Japan [190216 - 280216]
Tokyo
Day 1 - 190216
Meiji shrine, Harajuku, Shibuya
Booked airbnb for our first 2 nights stay in Tokyo as hotels near Shinjuku area is very expensive! Luckily, the airbnb didn't fail us~ Nice and spacious and it's quite near to the mrt station. Shopped around Harajuku and Shibuya area and rested early for the day, was feeling half awake the entire day from our overnight flight. We must have Ichiran for our first dinner, and it's still as tasty as ever!
Day 2 - 200216
Tsukiji fish market, Tokyo station (Imperial east garden, outer park, tokyo character street)
Went to Tsukiji fish market in the morning, had some interesting food while shopping at the market. It was drizzling and cold, we couldn't find the famous sushi shop, so we ended up in this restaurant to have lunch and warm ourselves up. Proceeded to Tokyo station and went to explore outdoors at their garden and park. It was really freezing at the park, and there's totally no shelter! But we were rewarded with cherry blossoms, lucky us to have caught them in Feb! :) Walked a long way and finally got back to Tokyo station where we shopped at the underground character street.
Hakone
Day 3 - 210216
Travelled to Hakone, took the cable car but was unable to transfer to the ropeway as it was closed due to volcanic activity. Therefore, we had to give Owakudani Valley a miss :( All these transport transfers in Hakone is so time consuming, even when we reached the Hakone sightseeing cruise earlier than originally planned, we only managed to hop onto the last cruise for the day (which is rather early!). Would have probably missed it if we managed to get to Owakudani Valley.. Anyway, we were frozen once again on the cruise.. Haha.. But it was worth it, the cruise was the most interesting activity for the day. Lol. Visited a shrine and chilled at a cafe thereafter, caught the sunset and returned to our accommodation for the night.
We booked this hotel which has a private onsen in our room. But to our horror after we checked in, we realised that there is no bathroom in our room! The only shower place available was just beside the onsen, which was outdoors and the temperature was 4 degrees celsius at the moment. After spending some time to check with the hotel staff, we realised that there's no other choice but to stick with this room. Our experience was priceless and unforgettable, the onsen has the hottest water ever and we bathed outdoors at 4 degrees celsius at lightning speed. Hahaha..
Day 4 - 220216
Kawaguchiko, Gotemba Premium Outlets
Travelled to one of Fuji's Five Lakes - Kawaguchiko. Took a ropeway up to a place where we can view Mount Fuji. But due to fog, we had to wait for about an hour to finally see the peak of Mount Fuji. I guess we were still considered quite lucky, even after we came down from the viewing platform, we managed to catch Mount Fuji along the way. Took a bus to Gotemba Premium Outlets in the afternoon, but the outlet was quite a disappointment.
The outlet closed at 7pm, and we realised that the bus that we need to take to get back to our hotel is already out of service. Zzz. After a few transfers, we were stranded at a bus stop along a dimly lit street, cold and not knowing if there's still a last bus coming (according to the schedule we figured at the bus stop). It wasn't even 9pm! This is the time when I really missed being in the city.. Hakone is definitely not my cup of tea. Haha
Tokyo
Day 5 - 230216
Sensoji Temple, Nakamise Dori
Back to Tokyo! Stayed at "Hotel MyStays Asakusa", not recommended! We didn't know that room service is only available at additional cost until we checked in. And there was this weird smell in our room on our 2nd night there, luckily the hotel staff managed to solve the problem.
Visited Sensoji Temple and walked through Nakamise Dori. These souvenir shops reminded us of the days in Osaka.. Spent our evening shopping around and had sushi for dinner at a random sushi place. We totally couldn't communicate with the staff on what we want to order, so we can only take what's available on the sushi belt.. haha
Disneysea
Day 6 - 240216
Our most anticipated 2 days! Bought a 2-day disney pass and visited Disneysea first. Surprisingly, Disneysea doesn't really have the Disneyland feel. Less magical, more Duffy. Haha.. The show at night was good :)
Disneyland
Day 7 - 250216
Queued so long to have our mandatory picture with Mickey Mouse at the entrance. Disneyland has a Frozen Fantasy special now.. Caught the magical Frozen parade~ The only regrets is the fireworks at night was cancelled for some reason. Luckily we managed to catch it at Disneysea the night before.
Yokohama
Day 8 - 260216
Kirin Beer Village, Minato Mirai
Our day trip to Yokohama. Visited Kirin Beer Village first, this place is quite cool. The guide's explanation of the beer making process is only in Japanese, so we were given some papers to read to follow up with the guide. After the hour long explanation, we were each given up to 3 glasses of free beer and other kirin drinks. Most of the Japanese who visited seems to be there for the free drinks! Went to Minato Mirai after, this place has a number of places to visit and shop. Cosmo World with the big ferris wheel is just across the road, beautiful at night.
Day 9 - 270216
Kichijoji, Tokyo Tower
Decided to spend our last day shopping at Kichijoji, and had our lunch at Steak House Satou. Still thinks that the steak we had in Kobe is better.. Went to Tokyo Tower to catch our last sunset in Tokyo.. But the viewing deck at Tokyo Tower is enclosed, so the view wasn't so fantastic. We googled for a place to enjoy our last shabu shabu dinner, just like last year in Osaka. Although the experience was not as good as the one in Osaka, but it's still special and delicious!
Things in Tokyo are really much more expensive, and we didn't buy much this trip. Our conclusion after the trip, we still prefers Osaka!!
