Trip to Japan 2009

Destination: Japan
Period: 9 - 19 December 2009

The whole trip was planned lot earlier on. We manage to redeem our ticket from MAS for the trip, thus we able to save the money for the flight. We were going there in 2 groups. The first group was both of us, departing from KLIA. Another group is my sis-in-law & her family departing from Singapore, a day later compared with us.

9 Dec 2009
We arrived Narita airport late evening, hence by the time we reached Tokyo actually it is quite late. Furthermore, when we took the train, we missed a stop and making us to travel further and taking time. Luckily, with the guidance of my bro-in-law, we manage to reach our destination. He was 'forced' to wait us at one of the train station to pick us up. The first day was the beginning of our journey to the Land of Rising Sun. For the dinner, he took us to a nice ramen restaurant at one of the shopping mall near his place.

10 Dec 2009
Since we need to wait for my sister-in-law to reach Japan today, basically we have the whole day to visit tourist spot around Tokyo. We went to the Tsukiji Fish Market, dubbed the largest fish market in the world. An eye opener for us. To reach here, we took a train with the guidance of my bro-in-law since his working place also around the corner. After that, we went to Tsukiji Honganji where it is just a walking distance from the fish market. What more, a trip to Japan is considered incomplete if without doing some shopping. Here we were, walking to Ginza (famous for shopping). On the way, we passed by the famous Opera House. According to my bro-in-law, it will undergoing renovation very soon. At Ginza, we found out a shop called Uniqlo selling winter clothing. Definitely it is much more cheaper compare with Malaysia, plus the choices is more to chose from. What else, we did buy some of ourself. Late afternoon, the second group reached Japan (my sis-in-law & her family). We went to eat a super nice Japanese food (those yummy sushi etc) called Sushi Choushi-maru.

11 Dec 2009
Today, we need to wake up early in the morning. It really early in the morning, I think it was about 4am if not wrong, to prepare to catch our experience with "bullet train". Our destination today was going to Osaka. Journey took us about 2 and a half hours. Once we reached there, the first thing we did was check-in to our hotel. It was pre-book by my bro-in-law together with the train ticket. Reason being is everything will be under control and we just need to follow the timing of the train and the rest of the day will be ours to determine. Once we checked in, we wasted no time to go Universal Studio. Too bad, it was raining and dizzling today. We got to make use of those indoor entertainment a lot. That's how we spent our whole day over here. Hopping from one entertainment to another. We had our lunch at Universal Studio. For dinner, we had it at Okonomiyaki Fugetsu, which famous for their "japanese-style pizza". It is very popular in Osaka.

12 Dec 2009
Today we also need to wake up early. Sounds like military training camp huh... everyday need to wake up early to go to the famous places. However, my bro-in-law wake up even earlier because he needs to get the charted van. The van meant to bring us to those famous castle and temple around Osaka and Kyoto area. We bought a lot of Japanese version of "dumpling", but this is available from those convenience store. It taste good, and definitely save us a lot of time as while we travelling, we can eat it in the van. With the help of GPS, we reached Osaka Castle. A quick walkaround over here and we proceed to the next stop, Nijo Castle. For today's route, my bro-in-law has printed out the history of the places that we were going to visit. After the 2 castles visit, we stopped by at another Japanese restaurant to have our lunch. We ordered ala-carte style, and I'm sharing my foods with my wife, of course. After lunch, we went to our first temple called Kinkakuji Temple (Temple of Golden Pavilion) in Kyoto (famous of those temples listed in UNESCO's World Heritage). Then we visited Ginkaku Temple (Temple of Silver Pavilion). The last place that we visited is Kiyomizu Temple, but by the time we reached here, it starting getting dark. So there is limited time to take beautiful picture here. The temple was built without a single nail. At night, we returned the van here and have a simple dinner. We need to catch our bullet train back to Tokyo.

13 Dec 2009
Today our destination is Fujiyama. We chartered another van in Tokyo, and we start our journey early. Along the way to Fujiyama, we saw a group of motocyclist equivalent to our "mat rempit" in Malaysia. Those modified motorbike really can produced deafening sound. Once we reached Mt Fuji, we took some pictures of it. However, it was cloudy day and we were not able to see the Mt Fuji from close up. Legends has it saying that pretty lady would not able to view the mountain. So maybe there were lot of pretty lady in our group.... Then we proceed to have our lunch at Koshu Hoto Kosaku, with their special delicacy called Hoto. It is famous for the dishes served with pumpkin. From here, we continue to go to Yeti Ski Resort. Most of us having first time to play with snow. We rented a snowboard and have fun at the ski resort. At night, while we were back to Tokyo, we visited Tokyo Tower. Though it is taller than Eiffel Tower by 13 metres, but it is not as famous as Eiffel Tower. We spent some time here and went up to the first level to have a nice night view of Tokyo. We had a simple dinner before call it off for the day.

14 Dec 2009
Another early morning call today. We were going to Tokyo DisneySea, and my nephew and me went to DisneySea to queue up at the main entrance. I'm wondering why need to go so early, and by the time when we reached DisneySea, there were many people already there. My bro-in-law went back to his house to fetch the rest over here. It was getting crowded and long queue just before the main gate open for visitors to go in. We might be getting here early, but it does save a lot of time later when going in and enjoying the ride. If late, maybe it would take about an hour just to get pass the main entrance. My kind bro-in-law does not following us for most of the games / rides, but most of the time he helped us to get the Fast Pass for us. This pass mainly means that we are legitimate to cut the long queue for certain games / rides. With this pass, I can say we able to enjoy 90% of all the rides here. We spent the whole day here walking non-stop. We bought 2 days ticket for DisneySea and Disneyland, and of course it would be cheaper.

15 Dec 2009
Another day that we need to wake up early, and the same routine. My nephew and me need to go to Disneyland and queue there. It was freezing cold that morning. My bro-in-law need to make 2 trip to fetch us there first, and follow by the rest later. Luckily his house just nearby Disneyland and DisneySea. We did spent the whole day here as well. What is good between these 2 theme parks is you will never tired of the games. It was well designed that can cater for all ages of visitors.

16 Dec 2009
Today we chartered another van to go to Yokohama. Best thing in Japan here is all the chartered vehicle has the option whether to get the GPS or not. This definitely useful for tourist like us if we would like to travel around. Our destination is Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise. Lot of sea creatures that hardly seen in Malaysia such as white whale and polar bear. Also the spectucular show which I would say a must watch. Another attraction for me is forming a Christmas Tree from fishes. See to believe it yourself. While on the way back, we stopped by at Toyota Showroom, one of the biggest. There are 2 sections, modern car or classic car. We chosen the modern car, and able to see lot of impressive car. Also, we able to view the F1 simulation in the mega theater like those motion master. At night, we had our dinner at Tonkatsu Wako, another favourite dishes that we all like. Yummy....

17 Dec 2009
Today, it is not as tiring before, we does not required to wake up early in the morning. Thus having luxury to sleep a little bit late. We went to Sensoji Temple, the oldest temple in Tokyo. Over here, we could buy some souvenir to bring home. A bit disappointed because the temple was under renovation, but we still could visit other places around here. This followed by Imperial Palace, where we need to take another train to reach there. Though we were not able to enter it (hehehe), we still able taking some pictures at the Nijubashi Bridge. We had our lunch somewhere around the Ginza area. This time, we had tempura. Since here, we proceed again to do some shopping. My sis-in-law also getting some winter clothing from Uniqlo. At night, we went to hot water spring. Mid of winter, we soak ourselves in hot water in open air.

18 Dec 2009
There is no places to visit today, so we decided to visit shopping mall. Definitely it is not as grand as what we had back in our home country, but going to some middle class shopping mall. We bought a pair of boots, which I can say is quite cheap. I like it very much. We did hopping from one shopping mall to another today. Very much rest and relax mood.

19 Dec 2009

Packing all our belongings before returning home. At last, we were able to view Mt Fuji from my bro-in-law apartment here. Not bad huh, still can see the famous Mt Fuji even though it is faraway. Hopefully we can come back in future to visit other places. A very nice place to visit here, besides there might be some communication breakdown in between.

Nijubashi Bridge at Imperial Palace

Location: Tokyo Imperial Palace
How to get there: A short walk from Tokyo Station.

After our visits to Sensoji Temple, we decided to come over Imperial Palace. While on the way to the Palace, we passed by the garden. We fully awe with the way the garden is maintained. The tree was well trimmed, making it looks like those bonsai tree we saw in homeland...

As we walked nearer to the palace, we came about to the moat. We only able to see the palace from far away. Thus, without wasting time and under the torrid sun we took as many photos as we can.

Nijubashi means the "Double Bridge" is one of the most well-known bridges in Japan. If you are looking at the bridge from the front, the two separate bridges appear as a single two storied bridge.

From Kokyo Gaien, the large plaza in front of the Imperial Palace, visitors can view the Nijubashi, two bridges that form an entrance to the inner palace grounds. The stone bridge in front is called Meganebashi (Eyeglass Bridge) for its looks. The bridge in the back was formerly a wooden bridge with two levels, from which the name Nijubashi (Double Bridge) is derived.

The palace buildings and inner gardens are not open to the public. Only on January 2 (New Year's Greeting) and December 23 (Emperor's Birthday), visitors are able to enter the East Plaza or "To-tei" via the Nijubashi and see the members of the Imperial Family, who make several public appearances on a balcony.

The Imperial Palace East Gardens are open to the public throughout the year except on Mondays, Fridays and special occasions.

Sensōji Temple @ 浅草寺

Location: 2-3-1 Asakusa, Tokyo
Coordinates: 35.71475° N, 139.796761° E
How to get there: Subway trains are available from the Ginza Subway Line, Asakusa Subway Line, Tsukuba Express and Tobu Railways. From Tokyo Station, take the JR Yamanote Line to Kanda Station, then transfer to the Ginza Subway Line for Asakusa. From Shinjuku Station, take the orange JR Chuo Line to Kanda Station and transfer to the Ginza Subway Line.

Today we didn't go for far distance attraction, but instead we concentrate to visit famous places around Tokyo area. Here it is, we arrived at Tokyo's oldest temple, which is an ancient Buddhist temple. At the main gate, there is a giant red latern welcoming its visitors. It is also known as "Thunder Gate".

On the way to the Sensoji temple, visitor will need to passing Nakamise, which is full of stores alongside the pathway selling lot of souvenirs. It is about 200m long and visitor is spoilt for choices. I have chosen a mini "samurai" as my envelope opener.

Also, we noticed a very big "sandal" hanging on the entrance. Though I not sure what does it mean, I still believe there is a purpose to put such a huge sandal there. Everything has a purpose.

While we were there, the temple is under construction. It was covered by scaffolding. Renovation is expected to be completed by end of November 2010, means it was about 11 months from the day we set our foot there. The slogan they put up really attract my attention. "Today's Work, Tomorrow's Heritage". That's how the place is always kept maintained so that the next generation of our children still able to view the world's heritage.

Once we entered, we able to see the five-story pagoda which standing tall at 48m.

The legend says that in the year 628, two brothers fished a statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy, out of the Sumida River, and even though they put the statue back into the river, it always returned to them. Consequently, Sensoji was built there for the goddess of Kannon. The temple was completed in 645, making it Tokyo's oldest temple.

For more information, you may get information from http://www.senso-ji.jp/about/index_e.html.

Tonkatsu Wako

Location: Tokyo (at one of the chain outlets)
Website: http://www.wako-group.co.jp/top.html

We came to the restaurant here because it is the easiest restaurant to come to and it is nearby to the place where we returned the car today. Though my wife and myself don't know what we are up for, but we totally have faith in the food my brother-in-law going to introduce to us.

It has few choices to choose from, and it looks the same in the way they present the food. As the food came, it has rice, miso sauce, daikon, salad and the main fried meat. Except the fried meat, the rest is free flow where you can add as you like. We did keep top up the salad, rice and miso. What I'm impressed is the waitress still serve us with a smile, which I would say they are very professional in handling the customers.

The price is reasonable, about 1,100 yen to 1,600 yen.

Every set comes together with a 'strainer'. I think this is a very good way where those additional oil will flow out to the plate, and when we eating it, it is crispy without those oily taste within the meat.

It was very nice where we also had our last tonkatsu meal before leaving Japan. There is a restaurant in the airport. Hopefully will have another chance to come back to Japan, and tonkatsu definitely in my food wish list.

Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise

Location: Hakkeijima Kanazawa-ku Yokohama-city, Kanagawa
How to get there: From Yokohama Station, take Keihin Kyuko Line to Kanazawa Hakkeijima Station. From Kanazawa Hakkeijima Station, take Seaside Line to Hakkeijima.

When we reached the Sea Paradise, it was a gloomy day. However, the creatures and shows that we watched was amazing. Maybe it is hard for us to watch the sea creature back in our country. We came just in time to watch the show, a jaw dropdown show.

As usual, there was shows like sealion, walrus, dolphin, penguin etc. There are show with "beluga whale" or known as white whale. Would say this was the first encounter with the whale of this type.

I would say that the performer really gave a astounding performance. They really know how to train the sea animals and attract the audience attention. So, who say sea creature is dangerous? How lovely they are with human being whenever they are being well taken care of?

After the show, we proceed to the aquarium. As it was around the Christmas period, there is a aqua show. What is aqua show? In the spirit of Christmas, the sardines in the aquarium could form a Christmas Tree by the sound emitting in the aquarium, or was it because of the lighting in the aquarium. Whatever it is, we are really amazed by the creator of this idea where able to form the Christmas Tree from school of fishes. What a great invention it is.

Another attraction for me is the polar bear. This creature is mainly found in Artic circle. Here, in Japan we are able to see the bear, without need to go through the freezing cold weather in Artic.

After that, we proceed to see the sea creature which is displayed in the aquarium. Another attraction for us. We were able to see lot of sizes of the jelly fish. From as small as you need to use microscope to see right to the size of a book. Besides that, there were some of jelly fish which is transparent, and it is attractive whenever there is colorful light shining on it.

Another sea creature that attract us is the little cute 'eel'. Not sure what it is called, but it is little tiny creature where the head stuck out from the base of the aquarium. Maybe the best comparison that I can say is the creature as tiny as half of our normal ball pen that we using everyday.

There are many other attraction park here that one can visit. For us, we didn't go for every park here.

Hakkeijima Sea Paradise, spread over an island of 24 hectares, comprises of a 16.3 hectares ‘Park Zone’ in Yokohama City and a 7.7 hectare ‘Leisure Zone’. Area-wise, it is 18 times larger than the Tokyo Dome, and is totally a traffic free zone. Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise in Japan allows you to be in the lap of nature throughout the day and in the evening.

One may get more information from: http://www.seaparadise.co.jp/english/index.html

Tokyo Disneyland

Location: Urayasu, Chiba
How to get there: JR Keiyo Line

This is another MUST visit place while we were in Japan. This was the first Disney theme park resort to be built outside of States. Just like the previous day, I came here to queue early in the morning to avoid the long queue later. However, we found out that guests staying in the resort hotel has the privilege to enter the theme park 30 minutes earlier than us.

Once we entered the theme park, you are welcomed with a floral arrangement depicting some of the famous cartoon character. During our visit, it was the famous Mickey Mouse. Also, we were lucky enough that the cartoon characters was there for some photo shooting. I would say it is pretty hard to have a photo shooting with them, looking at the number of visitors flocking to take the photo with them.

Basically, there are 7 theme lands over here:

• World Bazaar
• Adventureland
• Westernland
• Critter Country
• Fantasyland
• Toontown
• Tomorrowland

Finally, I was able to take photo with the world famous Cinderella Castle as the backdrop. It is the famous landmark for every kid to come for.

For every theme lands, the architecture was built accordingly. Example, we were pretty amazed with the way the Toontown was built, every building resembling the cartoons character. We must say that it is a hit regardless of age a person is.

Before coming over here, it would be wise to check more information regarding the parades that available. You wouldn't want to miss out those spectacular parades with the fancy customes resembling the cartoon that we always see on tv. What furthermore impressed us was the way they carry out the character. It was really like what we see on the tv.

I was particularly impressed with Snow White character. The way she looks alike, the way she talk, the way she dressing... flawless would be the best word that I can describe. Definitely grabbing this chance to snap a photo with her, pretending to be the Prince Charming.

When tiring rushing from one game to another, there are many shows available that one might take a rest and enjoying the show. There was a show, where it showing the black and white cartoon's era. The photo taken really reflecting the era, without doing and post processing of it. From there, the backdrop change to the current colorful era.

At night, there are 2 things that one shouldn't miss out. The first was the firework display at the Cinderella Castle. This was follow by the parade. Maybe the parade was special due to the Christmas season around the corner while we were there.

In Disneyland, Japanese is the widely spoken language, even though you are visiting the shows. We were lucky enough that my brother-in-law was well verse with the location in Disneyland. Hence, it really help from getting one attraction to another attraction in shortest time possible.

Another thing to be fully utilized is the FASTPASS. This pass can be easily obtain into a specific machine in specific location. The benefit of it is one can get a shorter time or not going through the queue to enjoy the rides.

One may get more information from the official website:

http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/tdl/english/attraction_search/index.html.