The Honeymoon (5/6) – Tokyo drift! «

The Honeymoon (5/6) – Tokyo drift!

Can’t believe this was in Feb! OMG! And I have finally moved on to the Tokyo bits! The pictures will really speak for themselves…

After landing in Tokyo just for Disneyland on our first then, we came back for a proper tour on our 5th day in Japan. Very tired, yes we were, from the cold, but also extremely excited to explore Tokyo!

It was a childhood thing to visit Japan – experience the culture, the people (the pretty girls, for ZQ), the food, the city charm. And we got more than what we asked for. If not for the unfortunate devastating earthquake a few months ago, you’d definitely see me urging everyone else to visit Japan and possibly, planning my next trip. I really hope that the whole thing clears up so I can really really plan my next trip there. ZQ says that we shall have kids first before going… he thinks that any ‘selfish’ act of ours is going to affect our future children’s health… oh well…

A sandwich I tapao-ed from Osaka station before getting onto the train to Tokyo!!! I wanted to ‘hold’ a part of Osaka with me… was already missing it then. This is how charming that place is… And me.. I can never sleep on planes, trains etc, unlike ZQ, who can knock out immediately. Hence, I like to occupy my travel time with magazines, books, papers and food!!! Not forgetting taking photos of scenery on the way. I can’t imagine if I have to take a plane to Europe or States next time. I don’t know how I will react in the plane.

So pretty right?? The porky missed it since he was sleeping! I think I tapped him awake but in his blurry state, he acknowledged my tap and supposedly saw the mountain. I think maybe only 50% registered in his brain…

Few hours later (train ride, struggle with various subway lines and maps), we found the correct way to our hotel, which is in west Shinjuku. FYI, accomodation in Tokyo is quite ex, except for Shinjuku area, but it’s quite a ‘party’ area… which, according to the hotel staff, is near the nightlife and entertainment district. To be honest, having lived there for 4 days, we felt quite safe. Somehow, the Japanese are only interested in Japanese! Unlike in BKK or even SG, where you might be ‘disturbed’ you when you pass by, etc. If you keep a low profile and mind your own business, there really isn’t much of an issue staying in that area.

Our hotel, Sunroute Higashi Shinjuku! Sunroute is a huge hotel chain in Japan, check it out here. Not as shiok as our Osaka apartment.. but decent enough for a short stay. Somehow, it seemed like a good idea to stay in a tiny room with the crazy weather because it was very cosy!

What you see is what we got! An extremely tiny room, taken up mostly by the bed (which is slightly smaller than a queen bed). Basically, the only space to move about was an ‘L’ shaped space around the bed. There was a desk in front of the bed for the TV and miscellaneous stuff like coffee maker etc. I must say this room is only for sleeping!!! Plus, our luggages and backpacks took up space from the already tiny L shaped area!

Beefy rice bowl to fight the cold! This place we found is strangely similar to Yoshinoya, but has a much more delicious menu of food!

A very delicious choice – cheesy hamburger curry rice! that was our early dinner, on the day we arrived in Tokyo.

After dinner, we walked around (with no destination in mind, just wanted to relax), and again, walked into a random convenience store

Rila breads! WTH right… they looked so cute that I wanted to grab one, but figured I would have no space and the thing would end up being expired. Because in Japan, we were eating main meals and snacking! There is just so much to try and not enough (stomach) room.

A seriously HUGEASS H & M!! You won’t believe it, I did not even buy one single piece of clothing throughout my entire trip, despite walking into all the large boutiques. I guess, I was too cold to think of stripping in any fitting room. Furthermore, me and ZQ had the ‘agreement’ of going on a toys spree so that was what we spent our monies on! For once, we enjoyed the trip very much since it was not a one sided thing of me shopping for woman clothes and leaving ZQ to wait and wait for hours, but a shared joy of both of us when we admired and bought toys! I have never enjoyed it so much in my life, and strangely, with someone of a different gender. We’ve learnt to admire both the boy and girl toys, haha. Now, (as we both go deeper into our addiction for toys), I can understand why toy / junk collectors look quite sloppy / underdressed. They just don’t bother to shop anymore. I need to remind myself to NOT go that direction…

Takashimaya! Like the ‘original’! Standards definitely much higher in Japan. And the Rose Chan doll, naked!!! I think we have one pair in our Taka in SIN but fully clothed… lol. Talk about standards, the Taka food hall in Japan, and all the other food halls in other malls are just SUPERB!! The range of cakes and gifts is just so fabulous, that you feel like buying everything to try.

Tokyu Hands! This is like Daiso + Art Friend + a departmental store. Very cool place… selling craft stuffs, toys, and miscellaneous items. It’s apparently quite big in Japan.