Hi from LA & summary of Japan trip

Hi guys... finally got internet access... hope all of u didn't miss me too much! Just got into LA...living in orange county so it's miles from everywhere n the bell man insisted that i shouldn't head down to Downtown LA on my own... grr.... so maybe i'll just have to be contented with Disneyland & Knott's Berry Farm if i don't take those package tours.... we'll see what I can do...

Now for the long awaited rundown of my Japan trip: Warning.... LONG POST!

Let's see...
Day One in Japan: Kinugawa
Very first place I went was the Nikko Samurai Village... honestly it was a joke .... reminds me of the old Tang Dynasty City I went in Singapore as a child...fortunately the teppanyaki lunch kinda made up for it...

Next up was Kegon Falls (one of Japan's biggest waterfalls), Lake Chuzenji and the Irohazaka road known as the Zig-zag driveway... i must really take my hat off to our bus driver... the turns were really sharp n imagine having to manouvere a long bus through... boy.... would love to test drive on such tracks though... would be fun...

In the evening, we stayed in a resort hotel in Kinugawa... although the hotel & room was pretty old & run down but I got to stay in this amazing traditional japanese room!!!! I even slept on a tatami... best of all... it comes with it's very own public bath (wen1 quan2)... was pretty hesistant initially about walking about in my birthday suit but once I got into the open air bath, I'm glad i plucked up the courage.

Day Two: Tokyo
We headed down to tokyo early in the morning... stopped at Asakysa & Nakamise Street first... interesting shopping street with loads of souvenirs & food... too bad i didn't have time to check out this nearby street which sells rubber food (i'm just super amazed by the rubber food displays that almost every restaurant in japan has... esp the ones with the chopsticks holding up the ramen in midair... simply unbelievable)

After which, we headed to Odaiba and passed by the Rainbow bridge... hmm nothing very spectacular... oh n u wun believe it... the tour guide actually arranged for us to have italian food for lunch... Italian food in Japan?!?! it just doesn't taste anywhere near.... more of a half way pt btw italian n jap food... just imagine jap rice used to cook risotto... ewww....)

But I was truly impressed by the next stop & spent over an hour there... the Toyota Showcase at Odaiba Waterfront... very interesting... they have the full range of toyotas in there n lexus... super duper chio sport cars... futuristic display models, f1 cars, the full range of hybrid cars n u can even test drive their mini hybrid car within the building itself... too bad the queue was too long n i didn't have time or i would have gone for it...

Next up was supposed to be Ginza and I was totally looking for it but my group consists mainly of aunties n they aren't appreciative of the sony gallery, shiseido gallery n the interesting upmarket malls so they insisted we give it a miss ... after we got off the bus!... So we actually got off, walked for 100m while they complained nonstop to the tourguide and the tour guide had to get the bus to turn back n pick us up again.... argghhhh.....

The tourguide then arranged for us to check out the shops at Shinjuku but we were caught in this big traffic jam for about an hour ... must say the underground malls r really impressive...tons of stuff & all the better as they're having their summer sale now.... bought 2 dresses ;p Checked out the camera shops above ground as well... prices weren't as competitive as I thought it would be so i didn't manage to get a new camera (tt means more money for my shopping)... was planning to get a Lumix or a Canon IXUS...

Went to a chinese restaurant for dinner opposite our hotel... half decent so i wun complain...after that went to check out Ikebukuro... interesting place with lots of drinking places n pachincos (casinos)... it was a friday evening n u could see hordes of japanese men drinking their sorrows away... walked into this shop selling basic ammenities n found really cool make up stuff like a eye brow shaper in a Y shape. There was a lady who was busking in a square nearby... she sounded really great....got back into the hotel near midnite n the roads were still filled with ppl & neon lights...

Day Three: Mt Fuji
Worst day of my entire Japan trip.... spent almost the entire day on the bus... think my butt must have grown an inch at least from all that sitting....we were caught in traffic enroute from Tokyo to Mt Fuji, what should been a 2 hour drive, turned out to be 6 hour trip... the jam was so bad that the bus was hardly moving so some of the aunties on the bus who couldn't hold their piss in well actually managed to cajole the bus driver to give up his trash bin so that they could pee at the back of the bus... crude i know but i just had to write it as it didn't help that i was sitting at the back where the aircon was spoilt n had to smell their piss.... cuz the journey took longer than expected, the trip to Owakudani Valley was cancelled... was so looking forward to see gushing sulfurous steam from the ground.... we headed to mt fuji straight after we emerged from the massive jam but the weather was bad at Hakone...so we could only see half of Mt Fuji from afar... fortunately we were able to see it's peak after the driver drove us up to the 5th stop of the mountain... as it was a saturday, there were tons of ppl walking up the mountain with a stick... nice place though... as for mt fuji... it was alrite i guess... the alps n mountains in austria & leichtenstein were more impressive....

After that, we headed back to Hakone for dinner and then to a factory outlet at Gotemba... super super huge with lots of gd brands but they were all at least 2 or 3 seasons behind and the prices weren't exactly that attractive so i only got this interesting straw hat n nothing else... amazing ehz? (i'm saving my money for the US shopping outlet... hee hee... heading out to Desert Hills Shopping Outlet at Palm Springs on Tues... can't wait!!!!)

As there were malaysians who were gonna take JAL from Hanade Airport to LA on our bus, we had to drop them off in Tokyo before heading back to our hotel in Narita... n guess what... another traffic jam, so by the time who got back to our hotel it was 130am!

The bad karma didn't stop there.... wanted to take off my contact lenses in the bus on the way back but couldn't locate my glasses... searched high n low for it as i rememberd transfering it to my backpack from my sling bag... got the tourguide to call the hotel to check n it was there.... so i had to make the decision of saying bye bye to it or head down to tokyo early in the morning to get it before I fly off to LA as the travel agency said it will only pick it up after I leave and I'll only get it in a month's time when their tour guides next stop by in Singapore, couldn't do courier service as it was a sunday.... when i told them i'll get it myself ...they kept discouraging me saying that I can't do it as i'm just a gal....

Day Four: Tokyo / Narita
Wanting to prove my worth (& it was my fault any way... really can't recall how it happened... it's the first time such things have happened to me as i'm usually very very careful with my luggage) ... I woke up at 6am, had a quick breakfast n told my mum i was taking off to tokyo... armed with instructions from the hotel concierge i managed to find my way to the train station, get a ticket, get on a train n then walk to the hotel in 1h 20min ... all thanks to my trusty Lonely Planet. Wanted to head down to Harajuku originally as I heard it was a hip n happening place on a sunday but since it was still early i walked around Ikebukuro again... explored a bit further this time so I managed to see the 2nd toyota showroom, sunshine city, sanrio store, parco + many more shopping malls... got really carried away by the shopping malls so I didn't make it to Harajuku in the end (nvm... that means i'll be back!) ... found the much touted Burberry Blue Label store n got myself a bag & a wallet (SM i got ur hp chains!!! saw some really cool Vivienne Westwood bags as well but they were all oddly shaped n not in the fabric u wanted so i didn't get any for u...paiseh...) Went to the supermkt after that n got myself green tea-red bean pancakes and tako pochi balls... yummy....

Then the horror started...japan's railway system is the messiest i've seen in my life man... having backpacked across many countries in europe i've never seen any this confusing b4.... so many lines & so many entrances.... firstly I got off at the wrong stop to change trains... was suppose to stop at Nippori but got off one stop earlier at Nishi-Nippori... when i finally got to the right station, i boarded the slow train instead of the limited express train... boy my heart was beating like crazy while the train crawled through each n every station on the line... finally got to a large station at Aota n hopped off the train. I was running very very late at that time.. .was suppose to be back at the hotel at 3.15pm but I wasn't even at the halfway pt at 2.50pm...fortunately i met this kind lady with 3 kids at the station. I asked if i could borrow her fone n she agreed instantly without asking what for... but her battery ran out so she ran off to look for her husband at another corner who was carrying a child... they both ran towards me so i could quickly make a call to my tour guide before the express train comes...they r really angels man.... bless them..... I think they must have guessed why I borrowed their fone....so they even redialled the no. later to find out if i managed to get to my hotel safely n in time... such sweet ppl.... thank you very much! Got back to the hotel at about 4pm and boarded the shuttle bus with the tour guide to meet the rest of the group who left at 330pm... was just in time to check in with my mum n bro as it was their turn next in the queue. Last few hours were spent loitering around the hotel, buying stuff from UNIQLO (i'm impressed that they sell kimonos too....cheap rough material though....) n the small shops ard.. got myself my fav pocky in interesting flavours: Mixed Fruit & For Men (Bitter chocolate).... pocky was my favourite-- and still is one of my favourite snacks---as a child, if u have a chance to see my childhood pictures, u'll catch me with a pack about 80% of the time... hee hee (okie... next lian wu zhi i write will be on pocky ....tt is after i complete the one about my infamous dog....)

Well... that's the end of my 4 full days in japan... nothing very exciting isn't it?All in all it's been a hell of a trip the last couple of days...remind me never ever to go on a packaged tour....it seems that I travel for miles everyday and just get a glimpse of things before I get hurried off somewhere else...Hopefully this LA trip will be different... right... gotta go... need to wake up real early 2moro...

Catch u guys later! Hope this long post made up for my absence =)