Day 8 29/02/2016
We woke up early and headed for Takao Station because we were going to
YAY CLIMB MT. TAKAO YAY
I was so excited, and although it was only 599m, I thought it'll be a great start for our adventures that is to come. We reached Takao Station and had to change train to get to Takaoguchi station, where it was just located at the foot of the mountain.
We were initially quite worried because everyone was decked in their climbing attire and boots with trekking sticks, we thought it was going to be a serious climb. We went to the gear shop nearby where Verlin got her first trekking stick while I bought a muffler just so that I could get out of my burberry scarf. You know, it's pretty embarrassing if I reached the peak looking like I was instead out for shopping.
This was the beginning of our trail. We took trail 1 to play it safe.
Cool fact: Everyone who climbs this mountain are SENIOR CITIZENS. We were appalled to see so many old yet fit and healthy people climbing up while all the youngsters took a cable car up. It should have been the other way round, shouldn't it?
The beginning was very steep, I guess it's always like that. We climbed pretty high up and the view was great!
We continued uphill for another half an hour before getting stopped by the snacks a shop was selling. Verlin was complaining she wanted to eat ice cream (because it was quite warm from all the climbing) so she got her soft serve while I ate my 3 large ass dango.
Cool fact: if you start speaking to them in japanese, they will assume you understand and reply or ask you questions in japanese too. Thankfully, I can understand what they're saying while Verlin can formulate questions, we make a great pair.
Cool fact: if you start speaking to them in japanese, they will assume you understand and reply or ask you questions in japanese too. Thankfully, I can understand what they're saying while Verlin can formulate questions, we make a great pair.
We sat directly infront of this view while snacking. It was beautiful.
Then we continued trekking but the winds were going crazy and we had to put our coats back on, especially for Verlin, since she went nuts and had ice cream.
There was also a monkey park that we stopped by to have a look. The keeper proudly told us that there were 63 of them to date. And it was amazing, because he could remember the faces and their respective names. He even pointed out to us the alpha female and the alpha male.
Cool fact: The monkeys are fed 3 wholesome meals a day. Not even I get to eat this much.
And we climbed, and climbed, and climbed, until we saw this view (pictured above) which only means the peak was just right up there waiting for us!
We did it! In a span of 2+ hours. The mountains were so pretty in real life.
After awhile, we walked back down and decided to take a cable car down since Verlin's foot was really hurting. We hurriedly paid for the tickets and boarded the cable car.
But the worst thing happened.
I DROPPED MY RIGHT GLOVE ON THE FLOOR. I couldn't find it on the cable car and it had already begin to descend. I was really bothered by my lost glove because I cannot stand the fact that my left glove does not have a right glove, and that my right glove must be feeling so cold and lonely up there.
So I decided to take the cable car back up in hopes of finding it. Thank goodness for japanese because they nicely placed it on the ledge instead of throwing it away. I was beyond happy when I found my gloves. It was another $10 well spent.
This guy by the way, posed for my photo when we were descending in the cable car. Awesome.
Verlin was craving something non-japanese and how conveniently, there was an Japanese-italian store near the station, we decided to try it out.
This was the BEST MENTAIKO PASTA I'VE EVER TRIED. HANDS DOWN.
It was so creamy and they were really generous with the cod roe. The spaghetti was soft and chewy at the same time, I believe it was hand-made. I miss this so much I might fly back to the mountains just to eat this.
We decided to skip the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Museum on our itinerary because we were pretty exhausted from all the walking and also the lack of sleep from the night before. We headed straight to Ikebukuro where I was all excited to go to the MEGA POKEMON CENTRE!!!
Sadly, no pictures of pokemon centre because I was too carried away with the merchandise, mainly the snacks, even though my camera was dangling around my neck. Also, I was disappointed they didn't have pokeballs there... I really wanted to get a masterball for my friends and I each.
Ikebukuro was lively with so many vibrant lights layering the buildings. There were quite a lot of people by that time. By the way, the guy with a head light on his head, I presume he was a mascot of some sort, stopped whatever he was doing to pose for this photo.
Day 9 01/03/2016
We were headed for the National museum of Nature and Science this day and took a train to Ueno. Since our 7 day pass expired the night before, we started paying for our tickets which was a hefty $3 per trip!
The place was beaaaaautiful, the skies were so blue and the park was so spacious. Little did I know that this entire plot of land was filled with different types of museums and culture centres. We took awhile to find the museum and the exhibition was A CLASS.
We begin with the first floor on humans and their study on astrology, cosmology and time, and how they began developing tools like the telescope and clocks. We learnt that western astrology had a large influence on the Japanese, inspiring people to further research on the stars. There was even a part on seismic waves showing how the ancient seismograph looked like.
A basic seismograph founded on the fundamental principles of a pendulum.
Sadly, everything was written in japanese and we had to make sense of the Kanji, which were traditional chinese characters, to tell what it was about. Nonetheless, that didn't stop us from continuing up the upper floors.
Upper floors were mostly on nature, and definitely, the evolution of species came into play. I debated with Verlin on whether or not the creatures were once alive. I thought they were, since they're taxidermy, aren't they? But she told me if they were dead, their eyeballs would be white. Hm, I wonder.
The last floor was more on the Earth, its soil, rocks, minerals and they even had a section where they kept all the meteorites that fell in Japan and its exact location. Also, the Plesiosaurus!
We finished the exhibition and went crazy at the gift shop, because they were so many snacks. Dinosaur cookies and tyrannosaurus langue de chat, why of course!
We headed back to the station where we were off to Akihabara because IT'S ANIME DAY FOR CLAUDIA!
We were at Akihabara Electric Town and boy was the town overwhelmed with colours and anime. We entered Radio Kaikan right outside the station and gosh the number of floors they had, I was going dizzy from seeing so many items.
Unfortunately, I decided not to get my merchandise here in Japan, although much larger in variety, they cost about the same in Singapore. Also, I had to make it quick because Verlin isn't one to appreciate all these (except Slam Dunk haha). Oh well, this can wait!
We got crazy again at the Akihabara Gift Shop, impulsive splurging on snacks and more snacks. It totaled up to more than 5000 yen and we got the Duty Free 8% off, hooray!
Verlin was craving for KFC so we popped by the store around the area.
Cool (or not) fact: No cheese fries in Japan.
I ordered the Ebi Wrap, and boy oh boy japanese portions are tiny! I felt it was more like a snack, thank God I ordered an extra fried fish, which was pretty much the same in size. We felt it was one of the better foods we had, comfort food I guess?
We went back to Tokyo station to shop for some more goodies and I was getting a headache from all the shopping and the crowd so we headed back to the hotel to nap before visiting Takashimaya.
Cool fact: Retail shops including major chains like Takashimaya, close at 8PM in Tokyo.
Dinner was at Din Tai Fung (comfort food again, damn it Verlin) and I really like their azuki xiao long bao, way better than the yam ones we have in Singapore! The fried rice on the other hand couldn't win the one we have, I felt that it was a lot less tasty and I didn't like the fact that the egg and rice were cooked in a way they became thoroughly separated.
I like mine like this, where the eggs and rice mix together so wonderfully hahah
We headed back for our hotel and were getting ready for departure the next day :-(
Thank you Japan for being so wonderful in many ways and I am so grateful I got to witness things that could only be seen with eyes. Truly, it was a memorable experience.
You can watch a video I made:
1. They require you to use a two pin plug (the one with the flat ones, not the round ones) so bring an adaptor.
2. Learn to recognise some words and phrases, and by that I don't mean the usual "Arigatou Gozaimasu". Learn to catch words like "Massugu" meaning straight, or "Migi" meaning right. These can come in VERY handy when you're lost and are asking for directions.
3. (FOR WINTER) Weather under 10 degrees can be really cold and always bring a moisturiser, good golly my skin was scaling like crazy. Also, just because you have an oily face doesn't mean it will never get dry. I made this huge mistake and assumed I would still have oily face when I'm japan, I even brought oil blotters (which was the most irrelevant item I've brought there). My skin was peeling and it hurt, I had to get the intensive moisturising cream from Hado Labo.
4. (FOR WINTER) My lips were quite durable under the weather but Verlin's peeled and tore like crazy, so... LIP BALM. I really think Vaseline is good.
5. Each and every hotels that we've stayed in, even a guest house or an inn, provides a towel and soap. So you can skip that out and make your baggage lighter.
6. If you're using a JR pass and exiting the station, DO NOT PUT YOUR TICKET INTO THE GANTRY. Take the side lanes where there is a ticket officer standing there and show him your pass, he'll allow you to exit or enter freely.
Unfortunately, I decided not to get my merchandise here in Japan, although much larger in variety, they cost about the same in Singapore. Also, I had to make it quick because Verlin isn't one to appreciate all these (except Slam Dunk haha). Oh well, this can wait!
We got crazy again at the Akihabara Gift Shop, impulsive splurging on snacks and more snacks. It totaled up to more than 5000 yen and we got the Duty Free 8% off, hooray!
Verlin was craving for KFC so we popped by the store around the area.
Cool (or not) fact: No cheese fries in Japan.
I ordered the Ebi Wrap, and boy oh boy japanese portions are tiny! I felt it was more like a snack, thank God I ordered an extra fried fish, which was pretty much the same in size. We felt it was one of the better foods we had, comfort food I guess?
We went back to Tokyo station to shop for some more goodies and I was getting a headache from all the shopping and the crowd so we headed back to the hotel to nap before visiting Takashimaya.
Cool fact: Retail shops including major chains like Takashimaya, close at 8PM in Tokyo.
Dinner was at Din Tai Fung (comfort food again, damn it Verlin) and I really like their azuki xiao long bao, way better than the yam ones we have in Singapore! The fried rice on the other hand couldn't win the one we have, I felt that it was a lot less tasty and I didn't like the fact that the egg and rice were cooked in a way they became thoroughly separated.
I like mine like this, where the eggs and rice mix together so wonderfully hahah
We headed back for our hotel and were getting ready for departure the next day :-(
Day 10 02/03/2016
I didn't take any photos on this day because I was lugging around 3 very heavy bags, I was guessing the weight of my baggage doubled in size. We took a shuttle bus from a bus stop near Tokyo station to Narita Airport, it took about 1 hour 15 mins and was priced at 1000 yen (probably the cheapest alternative if you don't have a JR pass anymore). There at the airport was snack paradise where we shopped for another 4 hours before boarding the plane. I had 4 massive bags by then.
You can watch a video I made:
Some tips if you're planning to go to Japan
1. They require you to use a two pin plug (the one with the flat ones, not the round ones) so bring an adaptor.
2. Learn to recognise some words and phrases, and by that I don't mean the usual "Arigatou Gozaimasu". Learn to catch words like "Massugu" meaning straight, or "Migi" meaning right. These can come in VERY handy when you're lost and are asking for directions.
3. (FOR WINTER) Weather under 10 degrees can be really cold and always bring a moisturiser, good golly my skin was scaling like crazy. Also, just because you have an oily face doesn't mean it will never get dry. I made this huge mistake and assumed I would still have oily face when I'm japan, I even brought oil blotters (which was the most irrelevant item I've brought there). My skin was peeling and it hurt, I had to get the intensive moisturising cream from Hado Labo.
4. (FOR WINTER) My lips were quite durable under the weather but Verlin's peeled and tore like crazy, so... LIP BALM. I really think Vaseline is good.
5. Each and every hotels that we've stayed in, even a guest house or an inn, provides a towel and soap. So you can skip that out and make your baggage lighter.
6. If you're using a JR pass and exiting the station, DO NOT PUT YOUR TICKET INTO THE GANTRY. Take the side lanes where there is a ticket officer standing there and show him your pass, he'll allow you to exit or enter freely.
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