City Tour @ Tokyo, Japan (Part 2)

The Day Tour @ Tokyo really is a mouth-watering experienced where both of us really feel that it fills up our eager to know more about Tokyo.

Well besides sight-seeing japanese food and the night life are the one that i miss most after return to Kuala Lumpur. The foods are mouth-watering (sushi and udon) and the night life is damn entertaining (no shops close b4 00:00, what do you think, women? i think most women like it damn alot)

Here are some photos taken @ night of Tokyo.




Back to shopping around at Tokyo you surely will suprised and shocked with the excellent services provided by the sales personnel in the store. Their attitude is superb and very polite. I think none of the world can provide such a friendly and warm services (no wonder their retail businesses are so good - Excellent Service, ichiban!!!). Places you shouldn't miss like Shibuya, Shinjuku , Harajuku and Ginza.

Look at the face of Pauline. I bet she really enjoy shopping in Tokyo and look at the damage (OMG).








Well the night view was taken at the famous junction @ Shibuya. One of Tokyo busiest railway station. Look at the crowd on the street. The crowd keeps on coming out from different subway exit at Shibuya Station.

Tokyo, Japan @ Day Tour

Tokyo has many to offer to the rest of the world. The city is full of architecture, design, food, technology and history. Well, to start talking about this city of east. Japan did really recovered quickily after the WW II. The rapid change of the city from war and had turn around to become the second largest economy force of the world after the United States in less than 50 years. (what a shame Malaysia, still fighting for new government, abolish NEP, and even we are so sad to say that our growth and development is slower than our neighbour city like Singapore and Bangkok) Besides, the emergence of giant corporations like Toyota, Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Sony and etc not only conquer in japan but also very popular outside the country.

So, to know more about the city of Tokyo we have decided to take a Day Tour on the following day to experience the most of Tokyo with limited time. The benefit of Day Tour is just nice for us (as both of us don't want to spend too much on coach), as we want to know more about the history and some of the landmarks in Tokyo. The Day Tour covers from the Emperor Palace, Roppongi Hill, Asakusa, Rainbow Bridge, Ginza and gardens.

After the tour, the most i like are Asakusa and Roppongi Hill. Both are landmark of Tokyo. If you hadn't visited this 2 places in Tokyo. It just seems like you never came before. Asakusa (浅草) is a district in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan, most famous for the Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. There are several more temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals. For most of the twentieth century, Asakusa was the major entertainment district in Tokyo. The golden years of Asakusa are vividly portrayed in Kawabata's novel The Scarlet Gang of Asakusa. In its role as a pleasure district, it has now been surpassed by Shinjuku and other colorful areas of the city. Asakusa is also home to one of the geisha districts in Tokyo. Sensō-ji (金龍山浅草寺) is an ancient Buddhist temple located in Asakusa, Taitō, Tokyo. It is Tokyo's oldest temple. Outside the temple there are alot of shops selling japanese hand made souvenir and snacks for visitors. The best part of it is most of the stores offer different variety and you can really experience the different taste of Tokyo compare to Ginza district. Most of the stores offer Japanese home made confectionary to cute and handy souvenir. One of the most visited tourist spot in Tokyo.
Below are some photos captured @ Asakusa feel like going there again ;)






Roppongi Hills is one of Japan's largest integrated property developments, located in the Roppongi district of Tokyo.

Constructed by building tycoon Minoru Mori, the mega-complex incorporates office space, apartments, shops, restaurants, cafés, movie theaters, a museum, a hotel, a major TV studio, an outdoor amphitheater, and a few parks. The centerpiece is the 54-story Mori Tower. Mori's stated vision was to build an integrated development where high-rise inner-urban communities allow people to live, work, play, and shop in proximity to eliminate commuting time. He argued that this would increase leisure time, quality of life, and benefit Japan's national competitiveness. Seventeen years after the design's initial conception, the complex opened to the public on April 23, 2003.

The Mori Tower is a 270 m, 54-story high-rise building housing an art museum, a cinema complex, restaurants, cafes, stores, the offices of Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, TV Asahi, J-WAVE, Konami, Rakuten, Livedoor, Yahoo! Japan, and the Grand Hyatt Tokyo. The first six levels of Mori Tower contain retail stores and restaurants. The top six floors house the Mori Art Museum and the Tokyo City View with panoramic views of the city.

I manage to get a few photos from different angle at the top floor of Mori Tower.





Here are some others photos taken during our Day Tour.


Taken outside at the Emperor Palace (besides how come the little ang mo come into the picture...;S)


On coach pass by the famous Rainbow Bridge @ Tokyo

Do you know there are how many Statute of Liberty in the world? Please dont' google it first. Try your brain... yes 1. New York, United States 2. Paris and the 3. Japan.

Asia most vibrant city - Tokyo, Japan (Travel)

Tokyo is the latest city i travel to after the United States. Compare to other cities in Asia like Hong Kong (the most high density country), the largest metropolitan Shanghai and now Tokyo. This 3 different cities gave me different feeling on them. Hong Kong has the most skyscapper. Shanghai a mixture of historical and futuristic city. Whereas, Tokyo is the most advance, neat and tidy city.

But to sum up the above 3 cities i think the only common thing i observed is the high living standard, over populated resident and bad traffic.

From Kuala Lumpur to Tokyo is approximately a 7 hour plus journey. When i step first step on the soil of the East, i straight away can feel the warm and friendly faces from the local. The culture of Japanese is really a good example to follow compare to the west and the rest of asia country. They are polite, respect others and warm. Finally, i understand why our former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir seek the "anak Malaysia" to practice the "Look East Policy" in 1981. The Japanese has the good attitude that we should learn from.

Well, back to the city of Tokyo. From Tokyo airport to downtown Tokyo the coach takes us about 1.5 hour to reach our hotel in Shinjuku and the fare of the coach is not cheap either it cost me 3,000 yen per trip. The coach system in Tokyo airport is very advance and systematic. You just bought a ticket then wait at the designated bus stop, there will be coach assistance explain to you on the arrival of coach and carry your luggage into the coach. (Damn it is so systematic and punctual)

Look at it... Far Far more advance compare to KLIA or any airport in the rest of the world. The digital signboard clearly stated time of departure, destination to drop off and up and coming coaches. (*the coach is really punctual)

The first meal in Tokyo. I really face some difficulty in this country - the language barrier. Most of the Japanese can't speak other language besides japanese. Luckily the restaurant's waitress is helpful enough to help us order some food to please our hungry stomach. (the food is too delicios that i had a noodle and rice box for my first meal) After we had settled our meal and replenish our energy the walk begins.

Pauline already start damage her purse for shopping in Shinjuku. Look at the shops, is already 23:00++ at night. The streets and the crowd is still alot.

Tokyo a vibrant city and it never sleeps, everywhere is packed with huge crowd. From subway to bus stop and from shopping malls to street. Everyone is walking with a average speed that is faster than the Malaysian. Finally, we surrender and quit walking instead of taking subway back to our hotel. I found that in Tokyo there are plenty of Pachinko shops everywhere around the corner. but i manage to get 1 photo of them near our hotel.

Some Pachinko in Tokyo offers 24 hours but some are not. This is the one that operate 24 hours. Nice and neat environment. I did try my luck in side but still don't know how it works.



Subway exit @ Shinjuku South near our hotel. I think Malaysia should follow such design and creativeness.

Travel to San Francisco (Part 10)

After 10 days in United States, across 3 states and many exciting cities. The one that i love to stay on is San Francisco. The weather is nice and the food is good. What else you expect more for a city like this?

According to the locals, everything in San Francisco is more expensive than other cities in California ranging from properties to dining. Example An apartment in Los Angeles cost you USD 300,000 but it can cost you USD 600,000 in San Francisco. So you have a rough ideas where to live in California if you intend to go there.

But why it is so expensive in San Francisco? The reason is from The California Gold Rush brought a flood of treasure seekers. With their sourdough bread in tow, prospectors accumulated in San Francisco raising the population from 1,000 in 1848 to 25,000 by December 1849. The promise of fabulous riches was so strong that crews on arriving vessels deserted and rushed off to the gold fields, leaving behind a forest of masts in San Francisco harbor.

San Francisco is a popular international tourist destination renowned for its steep rolling hills, an eclectic mix of Victorian and modern architecture, and famous landmarks, including the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, Fisherman's Wharf, the cable cars, Coit Tower, and Chinatown. The city is also known for its diverse, cosmopolitan population, including large and long-established Asian American and LGBT communities. While the climate includes chilly summer fog, the winters are mild.






Do you think Victorian is nice? I like the mix of Victorian and modern architecture

Look this is how the cars move down from the hill...


Please look at the far end of the photo. That is the famous Alcatraz Island. Not sure Michael Scofield can Prison Break or not? Hahahahahahhahahahha...




A closer look at the Alcatraz Island.



Alcatraz Island or mostly people known it as The Rock is a smaller island located in the middle of San Francisco Bay in California, United States. It served as a lighthouse, then a military fortification, then a military prison followed by a federal prison until 1963. The Alcatraz has the most natural defend as a prison. The island is covered by the Pacific Ocean sea with temperature less than 20degrees and sharks swimming around the area day and night. But yet 3 inmates from Alcatraz has ruined the good name of Alcatraz.

On the morning of June 12, 1962, guards at Alcatraz Prison discovered that inmates Frank Lee Morris, John William Anglin, and Clarence Anglin were missing from their cells. The inmates had fashioned dummy faces in their bunks and escaped the island prison using a makeshift raft constructed of rubber raincoats. Today, no report on the above inmates whether they are still alive or dead after their Prison Break.







The Landmark of San Francisco is The Golden Gate Bridge had the longest suspension bridge span in the world when it was completed in 1937 and has become an internationally recognized symbol of San Francisco and the United States. Since its completion, the span length has been surpassed by eight other bridges. It still has the second longest suspension bridge main span in the United States, after the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York City.

Another sight seeing place and dining place you must not miss in San Francisco - The Fisherman's Wharf. It is best known for being the location of Pier 39, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, the Cannery Shopping Center, Ghirardelli Square, a Ripley's Believe it or Not museum, the Musée Mécanique, the Wax Museum at Fisherman's Wharf, Forbes Island and restaurants and stands that serve fresh seafood, most notably dungeness crab and clam chowder served in a sourdough bread bowl.


The clam chowder is so YUMMY that we had it twice during our stay in San Francisco. you can tell how it tastes from Pauline reaction. ZHENG!!!!


San Francisco also known as one of the epicenters of liberal activism, with Democrats, Greens, and progressives dominating city politics. Indeed, San Francisco has not given the Republican candidate for president greater than 20 percent of the vote since 1988. The gay rights contributions and leadership the city has shown since the 1970s has resulted in the powerful presence gays and lesbians have in civic life. A popular destination for gay tourists, it hosts San Francisco Pride, the world's best-known gay pride parade and festival.



finally, the most attractive part for women at down town San Francisco is Union Square - the shopping district. the best place to kill time and see ya San Francisco.
My 12 days stay in United States cost me to buy 2 additional luggage and to round up it is my best ever trip so far in my life.