Day 12 - Higashi-Ikebukuro, Sunshine City

OK, enough of Shinjuku of its sleaziness. We left Lonestar hotel after breakfast and given an hour, we decided to explore Kabukicho in the daytime.

Moved on to Sunshine City by walking all the way from Ikebukuro, some how overshot a bit. You can't trust the map saying only 8 mins walk from the station, that's the Japanese speed of walking.



To reach Sunshine City at ease by metro, take the Tokyo Metro Yurakucho line from Ikebukuro station to Higashi-Ikebukuro(just a stop). When out of the station, walk about 10 mins straight where you pass by a 24hr Seiyu supermarket. Keep walking and cross the road to reach Sunshine City.


Side-note: As the weather was so freaking cold, we chose to take the metro. No need to bear with the harsh, cold, icy wind!

Chanced upon Namja Town, an amusement park based on cats.


Everything inside are cats, cats and more cats.





We bought the normal tickets without to play the games inside. So it's 300 yen each.
There are cool machines outside to purchase the tickets.


Warning: A place more for young children. You see the Japanese kids running around, carrying an electronic game device where they captured points inside.

Ok, we were hungry. It's easy to feel hungry in cold weathers like this, especially after a long walk from the station. So it's time for food.




The food we saw were of cat's theme also.



To play safe, I tried Japanese curry with rice. At least the curry was piping hot! (but egg was cold... duh...)





Kok Keng left a message in my facebook that the food dun look appetizing.
It actually tasted better than my cousins ordered(shown below).




This One Piece bento was TERRIBLE.... The drumstick was cold!

We also explored the other attractions in the park. From ice-cream city, haunted house to gyoza museum....... all in Japanese so we dun really understand their stories/concept that much. Not catered to tourists perhaps. One thing I can remember, they were all very expensive!

OK, here's a video clip on more details on Namjatown.



After loitering around in the amusement and nothing left to do, we moved on to a comic shop/building near Sunshine City.



The comic book store was 7-storey building containing comic books, magazines, toys, figurines, animation dvds, soundtracks....... and everything cute.


There was also an event on a video game debut on the top-floor which attracted a fair bit of young girls.



The attraction-seeking life-size standing cardboard characters. There is always one question in my mind, "Why do the young girls think they are hot?"





You even get to sit down comfortably to watch the "Opening" songs.




Comic shops in Japan were always about 7 storeys high. In every building we went, there will always a lift provided. However, waiting for the lift could take a very, very long time! So "bobian", we climbed all the way up!

I'm a little lazy to take pictures of the shop. But this place is a paradise for "otakus" and definitely a place for anyone who likes manga/anime related stuff. From books, magazines, figurines, dvds....... to even hentai! You can even purchase cosplay clothes here! (but no trying please)

After looking around so long, we settled down in a nearby family restaurant called "Ai Ai" for our dinner. They served delicious ramen and gyoza at reasonable costs.






Day 13 - Shimbashi, Odaiba

It was the New Year's eve. After checking online whether shops do open during this day, we decided to visit the "Marina Bay" of Tokyo, Odaiba, aka "New Tokyo". It was a group of man-made islands constructed during the end of Edo Period for defence against foreigners.

To get to Odaiba, we took JR from Ikebukuro to Shimbashi, then change to Yurikamone line to Odaiba Seaside Park.




JR to Shimbashi - You could see a lot of Japanese leaving the Tokyo city and returning back to their hometowns before New Year.




And the very long Shinkansen passed by almost every minute to cater to the large numbers of folks returning to their hometowns(outskirts) of Tokyo City.




Took this pic of the Rainbow Bridge while on Yurikanome monorail.

Finally we reached Odaiba Park. First stop, over to the Cats Lover's shop at Tokyo Decks.



Odaiba Cat Shop

You need to pay an entrance fee of 1,600 yen (which includes a drink) if you want to get close with the cats for 1 hour.




The cat figurines were cute too!




Need to treat the cat with respect!




OK, this one didn't seem to look well.




Catch me if you can!


Visitors could sit on these chairs and enjoy the "at-home" environment.



I wanted to buy this fat cat, but it cost almost 12,000 yen!(S$180)
When the 1 hour's up, we crossed over the bridge to the Venus Fort, a major shopping mall with the Venus theme.



The place was really beautiful. But it got too overcrowded and things there were expensive.
For lunch, we had chinese food.




Getting too bored with shopping, I took Xinyun(my cousin) to a trip on the Ferris Wheel. This 115 metres wheel is one of the world's largest and offers great views of the bay area.


The wind was pretty strong up there.




Fuji Television Station

After checking out shops at the Tokyo Decks, we went back a stop over to Shiodome to view the clock designed by Hayao Miyazaki (the famous Japanese Animator who did Spirited Away and Ponyo on the cliff by the sea)



The clock actually demonstrates a small performance 4 times a day according to mentioned stipulated hours.














And lastly I must say, Tokyo's dusk scene is really very romantic.



Day 14

Nakano

A hidden gem of old anime figurines/toys at special offers. Regretted not taken any photos there!



Day 15

Irumashi, Mitsui Outlet Park

After breakfast at Moriva coffee, we travelled to the Mitsui outlet at Irumashi. Took the Seibu Ikebukuro line (40 min) and Seibu bus (190 yen, 20 min) to get there. The outlet was one of the largest in Japan and seriously 3 hours of shopping was hardly enough.



Day 16

Going back to Singapore! Home sweet home!
I miss local food very much!
The first thing I want to eat is definitely Nasi Lemak and Laksa( with "hum" of course!

Day 10 - Shinjuku, Harajuku

Had a hearty breakfast at MacDonald's after checking out from the Ikebukuro's minshukyu. I was looking forward to visit Shinjuku for its interesting streetscape, shopping and night-life.


Breakfasts at MacDonald's near the Ikebukuro Train Station (West Exit)




Shinjuku @ Yamanote Line


Shinjuku is only few stops away from its poorer cousin Ikebukuro. Actually there were pretty lots of train lines that served both stations. Yamanote line was one of the oldest and busiest train lines by JR using the contactless railway ticket called SUICA or PASMO (also can be used as electronic money). You are likely to find the ticket top-up machines in most stations.


We also tried on the Tokyo Metro lines. You can easily recognise them with a "blue butterfly" logo found in these busy train stations. They are the subways, complementary to those places far from the already established Yamanote train stations.


Streetscapes of Shinjuku



Headed for our hotel at Shinjuku, called Lonestar. At first, we faced some difficulties finding the hotel as it was quite a distance from the Yamanote Line. It was actually nearer than we thought as it was located near Tokyo Metro Shinjuku Sanchome.


The hotel provides breakfasts like bread with jam and coffee/tea in the morning at stipulated timing. Not much choices but certainly better than nothing.

Service was actually quite mediocre as some of the receptionists were pretty rude. As the saying goes, you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. As the hotel is cheap, you can't expect 5-star service from a 2-stars hotel.

After checking in, we moved on to our next stop, Harajuku where the most fashionable streetwear could be found.

Saw pretty lots of weirdos on the street wearing strange outfits on the Shengong bridge (神宫桥) (near Meiji Jinggu Shrine) as well as the shopping route (竹下通）towards Mingzhi Tong 明治通.



The busy Harajuku JR Station @ Yamanote Line


Avoid coming here during the weekends, please! It was too crazy a crowd!


You get to see plenty of these "pink things" around.


More sweet Lolitas



Meiji Shrine - No we din go in.


Nearby the shrine is a bridge which is also a place famous for cosplayers dying to let people take photographs with/of them.


We came too late and most of them had left! =(
So, we were only left with this guy standing on the Meiji Bridge.



Ang Moh+ Son Goku = ??

Honestly, his costume can be bought in places like Shinjuku and Akiba for 1000 yen (S$16). Truly nothing special and innovative.

Next destination, Uniqlo UT store! I was hoping to find those manga-themed T-shirts by famous comic artists.



The UT Uniqlo store at along Meiji Shrine Road



I bought these @ 1500 yen each - The T-shirts without the plastic bottle can also be found in most Uniqlo stores. But only this store is unique as they have the plastic bottles.


Realised it was late already, and most of us were already tired of walking so long. We went back to hotel, took a bath and went out for dinner (Taiwanese+Sichuan cuisine)nearby. My cousins went back to rest in hotel while auntie, uncle and I explored Kabukicho at night.


Credits to Flickr - Kabukicho at night

It was actually a seedy side of Shinjuku and definitely a pretty terrifying experience as that was a messy place with prostitutes, club hostesses, gigolos, yakuzas and love hotels. There were also pimps or touts on the streets doing their sales pitch and with funny, "bengish" spiky hair. Because of all these over-whelming sights, I actually forgot to take a picture of the night scenes!

After walking for some time, we walked out and went to this 24 hr operating shop near road (see the above pic, building at the right-hand side) bought nothing as the product quality sucked. Yah, you can find those cheap cosplay costumes (Dragon Ball) there too. They sold fake LV and Gucci bags too!


Before I digress, I must say something about Kabukicho. It was certainly an eye-opener.
We never visit the sleazy areas meant for ladies before. I did visit the discos and pubs in Pak Phom Bangkok before where those young girls and trannies did bar-top, dancing in white bikinis but never the areas for ladies.



Kabukicho in the day (hmm, sorry for the glare on the gateway)



And the hottest gigolo is the uncle in the middle!!!!!



Not all gigolos in Kabukicho offer sex service. According to the documentary in BBC, the gigolos actually create fantasies and escapes for these young/old lonely women. Lots of physical interactions involved (wrestling, teasing) but not sex yet.



I think my cousin Xinyun may go 'ga-ga' on these guys who look like gals.



Ladies club - Sorry, not opened in the day as these gigolos are still sleeping.



My aunt smiling while posing near the adverts.


Although we stayed in Shinjuku for 2 nights, we din explore much of this place. Saw Isetan everywhere, from ladies to mens and there was even an Isetan club house! Things were all over the place and honestly speaking, I prefered Harajuku over Shinjuku.

After some hours around, we declared that we were finally tired. Bought some drinks from Lawson and went back to our hotel.

Decided to explore other wards tommorrow.



Day 11

Harajuku, Akihabara

Back to Harajuku, shopped for H&M. Got myself some clothing and my bro a long-sleeved shirt. The largest size they have for guys is L so you can forget about getting bigger size. You hardly see fatties in Japan, except the Sumo Wrestlers.

Saw a lot of weirdos again at Harajuku. Cousin shopped for some weirdo clothes at a shop called Bodyline where they sell maid, students costumes too around 3,000 ~ 5,000 yen.

After some consideration, we took the Chuo-line to Akihabara again. I was trying to search for the @home maid cafe. Looking at the map is easy but once you are at the Akiba train station, you are totally surrounded by the majestic buildings and you simply have no idea where you are.

We prowled around the area for a while and saw a couple of these young sweet looking girls dressed in maid attires. It was so freaking cold and they were all wearing short skirts! As we cannot 'tahan' the cold weather anymore, we just picked on one of them as they brought us to their maid cafe.

The cute looking maid assured us that speaking English was perfectly "OK". We were brought up to the lift and when the door opened, we were brought forth to a warm and cosy atmosphere. No cameras are allowed in the cafe, if you want to take a picture, you will have to pay 500yen taken from Polaroid with the maid.


Some of the maids were dressed as french chamber maids.


The maid cafe is called Popopure

Popopure mentioned it was an pretty unusual one as it was an animation studio as well. They were also screening their amateurishly drawn animation. Guest could try out video dubbing with the maids.

I find this trip super not-worth-it as the not all maids were pretty and their maid uniforms can be found in those cosplay shop. Speaking of no problem in English, I think they find it difficult to communicate with us so din serve us much.

Moved on to the next location, The Tokyo anime centre located at 4th storey.




They were featuring the new anime movie called "The Eternal Diva".


Here are the voice actors/actresses

Nothing much could be found there as it was only just a miserable floor. Went to some otaku shops nearby. Again, the building were packed with youngsters, mostly otakus. My auntie and cousins scavenged for their favourite anime figurines.


....... to be continued in Day 12