Rainy day in Shinjuku 在新宿遇上春雨

My 2nd day in Japan has got no plan. I thought I could just stroll around Shinjuku area on my own, get lost in the malls and shop till the cow comes home. I woke up naturally around 11 am and went out for a breakfast. I have no idea where to eat so I walk rather slow and eyeing for a restaurant. And I saw a very small staircase entrance leading to the basement, right next to Forever 21.

This basement restaurant (Aaliya) is rather small and was almost full. I managed to get a table against the wall and quickly order something to eat. A minute later they serve the toast breakfast set that I ordered in a very presentable manner, with such a vintage cutlery and tea set. I have no doubt enjoy every single bite and had a great start of the day!

 



 

I'm FULLy charged and ready for my 'warfare' in Shinjuku. The first stop is of course my favourite store Forever 21!

 

 

I can't recall how many floors there is in this outlet but most important is the price is much cheaper than in Malaysia. I have my hand full of shopping bags after almost an hour spent in there. I hate carry alot of things in my hand when walking so I decided to head back to hotel for a toilet break (hahaa) and free my hands for more shopping.

 

Who knows, my friend Raja sent me a watsapps message and said it could be a thunder storm in a the afternoon. Seems like everyone take it very seriously for the weather change as I have heard about this since yesterday. Okie, that's really not a good sign, I might have to stay in my room rather than soak in the rain. Well, I have decided to spend my early afternoon to arrange my luggage delivery with Ta-Q-bin and head out to grab something to eat for the not too early lunch.

 

Arranging the luggage delivery is not too easy when the hotel staff can't speak and understand English. I speak no Japanese and thus we are 'chicken talking to duck' in what chinese says. Well, in the end I got Arai San to call Ta-Q-bin for me and arrange the schedule pick up.

 



 

I walked to the nearest convenient store and grab my simple lunch. I remember I had this Cherie Dolce fresh made in their store in Giza when I visited Tokyo for my first time. We all enjoy tasting this famous JP layer cake as it's so soft and smell good. It's not too sweet yet enough to make me feel 'happy' eating it! The pickle bento is also yummy as I really like JP pickle. I give 9 out of 10 for my simple convenience lunch.

 

And the story after that was, I felt asleep and had a long nap in a rainy afternoon!

 



Dinner with JAIMS mates

Yuka and Hiro are so kind. They commuted to Shinjuku and walked to my hotel to pick me up. As usual, Yuka is very pretty and presentable and Hiro is still the same like 4 years back when we met in Hawaii. It's a corporate account closing month of the year so Teru and Kuri cant make it fo rthe dinner. But it's still great to see some of them and catch up with each other. Shusuke came all the way from Nagano prefecture and announced a great news. His career is moving up to another stage again, and he will be transfered to Germany in June 2013 and sooner move his family over once he found a good Japanese school around. So glad to know everyone is doing well and I can see the excitement of them in their faces.

 

 We had something not so ordinary JP which is called Carbonara sukiyaki rice. They claimed it as the hybrid of newage sukiyaki and that their first time having that too. It's mix of vege, salmon sashimi, rice and carborana sauce, boil and cook for a while before serving. The food doesnt really matter. What matter the most is the time we share in chit chatting :)

From left to right: Yukino, me, Yuka, Hiro, Shu.

 

 

I saw strawberries when we head down the street for a walk in the Friday night crowd and can't resist it. They said they are full....how come I still have space in my stomach?

 

They sent me back to my hotel after the walk and had a group photo infront of the entrance.

 



I will see them again tomorrow for our gathering in Karin's house, except Shu who cant make it there. Well, may see him in Germany next year? hehee...



Cherry Blossom I'm coming!

My first sakura viewing trip in Japan has began in April 5, 2013 and it continued for 11 days before I end my Spring vacation.

I flew in to Tokyo with MAS airlines, arrived in Narita airport in the early morning on April 5. Soon after my arrival, I collected my 7 days JR Pass from the JR Pass exchange office which i ordered through Japan Travel Bureau (JTB) in Kuala Lumpur. http://www.jtbmalaysia.com/1217920802622/
It costs me 28,800 yen to obtain the pass but I would highly recommend this if you are planning to travel elegantly (hahaa!) because Shinkansen in Japan can cost you a fortune if you intend to travel from one place to another outside of Tokyo, in a limited time. I am not the kind who can spend a day traveling in bus and transfer to another mean of transportation just to reach one destination. I choose to travel fast and relax, with Shinkansen!  I intended to start using the pass on my third day in Japan, therefore I purchased NEX+Suica pass in the same counter. This pass allowed me to connect from Narita airport to Shinjuku within 45 minutes. NEX+Suica package is available for foreign tourist and cost 3500 yen only. 1500 yen goes for the NEX and another 1500 yen is the credit of Suica pass. You can use it to purchase anything in Tokyo where the shops have the Suica sticker at the door or cashier counter. Another balance of 500 yen is a deposit which you can get refund from any of the JR station in Tokyo or Narita Airport. http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2027.html

I met up Karin in Shinjuku Station and we went for lunch together in Takashimaya. She treated me a traditional Japanese food called Sukiyaki. I think that was my first time having this Japanese food although Japanese food is not strange in Malaysia. Obviously this is not as popular as Sashimi and Sushi in most of the JP restaurants in KL. Now I realised how little I know about JP food.

 

Above: Beef slices, cubes of taufu and the one carved with the restaurant's name is a kind of roof that is often seen in Japanese food. Too bad I forgot the name again - as usual!  :)

 

Below: stir the raw egg and dip the food with raw egg. I thought the smell of raw egg is not too pleasant but in actual fact, it's not. And it tastes good! I guess it's most likely because the egg is very fresh?

 

 

After hours of catching up with each other, we left the restaurant and go check-in my hotel. The Apartment Hotel Shinjuku that I reserved prior to my arrival is located at a small lane behind the main road of Shinjuku most happening area. For a easy reference, it's on the opposite side of Forever 21 outlet which you wouldnt missed it.

 

After my check-in, we spent the next 1 hour on my luggage arrangement as there's some complication on my delivery time and my meeting time with some other friends in the evening. Luckily Karin was with me and she arranged everything for me (in Japanese).

 

Another thing I feel I should share with you is the value added service offered by telecommunication carrier company in Japan, Softbank. It has an area which anyone (no matter what carrier your phone is using) to charge his/her phone battery there. I left my phone there to re-charge and head down to Gyoen Shinjuku Park to catch Sakura viewing.

 

And here we go!

 

First we saw this, not much of leftover on the trees. But while we walk further in, we saw more and more late blossom and wonderful flowers!

 

Isnt it beautiful? The leaves have started to grow after a week of full bloom and it still look amazingly good!

 

 

Someone has offered us to take us a photo, but 'Mr niceguy' we don't need that much of ground, more flowers and sky please  :P

 

 

Sakura as my backdrop, this is so unreal! Can I have this in my garden?

 

 

Karin had a picture on the Sakura carpet!

 

Even though it's late bloom period, the flowers are still gorgeous! I felt so blessed to be there! We left the park around 5pm so that Karin can go pick up her kid and I shall get ready for my dinner with the other group of friends.

 

上瘾的玩意

热爱旅游的人都知道， 它是一种会令人上瘾的玩意。 刚刚才从日本归来，又心痒痒的看着世界地图，像寻宝一样专注的考察下一个想去的地方。我想，上辈子我也许是个浪迹天涯的汉子。 哈哈！

下一个吗？ 还是下下一个？

希望在人间 Sakura Blooming in Nagano

My friend in Japan, Yoko is so kind to invite me to Nagano on 7th April (atfer our Hanami in Hikarigaoka Park @ Tokyo). She said I may be able to see sakura blooming in Nagano instead of Tokyo which has reached it's full bloom few days ago. There will be a Sakura Festival from 5th - 21st April in Ueda Castle and we can do night viewing of Sakura (Yozakura). I just can't wait for that!!!

I will definately come back with more photos and story to share here. Meanwhile, see what Go-Nagano.net says about Nagano and Ueda City.

http://www.go-nagano.net/modules/contents07/index.php?id=1&mode=disdetailsisetu&cityid=3&junleid=3&indexid=6&kubuncode=1

花儿都开好了 Toooo late...?

 

东京的花儿都开好了。 也许，我这一趟的樱花之旅要变成‘樱花凋零之旅’了！ 多么让人失望！

 

也许也因为这样，让我更加感受到目前身在日本的友人们那热情 的款待。怕另我失望， 他们纷纷为我推介其它还有可能看得见樱花盛开的景点。 热情的Yoko更打算接待我到他目前居住的地方Nagano Prefecture 去追花！ 哈哈！

 

好吧！即来之，则安之。 位于中部长野, 美丽如画的轻井泽 Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture 也很棒哦！

 

“轻井泽是一个高档的山区度假胜地，位于长野县的一个活火山"浅间山"的山脚。这是由西方侨民于1800年代末期“发现”，并发展成为山区度假村。因轻井泽坐落在海拔约1000米，所以是一个避暑的好地方，现在许多富裕人士在这里拥有自己的别墅。自从长野新干线于1998年启用后，从东京前往更加方便，只需一个多小时便可到达轻井泽。在轻井泽可以享受各种户外活动，如网球，远足，骑自行车，打高尔夫球和滑雪，夏季和冬季滑冰，并有充足的购物机会。轻井泽同是沿着日本的"浪漫之路"上。”
http://cn.japan-guide.com/travel/chubu/nagano/karuizawa


好一个“浪漫之路”， 好像很吸引吧？
下文载自于： http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e7450.html
搜索过所有网路，可惜没有中文翻译。
Japan's version of Germany's "Romantic Road" leads over about 350 kilometers from Ueda City in Nagano Prefecture through the mountains of Gunma Prefecture to Utsunomiya City in Tochigi Prefecture. Various interesting towns, hot spring resorts and lots of natural scenery can be enjoyed along the Romantic Road, including the mountain resort of Karuizawa, active volcanoes, the hot spring mecca of Kusatsu and the world heritage sites of Nikko. Due to a lack of convenient public transportation along many of its sections, the Romantic Road has remained off the beaten path for foreign tourists. Private transportation, such as a rental car, and two to five days are recommended to cover the entire route.

看来一天的行程好像太仓促了也。

 

 

 

期待樱花的盛开 Pre-Sakura Excursion in Japan

 

I was suppose to visit UK and Europe in Spring this year. Somehow, there was a strong current of inviting wave pushes me towards Japan (dunno why..?). I really did not have specific plan for this 3rd Japan trip, meeting with Arai San and my friends from JAIMS are the only thing came into my mind. Well, perhaps I just needed a holiday away from home. That's how I suddenly switched my 'Tulip Dreams' to 'Sakura Excursion'. Annie said she has to charged cancellation fees for causing disappointment (I'm not visiting her in England as planned).

 

My luck was pretty good during Chinese New Year. I got my flight ticket from MAS airlines only RM1700 all-in. On the same day, I booked my lodge for my 4 days in Tokyo with Apartment Hotel Shinjuku which costs me only less than RM1000 for 5D4N.

 

So it's all set and I am ready to go!

 

However,................. few days ago I read a report from Sakura in Japan Project https://www.facebook.com/sakurainjapan?ref=ts&fref=ts and found out that the first cherry blossom has begun!!! Most of the cherry blossom will come to an end by the time of my arrival, what a disappointed news  :(

 

Yoko was kind enough to tell me: "personally I think the new leaves after the drop cherry blossom are very nice too!" hahahaaaaa........ yes, she has soothes my pain a little! At least that put a little smile on my face reading it.

 

I have capture this article from Japan-guide.com today and guess there's still some hope to have Hanami with our JAIMS friends.

Too Late for cherry blossom in Tokyo!

When Japan's weather services issued their first cherry blossom forecasts back in the cold days of January and February, most of them predicted the season in Tokyo to peak in early April. However, temperatures in March rose far above average in most regions of Japan and especially so in the Tokyo region, taking the weather services by surprise and resulting in a record-breaking early cherry blossom season in the capital this year.

Due to the discrepancy between the initial cherry blossom forecasts and the actual blooming dates, many foreign tourists who booked their trips to Tokyo for early April, are now likely to arrive too late for the peak of the season. In order to help such tourists, we created this guide on how to see some cherry blossoms even when most of Tokyo's petals have fallen already.

Source: http://www.japan-guide.com/news/0026.html