Thursday, October 21, 2010
tokyo autumn '10: narita - ikebukuro@Thursday, October 21, 2010
Day 1 - Singapore - Narita - Nippori - Ikebukuro (11th October 2010)
My 5th trip to Japan, 4th time to Tokyo, and 2nd time Free and Easy. Itinerary planned by myself. Genius! We left the house around 4am and the roads at night is like a dead town. Reached airport, checked in and walked to duty free and the boarding gate.
Hi hi, Daechul on the travelator. This was about...5.20am on Monday. Did I mention that this was the last time i saw helicopter (fyi, the clip)?
See, its gone! It dropped off at Changi airport. FML.
Anyway, we reached Narita earlier than planned around 1.30pm JP time. We took the Narita Limited Express to Nippori and changed to the Yamanote to get to Ikebukuro where we stayed. And the two people i traveled with thought it was a straight train to Ikebukuro when i told them many times before that it is NOT. Don't listen? Fine. And when we were going to Yamanote we took the wrong side of the train cause someone was very gan jiong. Reach Ikebukuro safely anyhow.
And Sunshine City is so far. I didn't think it was that far. The hotel was kinda difficult to find, cause the directions were so confusing. Thank god all of us speak Japanese, and thank god I at least know how to get to Sunshine! Blindfolded or what, I know how to walk to Sunshine.
Dumped all of our bags and ate in one of the ramen places around Higashi-Ikebukuro, I can't remember if it was called Bangara or Bandara. My memory has failed me. They have an English menu, good for travelers. I knew what I wanted to eat though.
One year is all it takes me to forget how to use this machine. Although we faced this machine almost everyday when I was there last summer. Got challenged again when we went to the Ramen Museum.
Interior.
I had to eat all the Gyozas by myself! Where is Shamayne when you need her.
Shoyu something, Tsukemen (Noodles separated from soup)
This is my mum's. And she finished it in like..5mins.
Tonkotsu Ramen. This is mine and the most expensive. The soup? Heavenly and totally worth it. But I couldn't finish the whole bowl cause I had the eat 5 huge gyozas by myself remember? So I didn't manage to follow what Ohno did on Arashi ni Shiyagare. Next time i go, I want to go with my friends. Cause they all eat pork, and they can eat ramen everyday.
We walked the streets of Higashi-Ikebukuro and the shopping floors of Sunshine60, cause my Sis was damn ON about buying boots. And we're famous at the Ikebukuro outlet of Matsumoto Kiyoshi. My sister and the fountain of coins. I reached out my hand to pay in coins and she reached out her hand for I-don't-know what, collide, coin fountain! And we lost 50 yen(80cents) because of her.
When you go to Japan, the Konbini is a must! I can't sleep on an empty stomach.
My sis tried this brand and also bought Jagabee. I don't like it at all. It looks and smells like Macdonalds french fries, but when you bite into it, it just plain weird.
This instant Clam Chowder is yummy! Great find at the Konbini. Would have been perfect if the Yen was not so strong.
We were bored so, fisheye photographs!
Fisheye Tubs (Daechul) is always interesting.
Labels: japan
