Japan Day 2: Tokyo - Shinjuku - Osaka

Day 2 in Tokyo starts with a hearty Japanese breakfast of course!

We went to a small 'japanese fast-food' breakfast shop. The above picture are just "add-ons" to make it feel more breakfast like! We ate rice actually!
i think the japanese cannot live without eating rice! hahahaha

After breakfast, we checked out of our hotel and went to Shinjuku area to purchase our Nozomi Train tickets to Shin-Osaka.

This is the outside of JR Shinjuku Station (obviously!)

and this is the 'key' to our locker! In Japan, there are lockers everywhere in stations!
it's totally convenient and safe lor! especially useful for lazy people like me..and Pingu! hahahaha! we have left our purse, passports, ipad, phones and it's all safe! (not that i encourage keeping valuables in lockers though)

this is the street just outside the Shinjuku station where there's a row of shops called kin-ken-ya selling 'discount tickets'. for further info on this awesome info that i am talking about, please see here. We got our tickets for 12,950yen instead of 14,050yen per person! a savings of 1,100yen per person!! Isn't that awesome??

snacking japanese crepe by the road! yummy!! but it was sooo expensive!! about 500yen!

Udon for lunch that we bought from a vending machine! super yummy and simple food!!

and i went to Tokyu Hands to buy lots of cute stuff also!! forgot to take pictures though..

this is our Tokaido Shinkansen Nozomi train tickets to Shin-Osaka!
we took the fastest of the fastest bullet train in Japan!!

❤

N700 is the series for the fastest of the fastest!!
we reached Osaka from Tokyo in about 2.5 hours!

We then found our way to our hotel for the next few nights which is awesomely cheap!!
We stayed at the dorm of Hotel Chuo Selene that cost us only an average of 2,150yen per night!
it was just 30 seconds from the Exit (1) of Dobutsuen-mae Station, Midosuji Subway Line!
that is why we chose it! hahahhahaaa

We had our dinner at one of the alleys nearby our hotel

along the way, we found this cute statue Billiken that the Japanese believe as God of Fortune and so we touched it body, rubbed its feet, and took picture with it!! i think Pingu looks exactly like the statue lor...right?? right??? hahahha especially the EYES!!!

On our way back to the hotel, we passed by a Takoyaki stall!

These are balled shaped Japanese snacked filled with grilled octopus which originates from Osaka!! dont eat also must eat... just because the stall operators are pretty and fun!

Our meals for the day:

L: Gyudon Beef Rice for breakfast (of course that's not mine!), Udon and Soba noodles for Lunch

R: Kiwi Crepe and Kebab for snack

Dinner at the back alley that we went starving and just pick and point from menu:

Clockwise from L: Kushikatsu dipping sauce & vege, mashed potato & Onigiri & Prawn chicken roll, 'something' with fried egg, Unagi Tamagoyaki, Beef wice and fried chicken keel

that's all for our second day in Japan.. stay tuned for our third day in osaka!

Japan Day 1: Tokyo - Asakusa

i know i know... this is a long overdued post..... but still... here goes..

Our flight to Tokyo Narita Airport departed from KLIA around 11.30pm on 16 November 2011.

Pingu and I had the chance to experience Plaza Premium Lounge at KLIA prior our departure because i have just got my Citibank Platinum card! yay!

Being in the lounge was definately better than loiterring around the waiting area.. but it was not as exclusive as we have thought it would be. Food there was not as grand as expected... and it was crowded there as well... So we just ate our dinner and we went out to join Yn and Lee at Mc D's!!

Our flight took about 7.5 hours and it was not the most comfortable flight ever due to my own issues of sleeping in the plane... we were thankful though that we flew with MAS..at least we had food and unlimitted drinks... with blanket and pillows...

Right after touching down in Tokyo, we went to the washroom to clean up and beautify ourselves. We bought the Keisei Skyliner ticket to Ueno Station, which is nearby to our first destination, Asakusa. We also bought our 1 day unlimitted passes on the subway from Narita Airport too as it cost only 600 yen instead of 750 yen as it was meant for tourist.

**Tips: Please BUY the unlimitted subway pass at Narita Airport

At the Keisei Skyliner boarding platform. It took approx 30 mins for us to reach Ueno. It was quick but it wasn't cheap though... Totally worth it as we dont need to carry our luggage through so many trains and the train service is super punctual! Perfect for our return journey too as it was a morning flight and waking up in the wee hours in the morning will be a torture easy for us!

On board the Skyliner and Ohiyo from Japan!!!

When we reached Ueno, we had to take the local train service to get to Asakusa. This was our first and many more rides on the local train later. The ticket was very small and it was fun figuring for the first time how to purchase the ticket from the machine too!

At the Asakusa Station exit which is nearby to our Hotel!! It was quite cold as you can see from Pingu's jacket that i was wearing...

We found our hotel which was like 1 minute walk from the station exit. Left our luggage there in the lockers and went roaming around Asakusa while waiting for the check in time which is at 3.00 pm.

One of the very famous place to visit around there is the Asakusa Temple (Sensoji Temple).

After the big red lantern, there are lots of small shops selling souvenir and traditional Japanese food. Please note that you are only allowed to eat at the boundary of the shops selling the food. Visitors cannot eat the food while walking to ensure cleanliness of the area. i forgot about this warning from my friend and ordered TWO icecreams on a cold almost winter day! *greedy but it was totally worth it lor.. cause the black sesame and green tea ice cream was sooooooo good!

At the entrance of the temple there is this water feature where you can wash your hands and rinse your mouth before entering the temple. it's for some goodluck or cleansing thing apparently.

At the entrance of the temple, you can find some Omikuji stalls. These are are random fortunes written on strips of paper where we can get it by giving a small offering and shaking a box containing numbered sticks while making a wish/question and taking out the fortunes by the same number from the mini drawers there.

This is the Omikuji i got for Fredonia... seeking Love! hahahhahaa.. and it was a super good fortune so i brought it back and gave her as a gift! and.... i think it's accurate leh... now that she's in a relationship already!! yay!!

Pingu also did one and i guess it wasn't a really good one.. so he folded, tied and left it at the speacial place indicated. The reason for this custom is the idea being that the bad luck will wait by the place rather than attach itself to the bearer. So yay! bad luck left at the temple to be blown away by wind...

We were all waiting anxiously for 3.00pm to come as we were all sleepy and tired from the night flight.. so when the time came, we went back to out 'little hotel' for a nap.

This is so far where i had the BEST sleep in Japan... it was super comfortable despite the fact that it's like a coffin size! choy! these are called capsule hotel and Capsule Hotel Asakusa Riverside is one of the few that caters for ladies as well.

After our nap, we went for dinner at around 8pm.. hahahahaaa... we had super good sleep!
Dinner was at a 'mamak stall' just at the corner of the building.. dinner was awesome!!

The first meals we had in Japan..
L (Lunch): udon; katsu don  
R(Dinner): yakiniku, ground beef rice, gyudon

We went sightseeing in Giza.. just like Bukit Bintang with all shops like Pavillion and Lot 10 standard.. no Sg Wang..

We also went to the Shishedo store.. where you can try out the make up items.. ELECTRONICALLY!  like if you try a pallet with eye shadows, blusher, lipstick.. when you scan the barcode at the computer, and stand right in front of the screen...tadah! you'll get a full face makeover!

Nissan gallery @Japan...

Bought this cake from Little Baum Tree shop. It is actually baumkuchen, a German kind of layered cake that has made it big in Japan .

So after Giza, we went back to the hotel to bathe and sleep. Let me eleborate more of the hotel here.

When we checked in, we have to remove our shoes and change to the hotel's indoor shoes and lock our shoes in the lockers provided. Each person is given a locker to store personal belongings. We were given towels and pyjamas set. Girls and guys occupy different levels!

Bathroom is a common bathroom separated by gender. The guys one i heard was outdoor (gasp!) and had good view! But the catch is, you have to be naked! FULLY TOTALLY NAKED! hahahahhahahaa.... and that apply to the ladies too! wtf!

i thank God that we went to Japan in pairs! I cant imagine if i had to experience this all by my own! it would be terrifying...

So yennee and i took our towels, toiletries, pyjamas set... and went to bathe.. not expecting to face the communal bathroom on the first day itself!! (we knew we would experience that at Hakone) When we reached to the bathroom, i thought, wah, one cubicle so big hor!... but ONE only ah? aiyah.. so mah fan.. need to wait for turns lor... so i slided the door..thinking i would step into another bathroom area....

GASP! i quickly closed the door.. and said to yennee,"eh, got one naked popo bathing inside leh!!! OMG!! then both of us are like kaypohchis keep on peeping that popo bathing naked! hahahahhahaaa

so how??? we have never bathed naked with others before in our lives!! as much as i am very close to yennee, we haven't bathe together before okay!!! we didn't know what is the procedure we should follow... what to bring in.. where to put the towels... whether should we walk in naked or remove our clothes inside... OMG!! we were so stressed and yet so funny... so we 'geladah' that popo's stuff left outside in one of the basket.. and we became instant expert!

so we stripped ourselves naked... and with a small mini face towel, we tried our very best to cover our pride and shame! hahahahha.. quickly ran into the bathroom and sat down... i was damn paiseh.. but act selamba jer.. proceed to copy how the popo bathed! hahahha.. one thing i totally loved about japan is everywhere you stay, cheaper hotels like this to expensive ones, they provide good quality shampoo and body shampoo.. by shishedo lagi!

there you go, our first day in Japan... first 100% Japanese meal, first Capsule hotel experience and first time bathing naked with others!! i shall end with this... taken inside my cubicle :)

finding the best sunblock

just today, michele asked us to recommend a sunblock for her to use...
this triggered me to write this post.

in 2010 i had a terrible incident with my sunblock which i wrote about it here, since then i started paying a lot attention to what i put on my face everyday. NO MORE OVERDUE STUFF!!

i found a really good one for my oily pimpled skin... Briore UV Perfect Face Milk! i was using it for almost 2 years! it was that good. coverage was good at SPF 50+ PA+++ and my skin condition improved tremendously!!!

then like beginning of last year, i found that Biore launched a new product. Biore UV Aqua Rich Wattery Mousse. i felt my skin condition has improved and the Perfect Milk began to feel a little too drying for me. (old age probably too). so i changed to this and feel quite okay with it...although i felt it's a little too heavy for me.. (used to watery ones ma)..

when i went to Japan in Nov last year, i found my TRUE LOVE!!!!! when i saw the word 'watery essense', my eyes shone and immediately tried it on and FELL IN LOVE! OMG! it feels like water...no, COOL water!! and the fresh citrus smell was superbly refreshing! and my skin is not dried up nor pimply oily!! wow! wow! wow!!!!! super recommended lor....

i bought two tubes back and was superbly worried when my friends who are supposed to visit Japan in July postponed/cancelled their trip! where am i going to get the stock?? and then, when i was searching for it one fine day, i realised, it's available in Malaysia already!!! WAHAHAHHAHAHHA!!!!!

so my friends, this is one product i super recommend!

beach getaway

whoa... time flies.. we jsut came back from this

to this

FOL!!

pictures of redang coming up soon...

Paying taxes and feeding fat corrupt politicians

Every single time I had to do any government related applications, I never fail to complain!

What the hell! I am paying for taxes and they hire incompetent servants to give shitty service to the public!

Today I am here at Putrajaya to do matters pertaining to 6P and i am pissed off!

First they send me on a hide and seek game! I got an appointment today and they changed the venue! What the hell! I had to walk all they way back to my car and then drive and locate the place. When i finally found the place, the nightmare began.. No parking! Man I circled the building and went on the super big round about about 4 times! No parking unless you're willing to park on the road side (which I heard later that the police came and issue summons!wtf! Already not enough parking space some more wanna summon!)

So the kiasu me decided to park at Alamanda shopping mall! I figured I could definitely get a taxi there.... On my way there, I saw the park and ride sign... An initiative of the government to encourage people to park their cars and ride the bus. Wow I thought....can save some money leh... Take bus or taxi from there lah.... When I reached there, I found out that it still requires payment to park at the open air car park!

I might as well park at Alamanda, which is covered car park and have air cond for me to walk through instead of baking myself under the sun. So after parking my car, I hopped into a taxi that charged me super expensive without using the meter. I could refuse, but all I want is to get to the bloody KDN ASAP.

Reached KDN at 10.30am and all I can do is wait... Wait.... Wait... And wait! The queue numbers are in no chronological order so I have no idea when's my turn! When I ask the staff, all I get is YOU WAIT LAH

My turn for the officer to check my documents finally came at 2.30pm. I was relived when they called my number... But my happiness is short lived when I realize that was only to check my documents! WTH! Now I have to wait again for interview session!!

I foresee that I would have to camp again when paying for Levi, camp again for fomema, camp again for submission of doc... Camp for every single damn step that I have to pass through to get the permits out!!!

What a waste of time!!!!