Japan Trip Dec 07 (recap) - Day 6

DAY 6 – Odaiba お台場　& 　Roppongi Hills　六本木
26th Dec 07 (Wed)

Took yurikamome down to Odaiba…



To check out Tokyo Big Sight...



And Venus Fort...





Over at Venus Fort, I snooped around and found a shop selling Wanlin’s favourite TOTORO...



There was also a vintage car exihibition going on and decided to take a look...



I would love to have something like this...



There were cars from famous mangas and movies too! This was just one of them:



After viewing the exhibition, I hopped into one of the eateries at the basement and ordered a bowl of char siew ramen. There were 5 pieces of char siew in total but each of them were bigger than my palm!!! And I only paid about 900yen for it.

After my filling brunch, I headed for the Odaiba Ferris Wheel… You could choose to ride on a coloured cabin or a glass cabin. I chose the glass and had to wait for 20mins before my turn as there weren’t as many glass cabins as the coloured ones…



After a short ride, i decided to leave Odaiba and make my way to Tokyo Towers. On my way out of Odaiba, I managed to catch a shot of sunset…



Tokyo Towers was very near the Kamiyacho station but it took me about 20 mins just to find my way around Tokyo Towers… I could see it but I couldn’t get to it…



Ah... finally a night view of Tokyo from the main observatory...



After which, I met up with Jen who brought me to a restaurant nearby that served delicious Katsu don. The restaurant’s located within an office building so tourists usually won’t be able to find their way there.





And Jen was right. The katsu don was so delicious that it gave the ”crisps” sound when i bit into it and juice start oozing out... Even the cabbage was sooooo fresh that I couldn’t resist taking a few bites of it… that’s another record for me!!! Hehehee…

After a filling dinner, we brazed the chill and headed for Roppongi Hills…



I was told that people would usually meet at the spider’s...



We ventured around Roppongi Hills but didn’t want to enter the museum nor the observatory. After much thought, we decided to call it a day as both of us were tired… but not before we walked down the beautifully lighted lanes of Roppongi…

Japan Trip Dec 07 (recap) - Day 5

DAY 5 – Ikebukuro　池袋　(Tokyo)　
25th Dec 07 (Tues)

Bad start at Super Hotel Ikebukuro. Perhaps I was starving thus the lack of patience. Or perhaps it was simply because of very slow service. I reached the hotel in the late morning and was past their “before 10am check-in” rule. Thus, I was stuck outside and no one was at the reception area to even notice I was there.

After several calls to Adrian and a near frantic call for the hotel staff (via the intercom at the door), I was finally let in. I left my luggage in a room (as all the lockers were full) and set off for Harajuku…

Harajuku JR station…


One of the gateways to Harajuku lanes...


I was there to search for Adrian’s desired jeans at Tab Device. But luck wasn’t on our side as all his desired jeans were sold out.

Alongside Omotesando, the street’s lined up with designer brands such as Burberry, Ralph Lauren, Chanel and many others. Not exactly my kind of street though.

There’s the SMAP shop too… there’s such a long queue just to get into the store that I gave up and walked away. By the way, the picture’s showing only a portion of the queue…



Decided to head for the back lanes of Harajuku instead. There you could find interesting street fashion and cos play shops too. Took this while I was crossing one of the streets… the poor dogs were visibly shaking from the cold…



And before long, I had unknowingly crossed from Harajuku and stepped foot in Shibuya…



Nearing 4pm in the afternoon, I met up with Jen at Harajuku station and headed for some Ramen. After which, we shopped around Harajuku and Shibuya again, and stumbled upon Agnes B. We took a look inside and realized that it was cheaper to get Agnes B in Japan than in Singapore (about 20 to 40% cheaper depending on what you intend to buy). In the end, I got a striking pink bag for my sis and a leather wallet for myself. The total bill came up to approx S$310. When I was back in Singapore, I did a check and found out that if I’m to get the same items here, it could have cost me more than S$500. Wow!

And remember! Do ask the shop attendants if you could get tax refund there. You need not go to the airport to claim it. They refund for you on the spot at the shop itself. For instance, if an item cost you 10,000yen with tax, you will just have to pay the amount before tax!

Next stop after Agnes B, we went in search of Head Potter. We asked around (perhaps 8 people or so) but none of them could direct us to the store. When we finally found the shop (with the help from a nearby shop assistant), we were stumped! This was the same shop that we had passed by zillions of time and I even stood there saying “maybe the shop was just in front of us and we just didn’t see it”…

But it was too late. The shop had closed for the day. Its operating hours? 11am to 7pm daily. What a X’mas… Here’s a picture of the shop for your reference if you intend to give it a try. It doesn’t have a sign or logo anywhere so you would have to memorize the shop front…



Feeling so vexed, we decided to head for tempura don nearby that Jen had recommended. The food’s pretty good but I was feeling so vexed and tired that I could only finish half a bowl.

By the way, for the record, I ate a tempura squid which tasted pretty good.

Next up? I stumbled back to hotel to catch some beauty sleep…

Japan Trip Dec 07 (recap) - Day 4

DAY 4 – Otaru 小樽
24th Dec 07 (Mon)

8.30am. Late again. Exhaustion had taken over me and I overslept once more.

Made my way to Otaru and the snowscape along the way was simply beautiful. There were times where I was tempted to alight at any random stop. But hunger and whatever sanity I had left with stopped me.





And finally there I was - Otaru JR Station...



My first stop? To get some brunch in this freezing weather. En route my search, I past by the Otaru Canal…



Rows of nostalgic brick warehouses...



And a field of snow...



In the end, I settled for a bowl of steaming hot ramen in one of the eateries housed within an old warehouse.



After a filling brunch, I was greeted by the following sight:



Yes… it’s that cold that icicles formed from the roof. The passage way was blocked and signages were set up to wan people about its presence as well. Wooo~ dangerous.

Otaru’s known for its glassworks and musical boxes as well. Thus, I set out to search for these items. It’s easy to find many shops that sell glassworks but I had difficulty to locate the renowned shop that specialized in musical boxes. After much struggle (and cursing and swearing to myself), I finally found it!



Needless to say, I spent more than an hour inside listening to the different tunes and trying to decide which ones I should get for the gang. In the end, I settled for the following tunes:
- OST for Spirited away
- Ayaka (March days)
- Lalala Love song
- Mr Children (can’t remember the song title)
- Mika Nakashima (Yuki no Hana)

By the time I stepped out from the shop, it was close to sunset. With a bag load of things, I decided to walk around without the aid of a map. That’s when I saw the sun gradually setting behind the mountain range…

Despite the sensible side of me telling me not to do the foolish thing, I decided to ignore the inner voice and clambered up various hills and slopes just to get a shot of sunset by the mountain range with houses in the fore front. Well… the mountain didn’t look that far any way.

BUT I was totally wrong… the higher I clambered on, the further it was away from me. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! And to think that I almost slipped and fell whilst struggling up one of the steep slopes. Time was slipping away and sunset was coming. But I got tired. Could you just imagine that I’m actually sweating in Winter???????? Oh boy… so “clever” of me…

That’s when I decided to call it quits and took this at the bottom of one of the slopes… without the mountain range of course…



Bit by bit, I slowly made my way down back to Otaru Canal. Along the way, I was stopped by 2 separate Japanese couples asking for directions… Hahaha.. of course I answered them!

‘”Sumimasen. Wakarimasen” (Sorry, I don’t know).

Back at Otaru Canal, I decided to wander off again and went into a back lane that bustling with life! There’s lines of shops that sold seafood (you picked the live seafood from the tank and they would BBQ it for you on the spot and you would stand and eat by the roadside), ornaments, glassworks, accessories and some clothing.

Here’s the Hello Kitty candy dispenser that I took… weren’t they cute?



And another shop that specialized in selling pets’ stuff:



As i walked on, i saw something interesting...



According to Lenus, these were set up to help minimize collapsing snow...

And before i realized it, the sun was setting and at its most glorious moment...









Soon after the sun had set, the Otaru canal lighted up...



While i was taking this picture, a teenage couple (kinda cute looking) approached me and asked if i could help them take picture using their handphone. I took over the phone and just as I was about to click on the button, I realized the screen was blank… For a moment I thought the camera mode was off. But then it struck me! I flipped over and realized my finger was blocking the camera… hahahaha…

Luckily, they didn’t notice as it was kinda dark or I would be sooooo damn paiseh. In the end, I took the picture quite nicely :) Hey! Before you laugh at me, their camera was on the back of the phone and unlike where we had it in Singapore okie (camera on the flip itself)…

Another Japanese old lady then approached me to help them take photo as well. Well… I guess I should have set up a booth there to help people take photo and earn some extra tips for the trip.

After much deliberation, I decided to head back to Sapporo, grabbed a bento at the station, and went back to hotel to catch some rest before setting off to Tokyo in the night train.




24th Dec 07 (Mon) – 9.55pm

Boarded Hamanasu and was surprised to see this…



Did you see a huge luggage in the picture? I was to sleep around that area…

Meaning, I’m sleeping on the train’s carpeted floor. For those of you who get sea sick or car sick, please do not attempt to request for a sleeper bed (there were normal seats) on this train as it would make you really nauseous. I don’t get sea sick nor car sick but I really felt like puking… it’s that bad.

There’s also no room for privacy (which was fine by me) as you were separated from another person by a thin curtain that drew up to your shoulder at most, when you lie down…



Oh!!! And there was this Japanese ah pek who was taking off his thermal pants (he was wearing another pair of pants inside lah) in the open and i think he accidentally revealed his private part for a split second. Yes… unlucky me caught it once again. Not that I was looking but I was unpacking and happened to look at his direction. Haiz…

Before long, I had a 3G video call with the gang (this call was not cheap and my total handphone bill came up more than S$200!!!!). They were wearing black and celebrating X’mas Eve together in a warm setting. Whereas I was wearing black and celebrating X’mas Eve alone in a cold cabin (I had to step outside my warm cabin to pick up the call). Oh well… despite that, it was actually a very nice and surreal experience…

After the call, I made my way back to my “bed” and attempted to sleep but sleep was shallow… because of the constant jerking of the train and the fear of missing my stop.

Japan Trip Dec 07 (recap) - Day 3

DAY 3 - Hakodate 函館
23rd Dec 07 (Sun)



Woke up late this morning. Was supposed to take the 7am train from Sapporo to Hakodate but ended up waking around 7.30am instead.

Thus, I caught the 8.34am train instead. To fuel up my trip, I had 2 Mister Donut’s donuts and caught up with some sleep during the 3hr train ride.

When I finally reached Hakodate, I dashed for the street car (akin to olden days’ street pram/ bus). For first-time travelers to Hakodate who wanted to take on the street car but don’t know how? Check out the notice boards at the various street car stops for English instructions on how to board, alight and pay for your trip. There’s a money exchange machine (which you could change notes to coins to pay for your trip) on the street car but I would strongly encourage that you bring along your own coins as the street car tends to be crowded most of the time and you would be blocking people’s way.



I headed straight down to one of the restaurants recommended in the book (which Adrian had lent me). I was starving and craving for Kani (crab). I have always wanted to get my hands on Hokkaido crabs… yum yum. After much searching, finally found it!



BUT noooooooooooo!!!! They didn’t serve crab for lunch. Though disappointed, I was close to fainting with an empty stomach and decided to ask the owner for his recommendation (yeah! Had asked in Japanese). In the end, this was what I had:



It’s a sushi set with a bowl of rice and free-flow of drinks for only 1,000yen (approx.S$13).

Those who knew me would surely have raised an eyebrow by now. The problem? I don’t take raw. But being alone in Japan and not wanting to appear rude, I decided to have a go at it. Well, it didn’t taste that as bad. In fact, it tasted pretty good and fresh. So I managed to finish all my food except the greenies.

Though I’d survived the raw, it was like an overdose for me and I felt a bit queasy after that. But that didn’t last for long :) Asked if I would have raw when I’m back in Singapore? I guess “NOPE”! It’s not that as fresh over here. Eeeks!

Next, I gradually made my way to Goryoukaku Park in the freezing cold. It was so cold until mucus dripped down from my nose unknowingly. Nevertheless, I decided to braze the cold (while cursing and swearing silently under my breath) and took some pictures:







Could you spot where’s the head and body of the snowman below? It wasn’t done by me! Some other kids (or adult) had abandoned the snowman in this sorry state. I was tempted to make a snowman on my own but gave up the idea as it was simply too cold for me to even want to touch the snow…



As the weather took a turn for the worse (getting colder and colder), I decided to seek some warmth within Goryoukaku Tower. Strangely, there wasn’t much of a crowd queuing for a ticket so I managed to get mine pretty fast. I started by saying “Hitotsu kudasai” (one please) and the lady at the counter started rattling on in Japanese. Although I caught some of it, most of it sounded alien to me. That’s when I decided to just ask in English and she looked rather surprised by it. Guess I ought to try harder since one of my aims in traveling to Japan is to brush up on my Japanese.

Got my ticket and went into the lift with many others. As the doors closed, the lights in the lift dimmed and revealed UV paintings on all 4 sides with poetic phrases (sorry, I’m still a beginner in the language so could only read but don’t understand what those meant). My ticket glowed in the dark as well! Cool…





On ground, Hakodate seemed like a small town to me. But when I was atop on the tower (at the observatory), the view was breath-taking and city looked massive. Boy… was I so wrong about it being a small town…





By the time I came down from the tower and boarded the street car, it was too late to catch sunset at Mount Hakodate. The sun had set at 4.30pm. But I decided to go ahead with it anyway. It turned out to be a wrong move. The queue for the ropeway (or what we called cable car in Singapore) was sooooo long that it’s like queuing from Takashimaya to Wheelock in Singapore! And not to mention it was winter and drizzling at the same time!

In the end, I chose to abandon the queue and made my way down to the Redbrick warehouse instead. It was there that I truly felt the X’mas spirit. The lights, the people, the setting – everything was just right!







Took a look at my watch and realized that there’s 2 hours more to go before I catch the last train back from Hakodate back to Sapporo. Thus, I stepped foot inside the redbrck warehouses (which had been converted to house mini shops within) and bought 2 big bags of local goodies. There you could find Hakodate specials that you couldn’t get elsewhere (i.e.: Royce chocolate special edition for kids). Too bad ‘Shiroi Koibito” was sold out though.

After paying for the local goodies, I was given two sets of coupon – one in pink and one in green. I was directed to a booth in another section to try my luck on the Japanese-style lucky draw. What I needed to do was to hold the handle and spin the wheel one round for a colour ball to drop out. The colour of the ball would determine what prize you’d won.



And I did win something… a pack of tissue paper. Oh well…


23rd Dec 07 (Sun) – 6.10pm
As time past me by, I got hungrier and decided to just enter a restaurant that had poster on kani dishes. Luck was by my side! They had the crabs (I ordered King crab as that’s the season for it)!!!!





While I was waiting for my dishes, the fireworks outside began in the drizzling weather. Oh man!!! I missed it by a mere 5 or 10mins… It must have been damn romantic for the couples out there (though most of them would be drenched in the rain and freezing outside).




23rd Dec 07 (Sun) – 6.50pm
After what seemed like an endless wait, the dishes I’ ordered were finally served – kani, kani soup, shishamo and rice. To put things in perspective, look at how big the shishamo were alongside the chopsticks!



But time wasn’t by my side. I had less than half hr to finish all the food. So as much as I tried, I simply couldn’t. so I decided to make a beeline for the kani soup (which tasted damn good) and shishamo. As for the kani? I was left with 2 or 3 legs… Had tried asking the waiter and even the store manager to let me take-away but they came up to decline politely (but very firmly) as they have a “NO TAKE-OUT” policy even though I explained to them that I’m in a real rush to catch my last train. Haiz. In the end, I let it be and ran off after paying. The whole meal costed 5010yen (approx. S$75) and about 3-quarters of it was for the kani alone.


23rd Dec 07 (Sun) – 7.25pm
Dashed across the street to flag a cab. Never mind those horror stories about the expensive cab fare in Japan. It was either that or get stranded in Hakodate with no where to stay for the night.

The driver spoke to me in Japanese and I could only make out some of it. But that was enough. I simply said something along the lines of “eki made kudasai. Hayaku onegaishimasu” (to the station please. Hurry up please). When he learnt that my train was going to depart at 7.42pm, he got worried for me as well, as I would have to reach the station within the next 10mins in order for me to find the train and board it in time. By the way, if you took public transport, it would have taken at least 20mins to get there.

He was very helpful and kept reassuring me that he would try and let me reach in time. So he cut through various back lanes and speeded a little. And you might have guessed it by now. I made it in time! In about 10mins, I was there at the station. Before I got off the cab, I said to him “Hontou ni arigatou gozaimasu” (loosely translates to English as thank you sooooo much). The fare? 690yen (approx. S$8).

I had never been that fast in my hundred meter race before. Found the train that I’m bound for within minutes and boarded just in time.

Though tired and hungry, it was quite an “adventurous” day for me. Plus, there was quite a cute guy seated in front of me too. But I shall not elaborate too much here coz someone’s reading…Hahahahahaha…

Now you could have imagined how I sloughed my way back to the hotel in the middle of the night. When I’m back in the room, I just slumped over the chair for the longest time before dragging myself up for a bath and headed off to bed.