Friday, April 03, 2015

Tokyo Trip + Comiket Special 6



Just Returned to Singapore a few days ago after my first ever trip to the land of the rising sun. I was there for 10 days and all of it was spend in and around Tokyo itself.





20th March-Arrival (We stayed at Toyosu and breifly visited Odaiba )
21st March-Shinjuku and Harajuku
22nd March-Tsukiji and Tokyo Bay
23rd March-Nakano Broadway
24th March-Yokohama
25th March-Asakusa,Ueno,Akihabara
26th March-ikebokuro, Lalaport toyosu
27th March-Akihabara revisited,tsukishima
28th March-Comiket special 6 Day 1
29th March -Comiket special 6 Day 2
30th March-Departure

Arrival


Airport Limo Bus service to many locations.

Upon arrival at the airport we took the limo bus service to Toyosu(We found our place using AirBNB), its really convient as they offer direct services to many places to and from the both airports(Narita and Haneda) Its pretty cheap as well, you can even opt-in to buy the packages which include the Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway passes(Note: You can't use this passes on JR, they have thier own passes), the package is highly recommanded as you are able to travel on both system for unlimited rides for x number of days, depending on the package you opt in for. But do note that once activated(you do so by simply using it for the first time.) the pass is to be used consecutively over the next few days.


Odaiba
 Fuji TV building 
                                   Rainbow bridge and the miniture statue of liberty.

The huge gundam is here as well,but we didnt visit it, since we just arrived we just breify hunt for food there, did some window shopping and returned to our apartment at Toyosu, as we were quite tired from our flight to japan.(PS: Sorry for the badly taken pictures, i didnt even bring my camera there... were taken using my phone lol, the pictures were pulled from my instragram feed) 

Shinjuku and Harajuku

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Takeshita Street at Harajuku
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Animate Shinjuku Branch


On the 2nd day we visited the Fashion District of Harajuku as well as Shinjuku,
the Takeshita Street of Harajuku is the heart of Harajuku, for the girls and cosers there are several tax free cosmetic shop there. As for Shinjuku is like the mini version of Akihabara. Pop-culture wise: Animate,Book off and Kino are there for you to visit . As for electronics there is BIC camera, Yodobashi Camera and others.



Tsukiji and Tokyo Bay
JP_Trip_D3_0001Tsukiji Fish Market
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                                                              Tokyobay lalaport.

Tsukiji Fish market, for this trip we only visited the outer market and the wholesale area and not the tuna auction market, if you wish to visit the auction market you will have to catch the very first trian there and try your luck for the 120 slots/day  at the outer market you can enjoy a varitey of Seafood snacks, also be sure to check out the restaurants there for a good seafood meal before leaving the place.

At tokyobay lalaport, the pop culture places to visit would be the Pokemon center(Tokyo bay) and the Funassyiland.

Nakano Broadway
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One of the many Mandarake scattered across the Nakano Broadway

Nakano Broadway is home to many branches mandarake stores,each with a diffrent focus on pop culture, some focus on idols merchandise, others 2nd hand figuerines, games etc. There are many other shops selling pop culture related merchandise as well. 2nd hand electronics store are also a common sight here. For IM@S fans,the official shop can be found here as well.


Yokohama

JP_Trip_D5_0037Nippon Maru docked at Yokohama Port Museum with Cosmo world's Ferriswheel in the background      

We visited the The Hakkeijima Sea Paradise, Entry to the park is free but if you want to visit the attactions like the Aqua Resorts and the pleasure rides additonal Charges apply, the Cup Noodles Museum and Pokemon Center (Yokohama).

Asakusa,Ueno,Akihabara
JP_Trip_D6_0004The Kaminarimon gate of Sensoji Temple.
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Cherry blossoms at Ueno park.
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Akihabara


The Sensoji Temple at Asakusa is the main attraction there within the temple ground itself it houses the Asakusa Shrine, the Dempoin Temple and the Nakamise Shopping Street. 

For Ueno park, its one of the best place to see the cherry blossoms within tokyo itself, on the day we visited there was only one tree which was fully blossomed,nevertheless it was quite a view to see them in person (During our final days in our trip we did mange to see a cluster of the trees and random trees blossomed fully as the weather turned warmer.)

Akihabara, i guess most of my readers here need no introduction to this place, its the paradise for pop culture lovers, i did say if you are one you will need to delicate a full day or even 2 days for akihabara, infact we did revisit Akihabara for a 2nd time for an entire day.  


Ikebokuro, Lalaport toyosu
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Ikebokuro
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Lalaport Toyosu

Ikebokuro is very similar to Akihabara, the diffrence is that here, its catered towards the female as the otohime street is located here. Pokemon Mega Tokyo is house in the Sunshine City shopping mall, there are several attraction in the mall itself like the Namja town and J-world by Namco.  

Lalaport Toyosu is the shopping mall near where we lived. As for Toyosu itself its where the replacement of Tsukiji fishmarket will be in the future.

Akihabara revisited,tsukishima
JP_Trip_D8_0019Itasha spotted!
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Monjayaki at tsukishima

We Returned to akihabara for the 2nd time for our shopping pleasure and went to Tsukishima to eat Monjayaki in the evening it's a little heavy on budget but its really good, i would reccomand that you should at least try it once.


Comiket Special 6 Day 1 and Day 2
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Marisa by Ely at Comiket Special 6 Day 1

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Poi by Ely Comiket Special 6 Day 2

We Specially planned our trip so that we could attend Comiket Special 6 during our trip, attending a pop culture event in japan itself really its a diffrent expreince all together.


For more pictures of the trip and comiket Special 6 head down to the gallery below.







    

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