Japan, here I go~ Part 2

Day 2

It was a chilly day, so we decided to go Odaiba for our first stop in Japan. We took the trains from Asakusa all the way to Odaiba, and a few things that I noticed about their train system is that it is fast, on-time and efficient. Same as the bus, the train ride is quiet and passengers are not allowed to pick up call in the train or even use their phones if they are near the priorities seats. Oh yeah, their train tickets can be purchased using a vending machine or if you are like me, you can buy a Suica or Passmo card through the vending machine and use it to pay for your tickets. Not just tickets, the card can be used in convenient stores, vending machines, taxi and buses as well. Convenient!

ICOCA and Suica card, a better implementation than Touch N Go.

"Mamonaku, Tokyo teleport". That means, next station, Tokyo teleport. And with that, we have reached Odaiba.

First thing we saw in Odaiba, the fuji TV station! 

First, we went to the Diver city. Shopping around, not buying anything because we have no idea what to buy and were under budget constraint. Had our first meal (proper meal that is) in one of the malls.

Curry Gyu Don if I remember correctly.
Photo by: Ang Kaifen

Aside from having very polite waiters and waitresses, I have also realized something. Customers in Japan are so cooperative and polite as well! They will clean up the mess and return the used bowl and cutlery to the counter before leaving, thus ensuring the tables are always clean and ready for the next customer.

Something about this picture just look so satisfying.. 

More shopping later, we came across a Burger King. They offered a Kuro burger, means black burger in their menu and we decided to try it out.. Luckily, it did not disappoint.

Kuro Burger. It doesn't taste as bad as it looks.

Last but not least, the most famous attraction by Diver city, the ginormous Gundam statue! It is said to be 18m tall and its model is called RG 1/1 RX-78-2 Gundam Ver. GFT. I;m not a Gundam fan myself, picture taking like a tourist~

A giant robot stands right outside the mall.

Walking around in Odaiba, it was sunny and I'm not sure about others, but I was sweating and getting really uncomfortable.. But the quest of finding miniature statue of liberty must go on! More walking later, we found it!

Hah! There it is..
Photo by: Tzer Maan

Group-fie! From left to right, yours truly, Tzer Maan, Jia Wee and Kaifen on the bridge leading to the statue of liberty.
Photo by: Tzer Maan

It was getting dark and we were tired from all the walking. Thus, we decided to try out the famous onsen (hot spring in Japanese) in Odaiba.. It is called Oedo Onsen Monogatari.. Stepping into the onsen, I was stunned by how its interior. Sure, I've seen videos and vlogs about the onsen, but experience it myself, it was stunning.. For some reason, it was quiet that day, so we didn't need to queue up to enter the onsen. First we paid the entrance fee, and off we go to choose our yukata~ 

Oedo Onsen Monogatari in Odaiba. I missed their Digimon theme decoration. *Sad panda*

Row of vending machine is not a rare sight in Japan. And they will change the item displayed on the vending machine depending on the season too! How cool is that?

Ladies and men will then being separated into different changing room where guests are required to strip down to their underwear before changing into the provided yukata. Being a Malaysian, that was definitely very awkward, but I wasn't going to waste time on that! Off we go to the main area of the onsen where there are food stalls, carnivals, drinks, chilling area and much more.

The main area of the onsen. Please excuse the image quality.
Photo by :Kaifen

Yours truly in my choice of yukata~

Us, in our yukata, having a foot bath!
Photo by: Tzer Maan

Time to get into the wet zone. You know, public bath that is. Despite the awkwardness that we were about to see each other naked (reminder, men and women have separate bath), we wanted to experience things that we can't find in Malaysia. All but one girl, Ang Kaifen! She refused to go into the bath no matter what! And I actually spent half an hour persuading her that it is a nice experience and it's a big bath, so the chance of bumping into Jia Wee is next to nothing. Much saliva was drained and finally, FINALLY she decided to try it out. And guess what? She took the longest time to come out from the bath! Hahaha.. While waiting, of course we take some pictures together..

And here is the picture.
Photo by: Tzer Maan

Spent our time there until around 9pm before we decided to walk to the train station. The onsen is quite far from the train station, Tokyo teleport, but the weather was nice to us. It was breezing ever so slightly making the walking experience very enjoyable, plus there was no vehicle on the street and only a few pedestrians. We talked and sang loudly on the street, enjoyed the night view of Venus fort before heading back to our ryokan.

Tried the shaved ice there, it tasted normal but the portion is huge.

Venus fort, a complex with everything from wax museum to Toyota car showroom.

And once again, oyasumi, minna..

Japan, here I go~ Part 1

Day 1

This is it! After months and months of planning, 14th of September. Me, together with Kaifen and Jia wee took the bus from Premier hotel to KLIA2 and met up with Tzer Maan at 12.30pm. First meal of the day, Marrybrown of course! Chilled around for a bit, and at 2.30pm, off we go to the long awaited Japan!

Planning stage....

From the left, yours truly, Kaifen and Tzer Maan.

The flight is not enjoyable to say the least, but for a budget flight, it's as comfortable as it can get. A few hours into the flight and I got to know the passenger beside me, turns out he's from Cheras (a place around 30 minutes apart from my house) and owns a shoe business. He explained that his son is working in Japan and that he is invited to visit his son every year, all travelling cost beared by his son. Aww, that is so sweet. Anyway, nearing the end of the flight, we took a selfie (using his phone unfortunately), he gave me his business card and welcomed me to call him should I need anything. Such a lovely guy.

Nice view from Airbus by AirAsiaX

Arrived in Tokyo Haneda at around 10.30pm and I instantly fell in love with their airport. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Observatory deck at Haneda airport

And of course not forgetting, selfie..

Don't think I need to say anything about their toilet, it's so advance and automated. We actually take turns to go in and take photo and shout like a budak kampung. Hahaha.

First thing to do in Japan, take picture like a sampat in their toilet.

No train services were available and taxi services cost around 10k yen. This lady in the information counter is helpful enough to help us find a limousin bus which cost us around 1860 per pax to reach the hotel opposite to our ryokan. The bus ride is so quiet and only our conversations and laughter can be heard. Didn't take photos along the journey because I was stoked with the jam-free and cleanliness of the city. At around 2.30am, we finally reached our ryokan and unfortunately, that is way past our check in time. Wandering around, having no idea what to do, and accidentally met this couple, who worked in a restaurant right around the corner and happened to know chinese. They helped us get in touch with the receptionist of the ryokan and a few forms later, check in successful! Thank you Mr. Lim!

Ice cream vending machine in the train station! Cool~

Since we are tired and hungry from all the travelling, we decided to explore the area and do some convenient store hunting. Tzer Maan and Jia Wee both got a bento from a 24 hours stall whereas Kaifen and myself, a dorayaki each from the nearest 7-11. Speaking of that, their 7-11 has everything, including magazines, google play and itune cards, rice and noodle sets, and more! On top of that, the cashier is SO friendly and passionate about his job position.

Look at the items sold in their convenient store! Just look at them!
Photo by: Kaifen

Here's basically what happened during payment, first he greeted us (in Japanese so I have no idea what he said) while we hand over the goods that we want to buy. Then after he finished scanning the goods, he will tell the price which is displayed on the machine as well. So we hand over the money, he will confirm the amount of money that he received from us and put them into a money counting machine. The machine will spit out the change and the cashier will count the money in front of us. Finally, together with the receipt, he handed over our change and express his gratitude. All that with a smile on his face. Wow! And not just 7-11, all the payments that we did throughout Japan, they acted the same plus or minus the money counting machine.

Khaosan Ryokan at Asakusa, comfy but smell of tatami..
Photo by: Kaifen

Back to our ryokan, we gobbled up the food and played some games, and that's bascially it for our first day of Japan trip. Oyasuminasai!

This is me

Hi Blog.... Gosh this is awkward.. Anyway, this will be a post about me setting up my blog and it's basically a test post.. 

So, a little bit about myself.. I'm an Electrical and Electronic Engineering student in Nottingham, recently got my Master degree and currently pursuing PhD. Aside from that, I'm basically half bucket of water at everything else.. I know a little bit about piano, photography, singing.... and drawing! I love drawing! Here are some of my proudest work, not my original work though.

Greymon, from the Digital Monster Adventure
series, drawn and colored using pencils

Blastoise, from the Pocket Monster series, drawn and
colored using fresh paint from Windows 8

I always wanted to have my own blog, a place where I can just spill everything, a place for me to rant about the problems that I'm facing. And I've finally decided to actually to start one today! So I'm just a newbie at blogging, any constructive feedback is welcomed.

Let's see, what else is there to talk about me? I love travelling.. Been to a few countries so far, Japan being my favorite so far. I'll definitely write up a post for my first ever trip to Japan soon, it was very VERY memorable indeed.

Sneak peak: Akihabara in the morning! So colorful!

I think that's it for now, want to keep it short and simple. Tata~