Japan day 5: Sinong addict sa tonkotsu ramen?!?
2014/08/07
I got to sleep at least seven hours last night but it felt like it still wasn't enough. I still woke up early (before 7AM) but I wallowed in bed for at least another four hours. My body ached so much I wanted to slow down or else I'm gonna break. And if I break, good luck to me surviving Rock in Japan Fest and the Mt. Fuji climb next week.
I also forgot to charge my devices the night before (as usual, masandal-tulog ulit) so I had to wait for them to be ready before I left.
I went out around 11:30AM and went to Nakano Broadway to drop by the Mandarake branch there. I wanted to check out some Arashi Blast in Hawaii goods but I didn't know the store opened at 12 noon. Seriously, almost all of the shops here in Tokyo open around 10AM and close at around 8 or 9PM. Nakano Broadway is about 10 minutes away from the YADOYA hostel where I was staying and there was nowhere I could hang out on (here, unless it's the ubiquitous Starbucks, it's not cool to stay for long and hog all the space to yourself) I proceeded to my next destination: went back to have another try for the Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens.
Now a bit of a back story: I already went there two days ago but because I was not familiar with the place, I got there 5 minutes after the place closed for the day.
So here I go again, and this time, I made sure that I was way earlier than closing time. I got there after lunch under yet another day of scorching heat in Tokyo.
The place is gorgeous. However, some construction work/renovations were ongoing, so some of the points of interest were inaccessible and/or blocked. There's also some work ongoing at the Tokyo Dome next door, so the quiet calm of the garden was a bit disrupted by the noise from it, as well as the screams of the people on the theme park roller coaster.
I got out at around 2PM (oh how time flies by so fast) supposedly made my way to the Metro station for the Imperial Palace Gardens. However, I went on the wrong station (for the nth time) and so I ended up at the JR Shinjuku station. Boom, silver lining bigla! It was after lunch and I didn't have some decent breakfast (san banda matino ang breakfast na trail mix, aber?!?) and so I went back to lovely, lovely Ichiran. I didn't have to wait this time, nyahaha. I also bought some of their noodles to take home with me.
With my belly full of delicious ramen (and delicious service water, if I may add) I went back to Iidabashi and went on the Tozai Line. It was already 4PM when I arrived, so it was quite a short visit (they rounded up everyone with a PSA 20 minutes before the 5PM closing; there were also some police/guards on bicycles looking for everyone) but it was worth it. Bonus: I saw a real swan on the waters outside the Ota Gate!
I walked over to the JR Tokyo Station. Unlike before, I am now more confident in looking for the correct train/platform. I also map out the route before I go out in the morning, so it was really helpful. I was so proud of myself I finally managed Tokyo Station!
From Tokyo stn I went to Hamamatsucho, transferred to the Tokyo Monorail for Tennozu Isle, then transferred (again) to the Rinkai Line for Tokyo Teleport to - virtual cookies for anyone who can guess - DiverCity. Hashtag alam na. I won't leave Tokyo until I actually see the mighty Gundam in person!
After I got contented with the amount of pictures I took, I watched a street performer for a bit (he was near the end of his act) before walking to the big ferris wheel at VenusFort. Took some pictures then crossed the Tokyo Teleport Bridge in an attempt to cross the Rainbow Bridge. But I couldn't find the pedestrian walkway! I went through DECKS and found Madame Tussaud's (I had no plans to go because I already went to the branch in Hong Kong, tama na yun; however, the wax figures of Yoshiki and Oshima Yuko were on the poster, and when I saw them, I decided to visit right there and then.) Kaso lang it was already around 7:30 or 8:00 PM and they close at 7 PM, in short, sawi ang peg.
Went along the Fuji TV Building, Aqua City, and the seaside. I still wanted to cross the Rainbow bridge but as it was already close to 9 PM, I skipped it, mainly because I can't walk almost 1.5 km in ten minutes!
I'm supposed to meet Lyn tomorrow and go to Keikarou and then check in to another hotel, but I heard from her two days ago that she might not be able to make it to the trip. I am still hoping for the best. I barely spoke with anyone since I got here, and all of this would feel better if I had someone to share and laugh about it with. Hoy pero 'di naman clingy noh! This is also the reason why I try to post pictures and I keep updating this blog - because if I won't do this I might lose all of it , tapos walang magpapaalala sa akin ng nangyari kasi walang nakakaalam, ako lang.
I got to sleep at least seven hours last night but it felt like it still wasn't enough. I still woke up early (before 7AM) but I wallowed in bed for at least another four hours. My body ached so much I wanted to slow down or else I'm gonna break. And if I break, good luck to me surviving Rock in Japan Fest and the Mt. Fuji climb next week.
I also forgot to charge my devices the night before (as usual, masandal-tulog ulit) so I had to wait for them to be ready before I left.
I went out around 11:30AM and went to Nakano Broadway to drop by the Mandarake branch there. I wanted to check out some Arashi Blast in Hawaii goods but I didn't know the store opened at 12 noon. Seriously, almost all of the shops here in Tokyo open around 10AM and close at around 8 or 9PM. Nakano Broadway is about 10 minutes away from the YADOYA hostel where I was staying and there was nowhere I could hang out on (here, unless it's the ubiquitous Starbucks, it's not cool to stay for long and hog all the space to yourself) I proceeded to my next destination: went back to have another try for the Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens.
Now a bit of a back story: I already went there two days ago but because I was not familiar with the place, I got there 5 minutes after the place closed for the day.
So here I go again, and this time, I made sure that I was way earlier than closing time. I got there after lunch under yet another day of scorching heat in Tokyo.
The place is gorgeous. However, some construction work/renovations were ongoing, so some of the points of interest were inaccessible and/or blocked. There's also some work ongoing at the Tokyo Dome next door, so the quiet calm of the garden was a bit disrupted by the noise from it, as well as the screams of the people on the theme park roller coaster.
I got out at around 2PM (oh how time flies by so fast) supposedly made my way to the Metro station for the Imperial Palace Gardens. However, I went on the wrong station (for the nth time) and so I ended up at the JR Shinjuku station. Boom, silver lining bigla! It was after lunch and I didn't have some decent breakfast (san banda matino ang breakfast na trail mix, aber?!?) and so I went back to lovely, lovely Ichiran. I didn't have to wait this time, nyahaha. I also bought some of their noodles to take home with me.
With my belly full of delicious ramen (and delicious service water, if I may add) I went back to Iidabashi and went on the Tozai Line. It was already 4PM when I arrived, so it was quite a short visit (they rounded up everyone with a PSA 20 minutes before the 5PM closing; there were also some police/guards on bicycles looking for everyone) but it was worth it. Bonus: I saw a real swan on the waters outside the Ota Gate!
I walked over to the JR Tokyo Station. Unlike before, I am now more confident in looking for the correct train/platform. I also map out the route before I go out in the morning, so it was really helpful. I was so proud of myself I finally managed Tokyo Station!
From Tokyo stn I went to Hamamatsucho, transferred to the Tokyo Monorail for Tennozu Isle, then transferred (again) to the Rinkai Line for Tokyo Teleport to - virtual cookies for anyone who can guess - DiverCity. Hashtag alam na. I won't leave Tokyo until I actually see the mighty Gundam in person!
After I got contented with the amount of pictures I took, I watched a street performer for a bit (he was near the end of his act) before walking to the big ferris wheel at VenusFort. Took some pictures then crossed the Tokyo Teleport Bridge in an attempt to cross the Rainbow Bridge. But I couldn't find the pedestrian walkway! I went through DECKS and found Madame Tussaud's (I had no plans to go because I already went to the branch in Hong Kong, tama na yun; however, the wax figures of Yoshiki and Oshima Yuko were on the poster, and when I saw them, I decided to visit right there and then.) Kaso lang it was already around 7:30 or 8:00 PM and they close at 7 PM, in short, sawi ang peg.
Went along the Fuji TV Building, Aqua City, and the seaside. I still wanted to cross the Rainbow bridge but as it was already close to 9 PM, I skipped it, mainly because I can't walk almost 1.5 km in ten minutes!
I'm supposed to meet Lyn tomorrow and go to Keikarou and then check in to another hotel, but I heard from her two days ago that she might not be able to make it to the trip. I am still hoping for the best. I barely spoke with anyone since I got here, and all of this would feel better if I had someone to share and laugh about it with. Hoy pero 'di naman clingy noh! This is also the reason why I try to post pictures and I keep updating this blog - because if I won't do this I might lose all of it , tapos walang magpapaalala sa akin ng nangyari kasi walang nakakaalam, ako lang.