Japan Trip Diary 4 (Day 8 - 10)

Day 8: 18 April 2006

I woke up super early today to try and catch the sunrise at 5 am!!! Think we had soaked too much in the hot spring the night before and felt so hot at night. So turned on the air-con and eventually fell asleep.

The sunrise was nice which I enjoyed from the hot tub. After the soak, I went back for a nap again before breakfast at 8.30 am. Breakfast was really really good. There was grilled fish, porridge, rice and alot of other little Japanese dishes. After breakfast, we all went for our final soak before checking out of the ryokan. (I finally understood why the Japan Hour tour guides never seemed to carry anything around when they go to hotspring ryokans. That's because EVERYTHING is provided there.)

We then took this super cool train (with seats facing the windows) back to Ito. We put our bags in the locker and proceeded to do some sight-seeing around Ito with our Ito Bus Pass. We went to Ippepeki (Lake Biwa) which was a really sad sad place... then to Mount Omuro (a dormant volcano) via chairlift. We walked around the crater top (alot of bugs and very windy... the view was ok... cos it was very cloudy). Finally we rushed down to Jogosaki Coast for a little hike to the suspension bridge. The views were quite nice.

We decided that Ito is not very tourist friendly. First, the travel information people were not very helpful and the buses were really hard to catch.... But the food in Ito itself is super good!

Day 9: 19 April 2006

Today we enjoyed a really relaxing day out in Tokyo. We went out early to try to settle some more issues with the police about my ipod and for the first time, got checked by the police at the train station! (Apparently it's common here - especially for guys so always bring your passport out.)

We headed out to the Ghibli Museum today and I really enjoyed the museum. It was fascinating to see how an anime is being made. The short anime film was also very enjoyable. After the museum, we had pasta at a nearby cafe before heading to Okinimachi.

Okinimachi is THE place to buy all your Japanese snacks. It also has alot of dried preserved Japanese stuff and seafood. I had another small roadside okinomiyaki and also a bowl of salmon sashimi rice which I shared with my friend.

After Okinimachi, we went to Roppongi Hills to the observatory to see Tokyo Tower at night. Praise God! It was supposed to be cloudy and the cost of going to the observatory cost Y1,200. But while walking from the station to the observatory, we saw the tower clearly. It was magnificent. Jac and me were awed. So we took lots of pictures, sat down on the stairs and just enjoyed the sight... FOR FREE!!! Hallelujah!

The girls headed out for karaoke after dinner at this superb ramen place. I went back to the apartment for an early night. =)

Day 10: 20 April 2006

Today we woke up abit later in the morning and headed out to Tsukiji Fish Market. It was M A D N E S S. Why? It was raining heavily and the wind was unbelievable!!! All our umbrellas got damaged on the way there!!! We eventually reached Tsukiji and had this meguro fish slice and fish roe rice and also 2 fried prawns that's super big. I shared this with Jac and we only paid Y1,300 for the food.

After that, we walked through the shops along the market to buy mango pudding to bring back home. We then walked to Ginza... (MADNESS again) My coat, bag and pants got wet! We finally reached Ginza and sought refuge in the train station. Thank God that the sun came out shortly after that!

We then went to book our trip to the Niigata ski resort for tomorrow. The lady told us that there will be snow in the morning (C0oooLLllll!) But the only part is that we have to wake up at 5.30 am!!!

We then went to Muji (3 levels wor) and had D E L I C I O U S beef shabu shabu!!! Wah really good man! And as we were leaving the building, we all got distracted by spectacles... and yah I bought 1 pair. It was really cheap. S$120 for the frame PLUS thin, UV lenses which are ready within 45 minutes.

After that I headed home, packed my bags so that I can have my luggage MAILED to the airport. (VERY HEAVY & rush hour on Saturday morning) It cost Y2,100 to mail the luggage to the airport.