Day 2 - Asakusa & Ueno

We started off the day with breakfast at the hotel. Most of the food were dry stuff such as Danish pastries, bread, cereal etc, so I stuck to the pastries throughout my stay there. There weren't even fruits or omelette. I guess fruits in Japan must cost a lot. I missed breakfast on two occasions as I got pretty sick of seeing the same food laid out on the tables every day. It did fill us up a little, such that we usually had lunch only when we were hungry, that is around 2-3pm. Breakfast was served from 6.30 - 9.30am on weekdays and a half hour extra on the weekends.

On the second day, we set off on the Ginza line with the intention of visiting Ueno for the wholesale street markets at Ameyayokocho, but while on the train, I saw that Asakusa was a few stops after Ueno, and that was one of my planned destinations. We decided to change plans and start off at Asakusa before heading down to Ueno and Shinjuku.

Asakusa is where the oldest temple in Tokyo stands. Its name is Sensoji. Read about it here if you are keen to learn more. I took many pictures here so will let the photos do the talking.

The girl spotted a toy dispenser machine.

As we made our way towards the temple, stalls and shops lined the walkway, which provided a lot of distraction for tourists and pilgrims alike. It was an interesting sight. We spied a pancake shop and couldn't walk past without first getting each one of us a pancake. They were delicious.

This man was baking fresh rice crackers, like the ones you see two photos down.

These fruits fell off those yellow trees. I'm not sure if those were gingko trees. They turn a lovely shade of yellow and orange in Autumn. We saw a couple of people picking those fruits up, but when squashed, they gave out a funny yucky smell. They are really soft and fragile and squash easily when pressed. I had forgotten that they were in my coat pocket and accidentally squashed one of them. Yikes.

Time to stop for a drink before we headed off to Ueno. Oh the many choices...

A friend recommended that we visit Ameyayokocho while in Tokyo. It is in Ueno. The streets are full of shops selling items at discounted, wholesale prices, and there is something for everyone. From food to shoes, to a wholesale shop selling Japanese snacks, gift packs, chocolates etc. Great for gifts. We filled up our shopping bags easily here. Although it is very close to Kappabashi, we never made it there, as hubby was bothered about being in this shopping area. He didn't enjoy it one bit, so we couldn't stay for long. Street markets just aren't his kind of thing.

These were some of the goodies we bought.

Takashimaya Times Square was where we were headed right after Ueno. It took us a while to find it, as it was only our second day there and we were unfamiliar at all with our surroundings. I'm glad I found Tokyu Hands there. From Taka, I got these seaweed.

We parked hubby at some waiting area and girl and I went over to Kinokuniya to look for bento books. I was very lucky to find a few titles by Kaerenmama and Akinoichigo. I even found the latest Kaerenmama and Asami jointly published book. Woohoo. Happiness.

It was a great shopping day. :)

Day 1 - Arrival & Shibuya

We left on the midnight flight to Narita. Flight timing is great, and it took us slightly over 6hrs to get there. It's a nice change from having to fly over 12hrs to get to Ireland. It's bearable enough for me. For that alone, I will visit Japan more. Hahaha. Subject to approval by the hubby hehe. But this time, we have to stay in a hotel with wifi! The poor guy was cut off from the world throughout the trip, truly suffering for him. Not just that, he was dragged around to go shopping most days. It was funny watching him check on wifi connections wherever he went. To make up for the lack of internet access, we were rewarded with a nice and big room (by Japan standards). I hear that most rooms there can only fit a queen sized bed. We were lucky to get such a nice-sized room, even though we stayed in Shinjuku (a half hour walk away from Shinjuku station, or maybe 45mins for me). I will try as best I can to recall our journey starting from our arrival. The exciting thing was that we flew on the A380 over but we didn't realize it until the day itself, or we would have asked for the seats upstairs. Hehe. All in, loved the aircraft, indeed more spacious in terms of personal space.

We arrived at 7am plus and upon disembarkation from the aircraft, it was an unbelievably long walk to immigration and customs clearance. My suggestion? Go through Haneda airport. It takes not more than 10mins to walk from one end of the terminal to the other, unless you get distracted by the shops along the way. ;P Not only is it a very small airport, you will save more on the price you pay for limousine service to the city. From Haneda to the city, it costs 1200yen (adult), and 600yen (child). It takes 1hr on the airport limousine as opposed to over 1-1/2hrs from Narita to Shinjuku West station. For Narita to Shinjuku, it costs 3000yen (adult) and 1500yen (child). As I was saying, after customs clearance, you exit the arrival hall and facing you on the left and right are Airport Limousine counters where you can purchase tickets on the spot, to get to town or the hotels that they service. We didn't have to wait long for our ride. The service is very regular. We got into town around 9plus and took a cab straight to the hotel. Unfortunately we were not able to check-in till 2pm, so I decided to give cousin a call before arranging to meet up with her and her family at H&M, Shibuya. We were totally exhausted from not having slept on board the plane, so even though the hotel receptionist said the station was a 3-4min walk away, it really felt like a 20min walk. Our first stop was at 7-11, 4 doors away, and princess wanted a sushi roll as she was feeling hungry. It became our daily stop when we got back after a day out, be it for cup noodles, bread, or her daily dose of sushi roll, the same chicken-flavoured roll as the one she had on the first day. There is also an atm in the shop which allows our local atm cards to be used.

Arriving at the station, it took us a while to make out the train fare as the entrance was at a side gate, not a main station, thus there was no one there to help us. After figuring it out (thanks to hub), we went on our way to Shibuya, and that was our introduction to the Japan metro system. It takes a while to get used to. Getting to Shibuya wasn't a problem, thanks to directions by the hotel staff, but finding H&M and meeting cousin at appointed time was. We eventually met an hour after our appointed time (as they too couldn't find the shop), and had lunch together, followed by a bit of window shopping before hubby couldn't take it anymore, and we went back to check in. I think he went to bed around 6pm till the next morning.

We stopped by an udon shop directly across the road from H&M. Food was reasonably priced and affordable.

Kitsune udon is my all-time favourite. I love the fried beancurd skin and this one did not disappoint. It was a rather large piece, unlike the ones we get here which are only a quarter of the size.

Hubby had the Tori Karaage with rice which came in a set with the plain udon below, which the princess ate. I think this set cost around 500yen (approximately S$8).

Hubby also picked out a piece of sweet potato, while I got a couple of tori karaage for the girl and a potato croquette for me. They were fried to golden perfection and the croquette was gorgeous with the very natural taste of potato. I think the ones we get here are made with potato powder as they taste nothing like potato except in texture. These cost in the region of 150yen each.

After filling up our tummies, we took a walk around Shibuya and make our way to a shop called 小黑屋 in Shinjuku to get discounted tickets to Disneysea. This chain has a few shops dotted around the city which I later discovered while on my bus rides. The discount wasn't significant, only 100yen less than the normal price you'd pay for a ticket. It wasn't worth our while. My advice is to get your tickets in Singapore before you leave.

The streets of Shibuya.

A very famous landmark in Shibuya is Hachiko the faithful dog. It's a popular meeting point.

Hachikō, an Akita dog, was born in 1923 and sold to a well to do family in Tokyo while still a puppy. The father of this family, Eisaburo Ueno, a Tokyo University professor in his 50's, loved Hachiko very much and doted on him constantly, taking him for long walks, always brushing him, and even taking baths with him inside the home. He treated him truly as one of the family.

Up until Hachiko was two years old, he always walked to the station with the father and after the father went through the stalls he would go home by himself. But, then he would return every day to wait outside the stalls to meet the father coming home. All the locals and train station people knew this man and this dog had a special bond.

One day however, the father died while he was teaching at the university. Hachiko went to pick him up but he never came. And, Hachiko never stopped waiting. Every day for about 10 or 11 years he went and waited. The story was picked up and popularized by Japanese newspapers, and Hachiko became a minor celebrity while he still lived, attending the inauguration of his own statue in 1934. He passed away the next year, but his story lives on — and you can still pay him a visit in the collections of the National Science Museum in Ueno.

Now, let me take you on a tour of our room, our home for the next 7 nights.

We had a queen sized as well as a twin sofa bed. It left us with very little space to walk, but otherwise, it was a nice sized room.

Right beside the sofa bed was this wash area.

My most favourite place of all - a little kitchenette where we had the use of kettle, microwave, toaster, electric cooker, fridge, a cooker hood, pots, pans, plates, bowls etc etc, a fully functional kitchen.

Guess which was our favourite button on this control? ;P

The ever famous Japanese toilet bowl. Wish we could install one in our home. :) This one was very basic. I saw others which had buttons for sounds, fake flush sounds, perfume etc. There were also ones which came with warmed seats. Those are perfect for winter. Hubby and girl said there were also ones with blow dryer which I didn't notice. Ours only had the water spray and it made a fake flushing sound when you sat on it.

We managed to pack some food back to hotel from Odakyu foodhall in the basement of Shinjuku station.

These cream puffs are to die for. They have a beautiful custard within that just flows out the minute you bite into them. We brought 2 of these home, reason being they were the last 2 left on the shelf at 7-11 that evening of our return. Hubby got addicted to these after I made him try one.

Lovely bento from the boxes above. There is glutinous fried rice, two pieces of siew mai, tomato sauce chicken, and some pickles. It wasn't too bad but would have been nicer had I put it in the microwave first. I didn't think to do that.

Princess preferred to get her dinner from 7-11. The pokemon is a bubble gum, a gift from cousin.

That ended our first day in Tokyo.

Japan 2010

We arrived home yesterday morning after a very exhausting 8-day trip to Tokyo. I didn't know what to expect on my first trip there, but have lived to tell that my fears were unfounded. Language was not a barrier and I'm glad that my command of Chinese is strong enough to help me get around. Chinese words can be found everywhere and it is pretty easy to travel around after the first 2 days of figuring out the metro system. We did lose our direction once or twice but at least we didn't get onto wrong trains. The princess proved to be a very good gps system and she saw and observed things better than we did, and was thus able to point us in the right direction more than a few times. Thank goodness for that. I've heard nothing but praise for this country and how my friends who've been loved it so much, they wish to return over and over again. But one thing they didn't tell us was the amount of walking and stair climbing we had to do, and that 3-4mins actually meant 15mins or more! We had a great time there, despite all the suffering our feet, or rather mine went through. The weather wasn't as cold as we would have liked it to be, but what to do, we couldn't get tickets for travel in December. Will I visit it again? Yes, I would, but next time round, I'd be ready to cover more of the areas outside of Tokyo.

A dream come true

In a couple of hours, we are setting off on a holiday to the place of my dreams. It's a childhood wish of mine to visit this wonderful land that I've seen so many pictures of and heard so much about. Blame it on my dad who went on a holiday to Japan when we were young and brought back with him many souvenirs, pictures and stories of his trip. It became for my sis and I a dream which we would like to fulfil one day. That day is here. Thanks to my wonderful hubby who agreed to this trip instead of our usual home visit to Ireland.

Am I excited? I can't say I am exceptionally excited about it, because it is after all, my first trip to a land where the people speak a language different to what I am used to. Secondly, I planned the whole itinerary on my own, not having been there and not being familiar with the city. Hubby asked me earlier if I knew how to get to the hotel from the airport, and my reply was, err, we'll find our way there, and isn't that the fun part about travelling? However, I am looking forward to meeting up with cousin and family who have gone on ahead of us. From the smses exchanged, it seems like they have already been busy with lots of shopping. Oooo, can't wait!

Life Skills Cooking Class

The school has a programme for the kids at each level they are at, beginning with Primary One where there are parent volunteers who help out with teaching the girls life skills, such as how to pack their school bags, fold their uniforms, comb their hair etc. At the upper primary level, they are taught to sew and cook. I think it's a great programme to expose the kids to, equipping them with skills which they need for their life ahead.

I'm proud to have been given this opportunity to play a part in this very meaningful exercise. Even though my child is only in lower primary, when the request came via sms from the Central Parents' Council, I signed up for it, eager to teach the girls how to cook. I knew it was going to be a fun journey with them. I didn't know what to expect, and the thought of teaching a group of 11-12 year old girls was pretty daunting, but I had the confidence that I would be up for the task.

We assembled in the school kitchen at 7.30 am, but I was there the earliest as I had to send the girl to school before 7.20am. Once the other mums arrived, we set about getting ready the foodstuff which we had prepared at home. Each one had to cook enough rice for 15 kids. We put all our rice and ingredients together before dividing them up into boxes to be brought to the classrooms. As it was my first time doing this, I was assigned a partner, who had actually requested for one as she doesn't cook at home and wasn't confident about going solo. I'm glad I had her for company.

Here, we had put together a few desks and the portable electric stoves.

The ingredients such as rice, sausages, mixed vegetables, eggs, and the various seasonings.

I don't remember having such nice pans when I was in school.

A hands-on experience for the girls. Some got to break eggs, beat them, and some got to season and fry. Among them were girls who cook at home. Wow, that was impressive. I hope that by the time my girl is at that age, I would have trained her enough that she will be able to do some simple cooking.

I'm glad to have spent a most meaningful morning with the kids and I hope they went away with the confidence that they might possibly be able to cook a simple meal for themselves or their family.

My first Pokemon bento

This is my first character bento in a long time. It's all due to the food colouring I got hold of a few weeks' ago, but have been too lazy to do anything with them.

Thinking I should make use of them soon, I chose to go with the red seasoning and created a Pokeball. I got the girl to draft out for me what it looked like, what colours I needed etc, and she did a great job.

The bird on the bottom right was for the hardboiled egg which I added at the last minute due to her request for one. I'm pleased that she has started eating hardboiled eggs, even though it's her first time today. In the Old Chang Kee curry puff which she had in the afternoon, there was a piece of egg and she said it was nice, and that she liked it. After confirming with her that it was an hardboiled egg that she liked, I decided to add it to this bento, not that a chick had anything to do with Pokemon, or does it? Who knows?! I don't even know the characters.

As I've not made bento for a long time, I couldn't find my tools at the last minute, especially my punchers thus the chick's eyes are super tiny. They look really weird on a big body. ;P

In the bento was a rice ball, a skewer of chicken balls and crabsticks, cherry tomatoes, a tempura prawn, blueberries and some lettuce.