Back from the amazing land of the rising sun! wow, japan absolutely blew my mind! wasn't really expecting much before I went, but I truly enjoyed it! Heard so much about how things are so different in Japan, and the way the movies have portrayed Japan, made it feel so surreal just being there myself. Everything I've seen in the movies, was almost exactly how I experienced it in Japan.

Here's some of the highlights of the trip:

The Airbus 380!! hahaha.. so suaku rite? My first time on the aircraft mar..took it on my way to Tokyo, transiting in Singapore. Sat on the upper deck on the flight to Singapore, then met mum and sis there (almost missed the connection coz flight from Melbourne was delayed!), before heading to Tokyo sitting on the lower deck.


Brother's graduation: although it was a diploma graduation, was quite interesting to watch.. the girls were wearing kimono and some guys wore traditional jap clothing. I couldn't understand a word they were talking though, it was like watching a jap show without subtitles. Walking around my brother's city in gunma, a small country town 2 hours from tokyo, you get a feel of the traditional japanese lifestyle, with people planting their own veges and cycling around town.



Tokyo
First Day

Took the early train to Tokyo from gunma, and checked into our hotel. It was a jap style hotel with shared toilet! First time experience for me. Luckily no one ever entered the toilet when I was showering! the bathtub had water which was boiling hot, I can't imagine dipping myself in there but apparently they do. After leaving our bags, took the train to Shinjuku, and then proceeded to the skyscraper district on the west side of the station.


Apparently shinjuku is the busiest train station in the world handling over 3 million passengers a day. it has over 200 exits! since it was still early, went to the park next to the tokyo metropolitan government building (TMG).

There were already some sakuras blossoming. After that went to the observatory at TMG to see the tokyo skyline. It's such an impressive skyline.. ever since young I'm impressed with excess, with spectacular skylines and Tokyo certainly has one of the best in the world I'm sure. just miles and miles of concrete.. and I thought melbourne was huge.. even navigating the train maps is a challenge by itself.. compared to melbourne's 10+ train lines, I believe Tokyo has about 50 train lines including the subway,metro and the private rail lines. the amazing thing is, the trains run on time. just looking at the approach to the main railway stations, there are something like 20 tracks running adjacent to each other.. that's how crazy it is. But i digress... After the TMG we headed to the other side of shinjuku station where the scenery suddenly changed from skyscrapers to shopper's heaven. went to takashimaya for a while, just window shopping. Then took the train to harajuku. Well, harajuku.. what can you say.. heard so much about it from pop culture.. the people there really dresses so trendy man.



Out of the train station, the Takeshita Dori meets you with a sea of human beings marching on the narrow streets. Felt so suffocated inside.. Also saw some teenage girls dressed in maid clothing.. hahaha. After that we went Ometesando, while passing by Harajuku train station which looks quite nice. Ometesando was filled with designer stores some as high as 9 storeys.. louis vuitton's store was huge and has a nice architecture! After that, went to the metro station and took the metro to shibuya! went to take photos with the famous hachiko statue but there were so many people crowding around there.



Finally we saw the famous scramble crossing at shibuya. countless movies have been shot with this scene of mass humanity, a sea of people crossing this intersection epitomizing modern city living. Being there was actually quite surreal.. felt like I was in a movie scene! sort of reminded me of the movie turn left turn right.. with the umbrellas sticking out among the crowd of people.. hahaha. we crossed it and let me tell u , it's not easy! have to dodge people coming towards you .. easier to just sneak behind someone in front of u and let them dodge the oncoming traffic. Went along the busy shopping and restaurant strip after the crossing.. and saw the capsule hotels and the red light alleys.. hahahha.. didn't go in though. after that we ate ramen before heading back to the station.. took a few more shots of the crossing.. just can't seem to get enough of the crossing man.. hahahhaa.. after that return to the hotel but we left mum there and went to akihabara...

was gonna check out the electronic stores but most of the shops were already closed! can't believe it.. even the lights were already out..

Second Day

Took the monorail to odaiba, a man made island east of the city. the monorail journey itself was quite impressive, passing over the rainbow bridge with views of the city.


Pallete town , the shopping centre was not open yet so we walked over to the other side where there were views of the city from across the tokyo bay. there's also a statue of liberty. the view of the city from here was quite amazing. after that went to the fuji tv building which looks like a spaceship. there were exhibitions but don't understand it much..after that went to pallette town , a shopping arcade that's made to look very european-ish. it was indeed quite nice inside, with sky colored walls.. hahaha. there was even a toyota showroom showing the latest generation toyotas. after that we headed back on the monorail to the city, and headed for asakusa.


in front of the sensoji temple there was this strip with lots of shops selling souvenirs.. browsed through them and bought some souvenirs.. there's so much cute stuff that they sell.. ahahaha.. went to the temple for a while. it's not an amazingly impressive temple but nonethelesss was worth a visit.


after that we went to akihabara, where this time the lights were on! it was not quite what I imagined it to be, but quite close. had a look at one of the major electrical goods shops.. had 9 floors stacked full of electronics and electrical goods.. siao man.. and the whole stretch of road is filled with such stores! this is indeed the electronic capital of the world. there were some shops speciallizing in anime products as well which we had a look.

Third Day



Went early to catch the train to Yasukuni shrine. This is the shrine we have heard so much about, which creates so much controversy whenever the japanese prime minister visits. It kinda looked pretty normal to me, thought it would have looked more solemn and majestic, but there were some wide gates which were pretty awesome. some sakuras were blossoming as well.


We didn't wanna pay the entry fee to go into the main mausoleum so just hung around at the lobby of the mausoleum and took pictures with the japanese zero fighter and steam loco. Read the description on one of the exhibits and how true that the japanese try to blot out their past through the 'misrepresentation' of history. After getting tired of Yasukuni, we proceeded to Ueno park. Before that though, we wanted to go buy some snacks so passed through this street with lots of shops underneath the train station. The train viaduct was practically running past the top of the shops! many interesting things to see there, we bought some snacks made from octopus, and also went to this anime shop which had 9 floors, went to the top floor where there was a floor just filled with those capsule toy machines.



After that we went to Ueno park to have a picnic and eat lunch. The crowd was huge.. it's such a massive park, can't imagine when the sakuras are at full bloom, it will be even more crowded my brother says.


Sat down on a bench and ate all our stuff. After Ueno Park, we proceeded to Ginza.. this is probably the most popular place in Tokyo to tourist.. at least that's where most people have heard about. Apparently this place contains the most expensive real estate on the planet!



The main street where the Waco building stands contains almost any of the top designer brands you can think of.. LV, Chanel, Gucci, Apple.. Their flagship stores are all here with most of them in their own buildings which have at least 9 storeys filled with their products! Was so amazing walking down this stretch of road knowing it's one of the most expensive on earth.. on weekend they close the street to traffic so it was quite pleasant to walk there. Went into LV, and the apple store. Also went to this stationary store which apparently is owned by the creator of the paper clip. After that, we went to Tokyo tower.. which was very near where we stayed. I remember my first time seeing Tokyo tower was in this jap drama long time ago where two lovers had a view of tokyo tower from different parts of the city and they found their connection looking at the towers at night. ahhaha..


Saw a hello kitty bus there and took pictures with it. It was so pink!

Fourth Day

Woke up super duper early, at 4, to catch a train to the Tsukiji Fish Market - the largest wholesale fish market in the world. literally caught the first train out of the station and, reached Tsukiji around 5.20am.


Brother led the way through the inner section of the market, where the electric trolley cars were just zooming past at high speed constantly.. it was quite nerve wrecking to walk in such a busy atmosphere.. my heart was literally pumping with adrenaline walking through the alleys of the market! we reached the sort of warehouse where they were holding the fish auctions.. and had to squeeze into this narrow passageway where the tourists are allowed to stand to view the auction proceedings.


there were rows and rows of huge tuna fish being lined up to be inspected by the prospective buyers. never before seen such huge fish and so many of them! the way they auction was also very peculiar and exciting, the auctioneer does a lot of funny dancing actions! spent a good 30minutes or so looking at the auction, after that we went to find the sushi bar where my brother say has apparently the best sushi in the whole of japan, called daiwa sushi.



Had to walk past the zooming electric trolleys again carrying all the fish around the market. The market is just so huge! we finally found the place, and had to stand in queue. After about 1.5 hours, we manage to get a seat. For 50 dollar a head and 10 pieces of sushi, it's pretty steep, but when I had my first bite, I immediately felt that it was worth it. The seafood was so fresh.. and the sea urchin sushi which I had qualms about eating was so good.. The chef was very good too, chatting with us as we ate. After the sushi breakfast, we rushed back to our hotel to pack up and went to the train station to board the bullet train to Kyoto.



First time in a bullet train in my life.. the seats were like aeroplane seats! It didn't really feel like 300kmh at first, but then when the train got out of town, it went really really fast, and we got to see mount fuji on the right hand side as the train zoomed past. Reached Kyoto in about 2 hours.
It was raining when we got there.. The cab took us to the wrong hotel at first! The right hotel was ANA hotel Kyoto which was right next to it. The lobby of the hotel was very striking with a tall waterfall across the cafe lounge.


Our room was quite nice with the Nijo Castle view, and a bidet toilet which washes your butt! hahaha.. we put down our bags and proceeded to walk to board the courtesy bus to Kyoto station. From the station, we walked a distance to Toji Castle.. was quite far to walk in the rain and cold.. we reached there just before 5, and it was just a magnificent site, even though it was raining..


Took some pictures, and then walked back.. on the way to the station saw this small shop selling croquettes very cheap, so we bought some.. simply the best croquette i've ever had.. the potato was just so yummy. Browsed around in Kyoto station.. the Isetan there is huge! 10 floors! It has an escalator that goes from the 10th floor to the 1st floor directly.. The station has many other shops as well.. simply the most impressive train station I've been at. We went to the top floor where there's a food place, and ate ramen noodles there for dinner.

5th Day

Early in the morning, we took the courtesy bus to Kyoto station. Had breakfast at Mcdonald's. The mCgriddle burger is so nice.. the bread is like a muffin with some honey inside. After that we took a train to fushimi inari. It's this place where there's thousands of the orange gates leading up a mountain.



Didn't climb all the way to the top of course.. Took some pictures and then we headed off again on the train to Uji. This is a region in Kyoto famous for its green tea. Walked the streets and went into a few shops selling green tea. Went to this world heritage site Temple Byodo-in, which has an impressive garden. We didn't pay to get into the temple though, so we were quite fast getting out of there. Went to some more green tea shops.. bought a green tea ice cream cone too. haha. After that we headed back to the city, and took a bus to Ryoanji, the famous temple for its rock garden. When I reached there, I was like, we paid this much to see a few rocks? Hahaha.. oh well. After that we walked up the hill, to Kinjakuji, apparently one of Kyoto's most beloved temples. It is a temple covered in gold leaf, and it did look surreal across the lake. Too bad it was cloudy and rainy. If the sun was out it would have been awesome. At night, we were gonna go to this karaage place near our hotel, but it was closed by the time we go there, so we were looking around for a place to eat when my brother spotted a place.. and we went in.. not realizing it was an izakaya.. the place where they go drinking. It was very traditional, we had to sit cross legged and there was a hot plate where we cooked our okonomiyaki sort of dinner at. Had fun cooking it .. and drank some jap beer as well. Was quite satisfied with the meal because it's so japanese! wouldn't have been able to experience something like that if we didn't have a translator with us..

6th Day
Used the bus to get to Sanjusangendo, this temple which houses 1001 statues of heavenly creatures inside. Was quite a sight to behold, and particularly amazing knowing that it took 80 years and 60 sculptors to make that lot of statues. Spent about an hour just looking at the exhibit and then took pictures in the courtyards. After that took the bus to the Royal Botanical Gardens.. the river next to the gardens is so nice and wide. There were sakuras blooming at the gardens so that was good. After that we just walked around the main shopping strip and had dinner. Went to Kyoto station and bought the green tea roll cake. Was very nice!

7th Day
took the bus in the morning to get to Kiyomizudera, the temple built on stilts. The road up the temple was lined with shops selling all kinds of souvenirs and stuff. Stopped by one or two and also went to a green tea cafe, eating the ice cream. This ice cream has rice balls in it, a bit weird tasting but I guess it goes well with the coldness of the ice cream. The temple is absolutely beautiful.. from the entrance we could see the Kyoto skyline. It's impressive how the temple was built in the 12th century and it's still standing today! Mum went to drink from the spring which is supposed to be good luck or sth.. hahaha. After the temple.. walked down another path with shop lined streets.. but the streets resemble an ancient town that reminds me of the old movies..We went to this small park and had some snacks there.. then went to the main street to eat lunch.. After that .. walked around.. went back to Kyoto station and shopped some more before going to the food court upstairs to get the Takoyaki..

8th Day
It's finally our last day of holidays.. went early in the morning to Kyoto station and sent mum and sis to the train (my flight is later in the day) heading to the airport. Had breakfast with Bro at McD, then walked around a bit before sending him off at the train.. now I'm on my own! for a few hours.. Walked around the station and went to this electronics store outside which was huge.. but didn't buy anything. For lunch.. was looking around but was too shy to speak or do sign language.. so I ended up eating McDonalds again! so stupid! just pointed to the mcChicken like a retard.. hahaha. After lunch.. bought some more souvenirs.. and then headed to the train.. The train to osaka airport took about 1 hour.. on the way it passed by Osaka city.. not very impressive except for a few nice looking buildings. Osaka airport itself wasn't anything to shout home about.. very big airport though. walked around looking for food after I checked in.. ended up eating at the food court. Flight on Jetstar heading to Gold Coast.. was kinda boring .. couldn't sleep much on the plane.. thinking of what a fun holiday it has been! at the same time thinking of what's in store back in Melbourne...

So that was my holiday in the land of the rising sun. Japan.. absolutely blew my mind!! A land of such beauty, where the ancient and modern meet in seamless harmony! And did I mention, this is actually only my second overseas holiday, after Perth (when I was 10 years old). Glad that it was such a great time of catching up with mum,sis and bro, after missing out on Chinese New Year at home this year.. Anyway.. it's back to reality once more.. When is my next holiday.. ?