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!
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment