We Love Tokyo - Day 4

Day 4, chilly weather as usual, we moved all our stuff to our new hostel. This time it was a traditional hostel.

No more holes in the wall, just traditional, very sturdy double decker beds. Looking back, i think European hostels really can't be compared to the ones in Japan.

Even toilet bowls are so high-tech, there are functions that include spraying water up your rear. Don't ask me how that feels, i didn't try it out..

The mind boggling number of different empty bottles and 1 yen coins left behind.

Dropped a postcard here.

Ice-cream vending machine in the train station.

Ta-daah!

An everyday sight already.

Shinjuku station. Obscenely huge, sprawling complex.

Finally, after mindlessly walking in circles, we arrived at the Square Enix building. Yan needed to buy stuff for our friends. I was the innocent party who braved the cold winds.

YOU SEE THIS? DERRICK!?

Walked back to Shinjuku station where we saw a street band performing outside.

Here's looking at you baby.

The group's name is "LargeLucy". No idea why, when the lead singer is so slim.

They really seemed to enjoy performing for the crowd.

She had a really kiddish voice.

And all the funky dance moves.

Super energetic group!

The girl at the back is the drummer. Her instrument is a hollow wooden box, and a stompbox, controlled by her leg. The guy in red is the bassist, while the purple dude is the lead guitarist. "Lucy" is the dancer, singer and general entertainer.

Well it was really fun to watch them perform, especially Lucy's funny dance moves. You can't help but smile while watching.
LargeLucy

Went back to Harajuku again, this time it was a Sunday, and cosplayers are strutting their stuff.

I wonder how long it takes to create that hair.

Preparing costumes.

Posing for the cameras.

Buskers. The standard of buskers in Tokyo are generally quite high.

Harajuku's Takeshita Street, lots of fashion boutiques and cafes.

Lunchtime!
Queued up for a while to enter Kyushuu Jangara Ramen shop.

There are cutesy UFO graphics everywhere.

Yan's.

Mine. For a moment, i was in heaven.
LOOK AT THE YUMMY FATS!

And then we went to Nagano broadway to look for 2nd handed CDs and misc stuff. See the entrance in the middle? I have no idea why i didn't take any pictures inside.

Found ourselves back to Shibuya's Mark city to try out "Midori sushi" for dinner.

See the light at the end of the tunnel? That's the sushi restaurant. By the way, those people are queuing up.

1 hour later... it had better be good.

Everyone greeted us loudly, even the chefs. Service culture in Japan is excellent.

Otoro, fatty tuna belly slices. The 2 on the left are normal fatty slices, the 2 on the right? Extra fatty slices!

Super fresh fish.

LOOK AT THE GLEAMING FATS!

It just melts in your mouth.

We each ordered the largest set. Raw prawns and crab was still ok for me. But nothing can prepare me for the shock of eating raw ikan bilis. That big piece is semi cooked eel. Tasted so nua-ish.

Ok, this was really unnecessary. It tasted creamy, fishy and was really weird. And those are not brains.
Shirako

Dessert, almond pudding.

Walked around Shibuya to digest the heavy meal.

This is a picture of Shibuya.

Last picture of the scramble crossing, will probably not return here for a really long time...
Goodbye Shibuya~
Please see full view.

We love Tokyo - Day 3

Day 3, getting up was difficult as usual, and the weather was colder than usual, it actually rained. One of the coldest days ever.

Had a sandwich from Lawson's convenience store. 285 yen.

Weather was too cold and rainy, and i forgot my camera bag, so we took shelter in a Macdonald's nearby.

We had no idea how to order, but the staff were really nice and tried to speak English to us. The burger in the picture tasted exactly like sausage Mcmuffin in Singapore. Except that the bun is sweet, it had red bean filling. Nice.

Train timetable. It says "aliens go home".

Shinjuku station.

Reached Yokohama after a long train journey. There seems to be people everywhere you walk in Tokyo. Not surprising, since Tokyo has a population of 12 million, 33 million if you consider the suburbs.

Yokohama, lunch hour, places are packed and people are so busy that they eat standing up, and in the cold rain.

Although you can't see it, the fork is suspended in midair.

Live jazz in a shopping mall.

Train tickets.

Ramen museum.

Various machines on display.

Cutesy teapots for sale.

Pre-made soup base, made by famous ramen houses.

These eggs are really special. And expensive. They have a liquid-ish yolk inside.

Various ramen.

The interior of the museum was really retro.

I thought i was in 1920s Japan.

Toy stall.

The celling was really cool, reddish and doomsday-like.

Retro scooter.

Mine, the cha-shu, or char siew, rawks.

Yan's, the soup was one of the best. The red stuff is some secret chili recipe.

Couldn't resist trying the eggs.

An acquired taste.

That evening, we reached China.

Well, Chinatown.

After being illiterate for so long, everything was familiar again. It was kinda weird too, when we passed by shops, staff would beckon to us in Japanese, and then switch back to Mandarin after we walked passed.

Train to Cosmo World. Super futuristic station.

The ferris wheel at Cosmo World. We braved rain and cold wind and sub-zero temperatures to take this shot. It was probably 0 degrees or lower.

Christmas tree.

Lots of fun rides. But nobody was on them, too cold i guess.

Hot canned drinks are such a great invention. You can grab them to warm your hands too.

The lighting outside Queen's Square.

Broken Japanese English.

Really nice lighting.

Streets of Yokohama.

The only shot of us together.

KatsuDon dinner at Queen's Square, the waitress who served us was really nice and cute, and according to Yan, she looked like Sora Aoi, not that i know who that is, ahem. Too bad, no pic. She taught us how to eat the raw egg, by stirring it into the salad thingy. She made a"Buru buru buru" sound and a stirring action. Funny.

We ordered extra fatty meat. What's the point of life without artery clogging lard?

Green tea Mochi for dessert.

All sorts of weird arcade games, this one was a music game. You had to time the tweezer carefully, to pluck the hairs from the guy's face as it grows out.

Well i guess thats all for day 3, coldest day in my life. But maybe i am just a frog in the well who hasn't experienced even colder weather, like snow.

Winter Korea, anyone?

Whale meat

Canned whale meat from Japan. Tastes like pork, and the sauce is sweet. 1000yen for 2 cans.