Japan - Tokyo Day 1

So we were given 4 free tickets to Tokyo, Japan by one of our suppliers of Sumimoto Excavators and I was lucky enough to be one of the recipient of this tickets.  It is a 5 day Tokyo tour and I for one could not wait.

Dead from Excitement :P

So anyway, we flew out to KLIA, only to learn that the transfer counter for Japan Airlines would only be opened 3 hours before flight time (we were there 4 hours before).. so what on earth are we going to do for 1 hour in the DOMESTIC terminal where there is absolutely nothing to do?

FINALLY we checked in and waited for our flight, and would you believe, we had literally the LAST 2 seats in the plane.. oh well, at least we could recline our chair without worrying about anyone behind us.  The flight was pretty smooth, and I was asleep in no time (since we were on a midnight flight).. dreaming about what good things were coming ahead in Tokyo.  Woke up for breakfast, which was mushroom omelet, nothing to rave about.. certainly didn't feel Japanese! 

So we arrived at 6.10am and flew through immigration.. then we had to wait for the rest of the tour group, who incidentally decided that they didn't have to fly through immigration.. so that killed an hour.. I was walking around and walked outside to find that it was FREEZING.

We met our tour guide, Edwin who hurried us all into the bus, and headed to our first location..Asakusa Kannon Temple in Nakamise Street.

Asakusa Kannon Temple

Where you purify yourself

Family Shot!

 There was also a long street where they were selling home made crackers, souvenirs, and other stuff like Kimono and Yokata!

The place was simply PACKED with people.. I was getting bumped left and right.. thought people in Japan were supposed to be so polite.. I felt like one of those pinballs, being bounced from left to right!

Check out that huge ass lantern.. can't remember what it is .. think it's the centre of Tokyo or something like that.  I don't read Chinese.. but that represents something.


Lunch was typical Japanese Tempura.. what I love about Japanese meals is that they give you so many small bowls of condiments like pickles and tofu!

I have a new found love of rice.. for those who didn't know, I went off carbohydrates as a drastic way of dieting, and rice was one of those things where I could take it or leave it.. so I left it.. until Japan.. LOVE LOVE LOVE their short grained rice!  So there goes the diet! hahaha


Wasn't too fond of the piece of grilled Salmon fish though.. I have a thing against red colored food.. hence I don't go near Salmon, RED Tilapia.. but I love tempura!  Needless to say, we all gobbled up our food and left to go to Ginza..


Now Ginza is a HUGE street where they sell all the branded stuff like Gucci, Chanel.. and Burberry Blue (you can only find that in Japan!).. we were only given 2 hours to shop.. so I ran for it.. unfortunately, I couldn't find anything to buy.. Did you know that Chanel Japan is more expensive than Chanel Malaysia???


Anyway, time flew by and we boarded the bus to go back to our hotel, Keio Plaza Hotel.  We checked in, then excused ourselves from the tour to have dinner with a family friend, Mark.


He took us to the 53rd floor of a building where they were serving authentic traditional Japanese Food.  The view was spectacular.. so spectacular that I was in such awe that I forgot to take a picture.. infact.. I forgot to take pictures of that whole night.. including the food.. but we had amazing things like home made Udon, Japanese pancakes, sashimi (which I carefully avoided) and other traditional fares like beancurd sticks.


Was stuffed to the max when we we returned to the hotel.. thus the good night's sleep on a full stomach... ahhh.. couldn't wait for Day 2 in Tokyo!