Home sweet Home

Finally back from my Japan trip, it is really a wonderful and fruitful trip. Got to see an apple farm, pear farm and best of all - lot's and lot's of golden rice field! really beautiful especially in the morning and during sun set.

We took a total of 1000+ photos and 1½hr video shot and Mum is going to spend some time sorting them out and not to mention editing those photos and video!

I am not having easy time either. Missing school for 5 days and lots of homeworks to do and spelling to learn but bird got to eat, children got to study. So no excuse, work hard lor...

mum's worse dinner experience...

Had Ramen near my hotel but was greatly disappointed with the food and service... The shoyu ramen indeed tasted like "shoyu" and when Mum asked for a fork & bowl for me.

The waitresses hear her request but didn't responsed with any expression of "Yes/NO" or "I don't understand..." (Mum's sensed something is wronged as it is unusual for such behaviour) She just moved away to another collegue and speak aloud in mandarin "我不知道她要什么" immediately, Mum waved to her attention and make her request in mandarin for a fork and bowl for me. Then she looks atonished but came back with our order and said "Doozo"... what is she trying to prove or show-off? her japanese lang? or What?

FYI, most Restaurant in Japan that we have tried will provided us with untencils for kids without the need to ask. Some even go to the extend to ask if we need "rice" for my child and speak in my language - mandarin "饭" and he is definately a Japanese chap unlike that "great pretender chinese waitresses".

This lesson teached me that NOT TO PATRONIZE RESTUARANT SERVING “中华料理”

Odakyu Playground

A rooftop playground located at the 9th floor of Odakyu Department Store. I've a fun-filled play at the playground with my new found friends...what a day!

shopping and playstation

no more buying TOYS! haiz...so just window shopping and photo taking lor. Saw my favourite ---> Buzz's light year from TOY Story but no...ooooo again. NVM, take a photo also can.

Another of my favourite pastime in Tokyo was "Free play with the Playstation" and I am getting better and better after each try...hee! hee!

Curry Rice

We did some light shopping before deciding what to eat for lunch and thought that we haven't try "Japanese Curry" and there are few eatery serving curries and we finally decided to have JAPANESE CURRY RICE. The picture on the right is the Vegetable curry (pix on the right) that Dad's had ordered and he had taken a mouthful already and the picture below is the Pork curry that Mum's ordered. They are simply delicious and we didn't get to eat such tasty curry in Singapore. All I can say, these chef really put their heart & soul when prepare food for their Customers. Even those containers for the condiments on the counters look pretty and neat. Mum can't help herself and got to take a photo of it. See!

Shinjuku

I see COKE vending machines everywhere I walked in Tokyo. This is my favourite "pastime" popping coins in these machine and BOOM! coke... Qoo... coke... Qoo...

We are walking to 歌舞盯街 aka "redlight district", btw "Mum! what do you mean by redlight district?" Anyway, nothing much to see - at least for me but Dad being very nice, spotted a Haggen Dazs Ice-cream vending machine so he gave me 260Yen and BOOM! a cup of Cookie N Cream flavour for me! Thank U, Dad. You're the best! (despite knowing well that Mum has strongly disagreed to buy) Hmm...YUM!

Shinjuku

Breakfast at a cafe, nearby to our hotel. Our yummy breakfast is served...oops! sorry, I already took a bite, just can't wait. I hope to eat bread serve in this manner but just too bad, we can find such thick slice of bread in my Country. In Singapore, we are only serve in the bread that are thinly slice...oh well, enjoy the most and est as much as I can before going back home. Very
soon right? nineteen days already? so fast? why can't we stay longer...?

dinner at Sapporo

Had a great dinner at Sapporo Noodle Restaurant near the 109 or Shibuyu Station. We ordered our ramen thru the vendeing machine. Dad had 扎桄拉面 and Mum had 九州拉面 and within minutes 2 bowls of popping hot noodle were served.

Each bowl cost around 850Yen and the broth are different, the one that Dad ordered was the pork bone broth where else the one Mum ordered also in pork bone broth but a little spicy (guessed spicy miso was added).

The Japanese guy is so heart warming that even ask in mandarin (caught us by surprised) if we want "rice or 饭" for our son.

It is a pity our prince was not in the mood for anything...and he indeed missed out the tasty noodle that we had.

back 2 Tokyo - Shibuya

As we need to reture our car around midday so we travelled back to Tokyo via the highway, pass Ute??? （于都宫）and Sano then finally reached Tokyo. Dad sent us to our hotel first before returning the car. BTW, he had a hard time locating the car rental company... We had some snack at the McDonald as I asked Mum the night before while watching the TV commerical to get one of those "Pokemon" flash card and my request is granted.



Upon filling our stomach, we took a train to Shibuya and we taken aback by the hugh crowd waiting at the predestain crossing...it is NO joke. People can easily lost each other among these crowd while crossing. I better hold on tight to avoid losing my Mum and Dad.

nikko - the next morning

Rise and shine, check-out at 7.30am and made our way to 东照宫 and people in the shrine are busying with preparation for some kind of praying ceremony about to take place as straw mats are spreaded on the floor, poles and strings are line on both side of the walkway. Spend some time around the compound before heading to our final destination in Nikko, the sacred brigde（神龙桥）The bridge just completed it reconstruction and opened to public for visit. I even made a wish before crossing the bridge and hope it will come true...upon crossing over, we took a stairs leading downwards to see the construction of this magnificent work of art. What an amazing sight!

Bye-bye Nikko...leaving for Tokyo soon.

Day 5 - Inawashiro/ 五色湖/ Nikko

This photo was taken in the next morning (about 6.30am) from our hotel, you can see Mt Bandai slowly emerged from the cloud. Had our breakfast in our room, sitting on the tatami mat first time experiencing eating like a Japanese, like those I saw in Japan hour. Cool!

After checking out, took a few pictures and headed to the nearby supermarket to buy some sandwiches for our road trip to Nikko, just then Mum spotted a poster showing the stew pork set at take-out place called hokkahokkatei and bought 2 bento (stew pork for Dad and fried rice for me) set as our lunch.


The stew pork bento is new item only available from Oct 1st. We are in luck!

Dad drove us to the nearby lake Inawashiro hoping to find a rest area for our lunch, unfortunately, there isn't any rest area and it is very windy and cold. So we decided to sit in our car to eat our lunch instead. We don't mind as long as we can enjoy the scenery and food as a family. While eating, I stood outside our car and despite it is a sunny day, the temperature outside is around 10ºc but I simply love the cool wind and weather!

After lunch, we headed to 五色湖 or Lake Goshikinuma and Marshes of Urabandai Area. It was known that the colour of the lake change due to the chemical when the light shine in. The colour of the lake will appear differently depending the time of your visit.

more on Nikko

After leaving the carpark of Goshikinuma Lakes and Marshes of Urabandai Area, Dad found lots of chestnut scattered on the side of the road. He went to pick some for souvenir. Dad's finger nearly prick by the shell when he tried to pick-up.

Our next destination is Nikko. Both Mum and myself sleep most of the journey and only to wake up just after exiting Nikko toll station. Mum always thought that Nikko is a quiet, small peaceful town but she was wrong. It is a bustling city with lot ofcommerciall activities.

There was some traffic jam and we can't locate our hotel. So Dad stopped to ask a kind lady from a restaurant and she gladly show Dad the way but Dad still didn't get what she is saying but nonetheless, we saw what she describe and found our dear cottage hotel. The hotel prepared a 1 bedroom with private bath/shower room for us on the second floor of the main building. It is a clean and spacious room.
This picture on the left, a cottage style, it is the private onsen for guest to enjoy 24/7. At about 9pm, we went to check out the outdoor onsen but as the water temp. is 41ºC which is way too hot for me so no choice but made our way back to our room to enjoy Japanese bath in our room instead. This is one of the best time I look forward, bathing with Daddy...in the hotel.

nikko - after check-in

After we put down our bags in our room, we drove to Lake Chuzenji. It is a yet another peaceful and tranquil town to visit, there are small traditional wood crafting shops, food eateries, cafe too. We reached there around 4pm and Dad took plenty of nice photos to capture this remarkable moment with Mt. Nantai acting as the back drop. Next, we headed to Ryuzu falls (龙头淹) it is almost sunset but Dad still managed to capture few good shots and everybody are so enthusiastic and immersed themselves around the atmosphere, nothing is going to dampen their spirit but enjoying fully in this fall season in Nikko.

Day 4 - Highlight of our trip, Fall Colour...

Bright & shine, not really...weather forecast said that a thick fog today so Dad's is a bit worry. But, the fog cleared up pretty quickly and after driving for half an hour, we reached Fukushima area and saw a big farm and plenty of apples and apple trees! It is a product shop and we ask permission to take some photos.

Stop for restroom and buy drinks/snacks for our road trip to Nikko while Dad is reviewing which route to take, highway or drive thru the mountain region. Since our time permit, he chose to drive using Bandai Azuma Sky Line, It is a toll road run through Azuma mountain range. The road is 28.8km long and on the average 1,350M above sea level. Along the road there are scenic spots such as Jododaira (浄土平) and Azuma-kofuji (吾妻小富士) as well as koyo (colorful leave). That's what all our trip about - our first fall season in Japan!

The colour of the leave changes as we drove along. we stopped at a rest area for Dad to take some photos...he is totally amaze with the fall seneary before his eyes.

We drove for a while and found many cars ahead of us moving very slowly uphill and we can see people walking at the mouth of volcanic wasteland, it's called 吾妻小富士 or Mt. Azuma Kofuji., standing at 1707 sea level (above 6000 ft.) There is a zigzag stairsway leading to the top and we didn't want to miss the fun so we park our car and join in the fun.

Mum & Dad had a hard time keeping up with me and Mum is suffering from height anxiety, difficult with her breathing and sharp piecing pain on her left ear. Poor mummy!

After treking down back to our car, we continued our route trip to Inawashiro. I fell asleep in the car but I miss the gorgous rice field scenary just before we reach our hotel. It is really turn into golden colour during sunset. But Dad captured the moment in his camera.

more on Inawashiro

This is the photo of the rice field taken during sunset in Inawashiro. Along the way from after Tokyo to Inwashiro, we saw many farmers busying harvesting their crops. Dad had captured and video the scene of their harvesting process as I was still asleep in the car...

After checking in our hotel, we went for our dinner at a nearby town about 15mins drive. The raman is a chain store from 喜多方 or kitakata. Initially we intend to drive to 喜多方 about 40 mins away from Inawashiro but due to limited time and we are leaving for Nikko which is the other direction so we skip 喜多方. Luckily, we found this food outlet to meet our craving. The ramen is super and inexpensive too! Mum especially love the preserves vegetables and rice. Simply delicious she said. I love the Gyoza and had been eating lots and lots it, hmm...YUM!

Mum even bought a box of ramen from this store to cook in Singapore. Great!

Day 3 - Sano and Koriyama

Woke up at 6am and check out our hotel at 7am and walk to collect car at 7.15am. We are given a Honda Jazz, it is a blue colour (colour that my Dad dislike most) but very comfortable and cozy for us. Mum always prefers Honda car so nothing to complaint about.

Drive straight and exit Tokyo via highway and luckily not much traffic jam but the toll can kill you. Make our first stop at the rest area, it was very crowded but a spacious one with a food court, supermarket, bakery and vending machines for hot/cold drinks. We saw some family bought their own breakfast bento/coffee and sat on the bench provided outside. So good!

Dad bought Mum's her favorite "Tonkotsu sandwich" or pork cutlet sandwich and a packet of Meiji milk for me. When I drink, it was not chocolate milk, it is coffee milk so Mum took over instead...too bad! I like to drink coffee too!

more on Sano/Koriyama

After driving for 1hr & half, we finally reach Sano. Pay the toll and exit to Sano town, it is a big and quiet town and we saw a big signboard showing Sano Premium Outlet on the left and a hypermarket, Juscos and shopping mall on the right. It open 24/7 and Aeon - I guessed it is a shopping mall. Lot's of thing to see, buy and eat.

We bought some apple juices and sandwich (pork/salad in white sesame bread) to bring to Sano Premium Outlet.


Outlet Shopping in Japan is never cheap as compare to States but still can have great find if you are lucky. Mum's bought a Oakley slipper and Dad's got a few polo t-shirts from timberland.

Nothing for me but I had fun dressing up for halloween for a free Polaroid photo with Mum.

One thing that Mum's like the most about travelling in Japan is that it is such a child friendly country. The Nursing Room/ Baby Bed/ Restroom are so spacious and clean, mothers can nurse their baby in clean and nice cubicles and there are "baby rest" in the restroom - meaning mothers with children below 2 can rest on the seat provided on one corner of the cubicle while waiting for their mother. This is what I don't find in Singapore.

In the past, Mum always need to look for toilet cubicle that is big enough to accomodate me & the stroller. But now I am older, I can just wait for Mum while she goes to the restroom. There is even a diaper vending machine!

Oh yes! A playground for the restless kids but I didn't get to play...too late, must move on to our next destination, Koriyama. Oh! I did have my long awaited ice-cream from the food court while Dad's shop in Addidas outlet!

We left Sano and found a Ramen place called SanoIchban located not far away from the outlet and stopped for our late lunch before continue driving to Koriyama, our hotel for tonight. The weather is turning much colder as compared to our previous nights. We are heading towards the northern part of Japan in the directions of Sendai/Hakodate.

Day 2 - Asakusa/ Ueno/ Harajuku

It's was a nice and sunny weather, a bit chilly in the morning thot, but I love it. This is what I can't enjoy in tropical country.

We headed for Asakusa after our breakfast in Denny's Restaurant near our hotel. It was peak hour when we boarded our train but the crowd started to lighten after Tokyo Station...great!

Not far after entrance, I saw a samurai sword and bugging my parent to buy but they asked me to wait till our next stop in Ameyoko where I will get to see and buy more toys. It was known as a black market after WWII but now it is more like a wholesales market selling all kind of stuffs - fresh fish, vegetables, fruits, dried food stuff and clothing/bags and etc...

Upon reaching Ueno Station, we saw a HRC and Dad bought a T-shirt for me as souvenir. After crossing the street, we saw a panda mascot distributing flyer, I ran straight and ask to take a photo.

At the entrance of Ameyoko, I dozed off shortly after resting on my stroller, didn't missed out anything since those stuffs are mainly for Mum & Dad but Dad is starting to feel the pressure as he can't seem to find any samurai sword...Mum was teasing Dad what happen if there isn't any toy to buy and how he is going to break the new to me...

At about 2pm, Mum & Dad had more or less finished their shopping and looking for a place for lunch but Dad still hasn't found any sword for me...so they tracked back a little to Ueno station and at that very moment, Mum's heard a boy crying very loudly and didn't want to leave the building. It was a 6th storey high bldg selling game and perharp toys.

So, Dad went in to search for my sword and came out with nothing. But, Mum didn't give up, she saw someone coming out from an elevator on the side, so she presume that maybe the toys are located on the upper floors and not basement. True enough, she got me a samuria sword and a toy gun! Dad was relieved. Mum woke me up and showed me what she has got for me. I woke up immediately and was very much delighted to find my toys.
Finally, Dad can have a nice tasty lunch with a happy and delighted kid.

After lunch, we headed to the Ueno Park for a stroll. You will get to see people busking in the park. We saw a group of "Red Indians" playing the flutes and dancing and singing away. It is really nice and the sound coming out from the flutes really can help one to forget their troubles and worries. We feeled very peaceful and calming listening to the music.

We slowly walked back to Ueno station and headed for Harajuku area. At Harajuku station after crossing the road, we reached the Takeshita Dori (Takeshita Street), saw a handful of cosplay and gothic teenagers but didn't get any chance to take photo with them. Upon exit, we headed to Omotesando at about 4pm, we shop a little at the Gap store but I dozed off on my stroller again. The sky turn dark quickly and the wind is very chilly, Mum & Dad can't since to find any resturant they fancy so they decided to head back to Ikebukuro for dinner instead. As I still hasn't gotten enough "beauty sleep", I woke up feeling very cranky but soon give in to Mum's command.
Place that I missed in Harajuku/Omotesando is:

Kiddyland
- located at 6-1-9 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku. Tel: 03-3409-3431. Nearest stn: Meijijingumae, exit 4. Open 10am-6pm daily.

Hakuhinkan Toy Park is located in Ginza area (8-8-11 Ginza, Chuo-ku. Tel: 03-3571-8008. Nearest stn: Shinbashi, across from Ginza 9. Open 11am-8pm daily) but since we didn't had enough time to visit Ginza and too expensive to shop anyway, we skipped.