Honeymoon in Japan (Tokyo) Pt 2

Tokyo Disneyland Castle at dusk

We arrived at Narita Airport, Tokyo on Day 5, around 9pm at night. It was windy in Tokyo. We board on the tour bus and the bus driver drove us to our hotel.

While on the way, I noticed that there are huge difference between Tokyo and Hokkaido. Hokkaido is a relaxing place where people live life at its pace. Tokyo, of course the capital city is also the city for rat race!! The bus driver drove fast and they honk at each other on the road!! People walk faster! The city is full of colorful neon lights and covered with sky scraper buildings! Actually, I was kinda afraid that I'll get lost here, so I promised myself to stick closely to my hubby!

We checked in at Tokyo Dome Hotel. We really love this hotel because the room is very spacy with a nice comfy Queen size bed, equipped with coffee table, lazy chairs and other neccesities. I adore the bathroom which has a bath tub attached to it. The room are also very clean and has a good night view of the Tokyo Dome and the small theme park next to it.

This is the night view seen from our hotel room on the 29th floor.

There are quite a lot of eateries which open till midnight and a convenient shop (7-Eleven) situated next to the hotel. We had our supper at the nearby Mc Donald. We tried their Ebi Burger (Prawn Burger) which is only available in Japan.

Mc Donald in Tokyo, Japan serves Ebi Fillet Burger! Yummy.. filled with fresh crispy prawn patties~

Day 6, which is also a Sunday, expectedly the city were full of people and tourists. We were brought to discover some of the tourist attractions in Tokyo Metropolitan City.

First of all, we pass by the Diet Building (国会議事堂, Kokkai-gijidō), which constitutes of a lower house, called the House of Representatives, and an upper house, called the House of Councillors (or Chancellors). As you might have guess, it is similar to our Malaysia Parliment House. According to Kenro-san, their local national TV will broadcast the meetings held inside for the citizens to see. In schools, young pupils also watched the broadcast together with the teachers and will later discuss the topics. This is to encourage awareness among their people.

Then, we went to the Imperial Palace, the home of the Emperor and Empress, which is surrounded by a high stone slab. According to Kenro-san, the palace buildings and inner gardens are not open to the public. However, on January 2 (New Year's Greeting) and December 23 (Emperor's Birthday), visitors are able to enter the inner palace grounds and see the members of the Imperial Family, who make several public appearances on a balcony.

Imperial Palace (view from the outside)

Next, we went to the Asakusa Kannon Temple, also known as the oldest Buddhist temple in the region and is a very famous spot for tourists to Japan.

When approaching the temple, visitors first enter through the Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate), the outer gate of the Sensoji and symbol of Asakusa.

A shopping street of over 200 meters, called Nakamise, leads from the outer gate to the temple's second gate, the Hozomon.

The beginning of Nakamise shopping street. Very crowded place but worth going as you can try a variety of local sweets here.

You can find anything between typical Japanese souvenirs such as yukata and folding fans, keychains, tatami sandals and a lot more. However, I found that a lot of souveniers sold here are Made In China, so if you are a person like me who prefer locally made items, you may have to look carefully before buying an item. Various traditional local snacks are sold along the Nakamise. I love the deep fried food most which is filled with different sweet pastry ranging from red bean, green tea, black sesame and others.

Olden days Precious! We tried this 'Pop Soda Water' which tasted just like 7-Up. In ancient days, these glass bottles also served as a toy for the children because once the bottle is empty, you can play with the marble that sits inside the bottle. It produced a "cling cling" sounds.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We had our lunch at the nearby restaurant in the area, then we head to Ginza, which is Tokyo's most famous upmarket shopping, dining and entertainment district, featuring numerous department stores, boutiques, art galleries, restaurants, night clubs and cafes. You can find all sorts of international branded items here.
 
 

The main road section is closed on every Sunday and served as side walks for visitors. Prepare to spend around RM100 for an afternoon tea. After spending 3 hours walking around Ginza and observing the fashion and trends of the people shopping in Ginza, we went to Shinjuku for another shopping spree.

When we arrived in Shinjuku, hubby and I thought we would find a cafe to have a cuppa. We walked around and everywhere we see are people. Even getting into a cafe need a queue of at least 20 minutes. Lastly, we decided to just buy some breads from the bakery in a departmental stores. We sat by the roadside, enjoying our 'tea time' while watching people with bags and bags of shopping! We wonder how much money had they spend!? =)

Then, we went to a fantastic ramen shop in Shinjuku area. While walking down the street, we could see Love hotels, Pachinko outlets and other night entertainment.

Look familiar? This street is seen in Shinjuku Incident (an action movie by Jackie Chan).

And this are the delicious Tonkotsu Ramen that we had. The shop can be hardly missed as it has a big Pig Statue at the front.

 

 

 

 Day 7, the tour brought us to Shinjuku Gyoen, a park where we finally witnessed and touch the soft petals of sakura flowers. The park needs a small entrance fee, however it is very clean and well-maintained. The park also supplies free wheel chairs for the needy.

We saw different colors of sakura flowers (pink, light yellow and whitish).

 

 

After our lunch at about two in the afternoon, we finally arrived at the Tokyo Disneyland!!I was so happy, I nearly cried! My childhood memories relived, the songs of Disney cartoons filled my heart with joy, the movie characters dancing around makes me feel young all again! It was so lovely to see their parades. I might act like a kid in there, but who cares! It's all about FUN, FUN, FUN in Disney!!My digital camera worked the hardest today ^_* (wink)

At the Main Entrance of Tokyo Disneyland

Let your worries fly away in Tokyo Disneyland~

It was really fun!! Lastly, we check in at a hotel called Narita Garden Hotel which is situated nearby Narita airport.

On Day 8, we finally have to say Good Bye to our tour members as they will fly back to Malaysia, while we will have another few days to explore a different part of Tokyo and Osaka.