Flower petals in the air (Part 2)

From Yatamaga, we took the bullet train to Akita City. For those who are unfamiliar with the name/location, it is a prefecture  is well-know for its Kanto Festival and delicious apples! Our sole purpose here is to make our way to Kakunodate which is samurai town famous for its weeping sakura trees!

It was afternoon when we arrived at Akita City. We rested for a while before exploring the town. It was more modern-looking as compared to Yamataga with shopping mall and other high rise buildings. It kinda of remind me of Sendai. We went to the nearby park - Senshu Pasrk  to explore. The nice thing about Japan is that every town has a park near the station. The sakura was in full bloom. It was such a pretty sight. These are some of the shots we gotten in the park.

Pathway lined with sakura trees at Senshu Park

Birds in trees

Kubota Castle

Fun fair stalls

When night covers the park like a blanket, it is totally another scene. Japanese folks gathered together with families and friends after a day of hard work for flowers viewing. This is what they called yozakura (literally night sakura). They will bring their own mats, food and drinks with them to enjoy the blooming flowers. It is really a lot of fun to be eating and relaxing under cool spring night under the sakura trees. 

A lot of stalls selling snacks

 Temporary paper lanterns hung for the purpose of yozakura

Castle at night

Singapore Airline (SQ) promotion to Japan!

Attractive SQ promotion to many countries, including Japan. So we have a chance to visit Tokyo,Osaka and Fukuoka at a reduced price, meaning more savings for quality time in Japan!

How cheap are the fares?

- Flights from Singapore to Tokyo / Osaka starts from  S$748* (1 April to 31 July 2014*)
- Flights from Singapore to Nogaya / Fukuoka starts from S$788* (1 April to 31 July 2014*)

*Restrictions apply. Do check up details at Singapore Airline Website

(Photo credits: Singapore Airlines)

I'm not sure how long this promotion will last. But if you are thinking of a trip to the Land of Hello Kitty (that is what I refers my favourite country as to my friends) to view sakura, you should take action right now. Remember I mentioned in my earlier post that the entire sakura season is technically from March to mid May though the peak is probably from March to early April.

Disney - happiness everywhere (Part 1)

I have a lot of happy days in Japan... I dun really recall any boring moment except maybe a tinge of loneliness when I visit Tokyo Tower by myself one evening...

There are a lot to do in Japan and very yummy food too.. One of the best part of my Japan trips is spent at Disneyland and DisneySea. It's a must do for me in Japan. I love Disney! And so does the Japanese. So far I have not yet visit the theme parks on weekends to avoid the crowd but somehow it's always crowded whenever I go and I estimated that there are more domestic visitors than international tourists. Goodness these Japanese kids don't need to go to schools??!

Show time!

Can you guess who they are?

The first time I visited DisneySea was with my good friend - YY. She wasn't so keen to visit Disney since she visited the parks previously. It was only after I agreed to go to Puroland (Home of Hello Kitty!) with her that she would go with me;p (ya... I bought a lot of Hello Kitty stuff under her influence :))

There was merry music in the air. The staff dress up in kawaii clothings and looking very cheerful at their jobs. If you get lucky, you will sometimes run into some of the famous Disney characters at the park. Most of the times they are rushing between shows but they will usually grant requests for photo taking whenever possible.

Signing autograph

Giving a lecture?!

YY, being an experienced visitor at theme parks, taught me how to plan our rides and shows so to maximize our pass. We will look through the floor map (getting a map of the theme park is very crucial) and locate the popular attractions that we want to visit. Usually the queue at these attractions is very long, about an hour or so. Of course we wont wanna waste our one queuing up for so long. Good thing there is such thing called Fast Pass.

Fast Pass basically allows you to skip the  normal queue to any attraction (though you might still need to queue a bit for some really popular attractions but the queue is usually significantly shorter!). The only catch is that there is a specified return time window that you can use the Fast Pass (one hour) so you need to make sure that the time slot works for you and you cannot take another Fast Pass until this time slot is over. We basically take a Fast Pass for the popular attractions and queue for the less popular attractions prior to the time window. Good planning of the route helps too!

The Top 11 Tips for Life & Love

1. It hurts to love someone and not be loved in return. But what is more painful is to love someone and never find the courage to let that person know how you feel.


2. A sad thing in life is when you meet someone who means a lot to you, only to find out in the end that it was never meant to be and you just have to let go.


3. The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.

4. It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives.


5. It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone, an hour to like someone, and a day to love someone - but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.


6. Don't go for looks, they can deceive. Don't go for wealth, even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you smile because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright.


7. Dream what you want to dream, go where you want to go, be what you want to be. Because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.


8. Always put yourself in the other's shoes. If you feel that it hurts you, it probably hurts the person too.


9. A careless word may kindle strife. A cruel word may wreck a life. A timely word may level stress. But a loving word may heal and bless.


10. The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.


11. Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss, ends with a tear. When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you're the one smiling and everyone around you is crying.

Shibuya - Shopping (Part 4)

It was only during my fourth visit to Shibuya that I discovered the Disney Store. I wasn’t particularly looking out for it and it was not really mentioned in any tour guide (not that I read a lot of them though). But you won't miss the store even if you see it from a distance. I mean, who can miss a castle in the midst of the buildings. Yes, the Disney Store is really in form of a castle. Take a look at the photo below if you won't believe me.

Disney Store at Shibuya

For those friends who decide to give Disneyland/Disneysea a miss but still like to buy some Disney merchandises, this will be a place to fulfill your wish. There are all sort of Disney goodies inside, like stuff toys,  stationaries, clothings, mugs and etc. I'm sorry that I was too focused on doing my shopping that I forgot to take much photo :p But this also tell you that there are indeed quite a fair bit of things that you can buy there. One thing that you might want to take note is that you can also purchase tickets to Disneyland/Disneysea from  the store. This will be useful for people who want to make a dash for the rides at the resorts and don't want to waste time queuing up for tickets.  (P.S. So far I have always made a trip to either Disneyland or Disneysea everytime I go to Tokyo. And I'm thinking that I would want to stay at the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel during my next visit so that I have the energy to explore both Disneyland and Disneysea concurrently.)


(P.S. This is totally irrelevant but I just read that my fave show at Disneysea - BraviSEAmo! will end on November 13, 2010)


Other than Disney Store, I also like to shop at Tokyu, OIOI and Seibu at Shibuya (other than the small clothing boutiques).You may wonder what is so special about these departmental stores as you may think that departmental stores in Singapore should be about about the same (since we have quite a few Japanese departmental stores like Takashimaya and Isetan). My friends and I agreed that the way the products are being displayed in the departmental stores is so stylish that it is indeed a delight to simply do window shopping even if you have no intention to buy anything. (Things there are more pricey as compared to Singapore but the quality usually makes a product a good buy)

OIOI

A shopping street at Shibuya

To sum up, Shibuya is really a place for ladies who love fashion and good food. Of course, men are very welcome to join us as well :)

Shibuya - Mark City (Part 3)

Sorry for breaking the Shibuya entry into so many parts. Firstly it is because I have spent a fair bit of time in Shibuya and hence would like to share more stuff on Shibuya. Secondly it is because I am rather busy so instead of posting one entry per month like what I have done in the past, I hope to update my blog more frequently. Hence my posts might be shorter but my blog will be updated more frequently.


Back to Shibuya, I think most tourists more familiar with Shibuya 109, Tokyu, Starbuck@ Shibuya Crossing and etc. Some people might not know of Mark City which is situated next to the JR Shibuya Station. This is actually consist of 2 buildings with the hotel building "East" and the office building "West". Mark City opened in 2000 and their main audience is the women.

Exit from JR Shibuya to Mark City

As mentioned, the main audience of Mark City is women, so we expect to see lots of stores for (apparels and accessories) as well as restaurants and cafes. I will recommend a visit at Mark City in the afternoon and take the opportunity to enjoy a cup of coffee and some nice desserts for a lazy afternoon.

Some nice pastries at a shop that specialises in chocolate items

Yummy

A cafe in Mark City

Everytime I go to Mark City, I will surely go to Cold Stone for the yummy ice cream. I think its the best ice cream I have ever eaten Tokyo. *slurps. For interested parties, Cold Stone is located on Level 4 of Mark City. Exact address is as follow:

Shibuya Mark City

Restaurant Avenue 4F

1-12-3 Dogenzaka, shibuya-ku, 

Tokyo 150-0043

Exit from Mark City into the streets.

Outside the Mark City, you will find yourself out on busy streets. Take a walk around the area and you will find all types of stores such as pharmacies, sports, restaurants and etc. To my pleasant surprise, I actually found an outlet of my fave donut - Krispy Kreme. Gosh.. it was a real treat for me. I went in and got myself a chocolate glazed donut. Yummy! It is actually in cafe setting so you can sit down and enjoy your donut over a cup of coffee if you want. However, I was rushing to the Disney Store that day so I did not take that option.

Restaurants at the street near Mark Street

My all time fave donut

OK, folks. Stay tune for more of my adventures at Shibuya...

Shibuya, Tokyo - My fave spot in Tokyo (part 1)

Shibuya, Tokyo... well well.. I think this will be a long long post.. So i decided to break it down into 2 or 3 parts. Recently a friend asked me to suggest places for shopping in Tokyo. She was there for business and only had 1 day for shopping. She wanted to buy Burberry Blue Label clothings as well. So I suggested for her to consider making Shibuya the main target for her shopping day on the following 2 main reasons:
1) My friend is a sophisticated working lady in late twenties and the type of fashion that Shibuya can offer is suitable (of cos you must be willing to pay)

2) There is a Burberry Blue Label  between Omotesando and Shibuya. Omotesando has all the designer stores which meant potential shopping opportunities!

Other than shopping, there are actually a lot of nice food in Shibuya (including my all time fave - Krispy Kreme!!  But I still think that the best Krispy doughnut I have ever eaten is in Sydney).

Lets start by the most obvious landmark in Shibuya which is the Shibuya Crossing just outside Hachiko exit (There is a story behind Hachiko.. I'm sure most pple will know so I shall not spend too much time on this.. basically it is about this faithful dog who had been waiting for the return of his master - Prof Ueno who had passed away for many years. A statue of a dog has been set up to honour this wonderful dog for his faithfulness). A unique feature of this Shibuya Crossing is that when the traffic stops, the pedestrians can cross in any directions at the intersection.

A photo of the Shibuya Crossing taken from the second floor of the famous Starbuck

A lot of travel guidebooks will recommend tourists to do people watching from the second level of Starbuck at the Shibuya Crossing. I tried and I like it. I have done it a few times by now. But it is kinda hard to get a window seat as you can imagine the high demand after this activity has been made famous in travel guides.

I took a video of the Shibuya Crossing when traffic stopped and crossing took place.

Behind the Starbuck is HMV, music lovers can chill there for a long time. You can buy some good Japanese music there which you cannot find back at home. If you explore further behind HMV, you will discover a lot of fashion stores as well as nice eating places.

A photo of the shopping street at night.

Lot of stores at the alley behind HMV

My current fave ramen stall at Shibuya

Yummy ramen.. *slurp

K.. i shall stop now.. Shall continue again...