Japan Trip 2012 – Part 1

Just came back with Chibi from the best trip I’ve ever had in my life. It was an absolute adventure! 3 weeks of sightseeing and discovery in Japan and 1 week of shopping and seeing relatives in Hong Kong. The main highlight of this trip is obviously be Japan as it was my first time visiting.

I’ll start off by saying that Japan did meet my expectations and was a super exciting place to check out! I’m glad my first time was with Chibi because I love how we can just freely travel, discovery and experience everything together at our own pace =). It really is an unforgettable experience.

And as you would’ve guessed, we took lots of pictures! Everything was so interesting we just could’nt resist snapping photo’s of just about EVERYTHING. All photo’s shown are in chronological order.

Shibuya

When we arrived, our mission was to make it to Shibuya. It was a bit of a challenge as we spoke zero Japanese, had all our heavy luggages with us and more importantly – it was getting dark! We caught the Narita Express (my first japanese train experience, OMG it was COOL!), but by then outside was already pitch black. However, little did we know that getting dark would be the least of our concerns…We finally arrived to our first destination – Shibuya.

Shibuya station Hachiko exit. Also where the famous Shibuya intersection is. I was blown away when I saw the lights, billboards, people and also Kyari Pamyu Pamyu promoting CANDY CANDY on the main TV advertisment.

The next day we went to a Family mart to buy some breakfast. They have so much variety! Unlike the 7-eleven's in sydney...

Shibuya in the morning. The difference is like Day and Night...oh wait...Duh! But seriously...there's like noone lol

We found One Piece is everywhere! It's definitely the most popular anime right now.

Interesting shops in Shibuya

Hachiko statue. But there's always lots of businessmen around it.

cute Chibi standing next to cute Hachiko bus :3

Really clean streets. Such a pleasure experience

We found a Dragonball drink! Got really excited when we saw it hehe. Apparently there's like 7 to collect and it's random which character you get. We got King Kai X)

Harajuku

Harajuku was a pretty interesting place, it’s pretty much exactly like the way travel guides describe it – A place where you’ll find Japan’s most extreme cultures and fashion styles. Seriously, everyone walking past had one or more of the following: crazy hair, stockings, fake eyelashes, blushings, gothic lolita dress, or some really crazy clothing and accessories. It appears the ones that look odd are the ones who DON’T dress up! yeap, that’s us lol. Harajuku is pretty much a shopping paradise for girls, I wasn’t able to buy much as I wouldn’t even dare to enter 90% of the shops without Chibi. I think she had a pretty good time though hehe.

Takeshita street. This street is like the only place to visit in the whole of Harajuku. Took me about an hour to see everything. After that, it's just waiting for Chibi while standing in the corner looking at weird girls, some good looking, most look weird IMO >D

Omlette lunch at Harajuku. Very yummy

Evangelion store in Takeshita Street.

Awesome infinite mirror reflections of the iconic Emergency warning signs...wow

Back to Shibuya we had sushi train for dinner. It was so cheap! 120 yen every plate. However, I thought it doesn't even compare to the ones in Sydney. But I guess you get what you pay for. There were some more expensive places which we didn't get to try.

When I saw this I thought LOLWTH?! - This needs a picture

Yoyogi Park

One thing I noticed was that all the trees looked dead. We went to Yoyogi Park the next day and it looked like this dead bland open area. We were hoping to see lots of Cherry blossoms as it was the time to bloom. Chibi seemed pretty disappointed and even a little concerned that this might not be what she had in mind. lol no need to worry, you’ll get your dose soon enough!

Yoyogi park. Cherry blossom tree's still in winter hibernation.

Yoyogi Park, more dead trees. Some did start to bloom though.

Afterwards we went to Meiji shrine and Shinjuku to check out the place for the rest of day.

The short ceilings make chibi look really tall. Warning for tall people!

Shinjuku, feels more like a business district.

We had some nice ramen for lunch at Tenkaippin...No wonder chibi couldn't stop eating!

Roppongi Hills/Day out with Brad

We caught up with one of Chibi’s friend called Brad who is also from Sydney and loves sailormoon. Brad was nice enough to take us all around to different places around Tokyo including really obscure ones like Hikawa Shrine (The one Sailor mars’ shrine was based off). It was really great to meet up with Brad as he was the one and only guy who gave us proper support, tips and advices. It felt like it was a long time ago since I switched off my brain as I could just relax and let Brad be our personal tour guide for the whole day. I sure learn’t heaps and that set us up for the rest of the trip and I felt much more confident. Thanks Brad!

Japanese Croissant with chocolate stick inside for breakfast!

Roppongi Hills, couples platform, overlooking Tokyo Tower

Arashi TV HQ with a really neat garden outside.

Inside the Arashi TV building, I met Crayon Shin Chan! Woohoo. This guy's my hero.

Then I got Inside a mecha cockpit!

Here's Chibi and Brad posing in front of a Cherry blossom tree. More tree's starting to bloom!

Hikawa Shrine. Chibi was so excited hehe. Though it was really just an ordinary shrine that doesn't have anything sailormoon, it still means alot to her by being there.

Brad treated us to Koots Green Tea dessert. My god this was so nice! Think Meet Fresh but creamier, tastier, green tea and overall just 10 times better!

Akebanebashi, Tokyo Tower (The real one). Chibi thinks any orange communications tower is a Tokyo Tower hehe. Nothing like the real one!

And finally Brad took us to Omoide Yokocho street in Shinjuku. This is the oldest street in Tokyo. A narrow lively alleyway with lots of yakitori places.

That’s it for part 1!