Destination: Japan
Duration: 5 Days 5 Nights (Apr 04~Apr
08, 2016)
Day 2: Work, Food & Shinjuku
Central Park at Night
Breakfast was Fish Roe Onigiri from 7-11
yesterday and I must say I’m not too fond of eating cold rice in the morning..
=P
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| Onigiri for Breakfast |
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| Fresh Milk? |
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| Sammy is waiting on the bed |
The office was just a 10mins walk away
from Hyatt Regency hotel and thankfully I did not get lost. It was a really
busy day and I only managed to grab sandwiches from Family Mart downstairs as
lunch. =(
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| Lunch |
It was finally time for dinner and my
Japanese host brought me to Ningyocho Imahan Restaurant for shabu-shabu &
sukiyaki. The restaurant was situated just at the lower ground floor of the
office building that was linked to Hyatt Regency. Oh dear, everything served
was just exquisite. It was basically an experience of wonderful ambience,
presentation and taste!
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| Beer |
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| Appetizer |
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| Sakura for Deco! Only in Japan!!! |
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| Beef sushi! |
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| Sauces for Shabu-Shabu |
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| Shabu Shabu Pot |
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| Beef Slices |
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| Yum Yum! |
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| More Vege |
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| Sukiyaki bowl |
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| Noodle |
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| Rice with Egg |
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| Dessert! |
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| Another type of Dessert |
It was already quite late after the
dinner though. I put my laptop back to my hotel room before heading to the 7-11
to get tomorrow’s breakfast. That was when I decided to walk to Shinjuku
Central Park in last minute at 11pm! LOL!!! I did not bring Sammy though… =( I
must say Sakura indeed has a different allure at night and even Kumano shrine
looked eternally glowing with Sakura and the lighting.
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| Shinjuku Central Park at Night |
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| Sakura at night |
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| Kumano Shrine at Night! Stunning huh? |
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| Sakura with Modern Building at the back |
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| Lost in Translation Hotel aka Park Hyatt Hotel at the back |
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| Even a simple street looks nice with Sakura |
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| A Zoom in to Park Hyatt Hotel |
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| Sammy is awaiting |
Day 3: Lunch at High-Rise &
Yozakura at Ueno Park
Breakfast was cake, pudding &
greentea latte – the latte was really yummy but the star of the bunch was the
pudding! It was smooth and heavenly!!! It was similar to Royal pudding from
Paris Baguette at Changi (link) or the milk yoghurt from RuiSui Farm/Rare Seed Ranch (瑞穗牧場) in Taiwan (link) but it was definitely the best! It was so
scrumptious until I kept an eye on it whenever I stepped into 7-11 or family
mart. *facepalm*
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| Breakfast! The Pudding is SOOOOO GOOD!!! |
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| Sammy is still sleeping |
My colleagues brought me to the
restaurant on top of North Tower of Tokyo Metropolitan Government building for
lunch. We had the set lunch and chose the pork option. The pork was shabu-shabu
style and was quite appetizing with sourly condiments. I guess it was quite
healthy as well since one could hardly see any oil! LOL!!!
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| Drink & Salad |
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| View from the Restaurant |
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| The Pork Set |
On the way back to the office, we walked pass this beautiful Sakura area where fallen sakura had totally covered the ground like snow. Even my Japanese colleagues were taking pictures. =P
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| Going Sakura Crazy again! |
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| Finally take picture with Sakura Tree! |
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| Sakura covering the ground |
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| Covering the Sky as well |
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| It's like snow on the ground |
After work, I’d decided to take the
subway from Tocho-Mae Station (just below Hyatt Regency hotel) to
Ueno-okachimachi station to visit Ueno Park. It was just a 5 mins walk from
exit A3 in a straight line. There were tons of people there having picnic and
taking pictures - local & foreigners. Unfortunately it was too dark to take
nice pictures though. I just followed the crowd and ended up at walking all the
way towards Tokyo National Museum side.
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| Let's take the train! |
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| 220 Yen Ticket |
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| Finally at Ueno Park! |
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| Sakura everywhere! |
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| Look at this!!! |
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| They even have lanterns |
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| NTT? A Sponsor? |
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| I think this is one of the museum |
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| More Sakura with Lanterns |
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| Sakura near a Shrine |
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| The tree needs extra support cause of Sakura? |
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| Picnic! |
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| Full of people! |
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| Sakura & me! |
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| Being Japanese - Cleaniness is important! |
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| Towards the end of the Park |
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| Towards National Musuem |
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| Took a picture from here instead |
I was thinking to take train at Ueno JR
Station but realized I’d missed out the pond! I ended up walking through a
street full of street food to get to Shinobazu pond. The pond really looked
beautiful with Sakura but too bad my camera phone just failed to capture it. I bet
it looked gorgeous in daytime too.
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| On the way to the Pond |
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| Don't tell me it's closed! |
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| Food Street! |
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| Even at Food Street i manage to find Sakura! |
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| A Shrine |
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| Sakura with a view of Ueno Area |
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| High Rise |
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| Sammy is amazed |
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| Look at the fallen sakura on the pond! |
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| I have a take a picture with it!!! |
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| Yozakura! |
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| Sakura everywhere! |
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| Nice view huh? |
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| Blossoming |
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| Another view of the Pond |
Since I was at the pond area, I ended up walking back to Ueno-okachimachi Station to take the subway back to Tocho-Mae Station. I was really tired and hungry and just wanted to get food at the basement of the building beside Hyatt Regency. Little did I know that the last call was 9pm and most of the restaurants were closed! *shocked* It was 9.10pm when I reached Tocho-Mae.
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| Walking back to the station |
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| I think this is a bar street or something |
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| Here we are! |
When I walked up from basement to Hyatt
Regency main entrance, I bumped into this free shuttle bus by Hyatt Regency to
Shinjuku Station. Since I was really hungry, I took the bus to get to Shinjuku
station for some food. My brain was totally blank on what to eat and I ended up
walking from Shinjuku Station to Ichiran Ramen again! It was around 9.50pm but
there was still a long queue! *facepalm* I ended up getting my bowl of ramen only
at 10.30pm and slurped it down with a vengeance! *FAT* After ramen, I finally
walked back to Hyatt Regency with a full stomach to burn some calories. What a
day!
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| My Ichiran Ramen Preferences |
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| The Cubs |
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| YUM YUM!!! |
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| Finish it in no time! |
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| Tons of Toilet paper at the toilet.. LOL!!! |
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| Still Long Queue at 11pm+!!! |
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| A bar/food street at Shinjuku |
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| Did not have the chance to walk in though |
