Cherangsty: February 2017

Day 8, 18 Nov 2016

This day was kind of the last day we had in Japan since Day 9 will be spent on travelling to the airport. Totally wish we had more time? Japan is nothing short of amazing. The food, the nature, the people 💖

Day 8 was spent at Asasuka, where we also got to experience staying at a ryokan. The ryokan we stayed at was Ryokan Asakusa Shigetsu which have two hot bath rooms and one of it faces Tokyo Skytree Tower (!!)

But first up, Tsukiji Market. Cause what's Tokyo without it right.

Unagi and tamago

I swear there's something different about the unagi in Japan. It doesn't have the fine bones feeling yum.

Well, how can I be full from the unagi and tamago right? So time for sushi. Super expensive meal :O
$30+?

Ootoro, I miss you so so so much

Oh not only their unagi is different. Even their uni is so much more better than those in SG.

Walked around the market to digest the food and then bought a bag of Kyoho grapes for close to $15? Bought it after convincing myself that it's much more expensive in SG haha.

Were they worth it? Well yes, felt like I was eating gummies.

But got a bit sick of it cause I think I finished 70% of it alone (facepalm).

So first up, Sensoji temple.

The famous large red lattern~

At the temple, one can also can also have your fortune read? Or more like pick a stick which has a corresponding fortune. Didn't receive at good fortune though.. :/ So have to tie it to some structure there.

Then it was time to explore the food options in Asasuka. Saw a few small shops frequented by many locals. Quite sad that I didn't try them :(

Suzukien icecream

This place is famous for its 7 levels of matcha ice-cream and we had level 5 matcha and the sesame ice-cream which were both good. Hearsay level 7 taste too bitter and taste a little bit like grass so try it at your own risk? Haha.

Melon Bun

Yup Asasuka is famous for melon buns (similar to HK bolo buns). Not bad but I still prefer HK's bolo bun especially Kam Wah's ones. The thick slab of butter yum -rubs tummy-

Not sure if it's the result of the past few days of travelling or cause age is catching up with us... Need a break and off we go to Starbucks.

Spotted Tokyo SkyTower while walking there and say hi to my short snow pecan nut latte

Wanted to get some pretty Starbucks tumbler but it was so expensive :( Think close to $30 for the larger tumblers :(

After recharging ourselves, we headed to Odaiba because someone wanted to check out the Gundam. Shopped around the mall before having our dinner at the food court at the mall.

Gindaco, my favourite takoyaki chain

This time we had the egg version. Why is all the Gindaco in SG closed :(

Nihonbashi Tendon Kaneko Hannosuke

We also shared this random tendon which was pretty good :>

So headed back to our ryokan where I had my first ever common bath experience. In Taiwan, both the hot springs I had gone to require us to wear swimming costume (mixed hot spring) but in Japan, their common bath doesn't allow that. Well, a bit of regret that we didn't try any authentic onsen (with natural spring water). But this was quite an interesting experience. Had to share the tiny bath area with a lady and it was a bit awkward at first but after chatting a bit, it was less awkward I guess. Sadly, the room wasn't the one facing Tokyo Skytree tower.

So I guess this kind of marks the end of Japan trip. Day 9 was just travelling to the airport, buying food and leaving Japan :(

Can totally understand why people like visiting Japan over and over again hmm. Till the next time we meet again, Japan. :')

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Day 7, 17 Nov 2016

What comes to your mind when you think about Japan? Sashimi? Ramen? Or the politeness of Japanese... Well, other than the gastronomy that Japan has to offer, there is also plenty of sightseeing sightseeing spots in Japan and Mt Fuji is one of the most popular sights in Japan.

So how could we miss out the opportunity to see Mt Fuji? Took a day trip to Mt Fuji and it was totally worth it! We booked a tour at JTB at Taka (and also bought JR passes, DisneySEA tickets there).

For the tour, the highlights were viewing the autumn foliage at Maple Corridor, viewing Mt Fuji around Lake Kawaguchiko area, Kachi Kachi Ropeway etc.

There's something about these autumn leaves, or maybe it's just me being obsessed.

Maple Corridor

Mt Fuji

None of the photos do justice to Mt Fuji. Mt Fuji looks so magnificent in real life and just standing there admiring it makes you feel so tiny in this world.

And I kept thinking about the quote "Everybody wants happiness, nobody wants pain. But you can't have a rainbow without a little rain." Like while all these natural formations (mountains, volcanoes...) are really beautiful, there's a downside to having them? Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes etc... Is the beauty of these formations their so-called "reward"?

Okay moving on, lunch was provided and we had sukiyaki, which contains thin slices of meat, tofu, vegetable cooked in soy sauce. It was pretty decent and I clearly had to find space for ice-cream :P

Sukiyaki lunch and double scoop of ice-cream aka happiness (lavender & vanilla flavoured)

View of Mt Fuji from Kachi Kachi Ropeway

Kachi Kachi Ropeway was so crowded and full of people :X Anyway, not sure whether it's a Japan thing or it's me, I actually didn't like meeting fellow Singaporeans in Japan HAHA. Hmm, cause Singaporeans like to complain and compare and I feel that it kind of ruined the peace and experience hahaha.

Like just focus on Mt Fuji and not on catching Far Fletched please?!

View of Lake Kawaguchiko

Another picture of Mt Fuji, taken from Iyashi no Sato village

So apparently many people hike up Mt Fuji during the summer. I wonder if I will be ever up for it hmm. Hmm the thought of people dying in their attempt erm.

The last part of the tour involved us visiting one of the attractions at Fuji Q Highland, some flight simulation which allows us to pretend we are flying across Mt Fuji area. I wonder how it will be like to take a real flight across Hakone area during the different seasons...

When we left the Fuji Q Highland, the sun was setting and then I managed to take this picture which is hands-down my favourite photo of Mt Fuji.

Concluded the day by trying BAKE cheesetart (cause lazy to queue in SG) and having Maisen tonkatsu. Yum.

Yum yum in my tum tum

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Aiming high,

We're living restless, but it's you and I

Tried to keep our colours inside the lines, inside the lines

But it's hard to draw emotions in troubled minds, inside the lines

Some nights I can't help but think I am meant for something bigger than this. Maybe deep down somewhere I always know what I wanted.

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Day 6, 16 Nov 2016

A whole new world, a fantastic point of view ~ HAHA, spent the entire day at DisneySEA :>
Even though I am supposed to be an adult, it still feel so exciting to visit Disney theme parks. Was deciding between Disneyland and Disneysea but since Disneysea has more exciting rides and is unique to Japan, Disneysea it shall be!

Took a few rides like Journey to the centre of the earth, 20,000 leagues under the sea and Tower of Horror (free fall ride!). Probably should have blogged earlier cause I don't remember much of the details at the Disneysea. But I remember how amazing it was to see the Disney mascots and to watch the fireworks and parade :') Not sure if it's the magic of Disney or it's because it's Japan but you can really feel the amount of effort that was put in designing each attraction. The storyline of each attraction hmm, but sadly I can't understand Japanese -facepalm-

Pictures speak a thousand words so...

Thank you for the amazing experience and memories, Disney.

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Day 5, 15 Nov 2016

Second day in Tokyo and the plan for the day was to visit Govt Metropolitan Building, Meiji Shrine and Harajuku.

Our Airbnb was approximately 10-15 mins walk away from Shibuya station so we began our day with a 10-15 mins exercise hahaha. That's probably the reason why I could accumulate minimally 20k steps daily :O

Hi cat

Reached Shinjuku station and first thing first, food! Bought sushi/rice rolls from a random shop and the onigri with tamago was good. ^^

Breakfast

Then it was time to navigate and find our way to the Govt Metropolitan Building. This building provides a free view of the Tokyo city and on a good day, we were supposed to be able to see Mt Fuji. But sadly, didn't manage to see it :(

Like a skyscrapper~

Trees looking like broccoli hmm

There was also a couple of shops selling souvenirs and soft toys (but overpriced). The views here were pretty good and I would think one can save the money on Tokyo Sky Tree tower?

Walked around the gardens near to Govt Metropolitan Building and tried to find the Gontrian Cherrier Bakery (it's the exact same shop as Tiong Bahru Bakery in SG) but failed to find it :'( Note: do not just rely solely on the postal code in Japan.

Meiji Shrine

The shrine that is for Empreror Meiji and his Empress. There's a counter for people to get a piece of paper which is kind of supposed to be fortune telling? But if I am not wrong, all the pieces of papers contains the Empress' favourite quotes. Interesting.

There were also so many families dressed up in kimonos there for their photoshoots. So adorable haha.

Making wishes

Posing with all the barrels of wine, wishing all those were mine (HAHAHA)

So apparently the Empreror likes wine and those empty barrels were what people gave to him hmm.

After exploring the shrine, it was time to visit Yoyogi Park nearby! Spotted many pots of flowers (chrysanthemum especially) while leaving Meiji Shrine and also spotted a horse ranch while walking to Yoyogi Park.

Enjoying Gingerbread latte while looking at leaves

If I were a Japanese, I would definitely run in the parks. So pretty with all the autumn foliage and flowers (there were roses!!). But then again, if I were staying there, I will be probably quite fat with all my favourite food haha. Sushi, ramen, matcha anything...

Left Yoyogi Park for Harajuku to hunt for food and to explore the streets. Didn't see much people cosplaying though. :/

Harajuku station

The streets were so bustling. People busking, people shopping etc. Sadly I didn't manage to buy any pretty clothes or accessories during this trip. Nope, didn't end up saving the money because the money was spent on food oops.

Zaku zaku, crepe and Calbee's chips

Zaku Zaku's pastry was a croquant filled with hokkaido milk cream and it was freshly made. Zaku Zaku is linked to BAKE, the shop with amazing cheese tarts yum. Slight regret for not trying their icecream though.

Well, obviously we didn't end our lunch with one croquant only so time for crepe! Afterall, what is Harajuku without crepes right? And finally a savoury item from Calbee so we could have a balanced diet ;) By balanced, I obviously mean having both sweet and savoury items and not a healthy balanced diet haha. And we also spent a bomb at Calbee buying all the snacks for souvenirs hahaha.

Next up, Daiso! The variety of items they have is amazing. After shopping, we decided to have food again haha. Tempura time!

Tempura from Tenya

While this wasn't the most amazing tempura, it was decent for its price. This is definitely one of the cheapest meals we had in Japan. If I didn't remember wrong, the lotus root tempura was good :)

Then we decided to head to Tokyo Station to look for some unique souvenirs... but did not buy any from Tokyo Station in the end -facepalm-

Tokyo Station has to be, hands down, the most confusing station in Tokyo... So many different lines :O But it was fun looking at all the snacks. Japanese does food so well and even their miniature food used for promotion look so delicious :p

Headed back to our Airbnb to rest because Day 6 will be at DisneySEA ^^

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