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..