Tokyo Disney Sea

[Oct 3, 09]

I would regret if I never visit to Tokyo Disney Sea before I return to Sg. This time before visit to Disneysea, I must make sure I have entry ticket. I don't want the same thing happen to me again (Refer to this blog). Why we choose Oct 3 to Disneysea? no special reason. It is because we only left 2 weekends before we left Japan!!! By the way, see what a 'GOOD' day we choose. It was raining non-stop that day. T__T

There are 7 uniquely themed areas in Disneysea such as American Waterfront, Lost River Delta, Port Discovery, Mermaid Lagoon, Arabian Coast, Mediterranean Harbor and Mysterious Island. We were not manage to explore all games due to the bad weather. We played the outdoor game only when the rain was stopped. Most of time we acted silly by wearing all those character series hat. :P

Remember: please stay until night time. You will be amazed by the night at Disneysea. It was so spectacular!

Liew's visit | Jan 1 ~ 3

SL was taking Tiger Airway to Sg. Initially I have no idea how to pick her up at Budget Terminal because there is no direct bus or MRT to that terminal. Well, internet is really convenient sometimes. From one of the forum, it mentioned that actually got FREE shuttle bus service from Budget Terminal to Terminal 2. Ended up I successfully picked her up at bus station, Terminal 2.

SL was so energetic after reached Terminal 2 and we rushed to United Square after taking lunch at Ya Kun cafe. Why United Square? because SL wants to look for new dress for her baby. :P You can find a lot of baby stuff here.


CH picked us up for dinner. We went to Esplanade after that. It is a good place for those people who want to practise using their DSLR camera. I am one of them. :P I think I need a tripod to capture a still and sharp night landscape. Any sponsor? :P


For the following 2 days, SL and I spent our time in shopping. SL loves to shop in Bugis Street. She found lots of dress she liked. Me too!!! I found my jeans and boots!! Anyway hopefully SL enjoyed her trip in Sg. Hopefully I am a great tour guide to guide you around. ^_^

Ueno Ameyoko

[Sep 26, 09]

3 weeks left before return to Sg. Weather start turning into Autumn in September. Time flies fast. During the time we came to Japan, it was almost end of Spring. We went through few trips during Summer such as Hokkaido, Kyoto and Tokyo East. We almost finished our cash that we bring to Japan in the first day. However I have kept some cash for my mum's souvenirs - dried scallops and mushrooms.

Therefore we came to Ueno Ameyoko. Here you can find a lot of dried seafood and wasabi nuts which sells in bargainable price. But must always remember, only C-A-S-H is acceptable here! No credit card ok.

After shopping in Ueno Ameyoko, our cash is just enough for the trip back to our hostel. Sounds pity right? Even more pitiful is we had spent all cash on our lunch by mistake. Why? Before we ordered food, we actually did ask in English whether credit card is acceptable in that restaurant and the japanese shop owner just replied us "ok! ok!". So we ate our lunch peacefully. Ended up casher asked for cash in the counter when we were going to pay our bill. -_-''' They misunderstood us in the first place. Hmmm.. luckily credit card is acceptable in purchasing train tickets.

Tokyo Disney Hotel

[Sep 21, 09]

We had extra 1 day holiday during Japan Silver Week. Unfortunately we were not able to plan for a short trip to Izu Peninsula because most of cheaper hostels are fully-booked. Therefore we postponed the trip to October before we went back to Sg. In these 3-days-long holidays, we just strolled around Tokyo such as Machida, Shibuya, and Tokyo Metropolitan Building. We actually went to DisneySea in the last day of silver week. Yes, we went there! but.... when we reached DisneySea, all tickets have been sold out. -_-''' We learnt our lesson. NEVER visit Disneyland / Disneysea during holiday! NEVER visit Disneyland/Disneysea without ticket booking!

It is disaster! We had spent our money and time travelled from west to south-east of Tokyo. It actually sounds stupid if we just travel back like that. Therefore we spent some time in Tokyo Disney hotel, just right outside the train station.

We have ever think to stay a night in Disney hotel. After searching high and low in the internet for the fare of Disney hotel, we cancelled our plan due to the extremely expensive room rate. Well, maybe I would consider again if I have chance to visit any Disneyland in the world again. But now, N-O!

Just like a dream hotel when stepped in Tokyo Disney Hotel. You would see what it supposed have in Disneyland. Yea, Mickey and Minnie!!! ^_^ Btw it is just a statue. It's good enough for me. I rather take a photo with statue than queuing up for Mickey and Minnie for 1 hour inside the disneyland. :P

Shibuya | Tokyo Metropolitan Building

[Sep 20, 09]

Have been back from Jp for 2 months, but then I'm still not completely update all my stories/short trip in Japan. Busy on something? I don't think so. My mind always plan of trip. It's alright for me to go for local short trip or overseas trip. After Japan, I'm falling in love on backpacking. Just feel that it is C-O-O-L. :P

Well, back to my story in Jp. We went to Shibuya that weekend. Shibuya - popular disctrict for young generations. Why we were there? Hmmm... just want to see how crowded it is. Just want to see the most busiest pedestrian crossing in Tokyo. Strolled around Shibuya, not buying anything. A lot of boutiques and shopping complexes here.

Tried frozen yogurt here. Tastes good. I tried the one with strawberry and red bean. Sweet and sour combination. Not really like strawberry, but the red bean paste is sweet.

After that we headed to Tokyo Metropolitan Building in order to see the Tokyo view from top for F-R-E-E. Of course can see the Tokyo Tower from far, but then we went to the wrong building which cannot see any sight of Tokyo Tower. -_-''' At first we thought can capture the night view of Tokyo, but when we reached there we found out it's not a good place to capture a night mode photo. Light reflection.

Machida

[Sep 19, 09]

Getting tired travel around Tokyo. Have to take around 1 hour train to city, furthermore it is always full of people during weekend... hmm... nope, not only weekend but also weekday. This Saturday since I so lazy to make myself to city, so I just strolled around Machida. Just need 15 mins to get there. Nothing much to buy in Machida although there are many souvenir shops. Heard that there are biggest 100 Yen shop in Machida but I couldn't find it. Thought that it will be at the location which can be easily found, but I was wrong. Ended up I still cannot find this biggest 100 Yen shop in Japan.

Kyoto 2D1N - Day 2

[Sep 6, 09]

Morning we took train from Kyoto station to Inari Station. Once get out of Inari station, will get to see Fushimi Inari Shrine after few mins walk. This place famous for its Torii which leading to inner shrine. For me, i know this place because of the movie "Memoirs of Geisha". Still remember a little girl running under Torii in the movie? It might be takes up to 1 hour to reach the top, so we give up. :P

I tried to run like the girl in movie... hehehee... :P

After that we walked around Kyoto station. Kyoto station actually link with few shopping center. Since we will be taken afternoon Shinkansen back to Tokyo, so for the time being we searched for a famous Japanese restaurant named "中村藤吉". It is famous of its green tea dessert. We nearly failed to find this restaurant.


After dessert, we walked around in the shopping center to grab for the last minute souvenirs for family and friends.

Time for home! =)

Kyoto 2D1N - Day 1

[Sep 5, 09]

It will be a long journey from Tokyo to Kyoto. By bus, it takes around 7 hours but cheaper. By Shinkansen, it takes only 2 hours but expensive. Therefore we decided to take night bus from Machida, Tokyo to Kyoto station on Sep 4 and come back by Shinkansen.

More information about the bus booking and Shinkansen timetable in Japan:

Bus123 - bus booking

Shinkasen - shinkansen booking / timetable

We reached Kyoto station around 6am in the morning. We felt extremely tired by taking this long-journey bus, but still we have to find our booking hostel - K's House Kyoto. It is not that easy to get to this hostel, but one thing i liked the most is their cleanliness and cozy environment.

After breakfast at hostel and bought the city bus all day pass (500 Yen) at Kyoto station, we headed to Kinkakuji Temple (Golden Pavilion). It is well-known for its gold-coloured architecture which situated at the center of the lake.

And then we took the bus to Nijo-castle. It is quite easy to travel in Kyoto, normally people take bus. Therefore you can see many people squeeze inside the bus during the peak hour. So as us. -_-''' Nijo castle is one of Kyoto's UNESCO world heritage site. We even stepped in the castle and try to imagine how people live inside. Hmmm... must be very boring then.. :P

There are many of temples and shrines in Kyoto. We cannot really visit all of them, so we choose in particular. We passed by Yasaka Shrine before we had our lunch.

After lunch, we headed to Sanjusangendo temple. It is famous for its 33 halls and 1001 statues of Kannon, the godness of mercy. We decided to give ourselves a rest in hostel after this temple visit because we are extremely tired due to long journey traveling. Luckily this temple is near to our hostel.

At first we planned to rest for 1 hour and then headed to Gion to see geisha, but can't believe that it was already 6pm when we woke up. Erm, no doubt we are extremely tired. hehehe... :P Well, we still headed to Gion. Pontocho is Kyoto's nightlife district where might be able to spot geisha. And very lucky we saw 1 passed by us and rushed for her performance. Erm, we only can spot her back. -_-''' That night we had our dinner and green tea dessert in Pontocho.