Wednesday, December 20, 2006
konnichiwa! i'm back from splendid Japan. aww, sad. this entry won't be a short one, might be a long one. i'll just key in whatever i remember, not in order.
I'm soo amazed by the Japaneses' disciplined actions at public transport. They queue in a straight line outside the Disney Resort Line awaiting an empty train, unlike here in S'pore, they "gather" around the exit. -.-" Japaneses also allow the commuters to alight the train completely before entering the train, unlike kiasu Sporeans who chiong in. Japaneses are very honest people, even if you place your few thousand dollars camera above the seat, on the baggage shelves, they won't take, least touch it if you were sleeping soundly. They are very polite too. In japan, I don't mind seating in between 2 people side by side in the train as they only seat in 1 seat, giving you ample seat; back in spore, they place bags, occupy 2 seats per person. Oof, enough of it.
Tokyo is really a shopper's paradise. Their variety of goods just amazes you. Gatsy wax apparent has 4 series in Japan. The Basic, Camouflage, UNO, Moving Rubber. In Singapore, the wax you see are the basic series. Of course, I bought some. ;) Oh yeah, I bought a small tin of Gummy Gum Wax for... SGD22. Heehee. It's expensive for that miserly amout, but it's powerful. And I mean it.
I also learnt that Japanese youth cut their own hair, trimming, layering and thinning. There's no barber, no cheap hair shop. A simple Wash, Style and Cut costs SGD52. Cool eh.
I was expected to see the northern lights, yes.. I did see it, but very very very light. That was on the outskirts of Hokkaido, in the early morning. Not sure whether it was the lights or the morning sun. Well, too bad. Oh yah! I collected 5 bottles of snow. 1 for yexi, 1 for nicole, 1 for Donna, 1 for Jillene and 1 for me! :D
I loved the food there. My family ate a 150 dollars crab. Lol, a really huge crab, breeded in freshwater in Russia. I've had Kobe beef for the first time too! Yummy!
It was maeh maeh's 2nd Birthday yesterday. Happy Birthday Maeho-san. I <3 you. My da-jie also got me a Graniph T-shirt as my christmas present, thank you!!
Oh yeah, my mummy bought tonnes and tonnes of chocolates. Royce chocolates are merely 9 bucks, comparing to 22 dollars back in Singapore, it's cheap. I so loved Tokyo, the people and the culture. Of course, there's always a bad side of every country. The ah bengs and ah lians there are cool. They have an identity. Like for example the tanned girls. They are real tanned, wearing white powdered eye shadows and powdered their tanned face. They dress the same, in a big group. Cool eh. There are the bathroom slippers gang too. Their wear sleeping wear/pyjamas and bathroom slippers. Cool~ The staff service at Ginza(a long road of branded goods, like Prada, Gucci, Coach, BVLGARI, Burberry Blue/Black Labels etc, etc) suck to the core. They don't give a damn to you. They entertain those real taitais. My mum's not a taitai. At the adidas store, I even have to search for the own shoe size myself as the staff "instructed" me to do so. Surprising eh? At Burberry shop, the staff didn't even greet my mum and I. In an attempt to spite the staffs there, my mum snapped up a handbag in less then 10 mins. Immediately, their attitude changed. Lol, very surprising right. I didn't really see or experience any good service from any staff there.
My tour guide's a cool and jovial middled aged singaporean lady. She had been living in Japan for over 20 years, however, she's still so aunty-like. Her name's Margareto-san. Lol.
Oh, never underestimate the Tokyo train. There are 2 companies, 6 kind of lines and more than 10 types of train on 1 line. It's so easy to get lost in Japan. The train tickets are very costly. Averaging 6 to 7 dollars a ticket, a one-way journey only. Some long distance ticket cost up to 15 dollars. Crazy price. Singapore's cheap. The train rides are long, averaging 1 to 2 hours. From the center of Tokyo to Narita airport, it's 3 to 4 hours. Lol. Train fares are way cheaper than bus fares. 1 bus ticket costs SGD32.40. HAHA.
I enojyed this trip alot. It brought my family closer.
Photos will be up soon. For sure!
Domo arigato gonzai-mas Nippon!~
p/s: I experienced snow-falling. Caught snow with my tongue. Filled snow bottles, enjoyed a white Christmas. ^_^ mmmm, i'm lovin it
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