It's MY story, and it's nothing like yours.

What the...

Hello Singapore!

FYI, I got home near midnight on Saturday. What joy, but the weather was a killer. While waiting at the belt to collect luaggage, I felt HOT. Japan was much much colder than expected, even though it was supposed to be spring.

We went with 3 bags, but came back with 6. So much went on in the 5 days there. The days were really packed with activities. Didn't stop for too long at a spot, and travelling from one place to the other takes about half an hour (min.) to 4 hours (max).

Thought I'd grown sideways from all that eating and sleeping, but Mum thought I'd shrunken. Got to do some serious walking the whole time, climbed up steep steps and slopes. I think I developed some firm muscles around the legs. =s

Shall attempt doing a recount, but probably no pictures uploaded, cos' it'd take too long. Ask me for them if you wanna take a look ;)

Day1: Singapore to Tokyo

Day2: Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise ; Asakusa Kannon Temple
Large collection of marine life, sorta like Sentosa's Underwater World. Highlight's this immerse 3 storey aquarium with a escalator that works like the belt in Sentosa's. Caught a show, and was really impressed with divers drenched to their skins in the chilly climate. Revisited Asakusa Kannon Temple (last visit 6 years ago), shopped at Nakamise Shopping street just infront of the temple. It looked more commercialised, and we bought stuff from the same shop. Uncle still so grumpy-looking, but price of things hasn't hiked. Haha. Spotted a couple in a rickshaw-like vehicle leaving the street. Failed to take any pictures. Somebody in the tour group said, "Nvm, we'll go in and see another one soon." And to everyone's dismay, the Japanese tourguide replied, "That was a real couple getting married." Lol!

Day 3: Osaka Castle ; Kobe Chinatown ; Harborland ; Shinsaibashi
Osaka Castle was a pretty sight, and despite the wind, we had ice-cream! OMG. The ice-cream's such a teasing pleasure, and amazingly, eating ice-cream makes you feel less cold!!!
Kobe Chinatown was very odd, in my humble opinion, their foodstuff makes you feel homesick, plainly cos' it's nothing like what we have here. But they had Chinese music that cures a bit of the homesickness, and it was a little weird seeing Japanese queue to buy wanton noodles. =x I forgot what Harborland was like, must have been pretty boring since I can't recall. Haha. But I guess it's the place where I saw a oddly-shaped Oriental Hotel. It was shaped like a dome that tended slightly more to one side than the other.
Shinsaibashi- SHOPPING PARADISE. OMGOMGOMG. Just looking at the Japanese who packed the streets with their big hair, mini skirts, very high heels and socks up to their knees and above makes this a very fun place to be in. Orchard's nothing compared to this, NOTHING. It takes hours just to walk on one side of this seemingly endless stretch, which explains why we could only choose to set out on either side. Lunch on our own for that day, and we had fantabulous udon noodles, a vast difference from the not-so-tasty chinese buffet we had for previous meals.

Day4: Nara Deer Park cum Todaiji Temple ; Kinkakuji ; Kyomizu Temple ; Kimono Fahion Show
It was a 'temply' day, cos' we visited so many temples. Extremely glad I chose not to buy any deer food, cos' the deers literally knock you off your feet if the biscuits are within their sight and smelling distance. Todaiji temple's a huge place which houses one of the largest bronze Buddha structure in Japan. Went on to Kinkakuji, a pavilion. It's a replica of the original which was destroyed by arson in 1955. The present one's 3 storeys high, and the top 2 are covered with gold leafs. Put about 100 yen into this lot dispenser, got a pretty good lot. =) But my aunties gather that all the lots in that dispenser are good lots. Kyomizu Temple- This we had to climb up some really steep slopes just to get to it. Up there, the scenary's simply breathtaking, cos' the temple's nested in the foothills of Mt. Otawa. The temple's built on pillars that are not held together by nails. Fantastic craftsmanship there.
The Kimono Fashion show was not too bad, beautiful clothings, but not the women =x

Day 5: Shinkansen ; Mt. Fuji
Shinkansen's Bullet Train in Japanese. Hell, we bought our tickets and went into the station real early. The half hour spent waiting for the train was freezing. It got worse whenever a train whizzed by. But the half hour was ample time for us to take snapshots, and all of us scurried to pose just before the train pulls into the station. Difficult, but possible. Requirement: the perfect timing. It was a short 12-13 min ride from one station to the other. It's different inside the train (not as fast as you imagine), but it was pretty cool with the toilet inside the train. The seats looked very much like those in airplanes. Our poor coach captain had to drive for an hour to the destination alone, with our bags.
Up on the 5th level of Mt. Fuji, we didn't manage to catch even a glimpse of the spectacular mountain. I felt really lucky to have seen once on my first trip to Japan back then, especially after the local tour guide told us that she's only seen it once after 5 trips. Bummer...but it snowed!
I mean, it was supposed to be spring and all, but it actually rained, and then snowed! A first, since the last time I went, it was fallen snow I saw and not falling snow. Haha.
Traditional Japanese steamboat dinner at hotel. Sat on the floor for meals and had numb legs. Missed the hot spring bath again, cos' I'm not really keen on that. Slept on tatami(s).

Day 6: Disneyland!
Sunny day. Wonderful weather. Japanese tour guide provided extra service and brought us to this observatory to look at magnificent Mt. Fuji. Remembered the pretty pictures I took there 6 years back. Took pictures again, right at the same place! My aunt said that it's a belief that once you've seen Mt Fuji, you'll have to go back and see it again for another 2 times. So she gathered that I'll be back a 3rd time! CAN'T WAIT.
Proceeded to Disneyland for fun. Felt so magical and like a little kid again. There can NEVER be enough time for the rides... I WANT TO GO BACK THERE AGAIN!!!

Day 7: Home sweet home.

posted by yz @ 12:45 AM