Japan 2015 - Day 1
It's time I document my Japan trip hahaha. It's a 9-day trip but essentially we only had 7 days to walk and look around, because 2 days were spent flying to Japan and back to Singapore.
Took a lot of pictures, especially on days which are dedicated to sight-seeing. So I shall try and filter through them, and post some up here.
Saturday, 11 April
Day 1
View from my window seat. 8.00 am. Taking SQ because I got the tickets during their promotion period!! Could never bear to spend around $1K for flight tickets because to me, it's just not worth it to spend $1K when you're not even there yet. Like, your trip hasn't started but you're already 1000 dollars short. Major ouch. So I think from now on I will only get flight tickets while on promotion. And I'm sticking to SQ LOL. Who doesn't love good service and comfort!
It's like a cloud palace up there!! The clouds are so thick and fluffy!
There's a small island in the picture below. In fact, it's just one of the many small islands I saw after taking off. The islands are cute! It's like little Maldives; white sand, blue-green waters etc. Except there are not Maldives LOL. I'm guessing it's some Indonesian islands, perhaps bought by rich people. Or maybe we can actually visit these islands. It's cute to look at them from above hahaha. Won't be able to see them on my return flight because it will be all dark by then.
Flight meals!! Quite looking forward to it actually! Hahaha it's been very long since I last took a plane so I was quite excited about the food and movies. But a 6-hour flight was kind of my limit already. After lunch I was starting to get restless, with nothing to do, because the sound system of the in-flight entertainment was kinda bad, and my iPad and ear piece were stowed up there.
Touched down at Haneda at about 4 pm. Then we opted to take the limousine bus to Shinjuku, where our apartment is. Booked the apartment through AirBNB, and I'm glad we chose to stay in an apartment instead of hotels. For one, hotels are really expensive, and yes, it will be more comfortable with room service and big toilets, but coming back to the apartment everyday after our daily sight-seeing/shopping trips, made me feel like I was living in Japan, without working hahaha.
The weather was around 15 degrees on average. A nice break from the hot and sunny weather we have back in Singapore. Just shiokkkk!! The nights are colder than daytime though. And it's good if the wind doesn't come hahaha.
It was quite a hassle to get from Shinjuku Station to our apartment though, with all our baggages. It felt so far awayyy. After settling in, we met up with a friend who was working in Japan, for dinner.
It was drizzling very lightly when we went for dinner, but the rain in Japan is less messy that the rain here in Singapore. I have no idea why. Is it because they don't have really heavy rains? But then, even on days when the rain was heavy, the bottom of my jeans doesn't get soaked like how it would be in Singapore. Weird.
Had our dinner in Omoide Yokocho （思い出横丁）
Link here.
It's a street full of FOOD. Authentic Japanese yakitori and izakaya. One thing about this street, is that most of the shops here are really small, so they don't cater to huge groups like ours (around 10 people). It's mostly bar counter seats, but luckily we managed to find a yakitori place that can fit all of us.
One thing I forgot about Japan is how eating places allow their customers to smoke in the premises. Was having sore throat that day (and a few other days later), and the cigarette smoke, together with the yakitori smoke was making me feel really bad.
Our dinner!! It's really nice to have such warm food when the weather is colder than in Singapore!
After dinner we headed to Roppongi to see some sakura light-up. The sakura in Tokyo is mostly gone, but there are still a few here and there. Ordered a hot Starbucks drink because it was getting cold. They have even smaller size than Tall, which was also cheaper. Quite surprised that people in the service line actually understand and speak a bit of English, because I had this impression that a lot of Japanese don't speak or understand English. Or maybe it's Tokyo, that's why.
After walking around for a bit we went back to the apartment. One good thing about travelling in a group and not living in a hotel is that the nights are never lonely hahaha. Late night trips to the konbini (convenience stores, usally 24 hours) and finding anime to watch. Such is life, OMG.
Speaking of konbinis, I think I spent quite a lot of money there. It's easily accessible because there are a few within a neighbourhood, and they sell everything. Like a minimart. They have instant food where all you have to do is heat it up, and cup noodles, chips, and even meat, like those you find in NTUC, though not a huge selection. In the morning I almost always buy a hashbrown for breakfast, after my sore throat is gone.
And it's Day 2 for my next post! Not much pictures for Day 1 because my camera wasn't with me.
Took a lot of pictures, especially on days which are dedicated to sight-seeing. So I shall try and filter through them, and post some up here.
Saturday, 11 April
Day 1
View from my window seat. 8.00 am. Taking SQ because I got the tickets during their promotion period!! Could never bear to spend around $1K for flight tickets because to me, it's just not worth it to spend $1K when you're not even there yet. Like, your trip hasn't started but you're already 1000 dollars short. Major ouch. So I think from now on I will only get flight tickets while on promotion. And I'm sticking to SQ LOL. Who doesn't love good service and comfort!
It's like a cloud palace up there!! The clouds are so thick and fluffy!
There's a small island in the picture below. In fact, it's just one of the many small islands I saw after taking off. The islands are cute! It's like little Maldives; white sand, blue-green waters etc. Except there are not Maldives LOL. I'm guessing it's some Indonesian islands, perhaps bought by rich people. Or maybe we can actually visit these islands. It's cute to look at them from above hahaha. Won't be able to see them on my return flight because it will be all dark by then.
Flight meals!! Quite looking forward to it actually! Hahaha it's been very long since I last took a plane so I was quite excited about the food and movies. But a 6-hour flight was kind of my limit already. After lunch I was starting to get restless, with nothing to do, because the sound system of the in-flight entertainment was kinda bad, and my iPad and ear piece were stowed up there.
Touched down at Haneda at about 4 pm. Then we opted to take the limousine bus to Shinjuku, where our apartment is. Booked the apartment through AirBNB, and I'm glad we chose to stay in an apartment instead of hotels. For one, hotels are really expensive, and yes, it will be more comfortable with room service and big toilets, but coming back to the apartment everyday after our daily sight-seeing/shopping trips, made me feel like I was living in Japan, without working hahaha.
The weather was around 15 degrees on average. A nice break from the hot and sunny weather we have back in Singapore. Just shiokkkk!! The nights are colder than daytime though. And it's good if the wind doesn't come hahaha.
It was quite a hassle to get from Shinjuku Station to our apartment though, with all our baggages. It felt so far awayyy. After settling in, we met up with a friend who was working in Japan, for dinner.
It was drizzling very lightly when we went for dinner, but the rain in Japan is less messy that the rain here in Singapore. I have no idea why. Is it because they don't have really heavy rains? But then, even on days when the rain was heavy, the bottom of my jeans doesn't get soaked like how it would be in Singapore. Weird.
Had our dinner in Omoide Yokocho （思い出横丁）
Link here.
It's a street full of FOOD. Authentic Japanese yakitori and izakaya. One thing about this street, is that most of the shops here are really small, so they don't cater to huge groups like ours (around 10 people). It's mostly bar counter seats, but luckily we managed to find a yakitori place that can fit all of us.
One thing I forgot about Japan is how eating places allow their customers to smoke in the premises. Was having sore throat that day (and a few other days later), and the cigarette smoke, together with the yakitori smoke was making me feel really bad.
Our dinner!! It's really nice to have such warm food when the weather is colder than in Singapore!
After dinner we headed to Roppongi to see some sakura light-up. The sakura in Tokyo is mostly gone, but there are still a few here and there. Ordered a hot Starbucks drink because it was getting cold. They have even smaller size than Tall, which was also cheaper. Quite surprised that people in the service line actually understand and speak a bit of English, because I had this impression that a lot of Japanese don't speak or understand English. Or maybe it's Tokyo, that's why.
After walking around for a bit we went back to the apartment. One good thing about travelling in a group and not living in a hotel is that the nights are never lonely hahaha. Late night trips to the konbini (convenience stores, usally 24 hours) and finding anime to watch. Such is life, OMG.
Speaking of konbinis, I think I spent quite a lot of money there. It's easily accessible because there are a few within a neighbourhood, and they sell everything. Like a minimart. They have instant food where all you have to do is heat it up, and cup noodles, chips, and even meat, like those you find in NTUC, though not a huge selection. In the morning I almost always buy a hashbrown for breakfast, after my sore throat is gone.
And it's Day 2 for my next post! Not much pictures for Day 1 because my camera wasn't with me.