Japan in June 2016 (Series 3, Episode 1)

The moment school was out, off we went to Tokyo. As tickets were bought almost a year earlier, by the time we got round to planning the itinerary, it was too late to make changes. So, thoughts of going Hokkaido had to be shelved. For now. (TheHusband excitedly remarked that this opened things up for an Episode 4 of Japan.)

Our itinerary is a very simple one and things are added or taken away depending on the situation. Traveling with a 22-month-old means that most of the time, things are taken away because of a) he's tired and b) therefore I'm even more exhausted. The 7yo and 10yo are pretty okay although they do whine a bit when we are shopping.

For the sake of those who are planning their trips, this is our basic plan:

26 May, 2355. Flight from Changi Airport to Narita

Day 1: 27 May, 7-ish. Arrive at Narita.

Days 1 - 4: 27 May - 30 May. Airbnb apartment near Shinjuku/Shibuya. Jalan-jalan around that area. Day trip to Mount Fuji (Tip: Avoid weekends! Traffic is horrible!)

Days 4 - 7: 30 May - 2 June, Monday to Thursday (avoid weekends!). Tokyo Disneyland. Stayed at Hotel Mira Costa.

Days 7 - 10: 2 June to 5 June. Airbnb apartment at Asakusa. Across the road from Sensoji Temple.

5 June, 8.30pm. Flight from Narita to Singapore.

6 June, 3am. Arrive at Singapore. Sahur at airport.

You see, the reason why we could not go to Hokkaido was because of Disneyland and the fact that we booked our flights to fly into and out of Narita. We planned for Disneyland to be on weekdays so that didn't leave us with much time to do all the traveling to Hokkaido. And combined that with the fact that we have to cart 3 kids along (although the first 2 should be able to do things quickly), we will have to visit Hokkaido another day.

This time round, food was much easier to get. We didn't have a problem at all in that area, especially when we were at Asakusa. We had another problem - overeating. I was too full, too often, and I was looking forward to that hunger we feel in the daytime of Ramadan.

As I am obviously updating this blog looong after our return, I cannot possibly remember with much accuracy where we went to each day. So from here on, I will let pictures do the talking. I'll take a look at the pictures I've taken and hopefully, they will help me recall what we did.

That's the firstborn, ready to be shipped off. 

That's the son who woke up just when we entered the plane. Sigh.

Day 1: All three kids, safely arrived.

This is where we had our first meal in Japan. Halal udon and crispy tempura. This is at Narita airport itself. Pretty cheap (compared to the rest of our meals in Japan). And of course, so delicious!

Tempura!

When we were done with our meal, I looked around to see what other people did with their bowls and plates and all. You have to return them to the stall. I looked around some more and noticed that people were wiping their own tables. There are stations like this. You take the clean cloth, wipe your table and drop off the used cloth in the other tray. Only in Japan!

Done with our meal, we looked for a train that would get us to Shinjuku. We took the JR Narita Express train and it got us to Shinjuku in less than an hour but at twice the normal price. Time is money, I guess. Money-saving tip: take the bus. 

We reached the train station where our first Airbnb apartment is. About 15-minute walk away. But, weather was good, so no issues.

Day 2: We went to the Fire Museum. Entrance is free and quite a few hands-on things for kids to do. All about firemen and emergency services. Very interesting because emergency services in Japan also include earthquake rescue. (Most pictures are in TheHusband's phone and he hasn't uploaded them into the computer so we'll just have to wait.) Here, the kids are fiddling with the insides of a helicopter.

Then, we walked and walked to this ramen place.

Buy your ramen here. Choices are limited but this is Ihsan's favourite ramen in Tokyo!

That's the owner, Megumi.

I only thought of taking a photo when I was almost done with my meal. That chicken is very juicy. The skin is crispy. The taste - ooh la la!

After that, we went to Takashimaya where there is a musollah. Then we (TheHusband, mostly) went shopping at Uniqlo. It's much cheaper in Japan! We were all exhausted after that and went back to our apartment for dinner. Dinner was rice + omelette + lots of the most divine cherry tomatoes ever. This dinner was repeated time and time again because we could not locate a supermarket near our house. There were lots of minimarts that sold basic goods like eggs and bread. Had we found a supermarket, salmon would have been a daily affair. 

Day 2: Day Trip with Yokoso Japan. Full day in the bus. Not exactly fun for a wriggly little worm.

Strawberry picking and eating! 

We learnt that the sweetest strawberries are the ones which are small and dark red. The big ones are almost always sourish. It's a nikmat to be able to eat fruit that has been ripened on the vine/tree itself. 

On crowded, crowded Mount Fuji.

Extremely gorgeous place. Supposed to be covered with pink flowers but this year, the flowers bloomed a bit earlier so it ended its run earlier too but still so picturesque.

As I have become unbearably lazy and not to mention horribly tardy in updating this post (I've been updating this in bits and pieces and my memory of what we did in Japan is becoming very sketchy), I will upload this first and I will reserve the next two posts for Japan-related entries. Maybe one for Disneyland and one for Asakusa. So this here is my very incomplete post on the Shibuya/Shinjuku leg of the journey.