to head out!!
First stop of the night was actually Tokyo Tower.
But since we can already see from our hotel....and due to time constraints,
we decided against it and headed to this street called Nakameguro.
It is a little quaint-looking street with cafes/boutiques and a little river along the side with Sakura
Trees lined along the way :D
Hehe he couldn't resist not taking an ootd shot too :P
AND HERE WE ARE!
NAKAMEGURO!
Hehe I love this shot :D
Having a beer, joining in the fun!
FOOD FOOD FOOOOOOOOOOOODDDD
Dress by Shopeverydaypeople.com
There's quite a lot of things to see along the way
and I think I spent too much time taking photos of the sakuras because
I was so fascinated by them :(
Here, it's like a little street with many street foods along the way
(but quite ex, about 500yen per dish on average) and many locals
hang around here after work with their friends/colleagues and EVERYONE
seem to be holding onto a cup of beer/wine in their hands.
They sure know how to enjoy life :P
Worth a visit!
Saw a vending machine for ciggs..
And he was surely impressed by it!
By the time we ended our visit, it was about 9 and we were quite tired too so we decided to head back and check out the 7 eleven nearby our hotel xD
(Did I mention I LOVVVVVEEE to shop at convenience stores of different countries?)
But on the way, we saw this cute little vending machine cashier operated food restaurant and decided to pop by and try their beef bowl.
IT WAS THE BEST THING I EVER HAD THROUGHOUT MY TOKYO TRIP.
So when I say vending machine cashier, I meant this.
You just insert money into this machine, choose your option and the ticket to your
bowl of heavenly yummy food comes out.
You pass it to the food preparation team and VIOLA!
This is 松 屋 , one of the most commonly seen eateries in Japan (even in Osaka)
and their food is reaaaaaally yummy and prices very reasonable.
This beef bowl cost about 290 yen (S$2.90).
Comes with tea and it is really good for one!
Such a happy meal indeed :D
Headed back to our hotel to the 7-11 and I was so happy!
Look!!
Can I just say, they have everything!! :O
I am so impressed!!
Hehe bought all these back to the hotel to munch on :D
Was so tired after shower we crashed immediately.
Another long day the next day.............
Day 2 : Tokyo
30th March 2015
Hello~
woke up early in the morning to visit Imperial Palace - our first stop!
#model
On the way we took many pictures with/of sakura trees, again! xD
But they are really super beautiful, even the locals stop to take photos of them
while on the way to work lor!
When we reached Imperial Palace, we are literally flooded by the sight of Sakura Trees.
A forest of them really!
I would say even if there isn't the Sakura season, do visit Imperial Palace - it's a nice place
for a slow stroll and some nature's sight-seeing in a city like Tokyo.
Imperial Palace - Tokyo
I look pissed but I'm not - the sun was really super bright hahahhaha
Okay too much, I know.
But you have to admit they look fantastic!
According to the hub, these are "underrated" flowers hahahahaha
Hehe yes this is the photo I shot!
It's a long walk from outside to the place where Edo Castle was (now only the base of the castle
was left and it was said that they are reconstructing it and hoping it would be up by end of 2015).
When we were inside the area near to the base of the castle, people were crowding around taking
photos of the Sakuras and posing with the trees.
And so we had to do the same.
Mandatory (Y)
:D
Hehe I love this picture! :D
I know it is too bright to make out what I am touching but it is a Sakura flower petal heh
Really love this shot by the hub.
First few times of using the DSLR and I must say his skills really not bad! :D
I even made a gif image with the shots! (:
And while I pose with pretty flowers in photos......
He just had to....
Pose with empty trees and buildings...
Using the tripod as some sort of "weapon" somemore + acting cool.... xD
But really no choice because if he pose with Sakura flowers also quite wrong
HAHAHA
Finally we reached the base of the Edo Castle!
Let's take a walk up....
View from the top of the base..
Us us us!
I was holding onto my beanie because the wind was pretty strong :D
This was the one we went up to!
Walking around we also saw families eating 便当 and have picnics under the Sakura Trees :O
Idea uh but we didn't do that la.
So on our way out the hub was pretty fascinated by this Mount Fuji viewing platform thing
and he went up himself to explore while I waited down by the path as I was pretty tired..
Okay I was just plain lazy :P
So this was what he saw..
But according to him, can't go up to see... so a little no point uh.
But nice shot though!
We left Imperial Palace feeling satisfied with all the Sakura viewing.
And.... time to eat :D
Hehe on our way to our next location, we spotted this at the subway station and decided to try!
Hub ordered Beef bowl Udon.
Mine's some prawn fritter udon.
Looking good!!!
Missing this now :(
And we paid 400yen average so it was a pretty good deal once again!
Next stop - Asakusa Temple (also known as Senjoji temple)
I feel this place is a MUST VISIT when you come to Tokyo.
Reason being the temple is quite famous and everything around here is so beautiful and picture-perfect!
Top : Primark
Beanie : London
Jeans : HnM
Shoes : Theshoeshysteria
Camera : Samsung
Hehehe
Can see Tokyo Sky Tree from here!
I have no idea what we ate but it was nice with some yummy sweet filling!
And of course, not forgetting the Temple itself and the shops around it!
This is some lucky water well thing.
Everyone was drinking water from it..
And so I tried it too!
Haha actually quite yummy and I feel luckier after doing so :P
Left the temple feeling pretty satisfied (:
Such a very different feel :D
On the way back we saw this "mini temple" and this "Crayon Shinchan" playground.
So cute right!
It's so simple yet the kids look so happy!
Next stop - HARAJUKU (Fashion Street in Japan)
Imagine my happiness when I saw this store...
MAKEUP OMGGGGGG
Yup I spent about an hour inside.
Am pretty guilty about it :(
This is Meiji Shrine, but by the time I finished shopping, it was closed :(
Luckily the hub didn't really want to visit this place :P
And we walked and walked down Harajuku until we saw Shinjuku station!
The hub bought these two to try from Lawson's I think.
The noodle thing is noodles+mayo+bread omg.
I had a bite and.... I didn't like it.
So while at Shinjuku hunting for food to eat....
We actually walked into this street near Shinjuku station.
Honestly this was not part of our itinerary but it was such a hidden gem/find!!
Super love this place, Japan at its most authentic, literally!
It is cramped, with many eateries selling yakitori.
The locals were talking and laughing loudly in lovely Japanese language and tone
and the atmosphere was just AWESOME.
Oops hahahaha
We settled for this cramped looking eatery that finally had seats for us upstairs.
Paid about S$30 in total for the entire meal.
Sorry didn't manage to take many photos of most of the food as we were hungry and gobbled them down real quick hahahaha
Orgasmic face of his eating the yakitori hahahaha
It was an expensive but really good experience.
Plus that night it was about 10 degrees (damn cold for what we were wearing imo)
so eating something hot and sipping hot green tea (for me) was SHIOK.
This hidden gem/find is known as : Omoide Yokocho
This is nearby Shinjuku Station.
~~~
So that concludes our Day 1 and 2 of Tokyo.
Will be updating in the next few days' time on Day 3 and 4 of Tokyo (Part II).
Thanks for reading :D
Please ask me any questions at all should you have any over at my ask.fm or drop me an email!
Cheers,
Agnes
Hello~
woke up early in the morning to visit Imperial Palace - our first stop!
#model
On the way we took many pictures with/of sakura trees, again! xD
But they are really super beautiful, even the locals stop to take photos of them
while on the way to work lor!
When we reached Imperial Palace, we are literally flooded by the sight of Sakura Trees.
A forest of them really!
I would say even if there isn't the Sakura season, do visit Imperial Palace - it's a nice place
for a slow stroll and some nature's sight-seeing in a city like Tokyo.
Imperial Palace - Tokyo
I look pissed but I'm not - the sun was really super bright hahahhaha
Okay too much, I know.
But you have to admit they look fantastic!
According to the hub, these are "underrated" flowers hahahahaha
Hehe yes this is the photo I shot!
It's a long walk from outside to the place where Edo Castle was (now only the base of the castle
was left and it was said that they are reconstructing it and hoping it would be up by end of 2015).
When we were inside the area near to the base of the castle, people were crowding around taking
photos of the Sakuras and posing with the trees.
And so we had to do the same.
Mandatory (Y)
Hehe I love this picture! :D
Really love this shot by the hub.
First few times of using the DSLR and I must say his skills really not bad! :D
I even made a gif image with the shots! (:
And while I pose with pretty flowers in photos......
He just had to....
Pose with empty trees and buildings...
Using the tripod as some sort of "weapon" somemore + acting cool.... xD
But really no choice because if he pose with Sakura flowers also quite wrong
HAHAHA
Finally we reached the base of the Edo Castle!
Let's take a walk up....
I was holding onto my beanie because the wind was pretty strong :D
Walking around we also saw families eating 便当 and have picnics under the Sakura Trees :O
Idea uh but we didn't do that la.
and he went up himself to explore while I waited down by the path as I was pretty tired..
Okay I was just plain lazy :P
So this was what he saw..
But according to him, can't go up to see... so a little no point uh.
But nice shot though!
We left Imperial Palace feeling satisfied with all the Sakura viewing.
And.... time to eat :D
Hehe on our way to our next location, we spotted this at the subway station and decided to try!
Hub ordered Beef bowl Udon.
Mine's some prawn fritter udon.
Looking good!!!
Missing this now :(
And we paid 400yen average so it was a pretty good deal once again!
Next stop - Asakusa Temple (also known as Senjoji temple)
Reason being the temple is quite famous and everything around here is so beautiful and picture-perfect!
Top : Primark
Beanie : London
Jeans : HnM
Shoes : Theshoeshysteria
Camera : Samsung
I have no idea what we ate but it was nice with some yummy sweet filling!
And of course, not forgetting the Temple itself and the shops around it!
This is some lucky water well thing.
Everyone was drinking water from it..
And so I tried it too!
Haha actually quite yummy and I feel luckier after doing so :P
Such a very different feel :D
On the way back we saw this "mini temple" and this "Crayon Shinchan" playground.
It's so simple yet the kids look so happy!
Next stop - HARAJUKU (Fashion Street in Japan)
Imagine my happiness when I saw this store...
MAKEUP OMGGGGGG
Yup I spent about an hour inside.
Am pretty guilty about it :(
Luckily the hub didn't really want to visit this place :P
And we walked and walked down Harajuku until we saw Shinjuku station!
The hub bought these two to try from Lawson's I think.
The noodle thing is noodles+mayo+bread omg.
I had a bite and.... I didn't like it.
So while at Shinjuku hunting for food to eat....
We actually walked into this street near Shinjuku station.
Honestly this was not part of our itinerary but it was such a hidden gem/find!!
Super love this place, Japan at its most authentic, literally!
It is cramped, with many eateries selling yakitori.
The locals were talking and laughing loudly in lovely Japanese language and tone
and the atmosphere was just AWESOME.
We settled for this cramped looking eatery that finally had seats for us upstairs.
Paid about S$30 in total for the entire meal.
Sorry didn't manage to take many photos of most of the food as we were hungry and gobbled them down real quick hahahaha
It was an expensive but really good experience.
Plus that night it was about 10 degrees (damn cold for what we were wearing imo)
so eating something hot and sipping hot green tea (for me) was SHIOK.
This hidden gem/find is known as : Omoide Yokocho
This is nearby Shinjuku Station.
~~~
So that concludes our Day 1 and 2 of Tokyo.
Will be updating in the next few days' time on Day 3 and 4 of Tokyo (Part II).
Thanks for reading :D
Please ask me any questions at all should you have any over at my ask.fm or drop me an email!
Cheers,
Agnes
