Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Japan October 2013 - Tokyo (Day 2)
Ended the day a tad early yesterday as we were all a little zonked. Started the day today at 0730.
We had a simple breakfast which was provided by the hotel. It's really simple. Basically had some rice balls and bread options. The Toyoko Inn in Hokkaido had a better breakfast selection but well, as long as the food is decent, one can't quite complain.
After breakfast we got on our way to Yokohama. This is like the first time I get on a really crowded train in Japan. Can't be helped since it's still peak hours and we were headed towards Shinjuku whcihc is only the busiest train station in the world. That said, it was only about 4 stops before enough people got off that we managed to get seats. Not gonna happen in Singapore at 0830 in the morning on a weekday.
Our main reason for going to Yokohama is to visit the Chinatown there (my friend's request) so the first thing to do when reaching the station was to figure out how to get to the Chinatown. We could either take the train for a couple more stations or walk approximately 4KM. Since we weren't exactly rushing for time, we decided to walk. We started off in the wrong direction though so it took a bit getting back on the right track.
We walked along the portside area and managed to pass by the amusement park with the Ferris wheel. We were too early though and so we didn't go into the amusement park (we weren't really planning to anyway).
At this point in time, I did not notice that we were near the Cup Noodle Museum, so we continued on to the Red Brick Warehouses which houses restaurants and shops.
I think this place must be quite happening at night. There are quite a few interesting shops in there and one can easily spend some time and money here. We decided to have lunch there as well. I had crepes for lunch. The set that I bought allowed me to choose another crepe as a side... so I ended up eating two crepes!
When we finished lunch, I realised that the Cup Noodle Museum was actually back where the amusement park was... and here I made the first mistake of suggesting we go back there before going to Chinatown as the Cup Noodle Museum closes at 1700hrs. When we reched the place.. I was like.. why is there no one? Then I checked with my friend who confirmed that today was Tuesday! The Cup Noodle Musuem is closed on Tuesdays. I had seen that on the visitor's guide but the fact that today was Tuesday didn't quite register.... Oh well.
Nothing to do but to move on to Chinatown. Along the way, we passed by the Yokoham Stadium as my friend's husband wanted her to get a shot of the stadium and buy a J-League jersey if possible. It was too early for the stadium to be open though so the jersey was a no go.
The stadium is actually very near to Chinatown so from the stadium it was only another 5 to 10 minutues before we got to Chinatown proper.
This is definitely a shopping area and filled to the brim with chinese restaurants. We spent a few hours walking around and all three of us ended up with shopping. Seriously, no one was spared. I even cleared out Coco Ichibanya furikake and tamago nori furikake from the Daiso there.
We also found a Guan Di (关帝) Temple there, and so we had to go visit it. We first noticed the gate over the street leading to the temple and then stickers on lamp posts along the way.
After that we walked some more to try to find the Mazu （妈祖） temple that was indicated on a sign at the Guan Di Temple, but we couldn't find it so we left it at that and continued strolling in Chinatown.
When we were done, we caught a JR train from JR Ishikawacho station back to Tokyo Station. The JR pass seems to be paying off quite well so far! I believe the first time that we have to pay for transport in addition to the pass fees will be tomorrow when we go to Puroland. Tokyo station. Where you can just about get any omiyage worth telling people about. It's a huge station and shopping area to boot. As I had been requested to buy Tokyo Banana, I picked up two boxes at Tokyo Station. I wouldn't have bought omiyage here since it's only the start of the trip.. but then.... oh well.
Tokyo BANANA!!! The print version is so cute!
We wanted to have Mac's for dinner but the mac's at Tokyo Station was quite crowded so we ended up eating udon.
Don't be too surprised. This is the food after it has been rendered to my tastes.. (meaning all veges removed).
Quite a nice day today. Walked alot. Bought a bit. Ate yummy food :P
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We had a simple breakfast which was provided by the hotel. It's really simple. Basically had some rice balls and bread options. The Toyoko Inn in Hokkaido had a better breakfast selection but well, as long as the food is decent, one can't quite complain.
After breakfast we got on our way to Yokohama. This is like the first time I get on a really crowded train in Japan. Can't be helped since it's still peak hours and we were headed towards Shinjuku whcihc is only the busiest train station in the world. That said, it was only about 4 stops before enough people got off that we managed to get seats. Not gonna happen in Singapore at 0830 in the morning on a weekday.
Our main reason for going to Yokohama is to visit the Chinatown there (my friend's request) so the first thing to do when reaching the station was to figure out how to get to the Chinatown. We could either take the train for a couple more stations or walk approximately 4KM. Since we weren't exactly rushing for time, we decided to walk. We started off in the wrong direction though so it took a bit getting back on the right track.
We walked along the portside area and managed to pass by the amusement park with the Ferris wheel. We were too early though and so we didn't go into the amusement park (we weren't really planning to anyway).
When we finished lunch, I realised that the Cup Noodle Museum was actually back where the amusement park was... and here I made the first mistake of suggesting we go back there before going to Chinatown as the Cup Noodle Museum closes at 1700hrs. When we reched the place.. I was like.. why is there no one? Then I checked with my friend who confirmed that today was Tuesday! The Cup Noodle Musuem is closed on Tuesdays. I had seen that on the visitor's guide but the fact that today was Tuesday didn't quite register.... Oh well.
Nothing to do but to move on to Chinatown. Along the way, we passed by the Yokoham Stadium as my friend's husband wanted her to get a shot of the stadium and buy a J-League jersey if possible. It was too early for the stadium to be open though so the jersey was a no go.
The stadium is actually very near to Chinatown so from the stadium it was only another 5 to 10 minutues before we got to Chinatown proper.
We also found a Guan Di (关帝) Temple there, and so we had to go visit it. We first noticed the gate over the street leading to the temple and then stickers on lamp posts along the way.
After that we walked some more to try to find the Mazu （妈祖） temple that was indicated on a sign at the Guan Di Temple, but we couldn't find it so we left it at that and continued strolling in Chinatown.
When we were done, we caught a JR train from JR Ishikawacho station back to Tokyo Station. The JR pass seems to be paying off quite well so far! I believe the first time that we have to pay for transport in addition to the pass fees will be tomorrow when we go to Puroland. Tokyo station. Where you can just about get any omiyage worth telling people about. It's a huge station and shopping area to boot. As I had been requested to buy Tokyo Banana, I picked up two boxes at Tokyo Station. I wouldn't have bought omiyage here since it's only the start of the trip.. but then.... oh well.
We wanted to have Mac's for dinner but the mac's at Tokyo Station was quite crowded so we ended up eating udon.
Quite a nice day today. Walked alot. Bought a bit. Ate yummy food :P
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