Japan : TMGO (Tokyo City Hall or Tocho), Shinjuku

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Hotspot #2 : Where Metropolitan Is Viewed

“We are off schedule…” Hubby looked at me while pointing at the first place to visit for that day.

It was due to late wake up and we had to boil the “nasi impit” for our supply.

“Banyak la 15 minit…” my host teased me when I told her it should be a quick one, when I ended up spending almost 30 minutes to get it done!

We took 2 packets of cereal, each, and ready to go.

“Pray for the cherry buds still in place.” “Ye la, smalam kan ribut…” Our host was kind-hearted enough to cycle with us, while we were on foot. Hahaha! It was fun to snap her, until…

“AAAAAAAAAA SAKURA!!!” I shouted!

“Yeah, right in front of my house, cool huh?” There were sakura trees along the channel that were not yet, fully bloom. “It should be blooming by this week…you guys are so lucky!”

After few snaps with our first ever sakura tree IN Japan, she then led us the way to the Gyotoku Station. We stopped at Hotto Motto, to figure out which one we can consume and which we can’t. The cheapest was only 290yen for a rice, fried octopus, fried fish, bit of veges, and soy sauce.

We then stopped at Lawson (similar to Watson) and Seiyu (similar to MyMydin), to take a quick peep on instant foods. There were variety of selections but we were charmed by one cute food called onigiri (triangle rice ball wrapped in nori/seaweed).

The moment we saw these food in various filling and flavors, we knew that we’ll survive and WILL NEVER die in hunger in Japan. Hahaha!

On the way, there were still, umbrellas on the pedestrian, bicycles in slanting position, plastics here and there, due to the late night storm. Anyhow, in return, we had a VERY fine shiny day!

“See, Nihonji always recycles. Those unwanted households, normally, will be collected by passerby. My hubby did. If you want, you can too.” She smiled. In 0.05 seconds, I tried to look for something…from distant. Basikal tu sesuai utk Aqilah! Hahaha! Gile nak selongkar. Nak bawak balik dengan apaaaa!

There were not many cars on the road, there were no carbon dioxide pollution in the air, there were no ciggies butt on the walkway, there were no stupid graffiti on the wall, there were not even a junk or trash or rubbish or whatever you called it, TAKDE!

“It took me 12 years to fulfill my dream, to step my foot on the land of the rising sun…I love Japan…and will always be…”

Drama!

“Ok, let’s get you guys a ticket.” She parked her bicycle anywhere she liked and touched the kiosk.

“Ah…ada pun English! Sape tah dulu cakap takde…” (Placing both hands on my chest and looked up.)

“GOT LAAAAAA…YOU THINK WHAT? SO TERUK KA?” We laughed.

“Okay, we have 7-day JRail Pass that will only be activated the day after tomorrow. So we’ll settle with 1-day Tokyo Metro Pass. Well, 5 POIs in list! Let’s see whether we can catch them up!”

Instead of paying 1230yen for single/return rides to these places, we paid only 710yen for this pass. I swear, hubby earned a big Mexican wave from Mrs. Wifey, for his effort in deriving the transportation fees. He tabled out and listed each ride with station name and code, alongwith the ticket price.

NOW, WHO WANTS TO SEE MY TOUR COOKBOOK? Hahaha!

“Sayonara. Tanoshimu.”

“Haitttt!”

We slotted in the pass as usual and smiled like nobody business. EXCITED OK! The officer was standing right next to the machine and looked at me. To save the pride, I suddenly said “Emm..mappu?” Sign-language-ing him with square shape, THOUGH LILY HAS PROVIDED US ONE TOKYO SUBWAY ROUTE MAP, BACK IN MALAYSIA! Hahaha!

Nevermind, we love to keep rubbish.

The station wasn’t that big, so no “jalan laju-laju jauh-jauh” like China. (Ok, too early to make a statement!) I can’t stop snapping pictures of train and people, until I hopped in the coach. I had to force-control my “gedikness” to look normal. NORMAL for local means, stay silent, sit/stand properly, and RELIGOUSLY TEXTING ON THE PHONE! (No ring tone, never ever talk on the phone! You'll make them stress!) And 90% of them were using IPhone! Pfft!

Bit of info for Japan subway. It is divided into two, Tokyo Metro and Toei Line, each has its own line. AND THEY ARE MASSIVE!

Tokyo Metro consists of :

Ginza, Marunouchi, Hibiya, Tozai, Chiyoda, Yurakucho, Hanzomon and Namboku.

Toei Line consists of :

Asakusa, Mita, Shinjuku, and Oedo.

These lines are the main lines, alongwith JR Yamanote and JR Line. So, you REALLY need to know where you’ll be going. Or else, you’ll wasting your precious time. TIME IS GOLD IN JAPAN.

“So…TMGO observatory?” “Yup. Gyotoku to Otemachi on Tozai Line, then change, Otemachi to Shinjuku on Maronouchi Line.”

Changing between lines was initially fun since we did not need to worry on ticket buying. We just need to aware on which side to board. And I tell you guys, the information board on direction and time IS F**KING ACCURATE! Lost in translation? Tettt! There’s no such thing! You can rely on, anytime, anywhere.

We arrived at Shijuku around 10am, so we had passed the rush hour. (Note that Shinjuku Station is the world’s busiest railway station that handles more than 2 mills passengers, a day!) Walking without seeing the blue sky or shiny sun, the underground complex was huge where we had to walk more than 200meters via the connecting tunnel (using walkalator), another 150meters before we finally saw the 243meter-tall twin towers. (Wow, lots of numbers huh? I hate numbers!)

“Thank GOD it’s free.”

We entered TMGO (Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office a.k.a Tokyo City Hall a.k.a Tocho) and headed to the South Entrance. (Oh ya, do check the operating hours and closing day coz each tower has its own inspection day. Kang rugi jer…)

There was one officer next to the lift and requested us to queue. The lift then opened and another officer welcomed us in. She greeted us and took us to the 45^th floor, where the observatory deck is located.

The moment the lift door opened, there was another officer waited and greeted us.

“WOW! They deployed one officer at each place ke??? Amazing!”

We entered and looked around the deck. EXACTLY like what we’ve experienced in Q1 Tower back in Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast. When Q1 offers beaches, surfers, rivers, boats and buildings, TMGO offers buildings, buildings, andddd buildings. (See how pack Tokyo is?) WITH Fuji-san at far far away land.

"Wow...is that Shinjuku Koen?" "Ya..." "Sooooo big!"

We can see almost 270degree from up here and all we can see are buildings. These buildings are said to be quake-proof.

Since hubby was using zoom lens, he couldn't help himself but taking all miniature-sized human and cars.

“Glare la pulak…” Hubby complaint when I forced him to snap my picture with those amazing view.

“Do you know that TMGO is destroyed in 1991 by Godzilla?” Said the Godzilla. Hahaha! And I walked away.

Eh, it WAS, you know! Go figure.

I walked to the souvenir booth and look for fridge magnet. Sadly, none of them amazed me. Plus, it was super expensive! After spending about 20 minutes, we went down and walked out from the lovely twin gigantic steels. We then noticed that this building is surrounded with sakura, statuette, artsy abstracts, and iconic skyscrapers. AND KITTIES TOO! 

"NEKO! KAWAIIIII!" (Neko means cat and kawaii means cute.)

“So what’s next on the list?”

“Owh…my…GODDD! IT’S SHIBUYA! THE…MOST…WAITED…PLACE…” (I fainted before I couldn’t even finish the sentence.)

Read HERE for Travelista version.