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Thursday, November 22, 2007

Tokyo Trip Day 8: 22 November 2007, Thursday.

We just walked around Kamata (蒲田), nearby the hotel. We had our last lunch here, quite extravagant, compared to the many "combo sets" we've eaten. (not counting buffets of course).

And we finally tried playing Pachinko! I guess Japanese are really crazy about this pinball-like game, where you try let the balls drop into a specific hole. But we lost Y1000 (S$13) in less than 5 minutes.

Anyway, look at this water-efficient toilet bowl. You wash your hands from the small sink on top, and the water is used to flush the toilet.

After spending more than a week at Tokyo, I really realise how different the people are, in terms of their culture. In Japan, everybody is so polite and thoughtful, and "Sorry" and "Thank you" are always on their lips. This trait isn't limited to people in the service industries. They tend to bow slightly too. They use very polite words when conversing, even between friends.

People will automatically keep left on escalators. And it is common to see people wearing a mask covering their mouths, because they didn't want to spread the virus to other people. They queue up at the train platforms, where the train doors would be, and they don't enter until nobody else is coming out.

Their streets are squeaky clean. And it is not because of bins that you see everywhere in Singapore. Guess what, it is not as easy to find bins there! And even if you find one, chances are, they are recycling bins, and you are supposed to throw according to the rubbish classification!

If you put Japanese and Singaporeans together, you'll realise that the latter are downright rude, horribly uncultured and undisciplined, and certainly unclassy.

It really seems like we still have eternity, if we are aiming to become world-class or if our population are to move on ahead.

人生是黑白的.
3:42 AM <3

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Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Tokyo Trip Day 7: 21 November 2007, Wednesday.

We went out of Central Tokyo, to the Yokohama (横浜) area. It was once a thriving port, one of the most important in Japan's history, now a cosmopolitan city with a sizeable foreign community.

We started our day from the furthest eastern part, where we alighted from Ishikawacho station, and walked down Motomachi Street, a shopping street from prewar days.

We crossed over to reach Japan's largest Chinatown, where there are many streets, including a Hongkong street, Canton Street etc. But we didn't see many ethnic Chinese running businesses at Chinatown. Or perhaps they are ethnic Chinese borned in Japan and speaks only Japanese?

There's a temple here too.

We had our only Chinese cuisine in Japan.

We left Chinatown and walked westwards. Below is the Yokohama's graceful Bay Bridge.

Yokohama was a busy thriving port.

See the pink tower behind? This is Marine Tower, a steel lighthouse. Standing at 106m, it is the Tallest Lighthouse in the World.

These red buildings were the warehouses used when Yokohama was a busy port.

We headed off to Minato Mirai 21 (MM21), which is supposed to be a future 21st century city, built on reclaimed land, with "state-of-the-art waste disposal and heating sytems".

We shopped a bit at World Porters. Thenafter we passed by an amusement park, which was deserted. The Cosmo Clock 21 is a ferris wheel just 3m shorter than the one we took at Odaiba, and is currently the 11th tallest in the world.

Sun-setting at 4:30pm. The tall building here is the Landmark Tower, the Tallest Building in Japan, at 296m.

This exhibition ship is part of a Maritime Museum.

Quite a blur picture, but just to show that the-thing-you-use-to-refill-tanks are hanging from the ceiling.

人生是黑白的.
2:57 AM <3

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Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Tokyo Trip Day 6: 20 November 2007, Tuesday.

Disneyland day! Admission costs Y5800 (S$75). 13 years after I set foot on Paris Disneyland, it feels much more enjoyable now at Tokyo, probably because I can appreciate it better now.

The queue to take a photo with Mickey was uber long.

The grand castle at the middle of the park.

We took our first ride, the 'Space Mountain', a fast speed roller coaster in the dark.

"It's a small world" is our 2nd ride.

Inside "It's a small world", you'll see countries and landmarks from all over the world.

Here, every doll sings to the tune of "it's a small world", with accompanying music based on each country's traditional musical instruments.

"The Haunted Mansion" is a cool ride on chairs inside the mansion. I loved the 'ghost' effect that they created, which was really cool.

I think the lunch was excessively packaged. A waste of paper resources!

We saw everyone holding a turkey leg each. So we got our hands on one too.

'Human' characters are filled up by real angmohs. This is Cinderella.

Our next ride was "Pirates of the Carribean".

It is yet another ride on water. But it's pretty nice. They created a stormy seas effect somewhere. Then at another point, you'll see pirates shooting at each other. All seemed so real.

See how real-life Jack Sparrow looks! The way he moves, his expressions etc were all very real!

Next up was the highlight: The Disney Parade! Everyone had found themselves a place to sit, to witness the Christmas Parade, with floats and dancers and of course, Disney Characters! I must say, the songs and dances were very nice! The entire atmosphere was just so right and high!

Next, we took the 'Big Thunder Mountain' roller coaster. Decent enough for Disneyland, but certainly not enough for serious adults!

Of course, how could we miss the nightly fireworks show!

The castle exudes a different taste at night! Disneyland is really a dreamland. And I can't help but think about how much profits it rakes in every day. Tens of thousands of people flock into just 1 of many Disneylands around the world, each spending no less than S$100. Brilliant, isn't it?

人生是黑白的.
1:22 AM <3

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