Crossing the Big Dream Out of My List with Garuda Indonesia (Part 5 - Tokyo-Home)
TOKYO DAY 1
I arrived at Tokyo Station from Atami around 13.30. First thing to do: find a locker for my huge luggage. I asked the tourist information center and she told me the locker was located on the lower level and I need to be hurry because she wasn't sure whether there's any available large size locker left. Luckily there are still several large size locker available. And oh, I lost my JREast pass while I can still use it for another 2 days.. it fell off my jeans' pocket.. T.T
Second thing to do: find the location to take the willer bus. I have bought a ticket to take willer bus toward Kyoto that night at 22:45. The stop was at Tokyo Station Kajibashi Parking Lot. At that time I thought that I have to figure out the place first before doing anything that day, so it'd be easy for me to go there later on. The place was actually quite far from Tokyo station. You have to exit the station at the east exit, go to the left side and walk until you found an intersection, go straight and the parking lot were 200 m away from the intersection. After confirming that it was the correct place with an officer at the parking lot (he speaks English and he has went to Bali) I returned to Tokyo Station. I was thinking of going either to tokyo tower or tokyo sky tree, I found a direct bus to tokyo sky tree there so I decided to go to tokyo sky tree. The driver was a very nice old man and he suggest me to take my time finding coins to pay the bus (unlike the bus in Hakone and Atami, this bus needed to be paid in advance).
Tokyo Sky Tree
Reaching Tokyo sky tree, I immediately went inside. I didn't check the price and payment method, apparently the ticket is cheaper if you book in advance via website (plus there are several discount as well for example if you are disable you can get the ticket cheaper). I ended up spending 2,800en to enter the sky tree (it's the price to reach the observation deck not the top and this included the acceleration price - it was crowded at that time and I have to wait for 30 minutes to take the elevator to the deck if I didn't pay the extra acceleration price). Sadly there was fog surrounding Tokyo at that time so the view was not good from the deck (even Tokyo Tower was not visible). The awesome thing on the deck was the 360-degree-view-interactive-screen which can be switched from daylight view to night view and zoom view, plus provide a brief info on famous spots in Tokyo, other than that, there was an old drawing (200yo?) showing the view of Tokyo from height which manage to create a view far less the same as the view visible from the observation deck (the drawing has Fuji-san in it, so I suppose at clear weather we can see Fuji from there too). In the lower level there's a transparent floor so that we know the view down below our feet. Kinda spooky...
Other than that nothing really amuse me. Cafe, souvenir shop, and there's some photo service if you want to take clear picture of yourself with the view from sky tree and the view below sky tree (one of the spot were at the transparent floor) because if you use ordinary camera the picture would be dark due to back-light. To be honest, I will not recommend anyone with limited budget to go inside the sky tree. It was not worth it. If you want to take picture of you with sky tree as background just do it in front of its mall (the Solamachi mall. In front of Ghibli shop is a good spot).
The old drawing inside Tokyo Sky Tree
Interactive screen
the glass floor
View of Skytree in front of Solamachi
I actually came to Japan with some mission; buying some eco bags for my sister, buying Ghibli and Doraemon museum's ticket for my sister's friend, buying face powder, umbrella and pen for my friend. So after visiting the sky tree I went to the mall below, and as an ordinary girl, of course I got distracted by many things at the mall. I ended bought a Sailor Venus socks, some envelope, a matcha angko bread plus a mineral water for myself and I manage to buy the powder, and the pen, and an eco bag as well. It was almost 8PM when I got out from the mall. The same bus driver sent me back to Tokyo Station (the driver still recognized me). At Tokyo Station, I decided to top up the Suica card lended by my friend but I don't know how. I tried to ask the ticket center or something but he barely spoke English, and my Japanese is bad enough to ask a question on how to top-up it. I met this one sexy lady (I think she's American), and I ask her for help. She kindly helped me on top-up-ing the card. After that I searched for dinner. I'm trying to find a non-intimidating restaurant but it's hard (most restaurant has long queue, and all menu written in kanji plus I don't know how Haram they could be). I was informed that there is one vegetarian restaurant in the station, but I couldn't find it and it was almost 9. I'm afraid I'd wasted to much time searching for the place and I'd be in a hurry to catch the bus to Kyoto. Luckily I found a bakery and bought a sandwich and a glass of ice tea there (I was helped by a Japanese who understand English to pick a sandwich that didn't contain ham). I ate there and waited for another customer to leave to learn how to throw the empty packaging. After that I went to grab my luggage and leave to the bus stop.
Taking bus in the bus stop was another challenge. The bus actually departed from Tokyo Disneyland and would only stop in Tokyo Station for like 10 minutes before departure and all announcement were made in Japanese. So yeah, kinda challenging. I checked my ticket twice and memorized the bus number in Japanese. Luckily the bus has distinguish color (pink), arrive between the time line (10 minutes before departure) also it was the only pink bus around at that time. The bus was definitely designed for night bus, because the curtain were all close and they provided blanket on every seats. One thing I like the most was the air conditioner was on room temperature, unlike the bus in Indonesia which was very cold. The bus made 2 stops on the rest area which both has very very clean toilet (c'mon Indonesia, you can do this as well!!)
the bus stop at Tokyo Station
inside the bus
CLICK HERE FOR MY KYOTO TRIP
TOKYO DAY 2 (18 May 2015)
Shinjuku
Arrived at Shinjuku on 06.00. I have made plan to drop my luggage in the station then went around Shinjuku especially to Don Quijote (to buy my friends umbrella) and to find breakfast while waiting for rush hour to end. I got lost (again as usual), thank you to my awesome knowledge to read google map, but finally I found the place, plus got the chance to take picture of Godzilla (Gojira). I made a quick stop at 7-11 to print out my sis's friend's one ok rock concert ticket. The umbrella price in DonQi was more expensive than what I have seen in iSetan Kyoto Station but has more pattern and color variation. After that I bought something that looks like onigiri but it has fried fish inside on CoCo curry house. Getting lost helped me to spend my time waiting for the rush hour to ends. When the clock hits 9.30 I went to Ikebukuro.
Godzilla
Attack on Titans display
Ikebukuro
I was very excited to go here because my friend told me that I could see the Goku x Luffy statue here, but apparently it suppose to be in Shibuya. ^^ So I went to Don Quijote again, to buy another eco bag for my sister but I can't find one, in stead I bought clay and green tea latte for my self. Next, the thing that I always want to do in Japan: KARAOKE!. I've even created a post on how much I want to go to Karaoke in Japan.
Before departing to Japan, I've searched for the cheapest place and time to go to Karaoke. And the conclusion was on weekday before 18:00. The information I read also mentioned that the branch in Ikebukuro was cheaper than the branch in Shibuya. So there, I went to the Karaoke at around 11:30 in Ikebukuro for 2 hours. Hohoho... (too bad not all the song I want to sing exist especially FAKE?'s, but still it felt like heaven to me because they have all Bump Of Chicken songs including Hybrid Rainbow which they cover from The Pillows, plus they have Asian Kung-fu Generation's songs which is non existence in Karaoke in Indonesia). I didn't know how to operate the machine, but the waiter was kind and patient enough to explain it to me. At the end, they even allow me to leave without logging off the machine, because I don't know how. (In Indonesia, after your time is over, the machine will logged off by it self, but apparently it's different in Japan).
Shibuya
After finishing Karaoke, I went to Shibuya. The first thing to do: took a picture with Hachiko (checked). Second thing: took picture of the famous 109 building (checked). Third thing: Going to Parco for Luffy x Goku Statue (Failed); I took random street and started walking, after quite a long walk I stop at a Koban (police station). An officer there told me to go to the opposite direction if I want to go to Parco, so I walk to the opposite direction and stop at 7-11 to buy a Haagen Dazs Green Tea Ice Cream (Yummeh!) and ate it while going down the street earning some look from the passer by (was it a big no-no to eat ice cream on the street in Japan?), I made it to Parco but the statue was nowhere to be seen, so I return to Shibuya Station with a little disappointment. On the way to the station I stop at Tokyu Hand and found cheaper eco bag, so I bought 2 for my sister. There's a little shop on the left side of the way from Tokyu Hands towards the Station that sell beautiful clothes for reasonable price, so I stop by to see, but decided not to buy anything as I don't need more clothes. But I would recommend people to stop there if they have a chance. I also took a chance to see a swatch shop because there was 1 watch that I want to buy but I see the price is only a slide cheaper than in Jakarta, so I think I can buy it in Jakarta later on. Forth: Initially wants to go to Moshi-moshi Box which was said to be between Shibuya and Harajuku, but the time didn't allow me to go, as I have promise the hotel to check in around 15:00 and I was already late.
Hachiko
109 Building
From Shibuya Station I went back to Shinjuku Station, and got a bit lost before finding the station which I put my luggage in. On the way to the station, I saw a food stall selling Taiyaki Croissant and I bought the chocolate flavour.
From Shinjuku Station I went to Kuramae Station, where my hostel at. I got lost again, and got help by Lawson guy to find the way. The hostel receptionist was nice (she said my passport looks better compare to passport from other country ^^). After dropping my luggage inside the room (I took the only non-bunk bed in the room. Yay!), I went down to the reception and I told her that I wanted to go to Odaiba and she gave me a brochure of Odaiba. On the metro station, I casually checked on how far to go to Tsukishima, apparently it was only 3 stations away from Kuramae station, so I decided to go to Tsukishima first before Odaiba.
Tsukishima
The reason I wanted to go here was because the conversation I had with Okurappa-san in Kyoto. She told me that the cover of Bump of Chicken's fighter was taken there. I really like the song and thought that the construction behind the photo shoot was interesting. So this was fangirling time! I never thought I would do that. Haha..
When I got to the Tsukishima station I asked an officer in the station how to reach the bridge. He told me the way (he explained in a very simple japanese and I understand his Japanese! Yay!). So I walk there and took a lot of pictures (and even asked an mother with a daughter also a salaryman to take a picture of me until I realize that I was on the wrong side of the bridge), I cross the bridge and found the interesting construction, which apparently was a lighthouse. I took many more pictures and also chatted with a young mom whose walking her chihuahua. She helped me took a picture and we chatted a bit. I think I made some wrong interpretation on her word, but I can catch 80% of her words. She asked me whether I'm a Bump fan, and I said yes (I was so embarrassed ^\\\^). She said a lot of people came here to take picture before. After thinking I have enough picture, I went to Odaiba. Anyway, the neighborhood in Tsukishima was very nice, I think this is a newly made neighborhood where new rich people live.
"Fighter" bridge
"Fighter" lighthouse
Information about the lighthouse
Odaiba
I kinda sad that I couldn't manage to go to Asakusa, Tokyo Tower, Ueno Park, Akihabara and many other places, but I think I made the right choice going to Odaiba on my final minutes in Japan. I really want to see the live-size Gundam, but I think I went to wrong part of Odaiba so I didn't manage to see it (so no Goku x Luffy and no Gundam - What's my luck). I went to Aqua City because I want to go to Daiso (a 100Yen shop) to search for any omiyage, although in the end I only bought a bottle of apple tea (which was very delicious) and a bag of furikake, because I was not sure on how halal the snacks there. Apparently the rain fell when I was in the mall. There's still a bit drizzle when I got out, but the view behind the Aqua City was stunning, drizzle didn't stop me from taking pictures. You can see the rainbow bridge from there, and there's a miniature of Liberty Statue there as well.
Ferris Wheel in Odaiba
Aqua City & NHK Building
Rainbow Bridge & Mini Liberty
My legs can't stand walking anymore and it was around 21:00, so I decided to return to my Hostel. I took the train (Yurikamome line) without any expectation, however I did notice that the seat arrangement was a bit different than the usual train. I saw outside the window and OMG, we actually crossing the rainbow bridge and made a circular turn at the end of the bridge, it was so awesome! and it was really a great way to end the trip in Japan.
Check this video to see how awesome the ride was
At the train I remember that I still have the Taiyaki Croissant and realize that I haven't ate anything after that Green Tea Ice Cream. So I ate the Taiyaki in the room. Nobody's there yet, until I have finished my taikyaki and started packing up, a Filipino mother who lives in Australia came and we share stories on how we ended up there. Then a French girl living in Australia joins the convo, she and the mom had known each other, because they already stay in this Hostel from the day before. We went to bed at around 12:00. Several other girls enters the room, and I informed them that me and the mom had to checked out early so maybe they'd be disturbed by our alarm the next morning.
LAST DAY: HANEDA & HOME (19 MAY 2015)
I woke up at 5, taking bath, brushing teeth and get ready to leave. I almost forgot to drop my key at the reception, luckily the mom reminded me. We walk to the Kuramae station - Asakusa Line. However we took the wrong entrance, I have to move from one platform to the other via staircase with my heavy luggage. TT
She told me she had to go to Narita while I had to go to Haneda, so (she said) she didn't need to change platform. We said good bye and her train arrived first. I have to change train in Keiyo-Katama Station. Luckily I don't have to change platform.
I was sleepy and since it was early in the morning, the train hasn't turned on the English announcement, I missed the International Flight station and ended up in Domestic Flight. I asked the machinist how to get to International terminal. He told me to wait until the train operating for the next schedule, luckily it didn't take long time and I was there at the International terminal. It was around 8:00 AM, my flight would be at 11:45, and the check in counter will open at 9:30 AM. So I still got plenty of time, but I got plenty things to do as well. The rain was pouring outside.
Although a bit late, I did my Shubuh prayer. After that, I returned the wi-fi device to the counter. Then, I asked the information about halal food there, she inform me there were 2 restaurant that provided halal food, however 1 has not opened yet, and the other one can only be reached after check in. I decided to look at the shops at 4th and 5th floor. I bought 2 packages of halal Senbei. There are a lot of interesting stuffs up there (like I really want to buy a "Tokyo" cap, but I know how to control myself because it was quite expensive.. haha..), oh and they have an Edo bridge on 5th floor, there are seats under the bridge, so you can sit here while waiting for your check in time. Other mission that I need to do before leaving Japan was sending the chocolate which I brought from Indonesia that was suppose to be given to the resort crew but I hadn't had a chance because the chocolate were in my luggage, so I have to posted it. After failing in searching for post office in 3rd, 4th and 5th floor, I asked the information on where to post a letter. They told me that I could send the mail at Lawson on the 1st floor. so I sent it there, and spent the rest of my Yen coins and suica card there to buy 2 packs of halal chocolate, an onigiri and a choco chip cookies. From there, I went to check in and search for the boarding gate, which was on the most far right of the airport. Reaching the boarding gate I was so tired because of all the walking I have done on the previous days plus lack of sleep that night, I fell asleep once I sat on the bench. I woke up with a start like 15 minutes before the boarding time.
Prayer Room in Haneda
Edo bridge inside Haneda
In the airplane, we were given sleeping kit (socks, ear plug, eye mask) - something that the passenger didn't received on the flight to Japan. We also given the menu on what will be served today (one comment: the menu mentioned haagen dazs but later we got meiji ice cream). Trough the whole flight I watched movie, ate, slept, watched movie, ate, slept, over and over. But one thing impressed me was my movie choice (haha..) I decided to watch "The Imitation Game". That movie blew my mind. It was an awesome movie and there are many things you can get from that movie. If you haven't watched the movie I would suggest you to watch the movie!
The flight was smooth and with that I ended my challenging, interesting, and unforgettable trip to Japan. Hopefully I can go back there one day and have a chance to watch my ultimate favorite band, Bump of Chicken's concert! :D
Crossing the Big Dream Out of My List with Garuda Indonesia (Part 1 - Preparation)
Crossing the Big Dream Out of My List with Garuda Indonesia (Part 2 - Jakarta-Narita-Odawara Station)
Crossing the Big Dream Out of My List with Garuda Indonesia (Part 3 - Hakone)
Crossing the Big Dream Out of My List with Garuda Indonesia (Part 4 - Atami)
C rossing the Big Dream Out of My List with Garuda Indonesia (Part 6 - Kyoto)
I arrived at Tokyo Station from Atami around 13.30. First thing to do: find a locker for my huge luggage. I asked the tourist information center and she told me the locker was located on the lower level and I need to be hurry because she wasn't sure whether there's any available large size locker left. Luckily there are still several large size locker available. And oh, I lost my JREast pass while I can still use it for another 2 days.. it fell off my jeans' pocket.. T.T
Second thing to do: find the location to take the willer bus. I have bought a ticket to take willer bus toward Kyoto that night at 22:45. The stop was at Tokyo Station Kajibashi Parking Lot. At that time I thought that I have to figure out the place first before doing anything that day, so it'd be easy for me to go there later on. The place was actually quite far from Tokyo station. You have to exit the station at the east exit, go to the left side and walk until you found an intersection, go straight and the parking lot were 200 m away from the intersection. After confirming that it was the correct place with an officer at the parking lot (he speaks English and he has went to Bali) I returned to Tokyo Station. I was thinking of going either to tokyo tower or tokyo sky tree, I found a direct bus to tokyo sky tree there so I decided to go to tokyo sky tree. The driver was a very nice old man and he suggest me to take my time finding coins to pay the bus (unlike the bus in Hakone and Atami, this bus needed to be paid in advance).
Tokyo Sky Tree
Reaching Tokyo sky tree, I immediately went inside. I didn't check the price and payment method, apparently the ticket is cheaper if you book in advance via website (plus there are several discount as well for example if you are disable you can get the ticket cheaper). I ended up spending 2,800en to enter the sky tree (it's the price to reach the observation deck not the top and this included the acceleration price - it was crowded at that time and I have to wait for 30 minutes to take the elevator to the deck if I didn't pay the extra acceleration price). Sadly there was fog surrounding Tokyo at that time so the view was not good from the deck (even Tokyo Tower was not visible). The awesome thing on the deck was the 360-degree-view-interactive-screen which can be switched from daylight view to night view and zoom view, plus provide a brief info on famous spots in Tokyo, other than that, there was an old drawing (200yo?) showing the view of Tokyo from height which manage to create a view far less the same as the view visible from the observation deck (the drawing has Fuji-san in it, so I suppose at clear weather we can see Fuji from there too). In the lower level there's a transparent floor so that we know the view down below our feet. Kinda spooky...
Other than that nothing really amuse me. Cafe, souvenir shop, and there's some photo service if you want to take clear picture of yourself with the view from sky tree and the view below sky tree (one of the spot were at the transparent floor) because if you use ordinary camera the picture would be dark due to back-light. To be honest, I will not recommend anyone with limited budget to go inside the sky tree. It was not worth it. If you want to take picture of you with sky tree as background just do it in front of its mall (the Solamachi mall. In front of Ghibli shop is a good spot).
The old drawing inside Tokyo Sky Tree
Interactive screen
the glass floor
View of Skytree in front of Solamachi
I actually came to Japan with some mission; buying some eco bags for my sister, buying Ghibli and Doraemon museum's ticket for my sister's friend, buying face powder, umbrella and pen for my friend. So after visiting the sky tree I went to the mall below, and as an ordinary girl, of course I got distracted by many things at the mall. I ended bought a Sailor Venus socks, some envelope, a matcha angko bread plus a mineral water for myself and I manage to buy the powder, and the pen, and an eco bag as well. It was almost 8PM when I got out from the mall. The same bus driver sent me back to Tokyo Station (the driver still recognized me). At Tokyo Station, I decided to top up the Suica card lended by my friend but I don't know how. I tried to ask the ticket center or something but he barely spoke English, and my Japanese is bad enough to ask a question on how to top-up it. I met this one sexy lady (I think she's American), and I ask her for help. She kindly helped me on top-up-ing the card. After that I searched for dinner. I'm trying to find a non-intimidating restaurant but it's hard (most restaurant has long queue, and all menu written in kanji plus I don't know how Haram they could be). I was informed that there is one vegetarian restaurant in the station, but I couldn't find it and it was almost 9. I'm afraid I'd wasted to much time searching for the place and I'd be in a hurry to catch the bus to Kyoto. Luckily I found a bakery and bought a sandwich and a glass of ice tea there (I was helped by a Japanese who understand English to pick a sandwich that didn't contain ham). I ate there and waited for another customer to leave to learn how to throw the empty packaging. After that I went to grab my luggage and leave to the bus stop.
Taking bus in the bus stop was another challenge. The bus actually departed from Tokyo Disneyland and would only stop in Tokyo Station for like 10 minutes before departure and all announcement were made in Japanese. So yeah, kinda challenging. I checked my ticket twice and memorized the bus number in Japanese. Luckily the bus has distinguish color (pink), arrive between the time line (10 minutes before departure) also it was the only pink bus around at that time. The bus was definitely designed for night bus, because the curtain were all close and they provided blanket on every seats. One thing I like the most was the air conditioner was on room temperature, unlike the bus in Indonesia which was very cold. The bus made 2 stops on the rest area which both has very very clean toilet (c'mon Indonesia, you can do this as well!!)
the bus stop at Tokyo Station
inside the bus
CLICK HERE FOR MY KYOTO TRIP
TOKYO DAY 2 (18 May 2015)
Shinjuku
Arrived at Shinjuku on 06.00. I have made plan to drop my luggage in the station then went around Shinjuku especially to Don Quijote (to buy my friends umbrella) and to find breakfast while waiting for rush hour to end. I got lost (again as usual), thank you to my awesome knowledge to read google map, but finally I found the place, plus got the chance to take picture of Godzilla (Gojira). I made a quick stop at 7-11 to print out my sis's friend's one ok rock concert ticket. The umbrella price in DonQi was more expensive than what I have seen in iSetan Kyoto Station but has more pattern and color variation. After that I bought something that looks like onigiri but it has fried fish inside on CoCo curry house. Getting lost helped me to spend my time waiting for the rush hour to ends. When the clock hits 9.30 I went to Ikebukuro.
Godzilla
Attack on Titans display
Ikebukuro
I was very excited to go here because my friend told me that I could see the Goku x Luffy statue here, but apparently it suppose to be in Shibuya. ^^ So I went to Don Quijote again, to buy another eco bag for my sister but I can't find one, in stead I bought clay and green tea latte for my self. Next, the thing that I always want to do in Japan: KARAOKE!. I've even created a post on how much I want to go to Karaoke in Japan.
Before departing to Japan, I've searched for the cheapest place and time to go to Karaoke. And the conclusion was on weekday before 18:00. The information I read also mentioned that the branch in Ikebukuro was cheaper than the branch in Shibuya. So there, I went to the Karaoke at around 11:30 in Ikebukuro for 2 hours. Hohoho... (too bad not all the song I want to sing exist especially FAKE?'s, but still it felt like heaven to me because they have all Bump Of Chicken songs including Hybrid Rainbow which they cover from The Pillows, plus they have Asian Kung-fu Generation's songs which is non existence in Karaoke in Indonesia). I didn't know how to operate the machine, but the waiter was kind and patient enough to explain it to me. At the end, they even allow me to leave without logging off the machine, because I don't know how. (In Indonesia, after your time is over, the machine will logged off by it self, but apparently it's different in Japan).
Shibuya
After finishing Karaoke, I went to Shibuya. The first thing to do: took a picture with Hachiko (checked). Second thing: took picture of the famous 109 building (checked). Third thing: Going to Parco for Luffy x Goku Statue (Failed); I took random street and started walking, after quite a long walk I stop at a Koban (police station). An officer there told me to go to the opposite direction if I want to go to Parco, so I walk to the opposite direction and stop at 7-11 to buy a Haagen Dazs Green Tea Ice Cream (Yummeh!) and ate it while going down the street earning some look from the passer by (was it a big no-no to eat ice cream on the street in Japan?), I made it to Parco but the statue was nowhere to be seen, so I return to Shibuya Station with a little disappointment. On the way to the station I stop at Tokyu Hand and found cheaper eco bag, so I bought 2 for my sister. There's a little shop on the left side of the way from Tokyu Hands towards the Station that sell beautiful clothes for reasonable price, so I stop by to see, but decided not to buy anything as I don't need more clothes. But I would recommend people to stop there if they have a chance. I also took a chance to see a swatch shop because there was 1 watch that I want to buy but I see the price is only a slide cheaper than in Jakarta, so I think I can buy it in Jakarta later on. Forth: Initially wants to go to Moshi-moshi Box which was said to be between Shibuya and Harajuku, but the time didn't allow me to go, as I have promise the hotel to check in around 15:00 and I was already late.
Hachiko
109 Building
From Shibuya Station I went back to Shinjuku Station, and got a bit lost before finding the station which I put my luggage in. On the way to the station, I saw a food stall selling Taiyaki Croissant and I bought the chocolate flavour.
From Shinjuku Station I went to Kuramae Station, where my hostel at. I got lost again, and got help by Lawson guy to find the way. The hostel receptionist was nice (she said my passport looks better compare to passport from other country ^^). After dropping my luggage inside the room (I took the only non-bunk bed in the room. Yay!), I went down to the reception and I told her that I wanted to go to Odaiba and she gave me a brochure of Odaiba. On the metro station, I casually checked on how far to go to Tsukishima, apparently it was only 3 stations away from Kuramae station, so I decided to go to Tsukishima first before Odaiba.
Tsukishima
The reason I wanted to go here was because the conversation I had with Okurappa-san in Kyoto. She told me that the cover of Bump of Chicken's fighter was taken there. I really like the song and thought that the construction behind the photo shoot was interesting. So this was fangirling time! I never thought I would do that. Haha..
When I got to the Tsukishima station I asked an officer in the station how to reach the bridge. He told me the way (he explained in a very simple japanese and I understand his Japanese! Yay!). So I walk there and took a lot of pictures (and even asked an mother with a daughter also a salaryman to take a picture of me until I realize that I was on the wrong side of the bridge), I cross the bridge and found the interesting construction, which apparently was a lighthouse. I took many more pictures and also chatted with a young mom whose walking her chihuahua. She helped me took a picture and we chatted a bit. I think I made some wrong interpretation on her word, but I can catch 80% of her words. She asked me whether I'm a Bump fan, and I said yes (I was so embarrassed ^\\\^). She said a lot of people came here to take picture before. After thinking I have enough picture, I went to Odaiba. Anyway, the neighborhood in Tsukishima was very nice, I think this is a newly made neighborhood where new rich people live.
"Fighter" bridge
"Fighter" lighthouse
Information about the lighthouse
Odaiba
I kinda sad that I couldn't manage to go to Asakusa, Tokyo Tower, Ueno Park, Akihabara and many other places, but I think I made the right choice going to Odaiba on my final minutes in Japan. I really want to see the live-size Gundam, but I think I went to wrong part of Odaiba so I didn't manage to see it (so no Goku x Luffy and no Gundam - What's my luck). I went to Aqua City because I want to go to Daiso (a 100Yen shop) to search for any omiyage, although in the end I only bought a bottle of apple tea (which was very delicious) and a bag of furikake, because I was not sure on how halal the snacks there. Apparently the rain fell when I was in the mall. There's still a bit drizzle when I got out, but the view behind the Aqua City was stunning, drizzle didn't stop me from taking pictures. You can see the rainbow bridge from there, and there's a miniature of Liberty Statue there as well.
Ferris Wheel in Odaiba
Aqua City & NHK Building
Rainbow Bridge & Mini Liberty
My legs can't stand walking anymore and it was around 21:00, so I decided to return to my Hostel. I took the train (Yurikamome line) without any expectation, however I did notice that the seat arrangement was a bit different than the usual train. I saw outside the window and OMG, we actually crossing the rainbow bridge and made a circular turn at the end of the bridge, it was so awesome! and it was really a great way to end the trip in Japan.
Check this video to see how awesome the ride was
Click to viewAt the train I remember that I still have the Taiyaki Croissant and realize that I haven't ate anything after that Green Tea Ice Cream. So I ate the Taiyaki in the room. Nobody's there yet, until I have finished my taikyaki and started packing up, a Filipino mother who lives in Australia came and we share stories on how we ended up there. Then a French girl living in Australia joins the convo, she and the mom had known each other, because they already stay in this Hostel from the day before. We went to bed at around 12:00. Several other girls enters the room, and I informed them that me and the mom had to checked out early so maybe they'd be disturbed by our alarm the next morning.
LAST DAY: HANEDA & HOME (19 MAY 2015)
I woke up at 5, taking bath, brushing teeth and get ready to leave. I almost forgot to drop my key at the reception, luckily the mom reminded me. We walk to the Kuramae station - Asakusa Line. However we took the wrong entrance, I have to move from one platform to the other via staircase with my heavy luggage. TT
She told me she had to go to Narita while I had to go to Haneda, so (she said) she didn't need to change platform. We said good bye and her train arrived first. I have to change train in Keiyo-Katama Station. Luckily I don't have to change platform.
I was sleepy and since it was early in the morning, the train hasn't turned on the English announcement, I missed the International Flight station and ended up in Domestic Flight. I asked the machinist how to get to International terminal. He told me to wait until the train operating for the next schedule, luckily it didn't take long time and I was there at the International terminal. It was around 8:00 AM, my flight would be at 11:45, and the check in counter will open at 9:30 AM. So I still got plenty of time, but I got plenty things to do as well. The rain was pouring outside.
Although a bit late, I did my Shubuh prayer. After that, I returned the wi-fi device to the counter. Then, I asked the information about halal food there, she inform me there were 2 restaurant that provided halal food, however 1 has not opened yet, and the other one can only be reached after check in. I decided to look at the shops at 4th and 5th floor. I bought 2 packages of halal Senbei. There are a lot of interesting stuffs up there (like I really want to buy a "Tokyo" cap, but I know how to control myself because it was quite expensive.. haha..), oh and they have an Edo bridge on 5th floor, there are seats under the bridge, so you can sit here while waiting for your check in time. Other mission that I need to do before leaving Japan was sending the chocolate which I brought from Indonesia that was suppose to be given to the resort crew but I hadn't had a chance because the chocolate were in my luggage, so I have to posted it. After failing in searching for post office in 3rd, 4th and 5th floor, I asked the information on where to post a letter. They told me that I could send the mail at Lawson on the 1st floor. so I sent it there, and spent the rest of my Yen coins and suica card there to buy 2 packs of halal chocolate, an onigiri and a choco chip cookies. From there, I went to check in and search for the boarding gate, which was on the most far right of the airport. Reaching the boarding gate I was so tired because of all the walking I have done on the previous days plus lack of sleep that night, I fell asleep once I sat on the bench. I woke up with a start like 15 minutes before the boarding time.
Prayer Room in Haneda
Edo bridge inside Haneda
In the airplane, we were given sleeping kit (socks, ear plug, eye mask) - something that the passenger didn't received on the flight to Japan. We also given the menu on what will be served today (one comment: the menu mentioned haagen dazs but later we got meiji ice cream). Trough the whole flight I watched movie, ate, slept, watched movie, ate, slept, over and over. But one thing impressed me was my movie choice (haha..) I decided to watch "The Imitation Game". That movie blew my mind. It was an awesome movie and there are many things you can get from that movie. If you haven't watched the movie I would suggest you to watch the movie!
The flight was smooth and with that I ended my challenging, interesting, and unforgettable trip to Japan. Hopefully I can go back there one day and have a chance to watch my ultimate favorite band, Bump of Chicken's concert! :D
Crossing the Big Dream Out of My List with Garuda Indonesia (Part 1 - Preparation)
Crossing the Big Dream Out of My List with Garuda Indonesia (Part 2 - Jakarta-Narita-Odawara Station)
Crossing the Big Dream Out of My List with Garuda Indonesia (Part 3 - Hakone)
Crossing the Big Dream Out of My List with Garuda Indonesia (Part 4 - Atami)
C rossing the Big Dream Out of My List with Garuda Indonesia (Part 6 - Kyoto)