Wrote this entry some time ago and decided to only post it now.
Procrastinated for quite a while before deciding to do this simply because there were just way too much photos. But since the Graduation Trip is one of my main highlights late last year, I have to step my game up and document this down before my memory of it slowly disappears. I am *coughs* getting *coughs* older.
Also do check out the Japan B&W photos taken by my Leica D-Lux 6 here if you are interested. :)
First and foremost, I would like to extend a BIG THANK YOU to Shun Yu for planning majority of our trip in Japan and also everyone else (Vivian, Pauline, Marilyn, Jacqueline and Ruey Yuan) who helped make this trip happen!! Arigatou Gozaimasu!!
The trip was planned more than half a year prior to it (the booking of tickets, bus, accommodation, places to go etc.) because we were going on "backpacking" (or maybe not, we had backpacks AND luggages with us).
Photos uploaded here are taken by me, unless stated otherwise! Enjoy!
Slept the whole trip from Taipei to Tokyo.
Claimed our luggages, filled in some Custom form and walked to the Tokyo Subway station (Connected by underpass from the Airport).
From Asakusa, we hauled our luggages for a 30 minutes walk before reaching our hostel. It was pretty adventurous for us to figure out the directions because we only touched down Japan a few hours ago. Our Hostel name is called Khaosan world. We checked in and placed our luggages in the reception and went out to have our first meal in Tokyo. Our room was a 10 person mixed room. There was 7 of us (girls) - meaning there were 3 random strangers staying in the room with us. Our roomies turned out to be Caucasians (both male and female) and they are the true backpackers! Each of them has a humongous backpack lying near their beds. And as for us, we kept our luggages under our beds (Locked of course. It was my first time sharing a room with random strangers, but it turned out just fine!! The three people left on the third day we stayed in the hostel and three other strangers came in to stay.)
Our room was pretty spacious and the common toilet on our floor was very clean. Even though the showers and toilets were mixed, they were maintained well and kept clean at all times. There were a total of 3 showers and 3 toilet cubicles and plenty of mirror and basins. They provided us with hair dryers as well! But remember to bring your towels (we all did) because the hostel don't provide them.
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I'm sorry Jacq..But I question your fashion sense that day.... Hahaha! She said she was copying some Japanese-girl style of dressing with the long skirt. but but... haiyo never mind.. hahaha Don't kill me! :p
We went to buy Crepes! This one was pretty crowded and we queued quite a bit to get it.
Caught the sun setting and it was just too beautiful. Took about 25 minutes or so to walk from the Meiji Jingu before we reached the famous Shibuya
It was a very relaxing walk to Shibuya. Although it was a little far and we got a little lost (had to ask for directions using our amazing hand skills lol), the weather and scenery was so calming! Had quite a lot of fun during the walk.
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Went to AQUA CITY to shop and eat afterwards. There is a Disney store there as well!
Because we already checked out our hostel, we sneaked through the back stairs to the second floor to brush our teeth. hahaha. Mission impossible so much win! And also almost lost my Tamagotchi here. Luckily came back and the nice person from the hostel helped me find it in the Lost and Found box. :')
Procrastinated for quite a while before deciding to do this simply because there were just way too much photos. But since the Graduation Trip is one of my main highlights late last year, I have to step my game up and document this down before my memory of it slowly disappears. I am *coughs* getting *coughs* older.
Also do check out the Japan B&W photos taken by my Leica D-Lux 6 here if you are interested. :)
First and foremost, I would like to extend a BIG THANK YOU to Shun Yu for planning majority of our trip in Japan and also everyone else (Vivian, Pauline, Marilyn, Jacqueline and Ruey Yuan) who helped make this trip happen!! Arigatou Gozaimasu!!
The trip was planned more than half a year prior to it (the booking of tickets, bus, accommodation, places to go etc.) because we were going on "backpacking" (or maybe not, we had backpacks AND luggages with us).
Photos uploaded here are taken by me, unless stated otherwise! Enjoy!
Day 1 : 9 December 2014 (Singapore - Tokyo)
Candid by Shun Yu. Waiting at the boarding gate.
Flight was at 00:55 and arrives in Tokyo Narita at 10:35. We had a one hour transit in Taiwan first.
Taken before we board
Another one. Our faces... Last warning.
My seat mates for the trip!
Random fact about me : I like being sandwiched in the middle if I am flying with my friends. If I am flying alone, I like to take the aisle seat!
Transit at Taipei at 05:55. All shops were closed and we were dang sleepy.
Slept the whole trip from Taipei to Tokyo.
Tokyo after another 4 hours of flight from Taipei!
Bought the 3-Day Tokyo Subway Ticket for 1,500 yen (around $17). This ticket does not cover all of the lines in Tokyo, so we still paid for some of our train rides.
Selfie in the Subway station! No gate to protect us from falling down the train tracks unlike in Singapore.
Empty AND QUIET train. Trains in Japan are crazily quiet!!
The train was empty at the beginning and we got seats! Really love the pictures taken by my Leica
After an hour or so, we arrived in Asakusa, where our Hostel was at (Booked by Airbnb)
From Asakusa, we hauled our luggages for a 30 minutes walk before reaching our hostel. It was pretty adventurous for us to figure out the directions because we only touched down Japan a few hours ago. Our Hostel name is called Khaosan world. We checked in and placed our luggages in the reception and went out to have our first meal in Tokyo. Our room was a 10 person mixed room. There was 7 of us (girls) - meaning there were 3 random strangers staying in the room with us. Our roomies turned out to be Caucasians (both male and female) and they are the true backpackers! Each of them has a humongous backpack lying near their beds. And as for us, we kept our luggages under our beds (Locked of course. It was my first time sharing a room with random strangers, but it turned out just fine!! The three people left on the third day we stayed in the hostel and three other strangers came in to stay.)
Our room was pretty spacious and the common toilet on our floor was very clean. Even though the showers and toilets were mixed, they were maintained well and kept clean at all times. There were a total of 3 showers and 3 toilet cubicles and plenty of mirror and basins. They provided us with hair dryers as well! But remember to bring your towels (we all did) because the hostel don't provide them.
Photo from SY. Eating Onigiri before lunch. I'm such a tam ciak kui..
Bento place near our hostel. So cheap!!
My bento! Double portion of rice.. Rice under the pork katsu as well...
Explored Asakusa in the evening. Yes, I am 3 kg heavier than usual in this trip. Yes, I ate like mad during Exam period. Yes, my face is round. *cries while eating brownies*
At the Senso-ji, Asakusa Kannon Temple
Photo by SY. I think I was fixing my selfie stick.
There were many attractive Japanese students there *heart eyes for the cute male ones*
Stepping up our selfie game using the selfie stick
Fountain, supposedly used to wash our hands before praying. I didn't do it, but my friends who tried says that the water was freezing. Almost forgot that it was winter. lol
Love the colours!
RY as my hand model. Bought this snack because of the comic Mikko!! Anyone else read it??
Ningyo-yaki (人形烧), Molded Japanese cake! We were told by the snack store owners (translated by SY) to finish the food on spot because it turns out that walking while eating is uncommon and is a big disrespect to food.
Dinner was Onigiri and Instant Noodles. We were doing a"Backpacking"/"Budget Grad trip" and it was fun to be budget! Although I gave up on the "Budget" part after a week...
The Instant noodles were by Ippudo and there was real pork slice in it! Incredibly savoury! Ate dinner in the dining area of a hostel. There is also a kitchen which can be used by any hostel guest.
Photo by SY
Upper bunk bed for me! The one sleeping in the other bunk bed (to the right of the photo) was RY. Jacq was my lower bunk mate. Ended the night at around 8 pm because we were just too beat from the long flight and lack of sleep (Sky turns dark at around 4.30pm every day when we went).
Day 2 : 10 December 2014 (Shinjuku, Harajuku, Meiji Jingu, Shibuya)
Explored the Ginza Line. Used our 3-days pass to West-Shinjuku.
RY, SY, Jacq.
I'm sorry Jacq..But I question your fashion sense that day.... Hahaha! She said she was copying some Japanese-girl style of dressing with the long skirt. but but... haiyo never mind.. hahaha Don't kill me! :p
On top of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building.
No entrance fee for this one! There were many students up on the building that day. I think this place is quite famous to see the Tokyo view.
Fisheye with Jacq, SY and Viv!
Lovely view under the Building
Underpass to the Train Station
Went to Harajuku to meet SY's friend!
JR Line is not included in the 3-days pass
Harajuku selfie! Went to find SY's friend Oda-Chan in Harajuku! Coat by Bershka
Drinks vending machine
Lunch was so good! The Onsen egg!!
Cute Calbee building! Went in but nothing too special to buy.
We went to buy Crepes! This one was pretty crowded and we queued quite a bit to get it.
Oda Chan queueing because all the words are in Japanese
Finally got our crepes!
My favourite Chocolate and Banana
We went to take a group neoprint before having our "free time".
Photo by Shun Yu. Before we took our scary googly eyes Neo prints.
Too scary to be zoomed in....haha
Tamagotchi!
Impulsive buy during the free time. Costs 70 bucks and I haven't played it until now. But it's too cute to resist and they don't sell Tamagotchi anymore other than in Japan! Pau got the purple anniversary version and I got the pink one!
Left Harajuku and walked to Meiji jingu
Selfie with Viv, Pau, SY and Oda Chan
I think those are sake barrels
The shrine was really majestic! Photo I posted earlier of the shrine here.
Oda Chan left us at around 4pm and we walked to Shibuya.
Caught the sun setting and it was just too beautiful. Took about 25 minutes or so to walk from the Meiji Jingu before we reached the famous Shibuya
Wearing mask because it was too cold. Pau acting shock for the photo. lol
It was a very relaxing walk to Shibuya. Although it was a little far and we got a little lost (had to ask for directions using our amazing hand skills lol), the weather and scenery was so calming! Had quite a lot of fun during the walk.
Crossing the famous Shibuya crossing
Shibuya crossing!
Hachiko statue
Ended the night with a short drinking sesh with Jacq
Day 3 : 11 December 2014 (Yokohama, Cup Noodle museum, Odaiba)
Breakfast was the yummiest peanut butter chocolate sandwich I have ever had in my life!
Minatomirai Line to Yokohama
Yokohama!
It was raining that day.
Under our umbrella ela ela ela~
Cup noodle Museum!
Braved the rain, and whipping wind to enter the museum. Our umbrellas all flipped over. It was a fun struggle to flip the umbrellas back and stop our hair from attacking our faces.
The cute mascot of the Museum
And of course, a selfie with it.
Tickets
Ticket was 500 Yen (around 6 bucks). Had to pay extra if we want to create our own Cup noodles!
First instant noodle from 1958
A whole collection of instant noodles!
Momofuku Theatre
Thought that it would be some lame theatre for kids, but it was actually very enriching! Learned quite a lot of new facts about the creation of Cup noodles!
Say hi to Ruey Yuan :D
Cup dispenser!
The cup was sterilized and a cap was used to cover it before we designed them.
The drawing station.
Mine on the left, RY's on the right.
Filled with the ingredients we wanted
Everyone go to choose the flavourings we want : seafood, curry, chicken, etc. and 4 other ingredients.
I chose the crab stick, string beans, BBQ chicken, and the cutest fish cake with the mascot on it.
Yay!
Our cup noodles was then sealed and packaged! Super fun experience.
Selfie in one of the fun rooms in the museum
There was a food court in the cup noodle museum selling "specialty" cup noodles from over the world. But because we didn't want to have cup noodles for lunch in the Cup noodle museum, we went to the red brick warehouse instead.
Red Brick Warehouse
The Red Brick Warehouse was a 10 minutes walk from the Cup Noodle Museum. There are food, accessories and clothings sold in this building. We only came here to sightsee and have our lunch.
Super delicious Omurice.
Got lost while finding our transfer train because Tokyo Subway is very complicated (or maybe because we didn't understand the words). Went to ask some security in the middle of the streets and he was the CUTEST. He talked to us in Japanese, used some sign languages, and opened his legs really wide and bent his body and pointed his hands down to show us that we need to go down a very long escalator (Like he was doing Yoga stretching) haha.
And indeed. It was a very loooong escalator. haha. around 3-4 storeys high.
Ticket to Odaiba
Rainbow bridge in Odaiba!
Did so many jump shots, funny poses and crazy piggy backing here. It was soooo fun!
Group selfie with fish eye!
Went to AQUA CITY to shop and eat afterwards. There is a Disney store there as well!
Lights in AQUA CITY
Went to this popular "Ramen" spot in the mall to eat. SY told us that it had good reviews online. It was sort of a food court and every vendor sold different kinds of Ramen.
Some Garlic Ramen
Gyoza from another stall
Photo on the roof top
There was an event called Odaiba illumination when we went. So many lights and sparkly things were there for us to take photos with.
Ticket back home
Day 4 : 12 December 2014 (Tsukiji Fish Market, Akihabara, Roppongi)
Travelled to Tsukiji Fish market in the morning (not early enough) to have fresh fish and sushi! The queue was already so long when we went there and it was so crowded. Wanted to try Sushi Dai but because we didn't have enough time, we tried the sushi stall beside it.
The crowd
The queue of Sushi Dai which continued in the back of the alley.
The stall we went instead. Queued 1 hour for this one as well.
The Sushi. Worth every minute of Queue!
Sat infront of the counter where the sushi chef prepared our sushi right in front of us. Loved the Uni so much! Milky and Fresh! The Medium fatty tuna and Snow Crab was mad love as well. Authentic sushi ftw!! Left the place straight after eating because the queue outside was still very long. Went to Akihabara afterwards. Because Jacqueline, RY, and I were not so into anime stuff, we only looked around for a while and played with the gachapons. Marilyn and Vivian didn't want to go Akihabara so they went to explore Asakusa instead.
Streets of Akihabara
RY playing with the grab-toy machine
AKB48 Cafe behind us
Gachapon machines everywhere! I spent at least 30 bucks for the capsule turning machine during my whole stay in Japan.
Met up with everyone else (we split into 3 groups) after a few hours and went to Roppongi. Tokyo Tower is in Roppongi!
Some Japanese boys laid on the floor to take pictures of the Tower and it made us giggle.
So beautiful. *sigh*
Selfie under the tower
Dinner was ramen and gyoza in a restaurant near our Hostel because we need to rush to catch our bus later that night (need to haul our luggage to the train again)
Hostel guests dining area! There are vending machines for street foods and drinks here as well. Last minute usage of free wifi and computers from the Hostel after packing our stuffs to leave for Kyoto. lol
Because we already checked out our hostel, we sneaked through the back stairs to the second floor to brush our teeth. hahaha. Mission impossible so much win! And also almost lost my Tamagotchi here. Luckily came back and the nice person from the hostel helped me find it in the Lost and Found box. :')
Leaving Asakusa. My hands were so dry. :(
Departing for Kyoto
We departed Tokyo at around 11pm using the Willer Travel Express Bus. It was an overnight bus and we reached Kyoto very early in the morning (even before rush hour). In the beginning, I was terrified because my bus experience in America was so scary (tried the Greyhound with some of my girlfriends in US once and we had to stay alert the whole trip), but the Japan one was fine and felt really safe! It was probably because there were 7 of us in total and we took the last few rows in the bus. Although we had to literally DRAG our luggages up so many flights of stairs (No lift! And each of our luggage was 20kg) just to go to the terminal *cries*, the overall experience was good!
Bus selfie. not sure why we were doing this pose. Headphones in, world out.
Arrived Kyoto early in the morning on the next day. Read about the 3 Days 2 Nights Kyoto trip here!
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