This was my second trip to Tokyo. I went there for the first time in July 2007 but I didn't get to see much as I was travelling with a group of students and teachers on a study tour. As I was the organiser, the I was very stressed up during the whole tour. Needless to say, I didn't get to do what I wanted to do during that time. Hence, I came up with the idea of visiting Tokyo with my friend, Sherlyn. It was a 7-day trip in which I had 5 full days exploring the city of Tokyo. I spent RM3700 for the trip.
I flew with Cathay Pacific, which I paid RM1980 for a return ticket. By the time we reached Narita Airport, it was already 8p.m. After clearing the customs, we went to the ticket counter of the Airport Limousine Bus and bought ourselves 2 one-way tickets to Shinjuku Train Station. We paid 3,100yen per person for a return ticket and a Tokyo Metro one day open ticket. It certainly was a bargain because the one day ticket would have cost us 710yen if we were to buy it at the train station. The sales person at the counter did not ask us if we would like to get the metro ticket. If I hadn't done my research about the ticket, I wouldn't have known and asked for the metro ticket!
There are 2 ways of getting to the downtown area - by the limousine bus or by train: the JR Narita Express (3,000yen for a one-way ticket without the one day metro card). I chose the limousine bus because firstly, I could get the one day metro ticket for just 100yen. Secondly, I did not have to walk up and down the stairs lugging my luggage around.
The journey from Narita Airport to the Shinjuku Train Station took us approximately 100 minutes. The limousine bus stops at certain 5-star hotels and if you are staying at any one of those hotels, it is definitely a door-to-door service. The hotel that I had booked is about 10-minute walk from the train station or 5 minutes from the west exit. It wasn't difficult to find as we had the map. I found the map from a website written by a Hong Konger who had stayed there. That means, besides looking for information on English websites, I looked for information from the Chinese websites, too.
Getting an affordable place to stay in Tokyo is not easy. A centrally located hostel would cost you 9,000yen per double room per nite. And, there are not in the city center. Worst of all, most of them do not provide private bathrooms!
This hotel that I found cost us 6,000yen per room per night and it is just 5 minutes from the west exit of the Shinjuku train station, which is the main connecting hub for central Tokyo and its western suburbs. That was why I chose to stay near the Shinjuku station as I could go anywhere easily! Many Hong Kongers like to stay here too, according to my HK friend. It was so true as we saw many Cantonese speaking people there. Well, it is not a posh hotel, but it definitely is a convenient and clean hotel with private bathroom! It was already 11.30 p.m. when we checked in at the hotel. We took showers quickly and went hit the sack as we were really very tired....
28 June, 2009
What a lovely morning! After having our brekkie in our room (yes, we brought some bread and packet Milo), we were ready to go to the Tokyo Disneyland. It takes 50 minutes by train from Shinjuku station to the Disneyland. The one-day passport costs 5,800yen. Gee, place was crowded....very crowded indeed. We then found out that the Tokyo Disneyland was celebrating its 25th anniversary and they were having special programmes and parades during the month. Was that a good time to visit the park? Yes, to some extend.
Those people in the picture were queueing for food. It was so packed that we had to queue almost 1 hour just to buy our lunch!
The one on my left was mine. It cost me 1,800yen for the whole set together with the box. The box is still with me and it will become Shawn Eamon's lunch box when he goes to kindergarten next year.
There were various parades on that day and boy....you really have to salute the Japs for being so systematic! If you want to get a good place with good view, you have to 'book' the place at least 1 hour before the parade. So, how do you do it? JUST FIND A NICE SPOT AND SIT ON THE GROUND! Can you imagine that? It was so hot that day but those people just didn't care bout it and sat under the sun just to see the parade! We didn't know bout this rule and couldn't get a nice spot although we were there 30 minutes before the parade started!
The crowd leaving their 'places' after watching the parade. Huge crowd, wasn't it?We didn't go on any of the rides because the queue was extremely long for every ride (at least an hour queuing for each ride). Instead, we spent our time exploring the park and made sure we were at least an hour early for the evening parade. We bought our food and found a nice spot. Imagine having your dinner while sitting on the ground....But it was worth doing so.....the evening parade was simply marvellous!
We went straight to the front of the castle after the parade to wait for the fireworks. Unfortunately, the fireworks was cancelled due to 'unsuitable weather condition'. It wasn't raining or windy....I wondered why they cancelled it. Sigh....We walked around the park until we heard the announcement that the park was closing. It was nearly 10p.m. and so we started our journey back to the hotel. By the time I got to rest on my bed, it was already 12.45 a.m. What a tiring day......
No comments:
Post a Comment