Japan Day 10 - Asakusa & Ginza and Day 11 - Bye Japan

Day 10

Alright! My last full day in Japan was spent in Asakusa and Ginza!

And of course, the first place to visit in Asakusa was the famous Sensoji temple.

And as usual in all touristy places, there were HEAPS of people!

Lots of people going near the incense to take in some… I suppose it brings good luck or something. I’d gladly avoid it though

I also drew a lot at the temple to see my luck

Awesome! I got a “Best Fortune” lot!

Pretty cool japanese slippers that they were selling around the streets near the temple.

And some random street shots

I also had this melon pan bread… I expected to have some melon taste but all I’ve tasted was just sugar. Pretty disappointed.

Saw this snaking queue but have no idea what they were selling. But something with long queue means it must be good! I decided to check it out.

There’s nothing in English on the menu and so I just had the default one, some sort of meat croquette. It was pretty good! I guess it would be better if the weather was cold.

And also the awesome Don Quijote store in Asakusa… This chain of stores can be found practically everywhere and they are always more than 8 storeys tall selling a wide range of things!

Pretty cool street performer near the Don Quijote store.

Time check when I was done with Asakusa: 1PM. With nothing more planned for the day, I decided to head to Ginza. Read that they have a whole Sony building there and hence that was the first place in Ginza I checked out. It was really cool as they also had 1 floor that featured all their prototype products! Was also thinking of buying a new camera there but unfortunately the prices are way higher than in Singapore. Their showroom as below

There was also some exclusive place for Sony members to try out their new Virtual Reality gaming.

I was also lucky to come here on a Sunday as they close the street for pedestrians! 

Besides human, there were also other species shopping around Ginza.

Read on trip advisor that the food section of Isetan there was awesome, and indeed it was! There was a wide range of food there, especially the pretty pastries! I bought myself some rice ball with a whole egg inside. Best I’ve ever tried.

Nothing else there was really eventful though, being an upmarket shopping district and I did not have any interest in buying branded goods. Ended the night buying requested items for friends. Last nice coffee in Tokyo before heading home the next day.

Day 11

My last meal in Haneda airport

The small entertainment system in the JAL plane! I guess its a relatively old plane.

With that, I ended my trip in Japan. Goodbye Japan!

Until next time, Japan! Some after thought is that I’ll probably not travel solo the next time I come to Japan. Best to have a companion to share the good food (so that a variety can be tried) and definitely cost will be lower. Its a nice, clean and safe place to travel to and I’ll definitely re-visit to the less touristy places!

Japan Day 9 - Kawaguchiko (till afternoon) & Akibahara

Day 9

Woke up early in the morning to catch the first bus to the Natural Living Centre (last stop on the red line bus service), keeping my hopes high to see Mt. Fuji today. I’m thankful to myself that I planned an overnight stay in Kawaguchiko, else I would not have the chance to view it.

I know I was in luck when this was the view while walking to the bus stop.

Arrived! Beautiful sight with the Lavender in the foreground

Close up shot

After absorbing the sights, I went to take the Kachi Kachi ropeway, a cable-car ride up a viewing gallery overlooking Lake Kawaguchiko and Mt. Fuji.

On the ride up, was pretty quick to reach the top, probably 2 to 3 mins.

Panoramic view at the viewing gallery

Can’t resist taking pictures of it, just too magnificent

As time is running out (my bus back to Shinjuku is departing at 1340), I went back down to have my lunch before collecting my luggage from my hostel. The sky was so clear that day that Mt. Fuji was in sight everywhere!

Lunch was a tempura restaurant rated number 1 in trip advisor, Fuji Tempura Idaten. It was pretty good for the price.

It was then time to head back to the busy Shinjuku!

For my last 2 nights, I stayed in Nishitetsu Inn Shinjuku hotel. I wouldn’t recommend this hotel as it is quite a walk from Shinjuku station! Room was really small which is normal for Tokyo hotels.

Headed to Akihabara after settling down, by then it was evening time. Settled for a quick dinner at Mcd and tried the famous Pablo cheese tart! Queue was pretty long but fast moving.

Fresh cheese tarts being prepared

The tarts were delicious! But they can only last for 6 hours without fridge and 3 days in the fridge, I was unable to bring them back to SG :(

I then had a quick walk around Akihabara, mainly selling anime stuff which I wasn’t really interested in.

Lots of “maids” inviting you to their cafes

And the shops were closing by 9:30PM! That’s the end of the day. The next day would be the last full day for me in Tokyo where I headed to Asakusa and Ginza.

Japan Day 8 - Kawaguchiko - Mt Fuji

Day 8

Towards Kawaguchiko today! Checked out of the capsule hotel early since I did not enjoy staying there. Had my breakfast and headed to board the highway bus which I bought the tickets for the day before.

The bus ride from Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko took about 1 hour 45 mins. I slept for the bulk of time in the bus. Finally arrived at Kawaguchiko! The first thing I felt after alighting from the bus was that the weather here is nice! Felt like it was about 20 degree celcius.

I stayed at this hostel called K’s House for that night. Top notch service from them, they even picked me up when I called them from the tourist information centre even though I am the only one, and it only costed me 3,300 yen for 1 night! The staff at the hostel also gave me some good recommendations for activities and places to go. Quick picture of the dorm. In the end, only 2 (including me) stayed in this dorm despite being a 6-person one.

I wasted no time going out since this was the highlight of my trip, being able to see Mt. Fuji. Got myself the 2 day sightseeing bus pass for 1,200 yen. This was the bus that brought me around all the different spots around Lake Kawaguchiko.

Had my lunch at one of the sightseeing stops. The cafe overlooked lake Kawaguchiko.

My next stop was the Herb Hall, lots of different plants (especially Lavenders) products here! I bought myself a Lavender ice-cream.

After filling my stomach, I excitedly proceeded to the last stop of the bus (where the sight of Mt. Fuji is supposedly the best), but this was all I saw. The weather was turning bad with lots of clouds! No luck at meeting the glorious mountain.

Disheartened and slightly wet from the rain, I decided to head back to the hostel to decide on my next plan. Since it was rainy and quite chilly, I went to try the Onsen! I planned to go to the Fujiyama Onsen which is near to the Kawaguchiko station, but was too lazy to travel again on such a rainy day. Hence, I went to the one recommended by the hostel, Kaiun no Yu, which was only 5 minutes walk away.

There was nobody there when I arrived! How nice. I quickly grabbed my phone to snap a picture (hence the blur picture) since no photography is allowed usually! Hehe. There are another 2 more hot springs at the outdoor area.

Also recommended by the hostel, I had dinner at a restaurant that sells Hoto, a traditional Japanese dish. Pretty cool setting for a traditional restaurant. There were also a number Japanese families having dinner there too! Quite a good authentic experience.

The Hoto I ordered. It tasted like our Singapore Ban Mian, but with miso soup. It was really tasty!

Ended the night at the large supermarket nearby, and prayed for better weather the next day!