We went Japan this June!
'We' meaning Baby, my mother and me. I did book Coco's flight but she and I agreed that she had much to catch up on her studies so she didn't make it for the trip. It was quite a shame as she would have enjoyed the trip: the refreshingly different and polite culture, the to-die-for exciting rides in the one-and-only Disneysea and the glorious food.
My father is getting frailer after his esophagus incident. He is still not able to eat well nine months after the reconnecting surgery. He decided not to waste my money or 'spoil the trip' by opting out of the trip.
On hindsight, he was right. There was a lot of walking in Japan, which he would not have been able to handle. I really appreciate his wisdom. When in Japan, I found myself going through a fair bit of stress as I had no help except myself. If Coco or another adult were there, he/she could help me remember an exit, or help me find a plug to the kettle, or look out for a toilet for my mother ... I had to deal with all the uncertainties in a foreign land, and at the same time look after the needs of a kid and an elderly who had become as helpless as a baby. If my father had come along, I cannot imagine how much more stressful the trip would have been.
As a result, I missed out some shots that I would have covered if I had not been so busy with the duo. But in all, I did enjoy my trip, stressful and exhausting as it was.
So, the first day began with a 11.55pm flight from Singapore on Scoot (again!).
Baby's carrot stew
My beef casserole
We reached Narita Airport at 10.30am.
This is the ticket office for Narita Express and Suica Cards. Ahead is the entrance to the gate of the Narita Express platform.
As the Airport Limousine Bus did not start operation until 2pm, I bought the Narita Express (NEX) train tickets to take us to Shinjuku Station. 1 adult card cost 2980 yen while a child's card set me back by 1490 yen.
I also bought the Suica Cards at the same ticketing counter at 5000 yen each for 2 adults and 1 child (denoted by '小') for ease of travelling on subways in Tokyo. They work like our EZlink cards. I wouldn't need to worry about buying tickets at different stations.
As our tickets only entitled us to non-reserved seats, we had to look for markings for Cars 1 to 3 on the platform.
The next train left at 11.35am and we arrived at Shinjuku at 1.10pm.
On the comfortable seats of NEX
We found our way, with our luggage in tow, to Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku rather effortlessly with the help of this blog page:
http://gutereise09.blogspot.sg/2008/07/way-to-sunroute-plaza-shinjuku-from.html
A 3-star hotel with very helpful English-speaking staff
Just three words for the verdict: we love it!
You know how finicky a customer I am, but I will definitely recommend it and stay there again if I ever return to Tokyo. The hotel is just next to a subway station, the Toei Line Station of Shinjuku Station, which could be walked through to the main station, just that we never figured out how since we never realised that there was a subway station beside the hotel and the next nearest subway entrance was too elusive for us in the four days that we tried to locate it! We often used the JR Station exit that we had used for the luggage towing on our first day there, but it was no problem for us since it was still near to the hotel. The challenge was finding the South exit at the JR Station though as Shinjuku Station is a huge station with different levels of exits. As a habit, we often walked one level down from the train platform to exit, just to realise that our South exit was on the second level!
The hotel is also within proximity to many good eats, both cheap and expensive. A few nights when we were exhausted, we simply used Google Map to search for the eats nearby and walked there, ate, and strolled back.
I can't describe how convenient this place is!
On top of convenience, its luggage courier service, which I called 'Ta-Q-Bin' for easy comprehension, is a lot cheaper than I had expected. A 25-inch luggage and a 21-inch luggage cost about 2850 yen (about S$30) to transport from Tokyo to Kyoto, and the courier service counter was just a few steps away from the reception counter, which the reception staff would lead you to!
The hotel is very popular with tourists and is quickly booked up, so if you have decided to go Tokyo, you should book this hotel as early as you can.
I managed to book the double room at a good price when there was an Agoda promotion. Only $646 for 4 nights. A single room had cost more when I checked later.
After resting at the comfy hotel room for an hour, and skipping my intended-to-visit Meiji Shrine and Shibuya Crossing, I decided that we should at least stroll to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building as a start to the trip. I read that it would give us a bird's eye view of the city. And it's free! So on we walked.
On the way there, in the passageway of Shinjuku Station, we came across this crepe shop that sold these curious little puffy squares wrapped in crepes. They looked good, so we each chose a flavour.
Baby had cookies and cream. It tasted like ice-cream to me but she didn't fancy it!
We walked for a very long time. It definitely exceeded the 15-minute walk stated on Google Map.
It was at least a half an hour's walk.
By the time we reached the building, we were a little tired.
We went past the bag check station and were sent up the 45th storey. I took the bag check picture after I had come down from the building so the number of visitors was deceiving. When we were queuing up for the check, a Chinese tour group was there amidst many individual visitors like us. The Chinese tour guide was telling his group that the Japanese don't pay you much attention when you speak Mandarin. They give you better service when you speak Japanese or English. Not sure how true that is though. From my experience, they give you the best service when you speak Japanese.
Quite a spacious area upstairs. Not crazily crowded.
A bird's eye view no doubt, but a first-time tourist like me could not tell which was which and what was what.
I set up my tripod to take a three-person picture.
After the short visit, I had gastric pain. Previously, I had gastric pain in the wee hours, on the plane. It had been a long time since I last experienced gastric pain, and a really painful one at that. We could not go anywhere else because of my pain, so we walked back to Shinjuku Station and made our way on a subway to a highly-recommended sushi shop on Tripadvisor for an early dinner.
We took the train to Higashi-shinjuku Station and walked straight on for 3 minutes to the shop. It looked small on the inside but I realised on the second trip here that they actually had more tables one floor below, but the steps were too much for my mother's legs, so they sat us at the counter.
I asked for 'good' recommendations. The waitress communicated with the bespectacled chef above before pointing to me the upper part of the menu (without pictures),"These are good!"
I was hesitant as I could not understand Japanese writings, so I placed my order based on the pictured menu.
Ooo la la! They were fresh and GOOD, especially the fatty tuna.
There were quite a few fatty tuna, and they were all GOOD!
This is the signboard outside the shop
After a satisfying meal, we headed back to the hotel and concluded our first day in Tokyo.
We sneaked into a Family Mart to see what it had to offer and saw that the locals were busy buying things there.
A man picked this up and I decided to give it a try. Not fantastic. Please do not try.
Directions:
Tsukiji Kiyomura
Sushi-Zanmai Higashi Shinjuku
Local name つきじ喜代村 すしざんまい 東新宿店
Local address 大久保1-1-13
Alight at Higashi-shinjuku Station and exit at A1.
(Turn left on exiting and walk for 2 or 3 minutes.
Cross the road on the right at the traffic light.
You should see the shop across the road.)
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