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.

Fuel Price Control

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Wednesday announced that the new price for petrol is RM2.70 a litre, effective midnight tonight (4th June 2008). The price goes up by 78sen from the current RM1.92, a hike of 40%. Abdullah also announced that the price of diesel would be increased by RM1 from RM1.58 to RM2.58
Quoted from: Click to read more The Star

First it was duh... then huh... then wa-lau can Fuel Price be Control? most of the Kuala Lumpur petrol stations owners are *blink* *blink* $ $ $ $ quick cash overnight. Most of the car owners even motocylists are queueing to fill the last gasp of RM 1.92 fuel. (while you are stuck in the queue why not ask yourself should i queue to pump the petrol or not there are 10 or more infront of me.) Definitely the fuel price will not go back to the old days of RM 1++ anymore in future. It will just never ever happens anymore or have you seen any price increase later drop to the old price.

So people just accept the fact and anyway you just save to pump a RM1.92 by tonight only 4th June 2008 (unless you can pump into a multi galoon tank lar... which is not possible lor). Effective 5th June 2008 until the XXXX years we will pump expensive fuel so the saving of 1 night is not worth for you to stuck for the whole night. Why not re-think how to resolve this microly (household), should we re-think to car-pool or take public transport...



The shock declaration really not a good news for the nation and for the people (like us small little potato in the country) but 1 mouth could not speak for the rest and just 1 mouth doesn't represent the whole population. The shock declaration will benefit the petrol station owner a big junk of cash on 4th June 2008 and news stand will shine on 5th June 2008 as everyone is concerned on the latest feed back of government to the public and opposition political party comment on the sudden increased.

So let's see how fuel price can be control. Let's check tomorrow newspaper. All i believe is the shock increase will not bring down easily by one word or two. This has been planned for sometimes and it is time to realise.

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.

National Historical Landmark, The Hearst Castle (Part 9)

On the way to San Francisco, we are passing another United States Landmark - The Hearst Castle. The history of Hearst Castle is way too long for me to remember each and every details. Luckily we have wikipedia to help if you want to know more about Hearst Castle history please read the following or skip to the photos.

Hearst Castle is the palatial estate built by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951). It is located near San Simeon, California, on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Donated by the Hearst Corporation to the state of California in 1957, it is now a State Historical Monument and a National Historic Landmark, open for public tours.

Hearst Castle was built on a 40,000 acre (160 km²) ranch that William Randolph Hearst's father, George Hearst, originally purchased in 1865. The younger Hearst grew fond of this site over many childhood family camping trips. He inherited the ranch, which had grown to 250,000 acres (1000 km²), from his mother, Phoebe Apperson Hearst, upon her death in 1919. Construction began that same year and continued through 1947, when he stopped living at the estate due to ill health. San Francisco architect Julia Morgan designed most of the buildings. Hearst was an inveterate tinkerer, and would tear down structures and rebuild them at a whim, so the estate was never completed in his lifetime.

The estate is a pastiche of historic architectural styles that Hearst admired in his travels around Europe. For example, the main house is modeled after a 16th century Spanish cathedral, while the outdoor swimming pool features an ancient Roman temple front transported wholesale from Europe and reconstructed at the site. Hearst furnished the estate with truckloads of art, antiques, and even whole ceilings that he acquired in their entirety from Europe and Egypt.

Hearst Castle was like a small self-contained city, with 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms, 127 acres of gardens, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts, a movie theater, an airfield, and the world's largest private zoo. Zebras and other exotic animals still roam the grounds. Morgan, an accomplished civil engineer, devised a gravity-based water delivery system from a nearby mountain. One highlight of the estate is the Neptune Pool, which features an expansive vista of the mountains, ocean and the main house.

Invitations to Hearst Castle were highly coveted during its heyday in the 1920s and '30s. The Hollywood and political elite often visited, usually flying into the estate's airfield or taking a private Hearst-owned train car from Los Angeles. Charlie Chaplin, Cary Grant, the Marx Brothers, Charles Lindbergh, Joan Crawford, Calvin Coolidge, William P. Clark, and Winston Churchill were among Hearst's A-list guests. While guests were expected to attend the formal dinners each evening, they were normally left to their own devices during the day while Hearst directed his business affairs. Since "the Ranch" had so many facilities, guests were rarely at a loss for things to do. The estate's theater usually screened films from Hearst's own movie studio, Cosmopolitan Productions. Hearst Castle became so famous that it was caricatured in the 1941 Orson Welles film Citizen Kane as Charles Foster Kane's "Xanadu". The estate is portrayed as a gloomy and ridiculously self-indulgent barony.


Hearst Castle from far. (approximately 10km away)


On top of the Enchanted Hill, The Hearst Castle over seeing the Pacific Ocean. (indeed very good feng sui Mansion)




I stand on a higher position to get a better angle to catch the entire swimming pool right outside of the main entrance of the Hearst Castle. OMG how i wish i owned one of this at my house.





After the outdoor shooting, we went inside the Hearst Castle, all the rooms are spacious and each and every of the room has its own and unique theme created by Julia Morgan as requested by Mr Hearst. A kind of strange feeling when i step inside the house like you are back to the past. Every piece of furnitures and arts and the renovations are so well maintain and reserved.



One of the painting hanging on the wall at the guest's living room. Very huge.

The dining table. Impressive!!!

After taking more than 1.5 hours walking and browsing within the Hearst Castle, we thought we have come to the end but the Guide told us it is only half of the Hearst Castle. OMG... this is bloody huge man...

Well, which is the unforgettable statutes or arts that left in mind.. This is the one that really ink in my heart after the entire trip. The Indoor Swimming Pool in Hearst Castle. All marble used to built the swimming was fully imported from Italy and between the marble there are GOLD on the floor as well as the wall. The easier way to recognise GOLD is when u look down to the pool any object is yellowish and blinking that is GOLD. In fact, the indoor swimming pool is very well designed as you could see 2 different views - The Hill view or the Ocean view.
If really can swim inside there SOOOOOOOG AR!!!



To know more about Hearst Castle. Click here.