And so we went off on our own to Tokyo on Wednesday!
We took the Keisei Subway line first thing in the morning from Narita airport direct all the way to Nippori station in Tokyo, after which we immediately transferred to Ikebukuro, where our hotel, Sunshine City Prince was. Must be quite a spectacle, 4 foreigners hauling 4 huge luggages through the crowded station. The 3rd most crowded (and complicated) station in Tokyo apparently, after the Tokyo and Shinjuku stations.
A typical densha (electric train) station in Japan.
The view from inside the train. This was taken just after the rush hour, so we were lucky to escape the canned sardines feeling. Lots of ads hanging from the rails! One thing that impressed me - no one talked on their mobile phones in the train! Although I don't see the reason for doing so (I suppose its irritating to some), it really contributes to a relatively peaceful train ride.
Ikebukuro, outside the station! This became our home in Tokyo, walking through the same street every morning and night. Although not as hip as Shibuya, there's alot of small shops that sell all kinds of stuff hidden in the narrow alleys! I found 2 used CD shops (where I spent most of my free time), a guitar shop, a tiny ramen stall, lots of Pachinko shops and random others from porn to Italian cuisine. Aside from the huge Mitsukoshi, Seibu and HMV stores of course =)
After checking in and settling down we headed down to Shibuya for some retail therapy.
The famous "Shibuya crossing". Hordes of people!! Irrespective of the direction, whenever the traffic stopped everyone just poured onto the road, crisscrossing here and there.
The famous Shibuya "ichimarukyu" 109! 7 floors filled with ladies fashion from top to bottom! And there's a 109 for guys too haha.
I just had to take this. Hahaha.
The not-so-famous Hachiko statue! The story goes something like this - Hachiko was a dog who followed his master every morning to Shibuya station to send him off to work. One day his master died, but he never failed to show up at the station every morning, hoping to see his master, until he himself passed away. After he died the residents of Shibuya built a statue to remember the dog's loyalty and love for his master!
A "Safe & Clean" campaign, featuring YUI! The lamp posts were blasting her songs throughout the streets of Shibuya. I was kinda puzzled with the connection though haha.
The skies turned dark as I explored Shibuya. Didn't really buy much stuff since most of the things there were geared towards the ladies and the really fashionable (neither of which I belong to). I did pop into the major record stores Tower Records and HMV though. Its a unique concept really, individual buildings owned by entire stores with multiple floors catering to their customers. You simply don't see that in Singapore, everything's located inside a shopping mall. I suppose its the lack of land here (but then again, Tokyo's not exactly spacious either lol).
After that we went to Roppongi Hills for dinner.
A great view of Tokyo Tower from the top of Roppongi Hills! Besides being known for its nightlife, pubs and clubs, Roppongi Hills also hosts most of the foreign embassies.
Which is probably the reason why I saw this:
ZOMG CARROT CAKE! HOKKIEN MEE! CHICKEN RICE!!!! At horrendously inflated prices.
We dined at Hard Rock Cafe Tokyo.
The huge beef burger I ordered. Finally, something sinful after all that super healthy Japanese food. Muahahahahaha.
There were lots of foreigners (i.e non-asians) hanging around the pubs and clubs - I spotted Americans, British, Russians, French, and some others which I couldn't identify the languages.
And so this concludes part 5!
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