~DAY 1: Osaka / Kobe~
At Osaka Castle.. Jetlagged.. I didnt sleep during the 6-hour flight.. no makeup either.. lazy.. I looked terrible... =(
This is Motomachi, within the Chinatown of Kobe.. It's a wonderful place to shop.. and the row of shops is endless.. we didnt managed to comb the entire indoor shopping street with the 1hr quota given to us by the tour guide.. Bought some food items here.. btw, the merchandise are unique and the shopping experience was great!
After Kobe, we head to Osaka's Shinsaibashi for a great time shopping! Also not enough time anyway... But we managed to get our Burberry Blue bags!! Dinner was Nabe which the tour guide insisted to call it Nabe.. Although the complete dish name should be KAMINABE... sounds like .................. #!$%&*?????
Supper: Mini burger from Mos Burger.. Yummy, the mayonise really tastes great~!
We spent the night at Sheraton Miyako Hotel.. 5-star rating.. But we feel that it is so-so only.. the hotel will get smaller and smaller when we approach Tokyo...
~DAY 2: Nara / Kyoto / Nagoya~
This is Todaiji Temple in Nara, where lots of deers roam freely.. It is said that The Gods brought the deers to this temple.. Look at how huge the temple is in comparison to the little people in the background.. the temple houses the largest bronze Buddha Statue in Japan, the height of the Buddha statue is all the way to the roof.. You can guess how huge the statue is...
At Nara Deer park, just at the vincinity of Todaiji Temple.. the deers are tame, but do not feed them, otherwise you will find lots of deers following you!! Like all other animals, these deers have droppings all over the place.. it's abit stinky.. Yet, somehow these deers are Japanese, so they also behaved Japanese, they are rather clean and the place is still considered clean and air is rather fresh.. unlike Kangaroos, they really stink and are as lazy as Australians.. Kekez...
At Kyoto.. A pic taken with one of Japan's icons, the Geisha.. But at Kyoto, a Geisha is not called a Geisha, but a Maiko.. Only in Tokyo and Osaka, the Artisan is called a Geisha.. The Maiko's Costume is really beautiful.. Their service fee is really expensive.. According to the tour guide, he paid about SG$300+ just for a 20mins photo taking session with the Maiko.. Those people who engaged a Maiko to perform at private functions must be filthy rich..
This is the famous Nagoya Castle.. the original was actually destroyed during the fighting period in the Japanese history.. this is actually the rebuilt.. Not very fancinating.. The building itself is a 7-storey musuem.. nothing much, just sight seeing and stuff..
This is Italian Village.. boring place, can give this place a miss if you plan to visit Japan.. Look, the sky is so dark.. it's only about 5pm when I took this picture.. *Yawn..
After Italian Village, we checked into Park Inn Hotel Nagoya, thereafter, we head to Nagoya Takashimaya for an hour's shopping.. The Taka is 12-storey high, but we only combed 3-4 floors.. I had Pork Cutlet rice set for dinner and it cost a mere SG$12!
~DAY 3: Mt Fuji~
Early in the morning, we set off to Mt Fuji, it's a very long 3.5hr ride.. so sickening.. I hate bus rides... =(
This is Lake Ashi, approaching Mt Fuji.. we took the cruise ship in the background, the breeze was really cold!
This is at Owakudani Valley, where sulphurous fumes rise from cervices in rocks. Egg shells will turn completely black and cooked by the sulphurous lake if you throw them in.. But they are still edible.. It become an icon of this place and the hawkers sold 10 eggs for 500yen, that's about SG$6.50.. The egg will look like the below:
Kawaii neh.......
Family photo taken at Hakone National Park.. Just a short stroll of about 20mins.. nothing much, just beautiful scenery..
We finally ascend Mt Fuji 5th Station at 5.30pm.. It was getting pitch dark... I actually lighten up this pic about 10 folds in order to see alittle bit of the peak at the background.. Mt Fuji is really beautiful and magnificent.. Too bad, we arrived so late, otherwise can take some really nice pics!! It was also freezzzzing cold over here.. about 5oC.. I wore 3pcs of clothing but still cannot fight the cold.. I walked about 5mins outdoors before running indoors...
We checked into Hotel Mifujien, It means beautiful Mt Fuji Garden.. it's a tatami hotel, quite squeezy, I didnt like the hotel as I dislike sleeping on the floor, even with matress... I can also feel the hotel "vibrating" at night.. It's quite scary, I just closed my eyes and tried to quickly fall asleep at night but still can feel the vibration.. I also dared not go to the toilet.. Is Mt Fuji going to erupt or some strange encounter..?? the next day, my father-in-law also mentioned that the hotel vibrated.. so it was not me alone who felt it.. thank God! I gave the Onsen a miss.. I could not accept the idea of submerging my naked body among other female strangers.. Yucks...
The most sumptuous dinner.. this is the traditional Japanese rice set with a pot of hot boiling vege.. Yummy... not to mention we were all dressed in Yukata, it makes the dining experience even better...!
~DAY 4: Mt Fuji / Sanrio Puroland / Tokyo - Akihabara/Ueno/Shinjuku~
The magnificent view from our hotel.. Like professional photographer neh....
I am a better photographer than my lao-gong, so I uploaded this picture taken none other than ME.. Mine was taken badly.. *Boo.. I am waiting to hear good news from my father-in-law, hope he has taken a nice pic of me and Mt Fuji with his camera...
Traditional Jap breakfast.. the pot contains a really beautiful sunny side up eggy... It came with rice but is not in the picture..
Finally, we arrived at Sanrio Puroland after 1hr+ bus ride.. My dreams came true over here, but dashed by reality as we had only 1hr 20mins to visit the place of my dreams.. I didnt get to take a pic with my fav My Melody mascot.. took a pic with a silly penguin I didnt even know which character it is.. hehe.. the musical was really great but all in Japanese, no photos allowed...
Some photos taken during a 3-min Sanrio train ride, the pics are rather blur as they are all moving and making cute sounds and music.. I had a wonderful time!
The Silly but cute Penguin..
Queuing outside Kitty's house.. Kawaiiiiiiii....
Finally got into Kitty's house! *Wink..
Kitty's sofa... Preeeeetty... =)
Kitty's bed... dreamy.. yummy... =)
The long-awaited picture taken with Hello Kitty, one of Japan's National Icons and the Empress of Cute.. Kawaii neh....!!! You can find Hello Kitty merchandise everywhere in Japan! Even Survenirs of any particular places has Kitty in it!!! Kitty dressed in Kimono, Kitty in an egg, Kitty dressed up as Melody, Yellow pudding dog, etc... I loved Kitty... and "She" gave us hugs when we left.. but I wondered who is behind the mascots.. Dun let me know if it is an old ah-pek, I think I will vomit.. kekez.. after this, we immediately rushed to meet up the tour group.. Didn't have time to shop in Puroland.. regrets many many.. I think I will be back again!!!
After Puroland, we head to Akihabara Electric Town.. it has more than 500shops selling interesting technology stuff, but we were only given 45mins (including lunchtime) to shop.. how is it possible..?? Not wanting to get any digital stuff, we visited 3 comic stores and grabbed a burger for lunch on the bus..
Following this, we head over to Ueno Flea Market.. There, I managed to get new Lancome cosmetics at a super price!! Better than Dutyfree okie!! We had only 1.5hrs.. worse, it began to rain, so we had to carry brolly.. luckily, it wasnt very heavily..
Last stop of the day was Shinjuku, the shopping Paradise.. It's like Orchard Road and we were given only 2hrs...!! Sigh.. I grabbed a magazine and a jewellery making book at Kinokuniya (at half the price in SG!), bought a Burberry Blue Card holder for my sis and my LV bag! We were 15mins late (guility) coz we took some time at LV... Dinner was Sukiyaki, very yummy...!!! My fav Jap dish!!!!
Look how cute these are! This was taken in a florist at Shinjuku.. they are called flower cakes... very pretty if you see them personally!!!
The night scenery of Shinjuku..
~DAY 5: Disneyland~
Waiting to check out at Sunshine City Prince Hotel for an adventurous day at Disneyland.. I stupidly was unaware that my battery pack is not in my camera.. *Boo.. Pictures at Tokyo Disneyland TBA till later date... =(
~DAY 6: Narita / Aeon Shopping Mall~
Mr Gan Junior at Narita Garden Hotel.. the breakfast was sumptuous.. and our room number was 3245... After check out, we head to Aeon Shopping mall for last min shopping! I grabbed Fancl stuff at a fantastic price!! I finally took my revenge as I found a Sanrio store in Aeon.. I grabbed a Melody mini Soft toy and a Melody Lanyard... At the airport, I bought a Hello Kitty Spec case.. My Father-in-law finally found his Tokyo Banana, the famous Tokyo Specialty sponge cake with banana cream shaped like a banana.. He has been talking about it since Day 1 of our trip... My lao-gong finally bought his Bvlgari wallet.. he has been nagging to me for months on a new wallet!! And, Coach is a bit cheaper than SG in Narita Airport.. We bid farewell to Japan and begun our 6.5hr flight back to Lion City... Sayonaro...
I plan to take up Japanese class next yr.. something that I gave up 10yrs ago after attending only 5lessons.. but I still remember "Watashi no namae wa Wendy desu.. When I start to understand the language, it will be time to go back to Japan again.. hopefully I will have better shopping experience as the language quite put me of... kekez...
Next destination to conquer: KOREA..
Coming soon, MAR 2008....
