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japan tokyo - 14 to 20 august 2012
Tuesday, 21 August 2012
my virgin trip with darling to japan tokyo happened on 14 to 20 Aug. the trip was partially sponsored as we won the pair of ANA ticket via isetan lucky draw. despite the pretty long 7hr flight, I guess it is still pretty worth it. it is interesting to see that the food and items are priced in a steep manner (1000yen = S$16), and it set me thinking how much the wage they gotten. and it seems like they are awesomely family oriented, and this will means that the men will have to work doubly hard if the wife become a homemaker. and what about retrenchment or the idea of quitting current job? perhaps this will never cross their mind. different culture, different mindset.
our accommodation was at hotel sunroute plaza shinjuku which was quite convenient location. i was shocked to find the room was relatively small, perhaps disappointment comes with expectation when darling told me our hotel is consider in the prime orchard-alike area. but darling assume that other hotels' room are even smaller. our hotel room number (1111) created a far bit of drama when it opened in the lottery the next day, and we couldnt buy in the number.
weather was indeed such a killer in summer time, 32-36degree. we gotten all tanned up especially on the day we visited toyko disneyland. this was my 2nd hottest trip compared to cambodia. It might be a good idea to visit the other seasons of japan the next time, perhaps sakura season. another item on the wish list.
anyway, all in all, we managed to visit a couple of main attractions. we are so lucky and grateful to see a clear mount fuji at the 5th station, although there are no snow but I guess it is good enough for me to mark it as a milestone. we also went to a park where the wasabi was grown and i took the courage to try the sweet and spicy wasabi ice cream. and we also took a pirate cruise ride down the lake ashi and enjoy the strong sea breeze and nice scenery around. we then took this cable car ride that lead us to the hakone owakudani valley (sulphuric mountain) and tried the black egg that had a myth of extending 7yrs of life span. each of us took 1.5egg so does that mean we had an extension of 10.5yrs??
tokyo tower was another milestone, especially after I wanted to visit it so much after my first japan drama, overtime, which is like at least a goody 10 years ago. however, I must say it is quite a disappointing one to go up the tower, maybe the height wasn't up to expectation after all. but at least I fulfilled my wish list item. yeah!! shall visit the next current popular hotspot, the sky tree (managed to catch a glimpse of it during the asakusa shrine visit) in my next visit to japan. oh yah, i like the tokyo tower theme neoprint machine!
visited two shrines, one is pretty traditional (meji) and another is so commercial (asakusa). prefer the first one as the latter one seems to lose the peaceful and pure feeling that the japanese shrine portrayed. in fact, meji shrine was a large forested area within the densely built-up city. the spacious shrine grounds offer pebble walking paths that are great for a relaxing stroll. as for asakusa, the signature icon was the thunder gate, and the shopping street that sell typical japanese souvenirs and various traditional local snacks before reaching the temple main hall.
tokyo disneyland was a never to be miss point of attraction. I think it is at least 4 times bigger than hong kong disneyland , it is so big that we hardly can cover all. but we managed to take various type of rides and catched the summer water parade, day time parade and the night parade. although i was pretty surprised there is no firework, but the unique LED night time parade was quite breathe-taking too. lastly, was shopping time, gotten a few scrump related items and some souvenirs loots.
and not to mention about walking tons of streets and roads in this trip, to look for shops that squeeze my wallet flat. haha. torture my feet and torture my wallet. my goodness. from the gotemba premium outlet mall to isetan, OIOI, parco department malls to head porter, tsumori chisato, accent craft flag stores and to the superb big snack shop at ueno, we combed so many shops and stores with many many loots.
i managed to get some stuffs (2 bottoms, 3 tops and 1 head porter bag) for myself but dearest darling is still the ultimate winner (too many to list) without any doubt. hopefully this trip or loots served some good for her 32nd birthday. although the total damage seems pretty remarkable too. hahahaha!! well, the shopping malls and shops closed as early as 8pm (sin 7pm), if not, i believe we will be able to buy back the whole japan. anyway, we almost run out of cash in the last part of our japan journey.
anyway for darling's birthday this year, i tot it is more practical to give her a red packet in yen, so that she can buy her favourite thing in japan. and i believe 30,000yen should be able to cover a few items. handed her the red packet on the 2nd day of the trip, which i also bought a small slice of cake back to the hotel room. and on top of this, i also swiped my card for her parco limited edition issey miyake bag. hope she will like her all her pressies for this year.
last but not least, Tokyo itself is already so huge, hopefully I can visit this place or other part of Japan in time to come. oh, how can I forget about the yummy beef rice from song wu?? now I understand why darling love it so much and why she can't resist eating it time after time. and I wanna thank my darling for planning this whole japan trip from end to end, now i am stressed on the australia gold coast trip in Oct.
so long, goodbye japan tokyo!!
Labels: birthday, fun, holiday, japan, makan, shopping
xoxo,
dear |
22:59
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