My Japan Trip

[LAMborghini]

Hey, visit cklam7.multiply.com for my photos taken during my trip there in Apr this year.

31 Mar

2130 Boarded the plane. Pretty excited. This is my first time flying alone. Realised it’s quite lonely to travel by myself after all. Imagination can really run wild when you are alone. The feeling of emptiness is unbearable sometimes. There is no one you can talk to.

2155 Plane takes off.

2245 Meal served, hmm….looks delicious. It’s beef steak!

2246 Sorry, I take back my words. I forgotten looks are deceptive. The beef sucks. It’s hard to chew and tastes like rubber!

1 Apr

0009 Plane touches down.

0116 Waiting for my connecting flight to Nagoya.

0219 Plane takes off. Will reach Nagoya in 5 hr’s time.

0550 I’m still not sure whether did I manage to catch some sleep. Damn tired.

0620 Just finished my breakfast. Not bad, got bacon, waffle, egg and yoghurt. Look out of the window and saw this layer of thick, flurry cloud that I’m flying above. Magificent!

0723 Arrive Nagoya.

0815 Saw naomi and chiemi! So happy to see them again. Although I couldn’t recognized them at first. I actually walked past them without knowing it’s them!

0820 Going to have breakfast with them. Suddenly I realized I left my passport and camera in the toilet!! I quickly dashed back. To my horror they were gone. I went to the information counter to report my loss. Luckily someone gave them tot the counter. So glad to be able to get them back…

1746 Just finish visiting Nagoya Castle & the Shrine. Awesome sceneries. Chiemi told me we are going to spa/ onsen tonight.

One thing I realized about Japan is that it’s rather hard to locate rubbish bins. The Japanese girls are mostly carrying branded bags like LVs, Gucci and Chanel. The Japanese guys, on the other hand will wear 3 piece suits to work.

2145 Went to onsen for the first time. Damn shiok! Sugoyi ne.

2302 Time to say goodbye to my friends. So sad to leave them. Chiemi told me she will come and pick me up tomorrow morning at 7am.

2310 Went to my room, there were 3 other guests. 2 Japanese and 1 Swiss.


2 Apr

0550 Tired, slept less than 6 hours for the past 2 days. But I enjoyed myself very much!

0640 Bus leaving for Kawaguchiko. I had to say sayonara to chiemi from here. The feeling of separation is dreadful. I felt very sad, and I cried. Now I know how hard it is to hold back tears.

1210 Reach Kawaguchiko. Checked in my room. It was fantastic! It got a nice view of Mt Fuji directly in front of my window. There was also free usage of internet and onsen.

1216 Set off for Lake Kawaguchi. Took the cable car. It is cold today, only 9 degrees celsius.

3 Apr

0630 Woke up, don’t know why I woke up so early also…feeling so cold now. It rained last night; hopefully it will not rain later. I discovered I just lost my sunglasses. Anyway I had my 500 yen breakfast at the hotel. Feeling heart pain because it’s so expensive! It’s only few toasts, a coffee and orange juice. Checked out the temperature and it was just 5.1 degrees, then it rained for a while again.

1430 Its still raining, I had been sneezing since morning, I think I caught flu.

1845 It is snowing!!! Initially I thought it was raining, but looked closer and realized it is actually yuki! It’s my first time touching and seeing the snow. I behaved like a kid looking so excited. It’s such a wonderful feeling having able to see the snow slowly melts on my hand.


4 Apr

0617 Saw Mt Fuji from my window! Majestic scene!

1059 Left Kawaguchiko for Shinjuku station. Heading to my next hostel to check in first. Hope it will not rain again.

1300 Arrive at Shinjuku, trying very hard to locate the correct JR line to take. It can get really confusing.

1347 On my way to Nishi-kawaguchi. Will be reaching my hostel soon.

1530 Checked in at JGH. A fuck up hostel, very cramp, run-down place with no security at all. It’s actually a private residential where the owner partitioned it with wooden planks to create more rooms. The utensils are rusty and old. The toilet also stinks!

1600 Tough luck, raining heavily. I’m stuck at Nishi-kawaguchi station. It’s freezing.

1953 Walked around Nishi-kawaguchi, nothing much, but a lot of cheap makan. It gave me a feeling that it might be a red-light district because there were a lot of pimps poaching me and asked whether I need any girls. I then came across this Itoyokado. The things are cheap, there is this song laptop pnly selling for SGD 700! On level 4 there is this shop where you have to wait till 2035 for the staff to announce the price then you buy. All items are damn cheap..prices as low as 105 yen!

5 Apr

0637 Woke up, going to Tokyo today.

0755 Reach Ueno Park, good weather today..got sunshine! There is this stretch of pathway with sakura falling down on both sides. It looked like snow falling…very beautiful.

0908 I was sitting down taking a breather and I saw a lot of families having their outing there. Some even having picnic too! I was wondering Singaporeans will not have the time to do these. They spend most of their time working. No life at all.

0928 Leaving for Tokyo Tower

0935 Reached Tokyo Tower, cooling weather at around 15 degrees Celsius.

0940 Made a mistake, should have alighted at Hamamatsucho station instead of Tokyo station.

0955 Saw Tokyo Tower! One of the seven wonders in the World. Paid 820 yen to get to the main viewing tower to take some photos of Tokyo city from above. Luckily I arrived early, the crowd from the tour groups was pouring in when I left.

1135 Had my lunch, ate tempura udon. Oyishii ne!

1150 Boarded the Yamanote Line to head for Shibuya, went to Tokyu Plaza. Nothing much to see. I bought a tiramisu for 357 yen. It was delicious.

1257 Leaving for Harajuku. It is such a happening place! Saw some cosplay girls and it’s a place full of teenagers. It’s like the orchard road of Singapore.

1342 Shopped for the first time since arriving in Japan. Bought a long sleeved shirt for just 500 yen.

1412 Left for Shinjuku. Walked around and realized men’s shirt are pretty cheap…around SGD20+. Harajuku and Shinjuku are nice places to shop.

1755 Damn tired. Settled down for my dinner. Ate chicken cutlet with curry rice. Oyishii !! Yum yum…In japan, most of the food shops got a coupon vending machine outside their shops. You insert the coins in, select what you want to eat, take the coupon and hand it to the staff. In less than 2 mins your food will be served. I must say it’s very efficient and convenient.

1818 On my way back to hostel. So proud of myself being able to make my own way back to hostel without asking for directions.

1936 Hai~ so scare tomorrow will come. Tomorrow will be my last day in this “heaven”.

6 Apr

0915 Reached Akihabara. Encountered some problem finding the place and when I finally found it, the staff told me they can’t accept luggage before checking in at 1700. No choice, so I walked all the way back with my luggage to the station and deposited them at the lockers while I go shopping.

1313 Visited Laox, Sofmap for cameras. Quite cheap, but not much difference from Singapore prices. As I walked, I found a lot of AV shops and they will simply show the videos openly in the shop.

1720 Checked into Capsule Inn. Quite impressive..very unique hostel.

1830 Had my last meal in Japan. I’m going to miss it badly.

7 Apr

0550 Woke up, rushing to Narita Airport.

0634 Now waiting for train to Chiba, from there change train to Narita.

0855 Finally reached Narita Airport T1. The journey took longer than I expected. Hope I wouldn’t be late for my flight.

0936 Boarded the plane. Thanks god I made it on time.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself throughout this trip. I’m glad to meet up with my Japanese friends and really appreciate the effort they made to bring me around Nagoya. I went to an “onsen” for the very first time that night and it was wonderful! Thanks to chiemi who prepared the towel for me too.

In my sixes and sevens, on one hand, I’m happy to go back to Singapore again, but I’m also sad and reluctant to leave Japan. It’s like being “banish” to mortal world from heaven. Haha. In a blink of an eye, 7 days past swiftly. It had truly been an eye-opener for me. I’m very proud of myself being able to travel alone to Japan and not get lost. Next time I shall try travel to Europe as well.

However, there is one thing I regretted not being able to do better. That is to communicate more in Japanese with my friends. I feel really bad using English in our conversations all the time. There are actually a lot of things I want to say and express myself to them, but I can’t, because my Japanese sucks.

But I said to myself after my university studies, I will enrol myself into a Japanese school and master it well. I promise! I will be back!!


1001 Plane takes off…
End of journey…

[sleepy]

Hi,

Which hotel did you stay in at Kawaguchiko that offers a view of Mt Fuji from the room? Would you recommend it? How's the price like? Is it easy to get there?

Thanks.