tokyo #8 - odaiba

moving on to odaiba!

i guess most people know that odaiba is a man made island

and famous for its Gundam statue.

little did i know that it's far more interesting than just that.

tokyo skyline from a train heading to odaiba

such a well-kept city

we went on that rainbow bridge with the train!

you can actually take a walk on this bridge if you've got the time ;P

remaining sakura still blooming

tada! the gundam statue
tbh i don't even watch the cartoon

well at least i have a picture with it :P

there's tulips nearby! a park full of them!

tokyo #7 - asakusa

i haven't done much researching prior to leaving to tokyo.

so these are the facts i've known from google :P

asakusa is a district in tokyo,

but most tourists who go here only know about the asakusa sensoji (temple).

this is also THE place to go for souvenirs.

i don't know about cheap, because i think everything in japan is expensive.

but i know this place has got tonnes of varieties of souvenirs.

kaminarimon, one of the gates leading to sensoji

inside of the temple, which is always jam-packed with people

managed to selfie!
you can see the kaminarimon on the left,
and directly behind it is the shopping street

more ume!

this is shin-nakamise shopping street,
which includes a muslim restaurant

the famous melon pan, this is the plastic version
so very tempting but wasn't confident of its halal status, so didn't try it :(

tokyo #6 - ameyoko market

oh my, i love this place.

and i didn't even know it existed. ahaha.

ameyayokocho, or ameyoko market

is located just across the street from JR ueno station.

it's also neighbouring the ueno park.

the entrance across the street from JR ueno station

walking further in and you see this divider in the middle.

if you go to the right of this divider,

you'll see the shops for the two best things in this place:

halal takoyaki and green tea ice cream.

i didn't take a picture of the green tea shop :/

but it's located near this divider thing.

shouldn't be too hard to spot,

it's full of green tea things like the ice cream and powdered green tea.

they also sell pots and little cups that you can enjoy your green tea from.

*now regretting that i didn't take a picture,

i guess i was too excited about the ice cream.

huge octopus like the one i saw in tsukiji fish market!

awesome halal takoyaki! shop's name is Gindaco.
thanks to nad's blog. i seriously didn't take notice of the shop's name lol.
we shared because i wouldn't be able to finish them all haha.

tokyo #5 - tokyo tower

once upon a time,

i was fascinated by towers.

among the towers that i'd really like to see with my own two eyes:

eiffel tower, leaning tower of pisa, and tokyo tower.

geographically speaking, i thought i'd see the tokyo tower first.

who knew it would be the eiffel first :P

by the way, i only knew tokyo had 2 towers after arriving in tokyo -.-"

seriously, this is about the only trip that i haven't researched properly before leaving.

which explained why i almost stayed on the street on my first night in tokyo.

also, it's sort of hard to last-minute google things about tokyo,

unless you know japanese.

so the two towers of tokyo:

tokyo tower in this entry

and the new tokyo skytree,

which is the second tallest in the world now after burj khalifa.

had no idea how to get here.
basically just got out of metro and just followed whatever path i could to this tower.

lighted beautifully at night.

under the tokyo tower, which has observatories and souvenir shops.
tried to find a metal keychain of tokyo tower, but couldn't find one :(

this one is pure candid. pressed the shutter accidentally. i look so bajet lol

strong wind, hard to capture a good pic.

<3

tokyo banana. the famous banana snack of tokyo.
they say there's a halal version but all the time i was in tokyo, i couldn't find one. me so sad.

tokyo #4 - ueno park

traveling on your own gives such a sense of freedom.

especially in a safe city like tokyo, where no one is ever rude

and i didn't feel unwelcomed in any way.

one of the parks in tokyo.
didn't get to visit since it was closed on that particular day.

some sakura or ume still blooming.
i honestly can't tell the difference.

have to tell you, it's kinda hard travelling alone.
there's no one there to help you take picturesss! lol

after wandering around tokyo for awhile,

i got on the metro and headed to ueno park.

i actually went to this lovely park twice:

once by myself, another with my tour group.

main purpose: to catch a glimpse of late-blooming sakura.

many people went out and had sakura hanami under the trees

is this sakura?
seriously, i had no idea. hahaha
but look at its vivid pinkness!

heading into the temple area.
got lots of street food, but none i was brave enough to try.

the temple/souvenir shop.

got one strip of land dividing the lake.
it's surreal. before this, this lake only existed in my dreams.

tokyo #3 - shibuya crossing

since i'm finished with my jogja entries,

i'll start again and this time, really try to finish all my tokyo stories :P

back to writing in english ya.

i find that writing in malay is more sempoi

but i need to practise my english too :D

so, shibuya crossing.

it's a world famous crossing, millions of people cross it everyday.

it's such a mad, organized rushing and scrambling of people.

i've never experienced anything like it.

anyway, i've been obsessed with the crossing for years.

i don't know when exactly i came to know about the place,

but i've always had this thing about road crossings.

shibuya is the dream.

hachiko statue at hachiko square.
sad, sad story of a loyal dog. sobs

 

hard to take a decent picture since many people were around

hachiko square. this has become like the meeting spot for people.
also many people hanging out here.
look at that late sakura/ume!

shibuya crossing has so many metro exits,

i could get off of one and forget how to go back there again :P

but tokyo's metro line is so extensive, so awesome.

if you can read japanese you'll never get lost. unlike me though.. hahaha.

ohmaigod.. i am just so in love with this place

jogja trip #9 - prambanan temple

last place before heading back to reality - prambanan temple!

unlike borobudur, prambanan ialah sebuah temple hindu. dari segi binaannya pun dah berbeza.

actually kawasan prambanan ni sangat besar, ratu boko yang tempat shooting AADC2 tu pun kat sini jugak. tapi tak larat aih nak berjalan ke situ, lagipun masa tu tak tau pun tempat shooting AADC2 tu kat situ.

dari kejauhan dah nampak prambanan yang safe to say, lagi tinggi dari borobudur. tapi bangunan dia kecik-kecik dan banyak. borobudur just satu bangunan yang besar.

another World Heritage Site - checked!

kat luar ni binaan yang dah roboh ke? tak sempat nak google.

asalnya, borobudur yang didirikan dulu. lepas tu orang hindu jeles, dan diorang buat laa prambanan. ni serius ni, pernah terbaca somewhere pasal ni. ahaha.

jogja trip #8 - kilang coklat, barang silver, dan kraton

our last day starts dengan kelam-kabut cari supir baru.

kenapa tak nak ambil supir yang dah spend 3 hari dengan kitorang? jujur cakap, tak best. not recommended. mahal pulak tu.

hari terakhir, berbekalkan baki duit yang ada, kitorang decide last minute nak pergi prambanan. rasa macam tak cukup pulak pegi jogja kalau tak pegi prambanan. prambanan pun takde laa jauh sangat, dalam 45 minit dari bandar jogja.

kitorang dok pikir, sama ada nak naik teksi atau bas je. cemana entah partner ku berjaya contact seorang supir last minute tersebut. beliau search online je, Alhamdulillah rezeki.

supir kali ni dah biasa handle orang Malaysia, dah tau perangai ragam kita macam mana dan dah tau tempat mana yang kita suka pergi. harga pun sangat berpatutan, ohmai beliau sangat ohsemmm! kenapa laa tak jumpa contact beliau dari first day lagi!!!

recommended untuk booking dengan dia ni ya:

Pak Jati Wijaya

FB: Jati Wijaya

Whatsapp: +628985101301

yang datang ambil kitorang bukan pak jati, tapi salah sorang partner beliau. lupa dah nama, tapi beliau sangat awesomeee.

kitorang just cakap nak ke prambanan tapi beliau kata pegi prambanan tu sekejap je, flight pulak petang, sementara tu boleh bawak pusing bandar jogja dulu.

oh mai, so awesome. tip top betul.

first dibawa ke kilang coklat ori dari jogja - tugu chocolate.

manual processing. gigihhhh.

jogja trip #7 - pantai parangtritis

lepas merapi, kami ke pantai parangtritis. dan sepanjang perjalanan, harus laa zzzzz..

actually kami sampai parangtritis sangat awal. panas gile baq ang. terbakor acik huhu.

niat asalnya nak ke parangtritis sebab nak tengok pasir hitam yang berkilat-kilat dan naik ATV. setelah diusha harga ATV, rasa cam agak mahal dan tak berbaloi. tak seperti yang ku dah google sebelum tu. mungkin harga baru naik.

kalau tak silap, IDR 100,000 jugak untuk 20 minit. macam sekejap sangat dan mahal. okay cancel ATV.

panassss. ombak besar melambung. rasanya tak boleh mandi kat sini tapi ada je locals mandi.

pergunungan di hujung pantai.

jogja trip #6 - gunung merapi

i'm on a roll today. ada sedikit ruang masa, dan berazam untuk habiskan entries trip jogja by tonight! ahahaha #bigdreams

siapa tak kenal merapi? untuk mereka yang dah matang (ahahaha) pada tahun 2010 seperti aku, korang akan ingat gunung merapi yang meletus dengan hebatnya tahun tu. ramai orang meninggal masa tu, sebab degil tak nak melarikan diri.

Malaysia takde gunung berapi, jadi kita memang takde experience dengan benda ni. i mean, korang tau ke betapa panasnya gas dan asap yang keluar dari perut muka bumi sampai boleh membunuh? ya, tu baru asap gunung berapi, dah cair kulit dan isi. belum lavanya lagi.

merapi akan meletus pada jangkaan setiap 4 tahun, so next letusan pada tahun 2018 (dengan izin Allah SWT). so nanti jangan plan pegi jogja tahun tu ye.

naik jeep yang sumpah cool. merapi yang sayup di kejauhan. awan agak tebal hari tersebut

lembah ni terbentuk akibat laluan lava beberapa tahun lepas. masa tu lavanya sampai ke satu garisan agak tinggi
yang boleh nampak kat tebing tu (dalam gambar ni tak jelas). masyaAllah banyak gile lava

sekarang dah jadi ala-ala kuari, orang ambil pasir dan batu untuk dijual

harga sewa jeep ni kalau tak silap, IDR 350,000 per jeep. boleh muat 3-5 orang, 5 orang memang hazab laa korang berhimpit sebab ada supir yang akan drive jeep tu.