Ikebukuro all the waaay!
They're not in the proper order since I jumbled them all up together in one folder: Ikebukuro.
Most of the photos are pretty random, repetitive and the usual warnings I gave previously.
I worry too much.
[Ikebukuro]: Day 1 (May 5th), Journey in search of Toyoko Inn
And welcome to Ikebukuro! If you look straaaight up in that photo, you'll see the train station there smack in the middle.
Seriously, there are konbinis everywhere. There were probably 3 or 4 in the area I was staying. And none were Lawsons. :(
I only came across Lawsons twice during my entire stay at Tokyo. Are they that exclusive?
The jakun me got all excited and started taking random photos of the street. It was pretty deserted because it was still Golden Week, the last few days of it at least. I think it was Boy's Day, if I'm not mistaken.
In the middle of Ikebukuro, there are a lot of intersecting streets and it's so nice that they have these arches like an entrance with the name. Not that I can read it. I can read the first two in Chinese but that's pretty plain.
And of course then there are the notoriously famous vending machines. I mean, I heard there were a lot but I didn't expect them to appear in great numbers in one and many spots. Not to mention, they always try to put some celebrity's face there promoting it although I think that's just to make it even prettier. Just see how shiny and clean looking it is! Malaysia's vending machines...do not shine so much.
Just so you know, my dad smokes...quite a lot, in my opinion. And like I mentioned earlier (did I?) you can't just smoke ANYWHERE in Japan. There are either "smoking boxes" or these..."smoking hotspots" or so I call 'em. So my dad practically stopped quite often whenever we see one, they're not as common as vending machines or konbinis.
Ahahaha, told you about being randomly amazed, didn't I? Well, actually my dad made me take this picture. Recently, longkang (drain) covers have been getting stolen almost everywhere. My own house in Shah Alam and my gran's have both gotten stolen before, leaving a convenient hole for some poor soul to unknowingly step into. And just the other day, the priest at my church also reported that two of their longkang covers got stolen as well. Now, isn't this Japanese longkang cover a genius alteration?
I feel like I have not seen much of the world. If Malaysia has this too, please do tell. This some parking service they have. You drive in, that thing in the middle goes up, you go away, come back later, pay at the machine and you drive off. No worries about being clamped! Just make sure you bring money to reclaim your car! Malaysia has so much to learn...I'm rather shallow.
Ta daaa~ Toyoko Inn! See, everyone just leaves their luggage there and then come back when it's time for check in.
This was taken later, after we checked in. My dad's room, coz I didn't take a picture of mine. I forgot. I liked the room and the bathroom. Small but cosy enough for one person. We were wondering whose window it was that ours was facing. I closed the curtains all the time.
[Ikebukuro]: All the days that follow
I seriously don't understand how there can be school kids hanging around during what should be school hours. It's so different. Then again, this was still during Boy's Day. And can you spot another "smoking hotspot"?
And a night shot!
Here is the Ikebukuro Station, as the building says but next to it and underground is also the Tobu Mall, which is humongous! There are so many levels! And it seems they have the same malls in different places - there's another Tobu Mall in Shibuya as well.
This seems to be the center of Ikebukuro, not far from the intersecting streets I mentioned earlier. It's this huge roundabout area here.
This is at the top of Tobu Mall. The rooftop? They were having lots of games and food stalls for people to eat and bring their children to play. Me, on the hand, was frozen. Let's try and see if KLCC would have a nice rooftop hangout like this.
Back down, we spotted this cute old lady with tons of lil dogs. Japanese people seem to adore small dogs like these. She smiled at us as she allowed us to take a picture. Well, she didn't want to pose so she looked away. Gave her a lil bow and she the same, and we went our separate ways.
There, that's the middle roundabout whatever I was saying. Not a proper shot.
From the other side.
MatsuKyo or...something. I know Toma was playing in this game with short forms..I forgot the short form for Matsumoto Kiyoshi. It's like one of the biggest drugstore/pharmacy/toiletries shop. Kinda like Guardian or Watsons only bigger and more variety.
I was standing opposite MatsuKyo while waiting for my dad who had found another "smoking hotspot" so I took pictures around. These flowers are absolutely BEAUTIFUL! One thing about their florists there is that they sell them by the plant as well. As in, they don't only sell bouquets but pots of flower plants too. Don't they look gorgeous?
The man was blocking the view.
And check out the price of one potted flower plant! That's liiiiiiike....around RM195!!! Do plants cost that expensive? I bring back home sure kapoot lar in this weather. Once it takes a whiff of Malaysian humid air, it'll just droop.
If my mom had gone with me, I would so totally have bought her one of these as a Mother's Day present. But then again, she doesn't really fancy flowers and actually they're a pretty but not practical gift and anyway, we wouldn't be able to bring it back. So...I took photos instead!
See, another entrance to the same train station! They have dozens of exits/entrances! But they're pretty useful so that somehow you'd end up at the right exit to where you wanna go.
This was a ramen shop me and my dad went to eat during one of those days. It's a bar top kind and yeah, like misticloud was saying, it's pretty...awkward. But we went to eat at a similar kind of shop, so we didn't really find the bar top thing so weird. Or at least as weird as the method of paying. It was a ticket vending machine way of paying. Outside there, where those bunch of guys are blocking, is a machine and you place your order there, pay and get a ticket. I've seen such things or heard of this concept, thanks to dramas wheee, but we both honestly didn't know the procedures. Some nice salary man helped us with it though. They were so nice!
Ahh, ZOOOM. These guys practically looked like some kind of hosts or something. At night, they would be everywhere and I don't really know what they're suppose to be doing. They seem to go after guys only though. Coz once my dad and I were walking quite apart coz we were taking different photos so I notice that one of them approach him with some..thing.
Please ignore the blur and unfashionable girl sitting there. I thought he was taking a picture of his super big bowl of noodles. It's pretty noticeable isn't it? The difference between the normal bowl and the big bowl of noodles. By some stroke of fate, the two salary man who helped us got caught in the photo too! And it's so nice that they even put clothing hooks on the walls for people to hang their coats and whatever not.
Random photos of the other side of Ikebukuro.
Ticket machines to buy shinkansen tickets!
I was bored so I took a photo of the floor. Go straight for ticket machines and go queue for counter services. Relatively simple to understand, no?
My dad went to buy Narita Express tickets for our last day when we were to go back to the airport.
Train station at Ikebukuro..inside of it! Yet..again.
I am so not obsessed with their trains.
Now, it's back to the hotel from the other way. Not passing by MatsuKiyo.
Yaaay! That's one whole round.
Next, the view from the TOP of toyoko inn...well, sort of. We were staying at the 13th floor.
Not so much of a pretty sight anymore, is it? All buildings.
The Toyoko Inn opposite us.
I still can't figure out what that long white building is. It's super familiar but I can't quite put a finger to it.
But don't they all look so neatly arranged?
Ok, just a bit more left. The rest of the very few and random night photos. It's a bit odd now that I realize I took so lil night ones. I think I was too scared to when there were hundreds of people walking around and skipping and looked half-drunk. Not to mention those host-lookalikes. They could easily look like they're members of a mafia gang.
AND THIS. I COULDN'T RESIST. We passed by a KFC and I was like "AHHH, TOMAAAA!" Well, not that loud. I tried taking from the outside but it didn't look too nice and my dad was wondering why I stopped and taking photos of KFC. So later he went in to take a photo of it for me. Toma-chaaan~
Wow, this entire entry took so long for me to do. But it was fun. ^__^
I'll upload the next batch of photos for the next entry. Hehehe. Ja!