Japan 23.11.2007 - 29.11.2007
Sunday, December 02, 2007, 9:11 pm
Went for a 7D5N holiday trip to Japan with my youngest sis from 23.11.2007 to 29.11.2007
1st day:
My youngest sis & i reached Changi Airport T2 at 9.55pm and was 10mins late for check-in. I could not find our tour leader, Richard at row 6 and therefore gave him a call. I only managed to find him after calling him twice. He did not have any flag or big cardboard to show his agency name. He held a miserable A4 paper with his agency name on but it was not clearly written. I asked Richard to help us requested 2 beside seats as i knew we might sit separately due to late check-in. He told me not possible as the plane was very packed. Alright, we got to blame ourselves for being late. My sis was given seat at centre row of 4 and for me was left row of 3 but we still at same row. However, there was a couple in our group who came later to do check-in but they were given 2 beside seats. What was this? Its not fair. From what i observed Richard during our group check-in, i straight away shoke my head. He seem not knowing what he should do. My impression for him is very very damn bad.
2nd day:
At 12.10am, the plane flew. At 1am plus, we were served with sandwiches. I fell alseep after watching 881 on board after a hard day work. At 4.30am, we were served with breakfast. This is the earliest breakfast i ever had in my life and i could hardly eat. At 6.30am (Japan 7.30am), we finally reach Narita Airport at Japan.
About 9.45am (Japan time) after all group members gathered, we went to Tokyo Disneyland. The carpark was very very big, a few times bigger than a soccer field. Our tour guide, Henry decided that we would go back next day early morning so we left for Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum instead. When we reach there at 11.30am, we were given an entrance ticket from Henry. We also received 1000yen each from him to buy our lunch inside museum. This museum has a kind of old Japanese taste with old signboards. Its actually turn out to be smaller than what i saw from a television programme. There were a few ramen houses with their own ramen vending machines outside. We finally choose one ramen house and bought tickets from vending machine and continued with the queue. We gave the tickets to the shop assistant when its our turn. The ramen was Q in texture but somehow the broth has a bit strong smell which i disliked. We left at 1pm to Factory Outlet Shopping. There was a fair outside shopping centre selling foods and handicrafts. There was this booth selling siew mai, pancakes. After we tried the samples, we could not resist on buying. Seafood pancakes were crispy with generous fillings and siew mai were very tasty as you could really feel the chopped big prawns in it. My sis & i bought 1 pkt steamed siew mai (8pcs) and 1 pkt pan-fried seafood pancakes (5pcs) at 1000yen per pkt. The booth assistant gave us 2 more pan fried seafood pancakes and 2 more fried dumplings. We immediate ate the siew mai. Hmmm....We sent to Yokohama Chinatown after that. The streets were full of people. There are lots of restaurants and shops selling foods. Steamed dumplings (bao) , tianjin chestnuts etc. We were so tempted but too yet full to try other delicacies.
It was already 4.30pm we reached Asakusa Kannon Buddhist Temple. The temple is big and crowded with people. There are two rows of shops selling sourvenior and food. We left the temple an hour later and the sky was already dark. We reached the restaurant for dinner near tokyo tower at 6pm. We were asked to gather at 7pm to visit toyko tower after our dinner. My sis & i left earlier during dinner time and we went to stroll around the shops nearby . It was only 7pm when both of us went back to the meeting point. No one was there . Even the Henry and Richard were not there. Both of us were panic and search around if can spot familiar face. I decided to go back to our tour bus to see if someone was there. To our surprise, all of them were on bus and even the stupid Richard was there. He did not seem to bother to find 'missing' tour member. We left to our hotel after that. I did not know why we did not go tokyo tower as told earlier by Henry. Really disappointed. Finally we reached hotel at 7.45pm and busy with our stuff. Finally got to eat the seafood pancakes and i was very angry that the booth assistant cheated us. There was only egg, vermiecilli, carrot and some vegetable in this so called seafood pancakes. Too tired and slept at 11pm as it was really a long day for me for not enough sleep.
Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum
Very delicious but also expensive , SGD 13.25
Cheated on Stupid Seafood Pancakes
Yokohama Chinatown
Asakusa Kannon Buddhist Temple
Tokyo Tower
3nd day: We had buffet breakfast at hotel at 7am. The waiters were all so polite. One waiter even agree to help us to refill water into our own water bottles. We left hotel at 8am to disneyland and there was still so many people. Disneyland is very very big. There are lots of disney characters eg. winnie the pooh, mickey mouse, donald duck etc. There were lots of people queueing up just to take pictures with disney characters. . My first impression is foods and things in disneyland are very expensive. We had maple swirl which is about SGD2.70 each & i later bought a spicy chicken wrap sandwich at SGD5.50 when waiting to watch parade. Toilets are very clean n there are even plastic toilet seat covers which can be flushed down after used. We left disneyland at 4.15pm back to our hotel. We reach hotel at 7pm and had our dinner. We also had sashimi which both of us do not eat raw so i put it in my soup to cook. The taste not bad. We returned to our hotel room at 8.15pm and rest.
Entrance Ticket to Disneyland
POOH'S Hunny Hunt
No thief in Japan? Left belongings unattended!
Yummy
Fresh Sashimi cooked in Steamboat
4th day:
We headed to Iyashi no Sato Nenba after our breakfast. This was once the village with gorgeous thatched roofs and an ancient village of traditional artworks of old buildings in Japan. We then left for Mt Fuji after taking some pictues. It was extremly cold on Mt Fuji. We were lucky to take pictures of mt fuji covered with snow from other angle when we left. We had our lunch in tatami japanese style. The dishes were so so. We went to Owakudani Boiling Valley after an hour lunch. We did not go up to the shops selling black egg cos no time. We just loiter a while. I had wasabi ice-cream at 350yen & wasabi is very mild, still can be acceptable. We left at 4pm and reached Jusco for dinner. We were all given 1200yen to buy our own dinner. My sis and i chose to have our dinner at one japanese restaurant (luckily that stupid Richard was there to assist us in communicating with the waitress). I thought our dinner was great. The dishes were delicious. There was no service charge and no additional charge for rice refilled. We bought some puff from beard papa before we went back to hotel.
5th day:
We had buffet breakfast at 6.50am n left at 7.45am to Kyoto. After 4hrs 15mins, we finally reached Kyoto. We had only half hour lunch at one small restuarant at 12pm. We left for Heian Shrine at 12.30pm. The leaves all turn into red color at this period cos it was autumn. We left at 1.30pm. We reached Kiyomizu Temple at 2pm and left at 2.45pm. We went for a 15mins kimono show at Nishijin Textile Center. We took a bullet train at 4.45pm and reached osaka in abt 15mins time (one stop only). We reached Shinsaibashi Botonbori at 6.15pm. There are lots ofstores and also full of people. My sis n i Q up at a 章鱼烧 store and we waited until 7.30pm before we had our order. We supposed to gather with other group members at 7.30pm and both is us ran like mad people to reach the gathered place which is about 10mins away. Luckily the tour leader was still behind us n the tour bus was not there yet. The was kind of gd n very crispy. We reached a chinese restuarant at 8.15pm and reach hotel at abt 9.10pm.
6th day: Left hotel at 8am and reached Osaka castle at 8.30am. We only had an hour to loiter and left there at 8.30am. We reached 'Black Gate' Seafood Market at 9.55am and would leave there at 10.30am. This market is like our wet market with provision shops, supermarkets. A lot of sashimi n fresh seafood can be seen. Blowfish, oyster, lobster etc. My sis n i bought our lunch there and brought to universal studio. We finally reach universal studio at 11am. It is much more smaller than disneyland. We went for Spideman Ride, Jaws Ride, Jurassic park ride, Hollywood dream ride. There was a show at waterworld and this is so amazing. Plane, bomb, fire involved. We left at 6pm. We had buffet BBQ at 7.30pm. There was no oil provided n our food was like burnt. We left an hour later n reach hotel at 9pm. 
7th day:
We walked to the airport at 8am cos it is only a 10mins walk from hotel as there is a linkway. We check in shortly n had to take a short train to row 40 for our plane. We do a very last min shopping at airport. It is 11.10am when plane to Spore flew. We had lunch on board. It was about 4.50pm when we reached Spore airport. 
It was already 4.30pm we reached Asakusa Kannon Buddhist Temple. The temple is big and crowded with people. There are two rows of shops selling sourvenior and food. We left the temple an hour later and the sky was already dark. We reached the restaurant for dinner near tokyo tower at 6pm. We were asked to gather at 7pm to visit toyko tower after our dinner. My sis & i left earlier during dinner time and we went to stroll around the shops nearby . It was only 7pm when both of us went back to the meeting point. No one was there . Even the Henry and Richard were not there. Both of us were panic and search around if can spot familiar face. I decided to go back to our tour bus to see if someone was there. To our surprise, all of them were on bus and even the stupid Richard was there. He did not seem to bother to find 'missing' tour member. We left to our hotel after that. I did not know why we did not go tokyo tower as told earlier by Henry. Really disappointed. Finally we reached hotel at 7.45pm and busy with our stuff. Finally got to eat the seafood pancakes and i was very angry that the booth assistant cheated us. There was only egg, vermiecilli, carrot and some vegetable in this so called seafood pancakes. Too tired and slept at 11pm as it was really a long day for me for not enough sleep.
Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum
Very delicious but also expensive , SGD 13.25
Cheated on Stupid Seafood Pancakes
Yokohama Chinatown
Asakusa Kannon Buddhist Temple
Tokyo Tower
3nd day:
We had buffet breakfast at hotel at 7am. The waiters were all so polite. One waiter even agree to help us to refill water into our own water bottles. We left hotel at 8am to disneyland and there was still so many people. Disneyland is very very big. There are lots of disney characters eg. winnie the pooh, mickey mouse, donald duck etc. There were lots of people queueing up just to take pictures with disney characters. . My first impression is foods and things in disneyland are very expensive. We had maple swirl which is about SGD2.70 each & i later bought a spicy chicken wrap sandwich at SGD5.50 when waiting to watch parade. Toilets are very clean n there are even plastic toilet seat covers which can be flushed down after used. We left disneyland at 4.15pm back to our hotel. We reach hotel at 7pm and had our dinner. We also had sashimi which both of us do not eat raw so i put it in my soup to cook. The taste not bad. We returned to our hotel room at 8.15pm and rest.
Entrance Ticket to Disneyland
POOH'S Hunny Hunt
No thief in Japan? Left belongings unattended!
Yummy
Fresh Sashimi cooked in Steamboat
4th day:
We headed to Iyashi no Sato Nenba after our breakfast. This was once the village with gorgeous thatched roofs and an ancient village of traditional artworks of old buildings in Japan. We then left for Mt Fuji after taking some pictues. It was extremly cold on Mt Fuji. We were lucky to take pictures of mt fuji covered with snow from other angle when we left. We had our lunch in tatami japanese style. The dishes were so so. We went to Owakudani Boiling Valley after an hour lunch. We did not go up to the shops selling black egg cos no time. We just loiter a while. I had wasabi ice-cream at 350yen & wasabi is very mild, still can be acceptable. We left at 4pm and reached Jusco for dinner. We were all given 1200yen to buy our own dinner. My sis and i chose to have our dinner at one japanese restaurant (luckily that stupid Richard was there to assist us in communicating with the waitress). I thought our dinner was great. The dishes were delicious. There was no service charge and no additional charge for rice refilled. We bought some puff from beard papa before we went back to hotel.
5th day:
We had buffet breakfast at 6.50am n left at 7.45am to Kyoto. After 4hrs 15mins, we finally reached Kyoto. We had only half hour lunch at one small restuarant at 12pm. We left for Heian Shrine at 12.30pm. The leaves all turn into red color at this period cos it was autumn. We left at 1.30pm. We reached Kiyomizu Temple at 2pm and left at 2.45pm. We went for a 15mins kimono show at Nishijin Textile Center. We took a bullet train at 4.45pm and reached osaka in abt 15mins time (one stop only). We reached Shinsaibashi Botonbori at 6.15pm. There are lots ofstores and also full of people. My sis n i Q up at a 章鱼烧 store and we waited until 7.30pm before we had our order. We supposed to gather with other group members at 7.30pm and both is us ran like mad people to reach the gathered place which is about 10mins away. Luckily the tour leader was still behind us n the tour bus was not there yet. The was kind of gd n very crispy. We reached a chinese restuarant at 8.15pm and reach hotel at abt 9.10pm.
We had buffet breakfast at 6.50am n left at 7.45am to Kyoto. After 4hrs 15mins, we finally reached Kyoto. We had only half hour lunch at one small restuarant at 12pm. We left for Heian Shrine at 12.30pm. The leaves all turn into red color at this period cos it was autumn. We left at 1.30pm. We reached Kiyomizu Temple at 2pm and left at 2.45pm. We went for a 15mins kimono show at Nishijin Textile Center. We took a bullet train at 4.45pm and reached osaka in abt 15mins time (one stop only). We reached Shinsaibashi Botonbori at 6.15pm. There are lots ofstores and also full of people. My sis n i Q up at a 章鱼烧 store and we waited until 7.30pm before we had our order. We supposed to gather with other group members at 7.30pm and both is us ran like mad people to reach the gathered place which is about 10mins away. Luckily the tour leader was still behind us n the tour bus was not there yet. The was kind of gd n very crispy. We reached a chinese restuarant at 8.15pm and reach hotel at abt 9.10pm.
6th day:
Left hotel at 8am and reached Osaka castle at 8.30am. We only had an hour to loiter and left there at 8.30am. We reached 'Black Gate' Seafood Market at 9.55am and would leave there at 10.30am. This market is like our wet market with provision shops, supermarkets. A lot of sashimi n fresh seafood can be seen. Blowfish, oyster, lobster etc. My sis n i bought our lunch there and brought to universal studio. We finally reach universal studio at 11am. It is much more smaller than disneyland. We went for Spideman Ride, Jaws Ride, Jurassic park ride, Hollywood dream ride. There was a show at waterworld and this is so amazing. Plane, bomb, fire involved.
We left at 6pm. We had buffet BBQ at 7.30pm. There was no oil provided n our food was like burnt. We left an hour later n reach hotel at 9pm.
7th day:
We walked to the airport at 8am cos it is only a 10mins walk from hotel as there is a linkway. We check in shortly n had to take a short train to row 40 for our plane. We do a very last min shopping at airport. It is 11.10am when plane to Spore flew. We had lunch on board. It was about 4.50pm when we reached Spore airport.
----Fallen Angel----
