Day 11: Leisure Stroll @ Shinjuku Garden & Harajuku

I wonder is it every time when I was about to leave a city, then Mr.Sun will appear? This held true thru 'out my trip! It's a sunny morning today & also spelt the last few hours I had left with to explore Tokyo. Following my style set for this trip, I would always leave the last place of interest usually located near my stay till the last half day.
 

 

For this morning, I had a wonderful plan in mind... I strolled to Tully's Coffee where I chilled out previous day & got a take-away hotdog with my fav Honey Milk Latte. My breakfast was packed in a nice box & I happily brought it to Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. I found myself an empty bench underneath the huge sakura blossom... woohoo! My ideal way to round up my trip & also a FIRST for me to have breakfast in a park. The wonderful scenery paired perfectly with my delicious breakfast.

 

The park was huge according to the map & the garden was segregated into English, French & Japanese landscaped garden. There's also a greenhouse which is home to tropical plants such as orchids. I was glad the weather was nice with some breeze as I explored the vast garden. It seems that every part lies a photo opportunity!

 

 

I like the 'Avenue of Sycamore Trees' where rows of neatly planted barren trees exuded a wintry feel in the midst of Spring! I used my compact to capture 180degree panorama view here! Cool! As I progressed on, I saw a signage which showed the many variety of Sakura. I also had abit of time sitting on the lush green fields. I saw a bunch of photography enthusiasts setting their tripods to shoot the swirling sakura flowers in a stream, so I also tried to take a few shots! Lastly, just before I left the garden, I saw two kawaii little gals playing blowing bubbles! This scene has been at the back of my mind for ages!

 

Realising time was running out, I went on to the nearby Harajuku. In my frantic rush, I boarded the wrong direction train & had to U-turn! Upon exiting Harajuku, I found myself at Takeshita Dori, a street lined with stores selling youngster's stuff. It was flooded with a lot of tourists! I also walked to Omotesando & decided to try using the Tripadvisor's app GPS function to locate a gyoza shop I marked last night. After much trial & error, I finally found the Harajuku Gyoza & the GPS is accurate! This tuck-away stall at one of the alleys was packed with both locals & tourists. I ordered a plate of 6 gyozas for my late lunch. Yummy!

 

I rushed back to my lodging at Shinjuku to pick up my luggage before walking at my fastest speed back to the station. I was glad that I decided to take the Narita Express as it saved me time to transfer train. The Narita Express train was really comfy & I found myself enjoying the last bit of scenery on the train ride to Narita Airport. Goodbye Japan! I would return for sure!

Day 10: Tsujiki Fish Market, Odaiba & Tokyo Tower

It's coming to an end of my Japan trip ~ the incessant rain from yesterday continued till today! Goodness! I went ahead with my plan to Tsujiki Fish Market & got there in the storm, luckily it was close to the station. By the time I reached, the stalls had closed as it was late morning & they were done with the sale of their fish in the wee hours. The market was having its routine clean up but I still got a feel of how their market looked like. My original idea was to check out the fresh sashimi stalls but seeing the extremely long queue, I did not like the idea of queuing in the cold. I ended up at a small eatery selling only chicken rice. It's cheap & I was surprised that the Tori & soft boiled egg mixed together turned out to be yummy!

 

 

I got back to Tsujikishijo station & took a subway to Higashi-Ginza. I spent the afternoon leisurely exploring the Ginza area partly due to the rain & in the event if the rain got heavy, I could still seek shelter in the malls. Ginza is just like Orchard Road, with all the big brand names. I stopped by Sony HQ & took a look at all the Sony's gadgets. From there, I saw a nice café across the junction. Without hesitation, I went into the café to rest my tired feet, while enjoying a slice of Strawberry Mille Crepe. It's heavenly! How I wish every now & then could savour such nice dessert on a lazy afternoon! By now, the rain had came to a stop & goodness, it had rained continuously for 36hrs in Tokyo!

 

Perfect timing for me to go to Odaiba! Yeah! There's a different monorail line (Yurikamome) serving the Odaiba area. It's a totally different feel as I saw a beautiful view from the monorail that really blew me away! It's love at First Sight for Odaiba! I alighted at Aomi Station, the final stop outside Palette Town.

 

There is a colourful Ferris Wheel at Palette Town & Toyota's "MEGA WEB" auto showroom. After some photoshoot, I admired the scenery for awhile before strolling over to the waterfront. A breath-taking sunset scene awaiting me here! After 36hrs of downpour, the orange glow of the rays were amplified by the clouds. I wish Time would STOP here! I shot thru' the blue hour & saw how the Rainbow bridge illuminated. The place that I had always wish to see is now appearing in front of my eyes.

 

I also took photos of the life sized Gundam outside DiverCity & found myself hunting for dinner at Aquacity. Since this was the last dinner of my trip, I ordered this huge serving of Hamburger Steak with Ebi Tempura set. Wow! Really oishii! I returned to the deck of Aquacity for night shoot of the Rainbow Bridge & it was freezing cold! Suddenly, a couple spoke to me in Japanese ~ Sumimasen (excuse me!) I helped them took a pic with their canon dslr & both were smiling when they reviewed their pic! Despite the wintry coldness, I strolled back to capture the night illumination of the Ferris Wheel.

 

Lastly, I rushed to Tokyo Tower just before its lights-off at 10pm! Phew! It's also my dream to visit Tokyo Tower & the lyrics of Sammi Cheng's song 《終身美麗》filled my mind. Subsequently, I bumped into a HK couple who thought I am Hongkie too! We helped each other shoot & eventually chatting while making our return journey to Shinjuku. I'm thankful that the rain stopped in time for me to enjoy my last night in Tokyo!

Day 9: Hello Doraemon @ Fujiko. F. Fujio Museum!

Today is my most look forward highlight of my trip! There's a downpour since early morning & I was stuck... I chanced upon Tully's Coffee at Kinokuniya bookstore, so I went to the café to chill out. I ordered a cup of hot Honey Milk Latte & spent my time to go thru' the Tokyo tourist guide again to tweak my plan. The Latte was really smooth & sweetness level just nice, I would definitely buy again! With the incessant rainfall, I could only spend the morning enjoying the 7 storeys Kinokuniya! Omg! I really love the bookstore & how I wish I could understand Japanese! A whole level was devoted just for Manga!

 

Nearing noon, I proceeded to Shinjuku station for lunch. I had to use cash to pay for my tickets from now as my Rail Pass had expired. I was so used to the convenient of flashing my rail pass to get thru' the gates! I popped by a small curry rice eatery & saw many locals lunching. I purchased the ticket at its vending machine & got my Katsu Curry Set with Miso & Salad pretty fast. Eating in such local eatery is a rather cramp affair at their counter seats. But I totally enjoyed my filling lunch & the Katsu was really yummy!

 

I headed to board a train on the Odakyu Odawara Line to Noborito Station, located in Kawasaki City. I think the station's name ~ Noborito sounds alike to Nobita ~ Doraemon's owner! I waited for the museum's shuttle bus outside Noborito. Wow! Their shuttle bus is really kawaii!

 

I arrived at Fujiko.F.Fujio Museum half an hour earlier than my ticketed 2pm slot. There were already a queue. Probably it's their spring holiday so many kids packed the place despite a weekday. Each day, there's only 4 allocated time to enter & tickets had to be purchase upfront at Lawson's Loppi machine. Adult price is 1,000 Yen.

 

I love the display cabinets outside where I snap all the cute Doraemon toys & related merchandise while queuing. No photography is allowed inside the museum, except for the open area. At 2pm, the door opened & a museum's guide spoke in Japanese to give a brief intro & advice visitors to get a set of the headphone before proceeding.

 

After getting my English language headphone, I realised that I had to finish touring the place accordingly before I could go to the Doraemon Café on the top floor! Alas, hence I could not get a Cafe's queue ticket first. I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibit as I saw 3-D animated Doraemon by peering into the screen. It's a sequential animation, very cute! Besides Doraemon, Fujiko also created other animations such as Q-taro before Doraemon was born. Coming here is really a dream come true for a true-blue Doraemon Fan like me!

 

 

 

I had always been amazed by the unlimited creativity of Fujiko for developing so many gadgets in each episode of Doraemon's cartoon. I finished the museum in an hour & went to the café to get a queue no. Oh no, it stated that the minimum wait would be 120mins! Ok, so I went on to check out the outdoor area amidst the drizzle. The museum even allocated staff to distribute umbrellas for visitors, so thoughtful! Of course, I was thrilled to find the 'Anywhere Door' in the park! This gotta be one of the best gadgets of Doraemon!

 

 

There's a take-away area for snacks & purchase of Doraemon Dorayaki. I went to buy two of them to bring home. I went back to the café & it turned out to be a much longer wait... by now, the drizzle had turned into a thunderstorm! I was blessed that I managed to get the 2pm slot, instead of the 4pm. Else I wouldn't get a chance to take photos of the outdoor area! I spent my time browsing the Japanese doraemon manga at a dedicated corner & trying my luck at the capsule toy machines. But alas, I didn't have much luck in getting a Doraemon toy! There's also a merchandise store which was packed by all the visitors.

 

Finally, after 3hrs wait I got a seat in the Doraemon Café! I ordered an Ice Chocolate & a Matcha ice-cream with Dorayaki. Woohoo! I was like a kid happily taking pics of my lovely desserts. An aunty working in the café even offered to help me take a pic with my food. Despite the cold rainy weather, I still enjoy my dessert. Thou I would say these are rather costly.

 

After leaving the museum, I made my way to Shibuya & shopped around despite the heavy rain. I stopped by a ramen shop for dinner & the Pork Ramen served with nicely done tamago was simply oishii! So nice to have a bowl of hot ramen in this cold & wet weather. As it's getting late & shops starting to close, I could only return to my lodging to rest.

Day 8: Exploring Hakone & Tokyo Night View

Rise & Shine! Following last night's scrumptious dinner, the breakfast was equally good & there's a spread to select from! For the first time, I had some porridge to go with all the various side dishes. I have half day to explore Hakone & decided to start off early. It's super convenient to stay at Gora, I highly recommend this location as this is the interchange to transfer to the ropeway.

 

From Gora, visitors have to board the cable-car for a 9min journey to Sounzan station & transfer to the Hakone Ropeway for the continuing journey. I alighted at Owakudani Station for a stroll up to the volcano. It's an active volcano which was spurting sulphur! There were volcanic black ice-cream & eggs being peddled in the area but I didn't try.

 

 

Using the Hakone Free Pass, it was really convenient as it allows you to use any mode of transport freely. I continued my ropeway journey to Kojiri-Togendai to board the 40min cruise to tour Lake Ashi. I was hoping to catch sight of the elusive Mt. Fuji on the ropeway but the foggy weather had totally concealed it! The lake view was lovely & I did some panorama shots while waiting for the cruise.

 

The cruise was decked out nicely too & I was busy taking photos on the deck plus enjoying the slow cruise journey. I alighted at the first stop ~ Hakone Machi & took me some time to locate the Old Hakone Checkpoint. I toured thru' the exhibit & exit thru' to the Cedar Avenue. It's a whole stretch filled with cedar trees, however I didn't proceed to walk the path as I was not sure how long it would take me to complete & it just seems too quiet. 

 

I took a return journey on the cruise & it stopped at the 2nd stop ~ Moto Hakone to fetch more passengers. I didn't dropped by here as I estimated time would probably be insufficient as the cruise only runs on hourly basis. Hakone is really huge & the travelling journey turned out to be smooth as its various transport system works in sync together. I got back to Gora station super late at 3pm.

 

I was famished & randomly picked a traditional 2-storeys restaurant nearby for a quick late lunch. My lunch was simple Japanese fried rice but it's really well-cooked! Maybe I was too hungry! I descended the mountain by catching a rail back to Odawara. From Odawara, I boarded the Shinkansen to Shinjuku JR. Phew! I was glad I made it in time as I had booked an apartment hotel in the area & required me to check-in by 7pm.

 

I felt very lost in Shinjuku which was such a huge station & has so many exits! Luckily, the station master kindly led me to the elevator when I query how to get to the South-East Exit. Never would I thought cutting thru' the platform would get me to this exit! So I tried to remember as I would be using this exit for next 3 days.

 

After I checked into my smallest lodging so far, I went out for dinner at the nearby Takashimaya. It's actually very challenging to find a budget accommodation in the heart of Tokyo, the rooms were tiny & costly! Since I had stayed in Asakusa on my first night, I decided to stay in Shinjuku for convenience sake. I took a long & slow stroll walking from one end of Shinjuku Station to the other end, easily 30mins! I couldn't find the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building & had to check with one of the local.

 

Ultimately, I reached TMG building which is one of Tokyo's landmarks with an observatory on the 45th floor. There's a bag check at the security before one can take the elevator up. I was captivated by the beautiful night scene & my sight was locked on the seemingly far Tokyo Tower. As I do not have a tripod, it was a challenge to stabilise my dslr & shooting thru' the glass panels. For tonight, this was my only To-Visit place hence I could take my own sweet time to nail my ideal shot!