Junkgirl™

Browsing the archives for the Japan category.

Our Nippon Journey 2006/07 (Day 5) – Rainy Day

Tues Dec 26 2006

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It hasn’t stopped raining from Disneyland last night. We bought one of those clear umbrellas which are very common in Japan, from a convenience store and a raincoat too, which wasn’t very useful. Itinerary for today was supposed to be Ueno koen and Sensoji in Asakusa. However, due to the weather, we decided to still head to Ueno but to the Ameyoko market instead of the Ueno park. Ameyoko, which is short for Ameya Yokocho (candy store alley -as candies were traditionally sold there), was the site of a black market after WW2. Today it is a local market selling all sorts from clothes to bags to dried food. It was too wet to pull out my camera for shooting.

After Ameyoko, we proceeded to Shibuya. Pouring still. Somehow the Shibuya Crossing felt less grand and not as huge in real life compared to reel life. Anyhow, we are really here, at the famous Shibuya Crossing. This scramble crossing area was featured in the movie Lost in Translation and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.

We had planned to see the Adidas Rooftop Football Park and managed to find it on top of Shibuya 109 after some initial confusion. No photos are allowed so…

Drenched, a bit of shopping and ramen for dinner later, we found ourselves 2 seats in the Starbucks, the one at the Shibuya Crossing. There are only limited seatings available but we managed. We sat at a round table, a bit further from the window seats and then we got lucky. Two guys finished and left their window seats so we hurried, with our bags and stuffs, over to the vacant window seats. WOW! It was lucky enough to get seats at this Starbucks outlet and now we are sitting at the window seats, overlooking the Shibuya Crossing and its activities. This is the highlight of the day. The view…

I’m impressed with the level of service in Japan. As soon as it started to rain, umbrella holders are brought out to the store entrance and most stores even make the effort to wrap a ‘rain-cover’ on shopping bags to protect their customers’ purchases. How thoughtful. Can’t find that sort of service in Australia or Malaysia. Not sure about the other countries.

We took the train back to Shinjuku and went into Bic Camera to find sushi magnets. There was only a couple left and those weren’t in the shapes that i wanted. Hmmm…maybe there is no longer demand for these.

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Our Nippon Journey 2006/07 (Day 4) – Christmas Day

Previous Day

Mon Dec 25 2006

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Breakfast at the soba shop near the hotel

Boarded the train to Mitaka, the suburb where Studio Ghibli Museum is located. I’ve arranged the purchase of our entrance tickets, before our arrival in Japan.

There was a bus going around the area stopping at Ghibli Museum. I thought there wouldn’t be much visitors but I was wrong. There was a queue for the bus and a young group of HK visitors in front of us. It was too rush to take a picture of the bus. Upon arrival at Ghibli Museum, we headed straight for the Robot from Laputa Castle because from researching, there can be quite a queue for photo taking with the robot. Took some time to find our way up to the robot though, because the place is like a maze.

The spiral staircase leading to the top where the robot is.

View from the rooftop

Studio Ghibli isn’t big but it is quite an interesting and cosy place. It is not a theme park but more of a museum.

Photos are not allowed to be taken inside so …

The female toilet . The ‘flushing sound’ button is a rather interesting feature. When pressed, it makes an flushing toilet sound without actually flushing the toilet but it sounds a bit artificial. I think the purpose is to ‘mask’ certain sound…

One of my fav Ghibli characters – ‘susuwatari‘. Susuwatari or ‘soot sprites’ are the black, fuzzy, spherical creatures that appeared in My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away.

A smiling manhole

this water pump is from My Neighbor Totoro, i think.

Bought lots of Ghibli stuff…there were so much to buy.
We decided to walk back to the train station as recommended by the map guide to have a feel of the local residential area. The walk took about 30mins along a small canal. Peaceful and quiet. Our first glimpse at suburban Tokyo

This is how the bus stop looks like…

The bus terminal near the train station, where we boarded the bus this morning

Past midday. Decided to head for Disneyland cos it is the last day for the Xmas specials and fireworks. How often can you see fireworks going off beside the Disney’s iconic Cinderalla Castle. An opportunity not to be missed. We had to go to Maitama station which is to the east (Mitaka is in the west) and switch to the Disney train that goes around the Disney area.

Alighting from the Disney train before the main entrance, we found rows of lockers and thought it’ll be a good idea to put some of our load in there. We weren’t sure how to use the lockers or how to determine if the lockers are available or taken. After some figuring out, we learnt that those with keys hanging from it means availability. Unfortunately the only one left with a key hanging from it wasn’t functioning so we had to proceed with our packs and the Studio Ghibli bag. Hopefully, it’ll be okay when we’re on the rides.
We’re here…

This is the row of stores selling Disney products just after the entrance

For a moment, I can’t believe that I am actually in a Disneyland, looking at the iconic castle.

Disney crackers for sale at the retail stores in Disneyland

A parade

One of the rides

The best thing at Disneyland

The Dumbo ride at dusk. It was a freezing day and got colder as night falls, almost freezing as nightfalls. We weren’t armed with gloves or beanie or scarves. We even bought a cup of oolong tea from a stall which turned lukewarm within seconds. It started to rain later and we heard an announcement that they are cancelling the fireworks which was rather disappointing because we chose to come today for that.

the icon at dusk

queuing for It’s a Small World ride. I know it’s part of visiting Disneyland but the queues are tedious and tiresome, especially so when it’s cold and wet.

Our last but best ride was the Haunted Mansion. There was a special edition for Christmas – Nightmare before Christmas. This photo was taken earlier, before dusk.

After the Haunted Mansion, we were about to head for the exit, a bit hesitant in case there was no cancellation of the fireworks display. Passing under the Castle where there are more souvenir stores

I have long wanted to see the Castle at night and now I’m here, standing under it, looking at it. It is brilliant at night, when lit.

Still pouring rain

Suddenly the castle lit up indicating that some show is coming up and Mickey and friends started showing up on stage.

After it ended we thought this must be it and continue to walk to the exit. There was a commotion in the crowd and the next thing we knew, we were watching the fireworks going off beside the castle. Wow…just like we’ve always seen on TV during special events..the fireworks beside the Disney Castle.

Heading for the exit after we saw it all.

To sum it up, it was the best Christmas we had so far.

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Vision: Crossing

Crossing on snowy day
Location: Shirakawa-go, Japan.

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Our Nippon Journey 2006/07 (Day 3) – Harajuku

Previous Day

Sun Dec 24 2006

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We got off at Harajuku station and after some asking around (my first attempt at ‘doko des ka‘), managed to find Meiji Jingu, our first destination today.
Our first experience in a Japanese shrine.
The cleansing area. Washed hands and rinsed mouth.

Also hung a wooden prayer tag..i think it’s called ‘ema’

Below: Saw this tag and couldn’t resist a snap – this person must’ve had some really bad experience in Japan

There were some preparations going on to celebrate the coming New Year.

Next up – Harajuku for some trendy stuff. Takeshita dori below

Apparently shoes need to be removed not just when you are entering a house (which is normal practice for us) , but also when you step into the fitting booth at stores. When Kee stepped into a fitting booth to try on some clothing in a shop here, the sales assistant tapped his leg lightly and pointed at his shoes. We got the message in a split second and that was how we knew. Will keep that in mind from now on.
Then walked back to the entrance of the Meiji Jingu to watch the well-known cosplayers of Harajuku, who are starting to gather near the bridge.

This group below was quite popular with the visitors

a video of the area where the cosplayers gather on Sundays, at the entrance to Meiji-jingu

We took several with this lady below..she probably has the best costume and make-up that day

Some of the cosplayers were okay when you request to take photos with them or of them but there are also some reluctant ones. Perhaps if you pay them for professional shots, they will pose more willingly. We saw a girl posing for a man who looked like a professional photographer, maybe for a magazine shoot…

Below:There were some giving out free hugs as well, as part of the ‘Free Hugs’ campaign. It started with this Japanese guy and later others joined him and turned into a ‘freehugs’ group

We continued to walk towards Omotesando which was swarmed by people

The Omotesando Hills Shopping Centre

and the Dior Building by day

and by night

We then tried to find Cat Street and by chance we saw a street map beside Chanel or Christian Dior and located Cat Street.
The TinTin shop on the way to Cat St

and this is a house opposite the Tintin shop…

I asked a sales assistant in a boutique next to the Tintin shop to confirm where Cat St is, utilising the japanese phrases I learnt prior to the trip – “Sumimasen.. Cat St wa doko des ka…” on Cat St..
I liked Cat St…it’s unique, urban, trendy yet has this peaceful and quiet feel to it, perhaps due to the blend of commercial and residential area.

Found the Burton store to look at snowboarding boots. It was dark by the time we finished on Cat Street
..back onto Omotesando and found Kiddyland which was on the places to go list..at least we didn’t have to go searching…

Omotesando Hills by night

outside Omotesando Hills

inside Omotesando Hills

another exhausting day…

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Our Nippon Journey 2006/07 (Day 2) – Akihabara

Previous Day

Sat Dec 23 2006

On Day 2′s itinerary – Akihabara – the well-known electronics town. I think it is a blend of electronics, electrical, technology, a bit of toys/anime/manga/otaku town. I can spend all day here.

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Below, one of the first store we stepped into. I bought a ‘susuwatari‘ magnet.

There’s even a physical Dell store..in Melbourne there is only the Dell Online Store

We also saw Cameron Diaz……’s ad for Softbank. Brad Pitt was also featured in Softbank’s ad on TV, walking around India talking on the keitai.

A cool store for anime/manga/otaku fans – Craftmanship Kotobukiya

Also happen to be there during the Microsoft Vista promotional event, held at Akiba Square. Too bad it’s all in Japanese.

Then had lunch at a Katsudon place in Akiba Square. Second attempt at ordering food. This one was harder because it is not machine operated. I indicated to the waiter 2 with my fingers (for 2 person) and thought that’ll do it but…he said something and I was totally lost…I looked at him and ask “err…no seats?” and he asked (in English) ‘smoking?’. Oh so that was what he said…
We had katsudon and it was oishii. The meat was very tender

Kawaii ne….

This is how a typical store – usually a hobby/toy/anime/manga store or bookstore or music store, is like in Japanese cities. Levels and levels of goods. You’ll get to level 5 and discover that there is still stairs leading up. It gets pretty tiring…

and this was beside one of the anime/manga/hobby/otaku store. Not too sure what its for…maybe for ordering to-be-release products

Night-shopping on the streets of Akihabara.

Yodobashi in Akihabara, just before we return to Shinjuku. Where else in the world can you find so much electrical, electronic and technology goods and gadgets in one store. They even have toys. This is what you call a technologically advanced and savvy nation.