Nuffnang Latest!

Thursday, April 26, 2012

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

PREVIOUS - Read HERE for Hotspot #1
NEXT - Read HERE for Hotspot #3

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 45th 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. 

19 comments:

Ren said...

Ohmaiiii comeinya kekucing tu!!!!! Agak2 kalau kiki ikat cenggitu bawak g jenjalan dia MAMPOOO tak? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA

Mie said...

Kalau naik Bangunan Sunshine juga di Shinjuku, obsevatory decknya berada di tingkat 60...

Biqque said...

janggel, kadang2 aku bawak kiki jalan, tapi dalam kawasan rumah dgn luar pagar skit jer...sbb aku malas nak mandikan dia blk! hahahaha!

mie, tinggi sgt nanti lens tak cukup power nk amik gambar bawah hehe!

Unknown said...

Apa yg terjadi 12 tahun sebelum anda sampai ke Jepun? isk isk isk drama bebenor..

Ini je ke?? yawnnnnnnnn...

p/s: cepat sikit, kitorg dah final call dah ni hehehhe

Ely Hasrul said...

huwaaa patut la smpai xcukup memoriii!!! canteknyeeee... (smbil wonder ape aku buat kalu pg situ sbb aku bukan jenis amik gambo)..

aku baru tau kawaii tu sebutannye - kawai-ee hihi

3plepl8 said...

mt fuji agak terlindung laa.....tp br perasan packnye tokyo..hahah

Biqque said...

na, sebelum tu gilakan nak pi US jer hahaha! siut je final call...demi u, i dah siapkan SATU lagi post! (gile membunuh dah ni...)

skin, kalo ko pegi, ko duk diam sambil gelak2 jer patu cakap, aku tak paham...hehehe lucu la...

3plepl8, mt fuji tu nampak putih sebenarnya...cuba perati betul2...ha nampak dak? nampak dak? ye, tokyo padat gile! tapi teratur!

Ako Retna said...

uisshhh tgk map train dia serabut giler! kena kaji betul2 tu klu tak, konpom sesat hehe

Biqque said...

ako, trust me, takkan sesat nyer SELAGI u tau hentian mana u nak pi. senang jerrrr...dia guna code mcm H8, T20, camtu :D

Cawan said...

alaaaa, trbantut laa feeling Japan.. kami mau lagi.. jgn laa bnyak sgt blog entry, nanti lost count plak :p

Biqque said...

as usual, i blog ikut POI. i tak buat by day, sekian. terimalah. hahaha!

Fatt said...

aku tengok gambar dulu kang aku baca...tapi aku terlekat kat gmbr neko-chan yg tomei2 tu...alaaaa gumuk siottt...nak cubit lemak2 dia..arghh

Biqque said...

kucing sana gemuk2! geram aku! awal2 aku tak pegang, last2 tak tahan, aku pegang gak kat enoshima. masalahnyer banyak yg hibernate, maklum la...sejukkkk! hahaha!

rayyan haries said...

NEKO KAWAII!!! comel giler..haha...
yay! dah sambung drama nihongo biqque! hehe

NMN said...

Biqque... your n3 buat I miss Tokyo la. Rasa nak pie travel lagi. BTW, my US visa dah approved. Thanks for the info that day ya...

Biqque said...

rayyan, gigih sambung ni hahaha!

nmn, great! good to hear that US visa u dah approved! wahhh sakan la jalan2 nanti ek? sape gi tokyo tak rindu tu mmg la...terencat otaknyer hahaha!

rayyan haries said...

Biqque...gigih2...i yg travel SEA sebulan ni pon tak update2 lagi..haha..tang singapore je lah pon baru up. XD

Biqque said...

sebulan??? tu mmg bercinta la nak update ari2 hahaha!

shah_rule said...

Best kan duduk kt tmpat sejuk, asyik nak tido je.haha
gigih aku kuarkan converter sbb nak convert yen~ not bad la xde la orang kate mahal sgt stay kt japan
skyscraper tuh sume cantik, terpegun aku tgk gambo~ haha TMGO tuh naek free kan? aku rasa pernah terbaca pasal building tuh..

Subscribe To This Blog