Japan : Shibuya Crossing and Hachiko Statue, Shibuya

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Hotspot #3 : Famous Crossing and Meeting Place Ever

From Shinjuku, we took a train to Shinjuku-sanchome on Marunouchi Line and changed for Fukutoshin Line to Shibuya.

Shibuya, the center of youth fashion and culture, is noted as one of the most colorful and busy district. At this point of time, I felt so overwhelming coz I knew that I will, by any means, take LOTS of stylo-mylo Japanese chicks! Hahaha!

Besides, I was so keen to see the most popular meeting place, the Hachiko Statue, the loyal dog that waited for its master for years, though his master had passed away. (I hope Kiki will do the same thing. That super lazy cat? Nahhh!)

“WOW! This station is super PACK!” I almost dropped my jaw when I saw people passing by from left to right and vice versa.

“Wait, we need to look for Midori-no madoguchi, to exchange our JRail Pass.” Hubby calmed me down before started looking for the JR reservation office.

“The queue is too long and we gonna waste our time. Let’s do people watching first!”

And so we did.

The very first thing that I saw was, THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE, CROSSING THE FAMOUS SHIBUYA JUNCTION! Not to mention, photo-takers too! I quickly find a spot next to one Caucasian guy, who stood on the pedestrian divider, right next to the dustbin. “Ah pedulik!”

I snapped, snapped, and snapped, like a crazy woman. Sambil nganga! Boleh? Hahaha!

Devastating with the scene, I forced hubby to snap my pictures while CROSSING THE ROAD!

“I want to blend in! Shoot me! Shoot me!” I still can't believe that I was finally there and almost hentak my kepala on the road.

“It’s good if we can go up (pointing at Starbuck Coffee above Tsutaya) and take pictures. That is the BEST place to shoot Shibuya Crossing.”

“Ahh…we have no time, concentrate, and start clicking!” The Godzilla came back.

Dissatisfied being the only attention seeker, I went to the other side and forced hubby to walk towards me.

“Let me take your photo. Just walk and act normal. Don’t see the camera.”

Yet, he was looking at the camera! Nak glamer jugak katanya…

I tell you, there were hundreds of people crossing at a time, like a colony of ants! There were youngsters in fancy skin socks, short skirts, gorgeous hair, heavy make-ups, and what not. And I managed to see Harajuku kids somewhere nearby! (Dalam hati cakap, takpe, tunggu kat Harajuku nanti!)

“Owh man…KL is soooooo outdated! (Looking at my newly bought trench coat.)

 

“Jom! We have to get our JRail Pass.”

“Wait, I need to see the Hachiko first!”

I tried to look around but didn’t manage to locate it. While walking towards a group of smokers, I saw Hachiko! (You can't smoke anywhere you like, regardless day or night, walking or running, covering or sneaking, YOU HAVE TO SMOKE AT THE DESIGNATED PLACE. Find the smoking area and start puffing.) It was right below the sakura tree and surrounded by locals who busy snapping pictures, USING THEIR IPHONE! (There was no chance to pose alone, so don’t bother to wait, just snap!)

“Ok, now JRail Pass. Where to?” I was back on track.

We walked back towards the Shibuya Station and asked the officer nearby. The moment I showed him the Exchange Form, he automatically said “Hait!” and asked us to follow him.

Left, straighttttttt, left, and left again (about 100 meters within the building), there we saw a small booth with JR Information Center signage. The lady officer spoke English very well and took about 15 minutes to verify, wrote down, re-verify, and re-verify again, before handed away a small booklet-shape card, with Tsunami image on it! Whatta…

(Click to see how we get our JRail Pass in Malaysia.)

Remember the earlier officer who escorted us? He waited there UNTIL we received our JRail Pass! SUPER HELPFUL AND DEDICATED!

“So, where we can do the seat reservation?”

“You have to go to the Reservation Office. The seats are free.”

Yup. It’s free, unless you want to try the Green Car or whatever is not normal. Hahaha!

We walked back to the place where we met the first officer and went into the Reservation Office. There, I saw more foreigners in queue. Beforehand, I asked for help from another oldman in uniform (an officer) on how to book for nobi-nobi seat on Sunrise Seto night train. We planned to catch an 8 hours night train from Tokyo to Okayama, indirectly, saving the hotel cost and travelling time.

“Sumimasen…wareware wa…Sunrise Seto…” I spoke no more and just showed him our train schedule, train name, and wanted seat. Gues what? HE CAN’T SPEAK ENGLISH! Not even simple or little English!

"Okay...this gonna be FUN!"

He wanted to help but he seriously had no idea how to relay the info to us. He opened his book (wah nak lawan buku aku hahaha) and checked on what to write on the slip. (Having a complete info on the slip will ease the reservation.) More or less he knew what we want and wrote whatever necessary. Until…

“Nobideska?” (Seriously, it didn’t’s sound like that.)

I was totally clueless for at least, 2 minutes! And he kept on looking up, looking down, looking at me, looking at the slip, and repeated the same thing. Patu berjangkit kat aku, aku plak dok tengok laki aku sambil pandang atas bawah. Hahaha!

“Owh…nobi-nobi seattttttttttt! Hait! Hait! Nobi-nobi sitto!” Hubby cleared the confusion. 

“Apa la you, tu pun tak paham…”

“ELEH!”

We then queued and handed over the slip to the officer behind the counter.

“Sunrise Seto at 10pm?”

“Ha pandai pun speaking Londonnnnn!” I looked at hubby.

“Ya, for 2 please. Is there any nobi-nobi seat available?” (It’s a private compartment, carpeted, for you to lie down. It costs you a bomb, 13,850yen but with JRail Pass, IT’S FREE!)

It took her 5 minutes to bring us a bad news. Only ONE nobi-nobi seat left. Like ONE??? Can we get another ONE??? I thought of creating chaos but…sigh…sob…sob…

“We’ll go for Shinkansen then…make it 6pm, on reserved seats.” Pasrah…

We looked at each other and paused. 

"We have to get a hotel in Okayama. Hmmm...it will surely cost us a bomb for last minute booking..."

"Namind...cheap hotel will do. Let's do sakura peeping at Ueno Park first!"

"JOM!"

Read HERE for Travelista version.