Japan Dec 2013

Day 0: Dec 7, 2013
Saturday Night Flight to Haneda Airport.
Got ready to leave the house for a 8 pm check in. After getting our boarding pass and checking in our luggages, went for a little coffee break at Coffee Bean & Tea Leave. Didn't really finish our drinks as it was too cold and too sweet so my parents brought it home. Went for boarding at about 9 pm. Went for a last ladies break and board the plane. The dinner was nice. Couldn't really sleep after that though. And breakfast was like in the dead of the morning. It was a nice simple one.


Day 1: Dec 8, 2013
Reached Haneda Airport early morning.
Board the 7 am bus to Shinjuku Train Station. Dragged our luggages to the hotel and headed to the main counter but the guy was a bit unfriendly. He told us to go to the foreign counter a bit too harshly. We waited a bit more for the foreign counter to open. Once it's open we went up to them and the lady was much nicer and assisted us with the storage of our luggage while the hotel is still not open for check in. Once that is done we went out of the hotel to walk around the area.

SHINJUKU & NAKANO
Most of the places wasn't open yet so went to the park nearby and took pictures there while waiting for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building to open their observatory decks. We even went to Hyatt Hotel to use their ladies and went into 7-eleven to get a Melon Pan to eat. We sat around outside a bit and once it was time we went for the North Observatory first before heading to the South one. Not bad for a FREE observatory. Really took our time to enjoy the view. Couldn't see Mt Fuji due to the clouds. But it was a good start for the trip. Next was the shopping area near the station. Went to Kinokuniya and animate. But since my stomach was making trouble had to go to the ladies before I could get a good walk around the area. Then we grab some lunch stuffs and went back to the hotel for check-in. Got our bags from the storage then made a call home and went to get our room key. We got the ladies floor and it was a nice room. We got to see Sky Tree from our window. It was a nice room with a nice view. We slacked around a bit before getting ready to go out again. That evening we went to Nakano Broadway where I bought a few doujinshi. We walked around the shopping mall and on our way back bought pancakes.


Day 2: Dec 9, 2013
This was one of the most packed and tiring day. Woke up at 7 am for a shower and breakfast. Got out by 9 am and headed on to our first stop.

UENO & ASAKUSA & ODAIBA
Got to the UENO park and looked at the map first but in the end didn't follow the route that we wanted to go by. We headed straight to the Ueno Zoo, which wasn't open that day. We took pictures in front of the gate and moved on to other parts of the park and took more pictures here and there. After a good walk, we headed to ASAKUSA. Walked straight for the GATE and took pictures. Couldn't find the PANDA bus-stop so we decided to go through the streets. There were a lot of souvenirs and we decided to buy them on our way back out so we went in all the way to the shrine/temple and took the chance to get a fortune slip. It was a good one. Then we went to take more pictures and moved towards the old theme park but we didn't go in. We saw the panda bus-stop but it was another 20 mins wait so we decided to walk back to the main gate. We bought the things we wanted and since we missed the panda bus we decided to walk to Sky Tree and it was one long walk. Once at Sky Tree, waited in line, it was a long line but it was quite fast. Took the lift to the observation deck and took pictures. We didn't go up to the other deck since there wasn't much time since we wanted to catch the panda bus. But in the end we couldn't find the bus-stop again and missed the chance to get on the panda bus. We walked back to the water bus pier. Managed to catch the 3.15 pm water bus to Odaiba. It was a nice trip on the water bus. Took a lot of pictures and even went to the open air 2nd deck of the water bus. It was nice and cooling. We had a little stop at one of the piers before heading to Odaiba. Once at ODAIBA, we took pictures of the rainbow bridge. Then we went to find GUNDAM where we took more pictures. My legs were hurting by this time and it took all I had to walk to Palette town where Zepp Tokyo is and took a break at the Ferris Wheel. There was a TEENTOP concert held at Zepp Tokyo and saw all the fans there. Couldn't take the ride around the area so went back to the hotel after hanging around a bit longer.


Day 3: Dec 10, 2013
Was originally meant to go to Yokohama but with our feet hurting and the weather not so good, we went to other places instead.

TOKYO STATION, AKIHABARA, IKEBUKURO & TOKYO DOME CITY
It was pouring as we headed out to the train station. We went to Tokyo Station as near the station there was a tourist office where we can go and collect a special towel that ARASHI had some collaboration with. There we took some time to enjoy origami and a cold cup of green tea. Wish it was HOT since the weather was COLD but was thankful for the drink nonetheless. We headed out after saying our thanks and went to AKIHABARA. There were a lot of MOE stuffs so we went to animate and bought what we want and then went to grab some lunch at Mister Donut. Sat there letting our legs rest before heading to IKEBUKURO where we visited another animate. Then walked around a bit before heading to TOKYO DOME CITY. There at Tokyo Dome, the goods for ARASHI concert that was to be held there was being sold and the queue was long. Took pictures and went for coffee at Starbucks before heading back to the hotel.


Day 4: Dec 11, 2013
Weather was fine so went to Yokohama. But feet died on this day.

YOKOHAMA
Took the train down all the way to Yokohama and had breakfast at Krispy Kreme. Walked to the Cup Noodle Museum but before that bought a new pair of winter boots. At the museum, made our own flavour of cup noodle and walked through the displays at the musuem and even watched a movie of how cup noodle came about. It was a nice fun time there. Didn't do much walking around the area except to their animate and their GACHA area in Yodobashi. Feet was dying so went back early to the hotel.


Day 5: Dec 12, 2013
The last two relaxing days. Since there were only two places to go to and since it's the shopping district and shops don't open so early, went out later than usual.

SHIBUYA & HARAJUKU
Reached SHIBUYA and took pictures with Hachiko. Then started making our way to Tower Records where I bought 3 CDs that came with DVDs. Also got a Mag before leaving the place. Looked at the map and tried walking towards 109. But came across Mandarake and animate. Went for a little stop before heading back to 109. Things at 109 was so expensive that we didn't buy anything but just took a picture in front of the building. Head over to HARAJUKU where we had a little stop for CREPE! One was not enough so I shall go back there some other time to get another one. There wasn't much along the street since it was winter time and we can't wear those clothes here in SG so just walked around and went back earlier for packing.


Day 6: Dec 13, 2013
Last Day so made it really relaxing. Only went for 2 observatories. But before that we were glad that we were able to get tickets for the limo bus to Narita Airport. The bad news is that the bus is at 5.25 am.

ROPPONGI & TOKYO TOWER
The wind was strong on this day. Went to Tokyo City View where they had a special observatory deck that is open air and where their heli-pad is. There was also a museum there where we took a walk around and find some of the art works hard to understand. Really enjoyed the open air observatory where you can really feel the strong winds. It really felt as if the wind could just grab you and bring you on a flying trip. Once we had our thrill, we went to the nearby TV Asahi building where we were able to walk around the lobby area and bought a souvenir. We then went to Tokyo Tower and had a good walk around the tower and bought all the goodies that we wanted. On this last day we were glad to be able to buy some in case there was no time at the airport. So once we were done, went back to the hotel for final packing and preparation for the departure back to SG.


Day 7: Dec 14, 2013
Late Morning Flight back to Singapore Changi Airport.
Woke up at 3 am to get ready in time for the 5.25 am bus to Narita Airport. Bought some bread to eat at the airport before check in. Slacked at the airport before the check-in time. Once we checked-in, went to walk around the airport and went to the open air observation deck. Took pictures and went back in for departure. Ate our last onigiri before boarding the plane. And as soon as the plane took off, I was pretty much in dream land. Return to SG tired but happy.