Arrival - Tokyo
As there is no direct flight from Kuala Lumpur to Hokkaido, Wifey and I decided to stay one night in Tokyo. We have been there in 2011, so it is like a refresher trip for me. As in the trip in 2011, our Malaysian Airlines (MH88) flight arrived at Terminal 2, Narita Airport early morning at around 6.30am. It is indeed a good timing as there will be one full day to explore the city. For info, Japan is one hour ahead of Malaysia.
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| MH88 at Narita Airport |
Internet Connection
As soon as I arrived, I headed to the postal office located at departure level of Terminal 2 to collect my Portable Wifi that I reserved earlier from Global Advanced Communication (http://www.globaladvancedcomm.com). The rental cost me about 731 yen/day for the speed of 75 mbps. The speed was superb with no issues watching videos on youtube and was also usable throughout my trip in Hokkaido.
I strongly believe internet access is a must for travelling in Japan as I use it for directions, subway routing, Japanese translation and other tourist info. I feel much safer with it around. So important that I ensure there is a battery pack to recharge when required. Reservation is also really convenient which can be done online prior to the trip and upon arrival just collect it from the postal office. I don't even need to que for more than 5 minutes to collect the Portable Wifi.
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| Portable Wifi rented from Global Communications |
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| Terminal 2, Departure Hall |
Transport to the City
Once I completed running some tests on the portable wifi, Wifey and I proceeded to buy the ticket for the next available Narita Express Train to Shinjuku station. The cost is about 3,200 yen per person. Remember I mentioned that Japan being one hour ahead of Malaysia? I actually forgot to change the time on my watch and after purchasing my train ticket, I thought that I have another 80 minutes to spare (instead of 20 minutes only) so we went for a cup of coffee nearby. We only noticed our mistake when we were seated down and by that time, we only had another 7 minutes before the train arrives. It is fortunate that Wifey spotted the mistake in the nick of time.
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| Inside Narita Express...not many passengers in the morning. |
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| You can buy hot beverage / simple breakfast from push carts. |
Our hotel: Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku
Before able to go anywhere we need to drop off our luggage first so the first thing we did was to check into our hotel. Our hotel is located at the quiet side of Shinjuku which is just about 10 minutes walking distance from Shinjuku Station. It takes about an hour journey from Narita Airport to Shinjuku station which by the way is the busiest railway station in the world. Shinjuku is a major commercial and administrative centre known for its department store, entertainment centre as well as the notoriously known Kabukicho which is Tokyo's own red light district.
Another reason why I wanted to stay at least a night here in Tokyo was partly due to this hotel. I will write a review about this hotel in my next blog :)
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| Entrance view of Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku Source: Google Maps |
Our Tokyo 1 Day Itenerary (Shinjuku →Harajuku → Shibuya)
After checking into the hotel, we proceeded with our plan for the day without wasting much time. We headed back to Shinjuku station and took the subway to Harajuku station which is just 2 stations away. Harajuku is the place to experience the japanese youth culture and people watching. Every now and then you will come across cosplayers or anime fans dressed up as their favorite cartoon characters.
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| Without Google Maps...Think I will get totally lost... |
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| Front view of Harajuku Station (Pic Taken in 2011 Trip) |
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| It is common to sight cosplayers in Harajuku on weekends although of late, the culture is getting less popular.. |
Once outside of Harajuku station, go left and follow the crowd and you will eventually arrive at Takeshita Street, a shopping street. You can find a lots of fashion boutique shops, cafes and restaurants there. If fashion is not of your interest, there is also a big Daiso 100 yen shop there where you can find interesting Japanese household items as your souvenir.
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| Takeshita Street |
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| Daiso @ Harajuku Source: Google Maps |
At Takeshita Street you will also find two to three shops selling the famous Harajuku crepes with probably 20 choices to choose from. We decided to just have that for lunch since we expect to have more munchies along the way.
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| It tasted as good as it looks :) |
As in the last trip, we decided to take a slow walk to Shibuya since the walk is less than 2km away and took us about 20 minutes to reach there. You know you are near Shibuya when you see this type of trucks with blaring music circling the area. It is used as advertisement usually targeting the youths.
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| Advertisement Trucks @ Shibuya |
The place has not changed much since 2011. Probably just the weather since the last time we were here it was autumn while the second time around it was summer. The surprising thing was the night temperature was not as warm as expected since it was summer. In fact, it was actually pretty cool like 24-25 Celsius. Since the real reason being here is not for the fashion, which by the way is what Shibuya is much famous for. So what is the next most popular thing here?
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| Shibuya Crossing |
It's called Shibuya Crossing which is considered as the world’s busiest intersection located in front of Shibuya Station. Seeing so many people crossing (or to be exact "crisscrossing") the intersection at one time is set to amaze anyone who is seeing it for the first time. One of the better place to view Shibuya Crossing is at the Starbucks in Tsutaya Building located at one corner of the intersection. Wifey and I decided to have afternoon coffee there as well. Be warned though... this place is always packed with people so you would expect long queues especially on weekends and difficulty in getting seats especially those with windows that have view over the intersection. When we were there in 2011, we weren't so lucky so we decided to give another try this time and bingo....
After afternoon coffee, we continued to stroll around Shibuya area and as usual Wifey will be very interested on those pharmacies which also sell skin care products like the one below.
Soon it was already about 7pm and we decided to call it a day as we wanted to rest early and be prepared for our trip to Hokkaido on the following day. Before heading back to the hotel, we had dinner first (our first proper meal since our arrival this morning) at Shinjuku Station.
Dinner was at a random Katsudon Restaurant. Katsudon is basically a bowl of rice topped with a deep fried pork (or sometimes chicken) cutlet and egg. It tasted quite good. I have always felt that having fried food in Japan (including Tempura) tasted better than those outside of Japan. I find that the variant here is usually less soggy / oily hence it felt to me like its healthier here. Maybe it's just a perception :)...
For more info of food you can find in Tokyo:
Links
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| Starbucks @ Shibuya Source: Google Maps |
After afternoon coffee, we continued to stroll around Shibuya area and as usual Wifey will be very interested on those pharmacies which also sell skin care products like the one below.
Soon it was already about 7pm and we decided to call it a day as we wanted to rest early and be prepared for our trip to Hokkaido on the following day. Before heading back to the hotel, we had dinner first (our first proper meal since our arrival this morning) at Shinjuku Station.
Dinner was at a random Katsudon Restaurant. Katsudon is basically a bowl of rice topped with a deep fried pork (or sometimes chicken) cutlet and egg. It tasted quite good. I have always felt that having fried food in Japan (including Tempura) tasted better than those outside of Japan. I find that the variant here is usually less soggy / oily hence it felt to me like its healthier here. Maybe it's just a perception :)...
For more info of food you can find in Tokyo:
Links
View my Hokkaido Trip Video below:
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