A touch of Sweetness

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

7 days Japan Tour

Day 1
the day started off at 3am where we left for changi airport. i did not sleep for the night and stayed up till we left for airport. when we arrived at changi airport, we will kind of early so we went to the cafe for breakfast. the bread and milo were horrible to the max. at ard 345, we started checking-in and met danial and the rest of the group members. the plane took of at ard 545am. the plane we took was north-west. the seat was kind of uncomfortable. and i had to endure that seat for 6 to 7 hours. as i was sitting at the window seat, i could see the sun rise. it was really pretty. finally at 230pm (singapore time), 330pm(japan time), we arrived at narita airport. the weather there was super good. was super cooling. not long later we headed to our hotel for the night - Mecure Hotel. during the bus journey, danial introduced the group members. after we arrived at mecure hotel, we checked-in, rest for a little while before heading out to the streets to explore. lucky i brought my jacket along, if not i will freeze. the streets were really cool. they had music playing along the way. our first stop was Mac. we tried their terriyaki pork burger.yummylicious. after that we heading down to the streets again. our last stop was naritasan-shinshoji temple. as the temple was close so we could only walk around to explore. after that we walked back to the hotel and it was drizzling. along the way, i realised that there was lot of vending machine. from basic drinks to even cigarettes. we also bought cup noodles for dinner and a strawberry shortcake. the strawberry shortcake was really nice. it was very soft and rich. the night ended at 9 plus (japan time) and i fall asleep not long later.

Day 2
wake up call was at 7am and meeting time was 8.30am. so i woke up at 630am. just in time to dress up and have breakfast at the restaurant. we gathered at 830am at the lobby and left for our mountain and lake tour. our first stop was at Lake Ashi. we had a boat cruise across the lake. the journey was only 10 minutes. but i still managed to take alot of photos. a beautiful place to be in. the air was fresh and the wind cooling. after that we headed down to Owakudani Boiling Hell Valley aka smelly mountain. the place was really sinky. but we still climbed up to the place where they sold hard boil eggs. and the eggs were black in colour. they said that every one egg will extend one's live by 7 years. we also got ice cream. eating ice cream in the cold is really cool. i love it. our next stop was Gotemba Chelsea Premium Outlet. I love this place to the max. had only 2 and a half hours for shopping. so we went to those shops that we wanted to shop in. my favourite shop was GAP. bought most of my stuff from there. i ran from one corner to another corner. and we were suppose to have lunch there too. but there was little time so bought Mac and ate in the bus. after that was to Mount Fuji. On the way up to the fifth station, we managed to catch a gleams of Mount Fuji. It was really wow.. At the fifth station, the temperature was like super low. and i was freezing. the best part was the ice cream. i just love eating ice cream in the cold. our last stop near Mount Fuji was Lake Kawaguchi. The sun rays against the lake was pretty. It was like GOD opening up the heavens for us to enter. And it was also the place i dropped my cam and it died on me =(. lucky we had another camera. soon after we left for tokyo city. it was another 1 hour bus ride before we arrived at some place for dinner. and another 1 hour bus ride before we arrived at metropolitan government building. viewing tokyo city from bird's eye view. saw the tokyo tower too. finally a driving pass shinjuku kabukicho night street before heading to our hotel - Shinagawa Prince Hotel.

Day 3
As usual, wake up call was at 7am and meeting time was 830am. we headed down to Disneyland by the JR train. It was really fun taking the JR train. the speed of their train was super fast and the handles were super high. so it was as good as testing my balancing skills. but sad to say my balancing skills sucks. half the time i was dancing. and of course danial was laughing at me. we had to change to another train at tokyo station. tokyo station is really big. we had to walk for about 15 mins before arriving at the red line. and we managed to have seats. if not i would be dancing around again. slightly before 10am, we arrived at Maihama station. and walked to disneyland. at disneyland all of us went crazy. it was really crowded and we had to wait for at least 45minutes before taking our rides. i love disneyland to the max. its such a happy place and the characters are always there to cheer you up. we were running from one land to another, catching one show after another. all the way until 6 plus were we did our last minute shopping. and finally the parade at 730pm. the fireworks was cancelled because of the strong wind. we met the other tour members at the station at 920pm and danial came to pick us up and back to the hotel.

Day 4
As usual same timing since day 1. same route to disneyland. just that we took the disney line to disneysea. disneysea had more shows than rides. the shows was a wow wow wow. the first ride i took was the tower of terror. i scream from the bottom all the way to the top and from the top all the way down. took every ride except the 360 degrees turn ride. as dinseysea was smaller. we managed to finish everything one hour before the night show and fireworks. so did more shopping and bought more cookies. the night show was fantastic. and the fireworks was ok only. i thought i could see fireworks in mickey mouse shape. but nah. after that we headed back to the disneyline station to meet the rest of the members and danial before heading back to the hotel.

Day 5
This time we did not need to wake up early as it was a free an easy day. but danial still brought was around. our first stop was shibuya, followed by harajuku, ueno and akihabara. at shibuya i bought all my fancl stuff. and danial got a shock when he saw me with two big bags of fancl stuff. at harajuku i bought all my canmake stuff and there was H&M, GAP, Forever 21!!! but had no time to shop all of the shops. after that was a long train ride to ueno. ueno was like bugis street. all the street shops and little shops. stopped at some dried goods store and another store to buy chocolates. before heading to akihabara, we stopped by at a restaurant for some food and rest. had my unagi!! super nice. and i had no idea how danial started telling ghost stories about his school. i swear i do not want to eat ang gu kui and ba cang anymore. and yes he knows about my penang story too. our last stop was at akihabara. the electronic street. we were looking for Wii but the two shops we went had no stock. so left the place empty handed. we headed back to the hotel and had dinner at Mac as every restaurant at Shinagawa station was closed.

Day 6
Another day where i did not have to wake up super early. the first place we went was the aquarium at the hotel. the place was quite small so did not spend so much time there. after watching the sea lion show and dolphin show, we left for Mitsui Garden Factory outlet. the factory outlet was super super crowded and the clothes there was not really nice and expensive. so we decided to return to harajuku for H&M, GAP and Forever 21. there were 3 levels at H&M and i was trying all the nice clothes and a pair of shorts. but only bought a cardigan in the end cause the shorts i wanted too big and did not have a smaller size. after walked around for a little while, we headed back to shinagawa station for dinner.

Day 7
the last day of the tour. sad to pack up and leave the hotel. but we still had another city tour so it was not that bad. our first stop was tsukiji fish market. the place was super wet and sinky. but still explore the place. and saw many interesting seafood. after that, we headed down to the restaurants for sushi and raw salmon. at first only gen, gwy, danial and i who wanted to eat the sushi and raw salmon. but at the first restaurant there was only a set so we went to another restaurant. by then, everyone went in to eat. finally had my fair share of sushi and salmon. it was superlicious. and danial was making fun of gen for eating only cucumber sushi. after that we headed down to Odaiba Park were we took photos of the rainbow bridge, tokyo tower and the statue of liberty. beautiful place to be in. the next place we went to was Ginza. SHOPING!!! the toy shop there has 3 levels and the toys are really cute and nice. next shop we went to was burberry. dad bought a polo-tee from there. and i helped danial choose a polo-tee too. gwy and i can become his shopping adviser. the polo-tee that we choose was really nice. too bad there was no size for dad. he also showed us a bag that he wanted to buy but was too ex. so he did not buy. it was really nice. if only i can have a burberry bag too. and the perfume was super. now i regretted not getting it. we went down to the ladies department and mum bought a bag. i saw a pretty dress there. and danial kept saying it is for adults. dun have children size -_- how lame can he be?? but the dress is way too ex for me. and he wanted to take a photo with the salesgirl but she refused. he got rejected!! haha.. our next stop was at fancl. bought somemore fancl stuff before heading down to the supermarket. danial and mum bought curry power. when we came out of the shopping centre, it started to rain. lucky i had an unbrella. but i was not the one holding the umbrella. dainal was holding it because he was complaining that i was holding it so low and it kept hitting his head. last but not least, our last destination was Asakusa Temple. i regretted not making the wish thingy. haiz.. we walked on the long stretch of streets and to the 100yen shop. and once again danial was complaining that i was hitting his head again. and he counted 5 times. he gave up and asked if he could borrow me and my umbrella. i told him that he does not need to borrow me. borrow my unbrella can already. had lunch at some chinese restaurant. had to swollow my food as we were late. i nearly puck after swollowing my food. had to run back to the bus because we were late. and on top of that it was raining. and my slippers nearly fall off. by the time we arrived at the bus, we were all wet. soon after we headed down to narita airport. sad to leave the place but have to go back to reality after all.

so that's the end of my 7 days tour at japan. really had a wonderful time. and glad to meet new friends like joanne and her husband clive, the koh family and danial my crappy friend. talked 7 days worth of crap. now i'm waiting for danial to send me the group photo. he's like taking so long to send me!! i wanna go back to japan!!

-geri :) ;