Tokyo ; Day 1

I can't be more psyched to share about our 10 days Tokyo trip! (albeit two months late....) Have to say though, we did'n't exactly follow the general guidance of blogs and recommendations. Rather, we roamed around.. trying to discover rare gems of our own.

And honestly for me? Just simply soaking in the very air (radiated or not) of 日本, walking around aimlessly, was a pretty damn awesome experience already!

 (Whats a holiday without a pre-flight selfie?)

Flight was smooth, the short one hour transit in TPE was fast and after several short naps.... WE ARRIVED IN NARITA! I almost cried when I stepped out of the airport. Serious. Felt really surreal.... what am I talking about, MY DREAM CAME TRUE!

Even the airport gets me excited. We grabbed a quick coffee fix and settled our train ride to our Airbnb home which is in Roppongi!

(The street just right outside our apartment! Can you guess how cold it was?)

(Our first apartment in Tokyo! Had to steal the picture off Airbnb cause we forgot to take pictures XD)

Although the apartment was reallyyyy tiny, it had everything we needed. Our host, Sho-san is not well versed in english but he ensured that we can always contact him if we needed something. An english guide book was printed out for us for all the machinery functions, wifi passwords (in case we forgot) and how to operate his AppleTV, which was FILLED with movies! Should you be interested to stay in Sho-san's apartment, go to this link: https://www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/1249441 ! (only ranging from 60 -70 sgd per night!)

Also, it was SUPER COLD during the time we were there (29th Dec). It was basically 3 - 5 deg everyday and it was my first in this sorta weather, so it got quite unbearable at times.. ESP DURING THE NIGHT.

The train station is about 10 mins walk away from our apartment and we decided to explore Shinjuku first! Btw, it's rude to be constantly on your phone or talk on the phone when you are in the train so please remember to switch to silent! (although, they are okay when they notice that you speak in a foreign language but good to take note!)

(SHINJUKU; taken by bubz' cold and shaky hands)

(Our first meal starts here!)

 (UNAGI!)

 (I can't remember what this is.. but it has a strange funny taste to it)

 (Squid... I think)

 (Ohhhh... unforgettable fresh salmon!)

 (Bubby's favorite, NEGITORO!)

(ITADAKIMASUUUUUUUUUU!)

We roamed around streets after and I was a tad disappointed cause there were all skyscrapers and stuffs. It was just like Orchard road but ten times colder, cleaner and brighter. Perhaps I've watched too much J-Drama or Anime when I was young and I imagined every part of Tokyo to look like this......

But... we found this gorgeous little alley right beside a huge Uniqlo building! This lane has a strange name, this lady from china (who works in a yakitori joint) told us that this street is called 厕所街, which means.. "Toilet Street". 

 (Trigger happy in toilet street)

 (My handsome bubz)

(Transformed red because of one little sake...)

Adorned with fake autumn leaves and cramped spaces filled with traditional looking restaurants, this particular alley is definitely worth coming for a bowl of Ramen/Udon or what else but... YAKITORI! 

(10 over yakitori joints for you to choose from in one little alley!)

(Definitely worth trying, accompanied with sake!)

(Trying to blend in with the culture...)

After maximizing our tummies, we explore further, trying to find this particular electronics building for a wifi card for my mobile. Along that particular building, there's at least 20 over shops down a cross junction filled with restaurants, shoe stores, electronic stores and... of course their favorite Gachapon machines and UFO Catchers! 

(Being all touristy. Tried very hard to bring some unknown plushie home)

(Thank god we failed. Always save luggage space for better stuffs XD)

Bubz got super excited over this particular place with loud gaming noises streaming out constantly and bright neon lights hanging just above their entrance...

 (Pachinkoooooo. One of their favorite past times)

(It's just a pinball machine but x10000 times more complicated)

(My ojisan)

Strongly recommend to go in and give it a try, even if you don't understand a single Japanese character or the game. Just pass the staffs some small notes in exchange for the metal game balls and go crazy dumping them. 10 mins top, the whole place might get too smoky and stuffy for ya.

(There were still beautiful Xmas lights when we we there :))

That's all for DAY 1! It got wayyy too cold and we weren't dressed appropriately plus the fact that we were extremely exhausted from the flight so it seemed a better choice to head back early for some sleeps. DAY 2 SOON!