Summary of Japan Trip (Nov 2009)

Here’s a summary linking up all the posts related to our 18-day Japan trip in November 2009.

The posts with asterisks was updated with some videos after it was first published. Do go see!

Japan Trip: Day 18 (1 Dec 2009)

We ended our last day in Japan by visiting the main observatory of Tokyo Tower.

Surprisingly, it was not conveniently located near any metro station and we had to walk for awhile to get there.

At the observatory, there is sufficient information displays to inform visitors of where to look for specific buildings/districts. There are also a few transparent see-through panels on the floor for you to look right down the tower.

That’s all for our 1st Japan trip…(visit again next year – 2011?)

Japan Trip: Day 16 (29 Nov 2009)

On the 3rd day before we ended our Japan trip, we visited Asakusa where the Buddhist temple Sensoji is located. It’s a no-brainer to get there – simply alight at the Asakusa station and walk~

Enjoy the video that G put together!

At the Kaminarimon entrance gate, there were many rickshaw-pullers offering guided tours (in Japanese I suppose). Everyone was also taking photos at this symbolic gate which is synonymous with Asakusa!

Entering the Kaminarimon finds you in the shopping street, Nakamise. The street is dotted with shops selling traditional knick-knacks and also snacks. I bought a wasabi senbei (or rice cracker) to munch on and it tasted really plain so I’m not too sure what’s the appeal! We didn’t take many photos here but on hindsight, we should have taken more shots of the shops!

At the end of Nakamise is the 2nd entrance gate, Hozomon. At that time, the main hall was under renovation and so, the scaffolding obstructed our view of the temple.

Then, we went to Ueno Park.

Japan Trip: Day 14 (27 Nov 2009)

When we arrived in Japan, we had bought tickets to the Ghibli Museum for today’s admission at 10:00am. The tickets had to be bought in advanced and there is a limited number of tickets per day.

We took the JR Chuo Line and alighted at Mitaka station. Although there’s a shuttle bus (200 yen single trip / 300 yen round trip) from the station, we decided to walk to the museum as we read that it is a rather enjoyable walk and doesn’t take very long.

It was a bit confusing as we didn’t know from which direction to start walking, even with the printed map from their website. We almost started towards the wrong direction but eventually, we got our bearings right and onto the correct path. There were also signs along the way which directed us to the museum.

The museum is located within Inokashira Park and it was pleasant to stroll in the park.

At the entrance, we were greeted by Totoro from behind the booth. It was quite difficult to get a good shot due to the glass reflection.

The tickets to the museum are in the form of a real 35mm film strips and there are different designs based on film scenes from Ghibli movies.  Nice for keeps! We started our visit watching the special short film at the Saturn Theater. I forgot the title of the film but it involves characters from 2 separate Ghibli movies (Totoro and Ponyo).

Unfortunately, photography is not allowed within the museum so no photos to share. I should have taken more photos at the outdoor areas…*regret*

The museum is quite small but nevertheless, it was quite interesting to see some real drawings,  and get to know the tremendous amount of efforts put in to create the lovely animations on screen!

Japan Trip: Day 13 (26 Nov 2009)

After our somewhat disappointing visit to Tokyo Disneyland yesterday, we headed to Disneysea today. From what we have read, most visitors find Disneysea to be better themed and more fun for adults as compared to Disneyland.

We alighted at Maihama station and realized that Disneysea is located at some distance away. Seems that most visitors take the Disney Resort Line to get there, but we decided to save on the ticket fare and walk to the resort. A single trip costs 250yen and a day pass is 650yen.

Anyway, turned out that it’s really not that far to walk – took us about 15mins, after asking for directions and following other people who looked like they were also going there. It was a hot and sunny day and I was melting when we reached the resort.

The resort is divided into 7 ports of call.

Here’s the Mediterranean Harbor, and you can see the volcano (part of the Journey to the Center of the Earth ride) at the end.

We boarded the Renaissance ship later in the evening and there were some cool scientific displays in it. We found many people “camping” at the top and shielding themselves from the cold wind, while waiting for the Candlelight Reflections show to commence. It was interesting to note that they were well-equipped with mats, blankets, snacks, etc!