Day 4 of 15, Mitaka, Shinjuku and Shin-Yokohama

Mitaka

Breakfast this morning, decent looking buns, selected by your’s truly :”>

The bun on top, is just a normal butter bun. The bun on the bottom left is more like a cake. Similar to chiffon cake, very soft and light. The bun on the right, felt more like it was encrusted with sugar.

Today is going to be a loooonngggggg day. Are you ready?

Off we go, to catch some trains, to our first destination of the day.

Finding your way in the maze of train networks can be pretty daunting. Mat did an excellent job in taking both of us to our destinations. He would do his research online the night before, write down all the trains that we need to hop on, change, at which station, time, etc…

As you can see the picture below, Mat is looking at the “maze” of train networks.

Before we flew to Japan, when Mat told me that we’re confirmed going, you know what was the first thing which popped into my head?

I MUST VISIT GHIBLI MUSEUM!!!!!!!!

If you have heard/watch “Grave of the Fireflies”, “My Neighbour Totoro”, “Spirited Away”, “Howl’s Moving Castle”….etc…..just to name a few…. these are works by Hayao Miyazaki, by Studio Ghibli (pronounced with a soft G, Jib-li, [dʑíbɯɽi]).

I just loveeeeee the animations produced by them. If you’re not a Ghibli fan, and is interested in how 2D animation is produced, this is the place! This museum is definitely worth a visit. If not, then don’t bother lah.

You should have figured it out by now… YES…. WE”RE VISITING GHIBLI MUSEUM!!! WOO HOO!!!

Cute Totoro signposts are located every few hundred meters along the path

Ghibli Museum is located in Mitaka. It takes about 1 hour train from Yokohama>Mitaka.

And from Mitaka station, it takes about 15 minutes walk to the museum.

Important information if you wish to visit this museum: Entrance ticket is not available for purchase at the front gate. You have to purchase your tickets in advance on an appointed date of your choice, from a designated local travel agency. Book at least 3 months in advance to avoid disappointment.

Walking to the museum makes it hard not to love Mitaka. It feels very peaceful. The sound of crickets are everywhere…..quik, quik, quik… and the sound of crows going ahor, ahor, ahor (this in Japanese means stupid), and of course, birds chirping.

Then you enter and walk through the Inokashira Park.

Then… YIPPEE! You arrive at the side gate of Ghibli Museum.

A familiar character greets you.

Wished that Totoro could speak right? But he’s just sitting there. And look closely at the round window, lots of black dust… hehehe.

Kawai desu ne!

We are not allowed to take pictures inside the museum. So you have to go for yourself to see what’s in the museum ya!

But, we are allowed to take photos outside of the museum.

The cafe…

…which we didn’t go in, or should I say, couldn’t be bothered because the queue was super long! That time was lunch time, and if we waited, we would have wasted our time. But we did buy a bottle of soda (original bottle design by Ghibli museum), which you can see us holding in the following photos.

The museum grounds

Mat holding the bottle of soda

Me holding the bottle of soda… lol… looks as if we’re advertising for this bottle of soda

Me under a lime tree… I think… looks like lime

Me hard at work pumping water

Just random photos of flowers around the museum

The paint colours are just fabulous!

Next, we climb up this staircase….

…to see a five-meter-tall Robot Soldier (from “Laputa Castle in the Sky”).

Even the drinking fountain is cool.

Next, the ladies toilet! hehehe…

You’ve probably heard alot of Japanese toilet seats. Very high tech one ok! You’ll encounter your first high tech toilet seat at the airport in Japan.

The one below is the basic of the basic. It will warm the toilet seat up for you so you don’t have to sit on a cold toilet seat on a cold winters day. Then there are buttons to squirt water up your backside! hehehe…

Some of the more high tech toilet seats can even make flushing sounds so you can do you business in peace or if you wish to do a very loud fart without being embarrased. Some can even play music. Now that’s what you call a King’s Throne!

As we were leaving the museum, we looked up and went whoa~….saw a really long queue waiting to see the robot soldier…..lucky us!

We got our lunch from the Mitaka train station. I got myself a bento. Bentos are elaborately arranged lunch boxes readily available in many places throughly Japan, convenience stores, department stores, bento shops, and train stations.

It either makes you too “sayang” to eat them, or, it increases your appetite to eat just by looking at it.

For me, it was the latter. Just look at my bento set! Everybody go….

WAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you don’t feel like eating, look at it also feel like eating!

This is the BEST bento lunch EVER!!!

Of all the bento set I ate throughout the two weeks, this bento’s standard was set too high. EVERYTHING is sooooo delicious! It’s so balanced, and it looks so pretty! There’s fish, vege, protein, carbs, iron, you name it! That yellow thing on my white rice… is so delicious ! It’s chestnut. The two big ass looking kidney beans on the left, tasted like sweet red beans, so I’m guessing it’s for dessert. ARGGHH!!!!!… just describing this lunch box makes me miss this bento set! >.<

Mat got himself some sushi.

I feel like I’m showing you guys food porn. Sorry if I’m making you salivate… ngehehehehe…

Right after lunch, without wasting anymore time, our next destination, Shinjuku.

Mitake>Shinjuku takes about 15 minutes by train.

Shinjuku

Tokyo is made out of 23 wards, and Shinjuku is one of the wards of Tokyo. We have to pass by Shinjuku anyway to get to Mitaka and back to Yokohama. One of the places that I wanted to visit in Shinjuku is the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden.

I found the method of entering this park very unnecessary. There is someone at the counter to sell you tickets. But it’s encouraged to buy your tickets using a ticket machine  Lame right? Might as well get rid of either one. I think getting rid of the machine is a better choice. And after getting the ticket with so much effort… trying to figure out the coins, and putting them in the slots, and figuring out which button/selection to press and etc and etc…. after all that effort, it finally gets eaten up at the entrance gates behind Mathias in this picture -_- You enter the park like you enter a subway station.

It’s either we came too early in autumn, which I think is true, this garden is just one colour.

Green.

Maybe if we came later in autumn, it would give me a different impression.

The Taiwan Pavillion (Kyu-Goryo-Tei)

Walking through this park on a hot early-autumn day, couldn’t help me stop comparing it to the Royal Botanic Garden in Melbourne. I think I prefer Melbourne Royal Botanic Garden. No particular reason.

Mat trying to figure out the park’s map

Avenue of Plane Trees (suppose to be golden in colour in late Autumn)

Rose beds in the French Formal Garden

It is really really hot in September. The bright sun doesn’t help either when you want to take pictures. Skies look so white washed. I’m still trying to figure out my camera how to take pictures with such bright exposures

The city skyline around the garden

And it doesn’t help either when the park is covered with so much gravel. Very hot!

On to the next destination.

While we were walking to our next destination (yes, we walk alot. You wouldn’t believe how much we walked. Really walk until our legs feel like want to patah), we saw a familiar name.

The origins of Isetan… from Japan!

Cute kan, the motorcycle

Shinjuku, very plainly speaking, is just another big city. I think you would have to stay a few days in the cities of Japan to really absorb the culture. But, with only the small amount of time we’ve got, we can only just browse through.

Walking in the concrete jungle, with high rise buildings everywhere, suddenly, in the middle of nowhere, you see this:

A traditional shrine, Hanazono-jinja. Walking in the streets of Japan, you’ll soon found out that shrines are strewn all over the place, in the middle of nowhere, at every corner, on every other street. I really wonder how they choose which shrine to go to, and which god they pray to.

You must be wondering how on earth do we find our way around Japan. Using a map? Yes and no. Most of the time, we were actually using an iPhone 3G. We were extremely extremely extremely blessed, because one of my uncle who works in Japan, kindly lend us his iPhone, with unlimited access to the internet. So we can always find the right trains to catch, and access google map at our finger tips. We couldn’t have reached our destination easier with this device.

Looking back from the shrine entrance, is the hustle and bustle of the city. On the left and right, are commercial buildings.

Wishing plates of people

You have to “buy” these “wishing” plates, then write your wishes down, and hang it up on this “wall”, and hopefully the gods will grant it.

For us as Christians, we believe in ONE true God, and we have the privilege  of talking to Him directly through prayer! Hallelujah!

Shinjuku is pretty happening. It’s a major commercial and administrative center.

Our next destination, Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (TMG), the administration center for the government of Tokyo.

The TMG is approx. 243 meters, with 48 levels above ground, and 3 levels underground.

We went right up to the 45th floor, which is the observatory floor, approx. 202 meters above ground.

You can see the panoramic view of Tokyo. We were supposedly able to see Mt Fuji, but can’t seem to find it. Sky not clear enough I suppose, or our eye sights just not good enough.

Its building and buildings and buildings…

…and more buildings and buildings and buildings…

… as far as the eye can see… is more buildings and buildings and buildings. So now you still think KL is big? Just look at Tokyo! It’s truly a concrete jungle. Feels like there’s no more space. And all they can do now is build upwards. The denseness of the city is just incredible.

Picture below is a very failed attempt in trying to take our personal portraits with the city in the background >.<

Coming back down to earth, we saw three very tall Elvis. I just love this photo! Feel like printing it out into full scale and hang it up on my wall (no I’m not an Elvis fan, I just love the contrast).

Back to Shinjuku station. We somehow unfortunately/fortunately (depending on how you see it) bumped into the peak hour, where people just finish work. I later learned that Shinjuku station house the busiest train station in the world. Fancy walking right into it to experience the peak hour!

You have to develop some skills to walk through the flow of people. They walk really fast, some even run to catch their connecting trains. There was one time we had to stand aside to wait till the crowd lessen down so we can enter the gates, which never happened, so we just have to be gung-ho and charge through the crowd.

Sat on the shinkansen to Shin-Yokohama.

Shinjuku>Shin-Yokohama takes about 40 minutes by normal train and shinkansen.

Sitting on the shinkansen is more comfortable than sitting on a plane (different story if you’re in business class). A lot of leg room, quiet.

An important note to remember. Please don’t talk on your mobiles when sitting on trains/shinkansen. I heard of a friend’s friend who was actually told off because he/she was talking on his/her mobile while in the train. I suppose the Japanese values “silence is golden”

They even have reminders in front of you, “Please switch your mobile phone to silent mode”. That’s why the Japanese sms/email a lot through their mobiles.

Shin-Yokohama

We went to Shin-Yokohama to visit the Raumen Museum!

The Ramen Museum was established in 1994. It was the first food amusement park to be created anywhere in the world.

There’s a very antique looking coca-cola vending machine in there. Yes, it works.

The Ramen Museum is divided into two themed areas, a ramen restaurant mall, and a 1:1 replica of a section of Tokyo in the year Showa 33 (1958).

Some guy telling some story

There are 9 Ramen shops to choose from, apparently, ramens from different parts of Japan.

Miniminimynimo, let’s try at this shop called Harukya, from Tokyo.

The soup base is soy sauce based. It’s delicious!

Oh ya, you have to order at least 1 bowl each. You cannot share. Since we decided to try more than 1 ramen, we ordered a mini bowl.

Next ramen we tried is from Yamagata, a shop called Ryushanhai.

You can’t just rock up at the shop and order the ramen. First, you have to buy the ramen from a vending machine.

Give the docket to the waiter, and wait for your ramen. I ordered a ramen with miso as the base.

We agreed that this shop’s ramen didn’t taste as good as the first one. But still ok.

After 2 mini bowls of ramen, is more than enough! Time to walk it off around the museum.

They reproduce this section in the year 1958. According to the leaflet, “The mood from the good old days of Showa fills visitor with nostalgia and an appetite to taste ramen. And importantly, instant noodles were invented in 1958. The invention transformed Japan into a nation of ramen connoisseurs”.

The place looks very dodgy right? Especially the picture below. With all that red lighting, makes this place look like some red-district

Cartoon masks which were popular in that era?

Very impressive eh? Like the real thing!

And finally, we’re out.

Tthere are roundabouts for cars. Here, we have roudabouts for pedestrians. Kudos to the Japanese!

A closer look:

On the pedestrian roundabout:

Shin-Yokohama Station, on a not so peak hour:

As we came out from Sakuragicho station in Yokohama, we were greeted with a group called Baricang. We only stood and appreciated it for 10 seconds.

Keep up the good job!

Home sweet home…. for now…. legs really want to patah already.

No journey will be complete without a visit to the convenience store.