DAY 1, 1ST DEC
My mom and I reach Haneda airport at around 10.30pm.
Passed customs and collect luggage
so we only left the airport at around 11pm.
Which is super late, and we were worried that the hotel might close.
The owner did say he will wait up for us,
but bu hao yi si make him wait so long also.
So we rushed down to the monorail to take train to Minamisenju.
Wah, I think the way to buy train tickets in Japan very confusing... ><
To buy a train ticket in Singapore, you press the destination on the
touch screen and pay accordingly the amount that appears on the screen.
But in Japan, above all the train tickets machines,
there is an overall map of the train lines with numbers
beside each destination on the overall map.
And on each touch screen there are various values (130, 160, 210...)
You are suppose to look at the map and find the place you want to,
and press one of the numbers on the touch screen.
The numbers on the touch screen is how much you have to pay for the ticket.
Confusing right?!?!?!?!?!?! I figured it out on my own!!!!!!! *proud face*
And in Japan there is something known as the JR line and subway line.
And I didn't know that.
JR line is not underground, the railway lines are out in the open air.
Subways are underground.
And both lines are NOT connected.
And I didn't know that as well.
They are not connected, so you cannot change lines in the station,
and you have to exit the JR station and then find the subway station.
This is not hard, the painful part is that you have to pay for a new ticket...
It is not expensive, but if you do this everyday, and twice a day
because you have to travel out and back to hotel....
It adds up to a huge sum of money.... T.T
Anyways, it is also because of that reason that my mom and I
had a super hard time looking for our hotel.
Instructions to get to the hotel says that we have to exit from the south exit.
And we were in the JR station, where there were only the west and east exit.
We were clueless on what to do..... Sob...
The south (and north) exit can only be found in the subway station.
So we ended up taking a taxi to the hotel.
Distance was LESSER than from NCHS to CP.
And the price was 800 yen, around $13.60.
We felt so cheated.... Sigh.
Reached hotel and the hotel was quite nice!!!
Okay, maybe hotel is the wrong word.
Hostel would be a better word.
Checked in at around 12am.
So thankful that the owner waited up for up!!!
Cause their check in time limit was until 10pm only.
They don't usually accept such late check-ins
and usually tell other people to check-in the next day.
At first then say must call them once we reach airport,
and they will only wait up till 11pm.
But after a few emails they said no need to call
cause they were sure we will come, and I'm really grateful!!!
And YES, the owner speaks PERFECT english,
his pronounciation is even better than most Singaporeans
so the check in was an easy process. ^^
He showed us around the ground floor of the hostel.
There was a big bathroom, which can be used by more than one person at a time,
and two small seperate showers beside it, one person use at a time.
He then showed us the toilets and the kitchen and then our room.
The hostel room was reallllllllllllllly small.
Like LITERALLY, one king size bed and 2 small tables added to the width.
TV on table, 2 person futon, space for luggage.
Really. No kidding. I forgot to take a picture...
My mom and I went to sleep at around 1am.
DAY 2, 2ND DEC
Woke up at around 9am.
Plan today was to go buy lightsticks for Nana's concert.
So we went out, and I decided that we should go Akihabara.
Had a bit of trouble reaching Minamisenju subway....
I admit that I was stubborn as I didn't want to look at the map...
First 2 routes were wrong, turn right, walk straight and walk straight, turn right.
Finally the 3 route was right, turn left, walk straight. -.-
I don't know why I kept insisting to go right.... I'm sorry....
While we were finding our way to Minamisenju subway,
we went pass a cafe, and we were hungry (no breakfast)
so we decided to eat first before we reached Akihabara.
Lunch ^^
Finally reached Minamisenju subway,
and I purchased the train tickets successfully! :D
Travelled to Akihabara, luckily both stations were on the Hibaya subway line,
so there was no need to change stations.
Reached Akihabara safely and I encountered my 2nd problem...
I knew that I could purchase penlights in Gamers
and Gamers was in Akihabara, but I had no idea how to get to Gamers.
I know I damn fail.... LOL
So my mom and I just walked around randomly...
And we couldn't find penlights. SOB.
Returned to the mrt staion, and my mom suggested
we try the shopping centre besides the mrt.
Why we didn't try the shopping centre in the first place was because
it was a shopping centre selling electronics.
I was skeptical but we went in, cause it was cold outside.
Walked around. At the CD section I saw this!!!!!!
I want to steal this!!!
When my mom saw that she suggested we ask the person.
She said since they sell concert DVDs, they may sell penlights.
LOL, it was quite funny.
I was like "Mizuki Nana. Concert. Penlight. *wave hand in the air*
Concert penlight, doko desuka?"
Thankfully, the person understood me, hahahahaha.
And surprise, the shopping centre which sells electronics actually sold penlights.
I felt so dumb. Sigh.
Bought quite a lot of penlights.
As mention in my previous post,
I should have brought my suju penlights...
After that we spent some time in Macdonalds resting.
We walked quite a bit before going into the shopping centre
and it was cold so we decided to rest.
LOL, I know, we're old.
After resting, we went to Suidobashi.
It was the place I was going to tomorrow,
the station near Tokyo Dome, and I wanted to go there
so that we would know where to walk tomorrow.
Hey, I am very responsible okay?
Must do research so tomorrow we won't get lost and be late.
We reached there and my mom took a few pictures.
I didn't see the point of taking photos of Tokyo Dome...
It got dark soon so we decided to head back to our hostel.
When I checked the time I got a shock cause it was only 5 plus.
It gets dark there really early....
It was on the way back when I realised the difference
between JR lines and subway lines....
Cause Suidobashi didn't have a straight line to Minamisenju.
And the price to go to Akihabara and Minamisenju was the same!!!!!!
But we had no choice but to exit the JR station,
and go back to the Hibaya subway line, so we had to pay DOUBLE PRICE!!!!!
Feel so sad.... Quite expensive leh, plus I had to buy 2 tickets.
So we went back to Akihabara, and my mom suggested that we have dinner there.
We had ramen cause it was cold, and I forgot to take a picture. :(
Reached hotel at around 7pm, but the sky was reallllllly dark
and it felt so much more like 10pm.
DAY 3, 3RD DEC
Set alarm for 9.30am.
But it was raining, so we went back to sleep.
I mean, its not like we can walk around much...
It is such a hassle to use an umbrella.
Left hostel cause my mom said she was hungry.
I would have rather slept till 2pm then go to Suidobashi...
We went to Akihabara again for lunch.
There isn't much to eat at Minamisenju
and yesterday night when we were looking for a place to eat
we saw a lot of nice small restaurants.
My favourite lunch. ^^
I ate a bit of salmon already...
After eating, my mom wanted to walk around,
but I insisted we go to Suidobashi cause I was afraid of being late...
We had to meet Danie to get our tickets at 4pm.
In the end, we reached there too early. At 3pm...
So we went to Macdonalds to wait.
Finally headed down at 4pm, and yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My first Nana concert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Queen's night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tickets.
Our view.
I posted about both days already in the previous post,
so I will spare you my fangirling...
The concert started at 6pm and ended at 9.30pm.
It was hard finding a place for dinner,
it was late and everywhere was crowded by other people...
So in the end we went back to Minamisenju
and went to the 7-11 there to buy bentos.
Sad, but it was a good experience eating bentos, LOL.
No picture cause it was just bento.
That day I learned the third thing about Japan's mrt.
I think it is because Tokyo is too big,
so in one mrt route/line, there are 3 types of trains.
The local train, rapid train and very rapid train.
All 3 trains travel through the same stations,
but the rapid and very rapid trains do not stop at all stations.
You understand what I mean?
Local trains stop at all station,
but rapid train may only stop at station 1,3,7 and 11.
And all the trains stop at the same platform,
so you must check before you board the train.
And yah, mom and I board a rapid train on accident,
so we were pretty shocked when we didn't reach Akihabara...
DAY 4, 4TH DEC
Today was King't night.
Woke up at 6.30am cause I wanted to buy Live Castle concert goods.
Managed to buy good successfully, nothing sold out.
And the queue moved reallllllllllllly fast, we were done by 10am.
I think cause other people already bought their goods
the day before and during the pre-sale.
Since we were done early I decided to go Akihabara to search for Gamers again.
I posted this in the previous post so I won't do it again.
After Gamers we went around looking for a water bottle,
cause I forgot to mention it but they don't allow us to bring in
plastic bottles, so we had to buy a water bottle.
After buying the bottle there was nothing much to do,
and we were sleepy so we went back to hostel to sleep.
It was only 12pm and the concert started at 4pm.
Woke up at 2pm and we headed out.
Mom went to Ueno and I went to Suidobashi.
Totally missed lunch so I bought takoyaki from a nearby stall there.
Takoyaki for lunch
Er, the takoyaki didn't taste good.
I prefer Singapore's takoyaki....
Partly because it was octopus instead of ham and cheese,
but mainly because the takoyaki there has more veggie taste. LOL
Really, can taste more spices, like ginger and veggie.
Sorry, but I really didn't like.
While eating I saw a Nana truck!!!!!!
I want this too...
So cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think it was the truck bringing more goods to Tokyo Dome for sale.
The other side was Museum II picture,
and it was playing Nana's music. Silent Bible.
LOL, I was quite close to the truck and sitting down while eating,
and a lot of people started crowding around me to take photos of the truck...
LOL, it was really awkward.
Anyways, went into Tokyo Dome after eating.
View for King's night.
Since I posted about the concert already, I won't do it again.
Except mention that: KING'S NIGHT WAS BETTER THAN QUEEN'S NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!
AND SETLIST FOR BOTH DAYS WERE REALLY DIFFERENT
SO I AM REALLLLLLLLLY GLAD I WENT FOR BOTH DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Concert ended at around 7.30pm and I went back to Akihabara,
cause that was were I arranged to meet my mom.
She said she found a good place for sushi so we went there for dinner.
OMG the sashimi in Japan is DAMN nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The sashimi there is really really really heavenly!!!!!!!!
Now I can die happily after eating good sashimi and seeing Nana-chan. LOL
The chefs there don't hold back on the sashimi,
they cut long and thick slices for us, unlike in Singapore.
Plus the rice they give is really little,
like half the length of your thumb only,
so you won't get full easily, which is good so you can eat more.
The sashimi was really good, and of course the price was also really good
but my mum said she will pay so I didn't hold back, LOL.
Keep ordering the salmon belly and tuna.
Omg, the tuna got half broiled ones and those are damn good.
I ordered 7 to celebrate in honour of Nana-chan and Live Castle. ^^
Chef and sashimi
7 half broiled tuna sashimi!!!
Salmon belly sashimi
As you can see from the above pictures,
the sashimi they give is really long and thick,
and the rice is really little.
Er, I think the pictures doesn't make the food look appetising,
but I can assure it tastes damn good!!!!!
I had a damn shiok time that day. XD
After dinner we went back to the hostel.
DAY 5, 5TH DEC
That day we went to Disneyland.
Woke up bright and early at 9.30am. -.-
We asked the hostel owner how to get to disneyland,
and once again I am so glad he speaks perfect English, LOL.
We had to go to Hachobori through subway then change to
JR to get to Maihama to get to disneyland.
Omg, it was damn expensive to get there.... T.T
Maihama was only 2 stops away from Hachisomething
but it was 210 yen!!!!!!! That's $3.57!!!!!!!! For one person!!!!!!
Must be because of disneyland...... Sigh
Anyways, it was too early to eat at Minamisenju
so we decided to eat at Hachobori.
Curry rice for lunch!!!
Reached Maihama and we had to walk to Disneyland.
LOL, it was a really long walk and it was cold....
Plus my mom kept stopping to take pictures.
So when we reached we quickly ran into the shops there.
And then we found out it was just a shop selling products,
and we have to walk more to get to disneyland. T.T
Tokyo Disneyland!!!!!
Finally we reached!!
Hmm.. Disneyland wasn't as fun as I thought it would be.
I only sat one ride, cause my mom didn't want to sit anymore.
So we just mainly walked around and watched the shows.
We also caught the parade, I filmed it in my camera,
and my hand was damn tired from holding it up for so long...
Nothing much more to say except that the food there was expensive.
Mickey Mouse Cookie!!!
The most fun part was probably the shopping part.
Bought tons of food!!!!!!!!
And we also spent quite some time looking for the towel that my aunt requested.
My aunt insisted that on a Mickey towel that has print on both sides,
but all the ones we found had only the Mickey picture on one side
and the other side was white....
You get what I mean?
Random picture of Mickey and Minnie, hahahas
I find this cloak cute, LOL
The hood is cute, and there are hands for gloves, LOL
Left Disneyland at around 7pm, I think.
The walk back to Maihama station was even colder... ><
Bought dinner at the 7-11 near our hostel again.
We just bought onigiri, so no picture.
DAY 6, 6TH DEC
Today was the day we are leaving Japan.
Our flight was at night, 11pm.
We decided to go walking/shopping that day,
and check-out around 7pm before making the long way to the airport.
The hostel owner super nice, he gave us a late check-out.
Usually check-out is at 12pm one mah...
But he asked us what time was our flight
and let us have a late check-out. (:
My mom suggested we go to Ginza to walk,
and halfway there, I realised we would pass Tokyo station,
so I said I wanted to go there.
Ginza and Tokyo same price, so I guess the train ticket payment
is good when you want to change destinations randomly.
And er, I didn't know Tokyo was an office area, LOL.
I thought that it would be city area, good for shopping,
but everywhere was office buildings, LOL...
We had our lunch there, soba.
It was the most expensive and unsatisfying lunch....
The soba was boring after a while, not very nice to eat,
and the soba was very hard.
I think that it is actually suppose to be like that,
cause you dip it into the sauce/soup thing,
and I guess I didn't like it cause I wasn't used to it.
The soba
After Tokyo, we went to Shinjuku.
There were quite a few shopping centres at Shinjuku,
but every clothing shop was selling winter clothing...
So I couldn't buy anything cause SINGAPORE HAS NO WINTER!!!
Sob... And all the jackets and cloaks were soooooooo nice~!!!!!
And so many nice looking boots also.... My mom dun let me buy T.T
After Shinjuku, we went to Ueno.
Cause I wanted to walk at the night market there.
Sorry for being greedy, but I really wanted to eat nice food.
But apparently there weren't many food stalls at the night market... -.-
Ate some bao, which is actually from China, in Japan, hahahaha.
Saw more shops/stalls selling boots but mum dun let me buy.... :(
And I even saw one that I really really really liked!!!!!!!! :'(
Walked a bit more before I saw takoyaki!!!!!!
Bought some plus a custard taiyaki.
The takoyaki this time was much better,
but I still prefer Singapore's cause of ham and cheese...
Oh, and the yellow thing on top of the takoyaki is egg!!!! LOL
Takoyaki and Taiyaki!!!!
Headed back to hotel and then to the airport.
LOL, at the aiport, we walked past this shop,
and it was selling food!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The food is not just any food, is mainly hokkaido snacks.
Got Shiroi Koibito, Tokyo Banana and the fries!!!!!!!
As well as a lot of kit kat flavours!!!!!!!!
LOL, my mom and I went crazy,
we bought this huge bunch of snacks,
it cost more than S$200 altogether.
And the thing is, we already checked-in into the aiport,
so we already 'surrendered' our luggage...
So we had to hand carry all the food back!!!!!!!
Omg, it was damn heavy I tell you!!!!!!!!
Heng those we bought at disneyland was already packed into our luggage...
All the food we bought, including those from disneyland.
In the end, we had to give away most of our goodies.
To neighbours, cousins and friends.
So I was only left with like one box of each snack.
WE SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT MORE RIGHT???? LOL
Nothing much to say except that the flight was boring.
Hahaha, slept through the whole flight,
and the transfer at KL was boring.
Just literally sat there and wait.
So yup, back in Singapore now!
Home sweet home!
I miss my bed and I miss the mrt here.
LOL, I was so excited when I sat mrt for the first time
again in Singapore.
In my head I kept thinking:
"Next stop is Minowa, then Iriya, then Ueno..." LOL
Totally forgot Hougang was 2 stops away from Sengkang.
I kept thinking there was more, hahahas.
I really enjoyed the time in Japan!!!!!!
I'm so glad I insisted on going there without tour.
It is more spontaneous that way, and more fun as well.
No commitment, no need to wake up early or keep changing hotels. ^^
Hahaha, and the number of times I went to Akihabara.... ><
LOL, I realised that I am really afraid of embarassing myself.
Whenever there was something we didn't know, like the mrt,
my mom's first reaction is to ask someone,
but I will want to stand there and think and understand on my own.
I don't want to be seen as some clueless tourist!!!!!!!
Plus, it is not easy to ask also,
hard to communicate and explain our question....
Ok, this is a realllllllllly long post,
(which took me many days to complete)
so I shall stop now. Byebye!
