Hello! Well, today's post would be about my trip to Tokyo, Japan. I went there during the Chinese New Year holidays with my family and it was beyond AMAZING. I wish I could go back there. The Japanese culture is way different as compared to Singapore's. Had a mini culture shock for a moment but I was still okay. So let's get started with D-1 of Tokyo, Japan.
So yeap, that's me at Starbucks in Changi airport. I was whatsapping with my dear MC4L people before I board the plane. We took a midnight flight and landed at the Narita airport at 7-ish if I'm not wrong?
The convenient store in the airport
The shuttle buses that goes to the city area. The buses are usually empty and super peaceful. They even have a toilet cubicle in there! So we took the shuttle bus to Ikebukuro. That was where our hotel, Hotel B, was located at.
Making our way to the hotel. It was a VERY LONG walk but still totally worth it cos you get to bump into new people and enjoy the new surroundings.
Ikebukuro is a pretty busy area. People are walking everywhere from all over the place. And everyone there always look so presentable. They will make the effort to dress up even if it's just heading to the store opposite of the building. I definitely took up that culture after I left Japan. Now, I always try my best to look presentable no matter how lazy I am that day. After ages, we finally arrived at Hotel B, dropped off our luggages and head off to explore the area for awhile.
Okay so when I said explore, I meant looking at all the foodporn that they were serving there. LOL. I absolutely love the way they display the food. The food presentation was so adorable! They looked too good to be eaten. Even the fake food displays look good!
I happened to stumble upon the bookshop at the Ikebukuro station. It was like book heaven there! But sadly, the books were in Japanese. SIGH.
The view opposite of the hotel
The view from my hotel room window. Ah~ Weirdly, I miss looking down at the vehicles driving on the road.
After resting in our hotel rooms, we decided to head over to our first (or you can say second) destination - Shibuya! We took the subway to Shibuya. It was like a 10 minute ride from Ikebukuro. The train ticket cost 160 yen (adult fare). So it was about SG$2.11? SIGH, it reminded me so much about the adult fare in Singapore haha.
Did I mention that they had food/beverage vending machines at the train platform? OMG. Even with the vending machine around, there wasn't even ONE piece of litter on the floor! The whole place is just so clean. The people there even lined up according to the guide lines on the floor while waiting for the train to arrive. They even waited for the passengers to get off the train before they board in. In the trains, they practise this rule which is switch their mobile phones to silent mode and if they are talking on the phone, they would have to move to a corner to do the phonecall, if I'm not wrong. Not only that, they are to switch off their mobile phones if they are around the priority seat area. Since it was winter in Tokyo, the seats in the train had a heater built in it! I've never felt so comfortable and at peace while sitting through a train ride.
Anyways, after the 10 minutes ride, we finally arrived at Shibuya. And again, more walking involved! The shops there were pretty cool. They were selling clothes, accessories and of course food! As we walked, there were several beverage and cigarette vending machines planted along the streets. You'll never get thirsty or run out of cigarettes while traveling cos the vending machines are just EVERYWHERE.
The cigarette vending machine. HOLY MOLY, they've got a butt load range of em.
Well you can say that Shibuya is sort of like Orchard Road in Singapore. I know that they had alot of buildings that belonged to big brands like Bershka and such. But I only managed to pass by Adidas and catch a glimpse of the Bershka building. We did went into H&M but we left early cos I was feeling under the weather that cold night.
For dinner, we had Arabian (was it? I don't even know LOL) food since it was the nearest Halal restaurant in Shibuya. The restaurant was pretty small. The deco was pretty cool though. But the FOOD. OMG. I had the best chicken/beef meal ever. It was just undescribable.
That my friends, is what you call heaven on a plate.
And this is me, way before I was sick and in pain. Hahaha
I absolutely adore the customer service there. I love how they always have a small tray ready for you to put your money or credit card so that you can make your payment. And I managed to get myself a pair of floral pants and stackable rings. But sadly I didn't take a picture of em. (Honestly, I have em in my wardrobe now but I'm just way too lazy to actually reach out for em then get a picture) And that sums up D-1 in Tokyo, Japan!
Tune in for D-2 soon! ^^
