Journey Around the Land of the Rising Sun: Tokyo Day 2

Finally managed to pack my room. Took me long enough, I must say. It's really spacious and neat now, and it screams 'Arashi' (okay, and slightly 'Gensomaden Saiyuki') \(^-^)/ I didn't take down the shelf on the table in the end, but I took a plank off the shelf to make more space! Samsam asked me to take a photo, so here it is:


Left: Labeled every top left-hand corner of cupboard (><"); Sketches and JE mags on top shelf; CDs, writing paper and portable DVD player on 2nd; Textbooks on 3rd (and more to come T___T); manga on 4th and 5th; books on 6th
Right: 2 Cho Hakkai posters, couple of Arashi posters + Riida 5x10 uchiwa, others. 

Tokyo Day 2
24 June 2010 (Thu)


Tsukiji Fish Market - Like the wet markets in Singapore, but more high-tech because the uncles there go around the market by this home-made automated 'car' (^-^). Didn't see the tunas, but the fish are really HUGE.



Sensō-ji temple, Asakusa - many tiny shops lined along the street leading to the Buddhist temple. Visit the oracle and seek for divine answers!




Ueno Park (From top) - Kirei na...; Man performing tricks with 2 kendama; Ueno Zoo which is another HYD filming location (^-^); Doraemon for Hozaii; and super tall fountain!




Akihabara *Was secretly hoping to see Nino ><"* (From top) - Denki-cho with many tempting microSD cards for sale; Along the street you can hear pre-recorded maids' voices of "Moe Moe Kyun~♥" on repeat (n__n)v; Otaku - tons of them!; Maid's Cafe - food was way below expectation but nevertheless a fun experience, especially the ketchup-writing part!




Tokyo dome city + Tokyo dome, Suidobashi (From top) - Theme park galore! With HUGE Totoro and a probably-exciting roller coaster ride; Tokyo dome: Arashi's concert venue *I want to attend their concert someday...* and the big egg was built in 1988 (birth year)!




Imperial Palace East Gardens, Tokyo station - きれい絵; dreamy scenery and when you turn 180 degrees, you'll see tall buildings. That's kind of like Central Park in New York City! (^-^)




Harajuku - Streets full of young people in unique styles, and finally got to try the crepe shop that I wrote on my list of "should-try"s! (^-^) Then Arashi au by KDDI ad on train (all JR Yamanote line trains!) and in Harajuku st. au shop!


Tokyo tower @ Night!

And dinner at Roppongi:

ラーメン! ♥

So my thoughts on Day 2...

• Was surprised at how near Tsukiji Fish Market was from the train station; actually it's just right outside the station exit! And people bring wet boots to change into before they enter the market, which is totally different from what you see in Singapore - aunties wear their cheapest slippers and pull a foldable grocery trolley behind them :D
• Still amazed that Teekaywhy got the exact same 签 as Tst; she probably did not mix the 签 properly...? And the pink Japanese babydoll handphone charm reminded me of Xin at first sight, so I had to get that for her!
• I had a kendama too, but I gave it away to the charity collection before I left for Nihon...ah, I wished I could play like that guy too! And the zoo! We didn't manage to go due to time constrain. (T_____T)
• Was surprised to see the Otaku looking so cool, which was totally different from what I visualise or see in shows.. (^-^) However, where did the cute maids go? (v____v) And I actually repeated "Moe moe kyun" after Usagi-san! (>_<)" Moe Moe Kyun~~♥♥
• This guy at Tokyo Dome who asked me to help him take a photo, is he Korean or Japanese? I can't believe that I couldn't tell...gahh O_O
• It was definitely fun to chat with the ojii-san drawing the pretty picture of the imperial palace! He joked that I had to pay him money to take a photo of him *teehee /(^-^)* All that I could think of was "...Central Park?"
• Blueberry + cheesecake crepe is just heavenly! But I think I lost my sweet tooth; it wasn't exactly pleasurable after about half the crepe. That reminds me of how I always talk about not having an extra compartment (unlike most of my female friends) in my stomach for sweets.
• Tokyo tower is just like a miniature version of the Eiffel Tower! Surprisingly, I wasn't keen on going up, and thought that it was enough to snap photos of it from a distance...(O__O)
• Eating ramen reminds me of how much I ♥♥♥ ramen! (^-^) The art of eating ramen, for me, is to put the whole strand of noodle into your mouth (don't cut it with your teeth or the chopsticks; the strand must be eaten WHOLE) and chew wholeheartedly. Then take a sip of the thick soup and repeat the process. Note that ramen should be eaten quickly to achieve maximum enjoyment~

"To Be Free" making-of is AWESOME. According to wannatee_1984, the filming probably took place during the filming of Monster PV, hence the winter cold...Wow, to sing a summer song in winter and to make it feel summer-ish, they must really put in effort to get past their winter blues! (^-^) I know I'm a sloth when it comes to winter (Michigan winters) - bed, blanket and hot chocolate are all that I think about!

I just don't understand how the videos and everything can be released 3 days before the release date... (>-<)?

That's from me today~! *Goes off with a packet of senbei and green tea*

Journey Around the Land of the Rising Sun: Fuji-san and Yokohama Day 3

Walked a lot today. Met Xin at Science Co-op to buy my textbooks, had lunch, walked to the central area and then Engineering faculty (that's about 3/4 of the campus I think...) before walking back to my house.

Do you know textbooks cost an arm and a leg (probably more T___T), and you can't not buy them when the school insists that they are "required", and photocopying is definitely out because of the honor code. So I managed to buy "Browse's Introduction to the Symptoms and Signs of Surgical Disease" and pre-order the other two practical textbooks. It's interesting (flipped through it while waiting for Xin), but I think my speed-reading skill is already rusty. (>_<)"

Anyway...

Day 3: Fuji-san and Yokohama
25 June, 2010


That early morning was FIFA World Cup Japan vs Denmark; and Japan won (^-^) so everyone was in their official soccer jerseys going to school or work.


Fuji-san at a distance (n____n) *peaceful*



Kawaguchiko - Fuji Five Lakes: Slow-paced, quaint town with breathtaking scenery.



Chinatown, Yokohama - the largest in Japan! It's less Chinatownish and more touristy in my opinion, but the food is decent for that price. (^-^) Lots of buffet-styled restaurants, but chahan with lots of chilli suits my palate more!





Yamashita Park, Yokohama - Gentle waves lapping at the water dam, lots of ships (Fishing...I wonder if the boat Ohno always take is parked there?), relaxing walk to observe the daily lives of the locals, and a 大方 bridge.


At the other side of the bridge, a row of preserved buildings that used to be warehouses.



Cosmo World with its largest ferries wheel w/ clock *hahahaha xD*, and I just like how that 'twin towers' look with a bridge linking them together. Ship-marine museum, and C.C. lemon is definitely made with 70 lemons (^-^)




Yokohama Ramen Museum: Interior decor looks like how the streets used to be in the past; Ramen was cho-umai! ♥; and they have ramune too!


Shinkasen to go back to Tokyo! See it through the kirei marble from the ramune bottle (^-^)v

Thoughts for Day 3...

• Was feeling happy for Japan's win -  I want to see more of the shouting out to strangers and cheering together for Japan. If we could all cheer like that for Youth Olympics Games it would be great, I thought. But to go "Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah HEY! Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah HO!" isn't ideal in the waiting-for-MRT setting... (>-<)^
• Fuji-san...is like a 神山 floating on the clouds, was what I thought when I first saw it. Xin said the photograph looked photoshopped. Bah!
• The uncle actually asked how much I was willing to pay for the swan-ride when I reacted "二千四百円は...高いですね。" Sadly, I don't know how to name a price because I simply have no idea how much a swan-ride costs. *looks longingly at swans* Sumimasen, ojisan m(_ _)m
• Was kind of hoping to see "天下为公" on the entrance to Chinatown, but it's not San Francisco (nor New York City, nor Boston, nor Chicago...). Apparently wikipedia said it's the largest Chinatown in Asia...that, I didn't know...
• Already missed chilli...and shop-owner kindly gave me her stash of chilli, then asked if I was from Szechuan. :P I wonder what's the spiciness level Ohno takes for his spicy ramen (.__.)
• Calm waters at Yamashita Park cast near-perfect reflections na~♥ Couples walking similar breeds of dogs, high school girl+boy holding hands and laughing, woman reading a book, old man enjoying the sea on his stroll...the little things in life are so peaceful
• C.C. Lemon would be perfect without the overload of sugar (to counter the sourness I think) and gas
• ラーメンがすきな〜♥ Thick tonkotsu broth, chewy noodles, チャーシュー that melts on contact with the tongue...♥♥
• ♥♥♥ ラーメン ♥♥♥

Listening to Nino's 《夢》now, and will be listening to his other solos after this. Realised how much I like his solos, my favourite being 《虹》, and followed closely by 《痕跡》 and 《夢》. I'm a sucker for thoughtful/depressing songs, and perhaps there's more to just that. Haha.

Aa~ I need おせんべい to go with my お茶! That's from me for today! Time to put my thoughts onto paper (finally!)