Japan adventures - Tokyo
Hello guys! I promise I didn't mean to leave such a huge hiatus between this blog post and the last one but I've been too caught up with clinical placement and life lately. I've actually been pretty exhausted since my body is so unaccustomed to physical labour hahaha, but I'm slowing getting there (I hope). Well I'm here to blog about my japan/korea trip at last!
Our flight was all the way at Coolangatta airport so we had to wake up early to arrive in time. I actually took Pk in my car but when we arrived at the airport we found out her parents were so worried about her first lone trip they actually drove all the way there just to send her off. So cute omfg.
We didn't do too much once we arrived in Japan actually - just got our rail passes, checked into our airbnb and went out to the neighbouring area to buy a quick dinner (rice balls and the like).
The next morning we woke up pretty early in order to rush to the famous Tsukiji fish markets for some fresh seafood. Actually to be honest, I'm not such a big seafood eater but I figured since its Japan I might as well try some new things. We lined up for one of the most famous stores called Sushi Daiwa (大和寿司) and lets just say although the line was massive, the Japanese sure are damn efficient so the wait wasn't too bad.
I randomly picked the largest set - not a good idea since I can't stomach much seafood, but I managed to force myself to eat most of it since my chef just kept smiling kindly at me and I couldn't bear to hurt his feelings. We had a stilted conversation about kangaroos and Australia. I also tried sea urchin for the first time in my life oh my god. It actually wasn't too bad!! Rather nice actually - coming from someone who usually eats only salmon.
After we finished exploring the fish markets we managed to meet up with Justin who also happened to be in the area! It feels so spontaneous to meet up with a friend in a whole different country altogether.
Big thanks to justin for taking vincent, pk & I around, it was a huge improvement to what we actually had planned (not that much) HAHAHA, I think he was very proud to be somewhat a tour guide. Justin I think I have found your calling.
Justin was meant to go to Yokohama to sightsee but ended up coming with us all the way to Odaiba for some casual shopping before we parted ways.
We hung around till late and the proceeded to go to Asakusa because I was to meet up with Aya and to get our Studio Ghibli tickets off her. We managed to try getting our Omikuji (fortune).... but both vincent and I ended up with EXTREME BAD LUCK as our prediction....lets hope its not too accurate.
We met up with Aya at a random restaurant that we happened to walk past - the plan was to go to sky tree but we were dead tired and plans were a bit muddled but we had a good catch up session :) Hadn't seen her in almost two years!
I actually wanted to book a hair salon so Pk and I could get our hair done, and with Aya's encouragement I gathered my courage and called up, using my broken Japanese to communicate. However, I panicked halfway because I felt like I was stumbling so I pretty much chucked the phone at Aya so she could help me.
Our plans the next day included getting our hair done at Omotesando, at a hair salon called NUMBER 76 NALU. We were lucky because one of the hairdressers could speak a bit of english so I managed to converse in half japanese half english to get our meaning across. We also managed to get a discount because we found out about them from Cheesie (blogger).
Later we walked from our hair salon down to Harajuku and found some much needed breakfast before we hit the stores to do some shopping. Since I never got the chance last time in Japan, I decided to splurge and buy two harajuku crepes which are supposedly famous.
Spotted some cosplayers while we were at it.
... including cross dressers. 10/10 to them for effort #onlyinjapan
Bought some deep fried milk sticks filled with custard which tasted absolutely amazing. Later that night Vincent managed to persuade me to go eat ramen with him at 11pm.
The next morning (our third day), we decided to visit Studio Ghibli and the Doraemon Fujiko fujio museum. The three of us (pk, vincent and I) began our day at a random cafe on the way from our airbnb to the subway station. They had vintage leather chairs and waiters dressed like butlers.
We took the subway then boarded a special bus bound for the Studio Ghibli museum. We were pretty lucky because we managed to get a slot since usually it gets booked out quite quickly. Also managed to catch the last bit of autumn it seems!
The place itself isn't too big and you can easily cover it within two hours in my opinion but nevertheless, I think so much effort went into making it seem authentic.
You weren't allowed to take photos inside but we got to watch a short film and to explore the souvenir shop as well.
Vincent and I were sharing this bento box we bought at the station when we spotted a group of people eating totoro cream puffs in celebration of a friend's birthday. To our disappointment, they weren't actually sold at the museum but at a separate place.
The outside terrace had a couple of laputa themed items like the command cube and the laputan robot! It was actually life sized. I think overall if you're a fan of studio ghibli it is worth a visit and photo worthy.
In the afternoon we left studio ghibli and went on our way to the doraemon museum. We got there much later than anticipated unfortunately, missing our entrance time by over an hour but the staff their kindly let us in *tears of joy*. I love Japanese people.
We were a little too late to visit the Doraemon cafe but we managed to watch a short limited edition film, walk our way through the museum which had verbal explanations of how the comic was first developed.
The Dokodemo "anywhere" door which is meant to be able to take you anywhere! It was nice to be able to revisit childhood like that. We also took some Sticky photos to amuse ourselves by - seeing as a significant amount of photoshopping occurred.
I bought some Doraemon dorayaki and melopan flavoured tea leaves as well as adzuki bean pancake dessert which is known to be Doraemon's favourite dessert! Actually I bought the ice cream version.
We were actually so tired by the time we left the museum but we decided to go to the Tokyo Skytree anyway since it was on our list of activities to do. We decided against going to the very top since the first deck was already pretty high. The view was astounding, you could even see Tokyo tower in the distance.
Had some well deserved Yakiniku for dinner, ordering what appeared to be the best deal. I wasn't even sure of what I was eating - only that it was beef and chicken but from which parts I don't know. We figured that was for the best HAHAHA.
Disney Sea (day four)
We had to get up so early this day because we were afraid of missing out on all the rides since apparently it was first in first served so we pretty much turned up right before it opened.
They have a good system there which allows you to line up for "fast passes" which allow you to essentially "line up" for rides without actually physically being there. It is available to anyone and as long as you get a ticket for a particular ride you want before it runs out, you are pretty much guaranteed a go as long as you turn up at your ticketed time - a efficient system if you ask me.
The atmosphere was so cheerful - a huge parade performance and all the staff looked so cheerful despite the freezing weather. Seriously, Pk, vincent and I almost froze to death despite our winter clothing. I strongly suggest bringing heat packs with you if you decide to go in winter.
Spotted an adorable adorable kid - I just had to take a photo. We also lined up to take photos with Lilo!!! (and his ... sister?????). Forgive me for my cluelessness.
Optom sweaters!
I've really got to say that Japanese theme parks truly surpass that of Australia's. The park was so huge and it seemed like every detail was taken care of to make it seem authentic and real. There was Aladdin's palace, Ariel's castle and a whole assortment of other areas.
I was freezing my ass off and kept eyeing all of the winter merchandise so eventually Vincent decided to buy me these minnie mouse gloves despite my weak protests :3
After two buckets of nice caramel popcorn, we decided to call it a day at around 8p and we left to go grab some dinner at Ichiran Ramen in Shibuya. On our way home we spotted a Alice in wonderland themed cafe!!!!
There was a minimum order and some service fees if I remember correctly but absolutely worth going just for the novelty. The food actually tasted really good, contrary to my expectations. Vincent was sighing in contentment over all three cocktails. Both Pk and I eyed him in doubt before we tried it ourselves and understood.
We were deeply fascinated by one of our glowing cocktails which stopped glowing once we finished the drink. It was a pity we were too full to order savoury foods.
How absolutely adorable was our waitress? Couldn't help having a little crush. This seems way better than a maid cafe. She was so surprised we wanted a photo.
On our last full day in Tokyo, we decided we would take it a bit slower since the last few days had us absolutely exhausted. I dragged Pk and Vincent to the Shirohige cream puff factory with me just so I could try some of the totoro cream puff pastries.
It was just a quaint little cafe wedged in a suburban area but we managed to find it - and well lets just say thats one thing off my bucket list!!! The puffs themselves were so adorable, almost too pretty to eat. There wasn't much else we wanted to try so we left afterwards for some last minute shopping in Shinjuku etc.
I can truly say our time in Tokyo was truly maximised because we spent almost like more than 12 hours out every single day just jam packed with activities. Our next destination city was Yamagata but more on that later!! Hopefully I'll be able to catch up with my Japan holiday soon enough. Until then, goodnight :)
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