Exchange Rate : S$1 – ¥74.63
Total Expenditure : S$1100 with nothing much to bring home !!

I can’t believe I have won a trip to Tokyo through Class 95! It was a Mariah Carey Contest & I had to beat the previous record holder with 6 questions in 30 seconds. Boy was I shocked when Jean Danker announced me as the winner.. I couldn’t stop shouting!! i had to go out of my office though cos my boss was still around even though it was already about 8pm. Wheeeeee!! I’m going to Tokyo to hang out with her in less than 10 days!! So besides the return air ticket & 2 nights hotel accommodation for one, I also got a $200 Mariah Gift set : a “E=MC2″ album, “The Emancipation of Mimi” album, “The Adventures of Mimi Concert DVD” and M by Mariah Carey 100ml fragrance. Oh yeah, I sent Jean an email earlier… It can be seen here..LOL!
An article was also published in Berita Harian. You can see it here.

So, after liaising with the Universal Music People, we settled for a 3 days 2 nights trip to Tokyo via Northwest Airline & staying at Monterey Ginza Hotel. I felt like there wasn’t enough time to go sightseeing & shopping so me & Nadia (98.7fm winner) mutually agreed to extend for another 2 nights for S$482, making it a total of 5 days 3 nights in Tokyo!

1st June 2008

As usual, after last minute packing & grocery shopping @ IMM, off I went to Changi Airport. Janna, Mas & Jaz was there the whole day accompanying me all the way. It was so sweeet of them… Thanks guys!! So after packing, Jaz & I sent both girls home & headed straight to the airport. Bear in mind that I haven’t slept the whole day & it was straight after work. My flight’s at 6am so I had to reach there to check-in around 4am. It was a hassle to check-in as the security was so strict. A policeman asked me sooo many questions. Anyway, after that I board the plane & left for Tokyo. I would like to say that the seats are so damn uncomfortable! 7+ hours in that chair!! I was sitting alone.. and I didn’t know that I could lift the armchair to lie down & stretch! (yeah, I’m dumb..what to do?). They have a lot of great movies listed like 27 dresses, Juno, etc… So after a delicious breakfast (prolly I was hungry at the time), which has croissant & mee goreng, I watched Juno. Oh, the movie was so slow I slept at the 1/4 mark(surprise, surprise..I could sleep!). I woke up again when they were serving lunch. It was errr….. hmm…. I don’t remember. Oh well… So I was about to watch a movie when suddenly a girl sat beside me. It was Nadia & she introduced herself & told me that she & her cousin & her cousin’s daughter are sitting at the back. So we talked for awhile & she got back to her seat. It was a smooth flight… but I have to say that the stewardess on board are so arrogant i wish I could slap their faces. When asking questions like the immigration card, coffee/tea, etc… They practically ignored me as if I wasn’t there! And the way they talk..oh my god! Don’t you know you are in the service line & aren’t you taught some manners?? I had to call one of them to get the card for myself!! Damn you people!!! When the plane landed, we proceeded to the immigration & headed to the Airport Limousine counter. We bought ourselves a ticket each @ ¥2,900 & boarded the coach just outside the airport. The coach is like the coach to KL kind. It was clean & comfortable & not many people.
* Take note that you are to silent or off your phone in any public transport except for cabs of course.

1.5 hours later, we alighted at Tokyo City Air Terminal. From there, we took a cab to our hotel – ¥1,200. Checked in our separate rooms (I’m staying alone by the way). The room is small but pleasantly decorated. It fits 3. Any more than that, it’ll be cramped. Hotel Monterey Ginza

I dozed off a while later cos they mentioned to me that they will be taking an hour’s nap… Nadia told me that they had no plans yet on where to go so I suggested Harajuku. It’s a place where youths dress up in cosplays on weekends. I really wanted to go there as today was the only weekend we had there. Later on, I woke up to discover that I actually overslept!! It was almost 7pm! So i woke up, called their room (no answer), rang the doorbell (no answer) & called their room again (no answer). There wasn’t a note or a message anywhere so I assumed that they overslept too. At the same time, I also had this gut feeling that they left already. So I texted Nadia & she replied saying that they were at Harajuku & that she called my room & rang the doorbell but there was no answer. Damn it! I’m so not gonna miss it! So, I immediately got ready & headed out. I put on my coat cos it was cold & asked the reception for direction to the JR Line train station – Yurakucho Station. So I walked towards there & stole some looks at the shops in Ginza area as I passed by them. I had to stop by HMV cos I remembered that Jaz wanted some DVDs. I spoke to one of the staffs who had little knowledge on English. So I wrote down the names of the bands that I wanted. They only have Kemuri Live DVD & said that Potshot’s & Snail Ramp’s DVDs was out of stock. Maybe they do not carry it, I don’t know…but he said out of stock. So I paid for the DVD – ¥6,090 (Blooody hell!!). While at the cashier, I caught a glimpse of a TV ad at the counter on an upcoming concert. So I asked him about it. He didn’t get my question so I showed him the TV & he came out from behind the counter & stood beside me to wait for the ad to appear again. Haha! When the ad appeared, he understood & passed me a flyer. It was Summer Sonic!!

Summer Sonic happening on 9th & 10th August in Tokyo & Osaka. Artist Line-up : The Verve, Sex Pistols, The Prodigy, Lostprophets, Panic At The Disco, New Found Glory, Death Cab, Jack’s Mannequin, One Republic, Coldplay, Alicia Keys, Fatboy Slim & more …

I really wanted to go but it will be difficult cos I might be going Jakarta next month & I can’t possibly be taking leave every month rite? Furthermore, Singfest has been confirmed in August & some the bands will be coming over.. Oh wells, I don’t know man… So anyway, yeah… I continued walking to the station. While I was trying to figure out how to purchase the ticket, Nadia texted me & said that they were on their way to Shibuya (NOOOOoooooo!!! I wanna go Harajuku!! *BawL*). On the board, the station names are all in Japanese & I couldn’t understand anything. So I approached a super tall Caucasian guy who was buying a ticket & asked him how to get to Shibuya. He told me he’s not sure cos he bought for himself a day pass where you take unlimited rides a day. He stood beside me, showing & explaining to me how it works & all… I swear I was slightly above his elbow!! I said thanks and left. So I texted Nadia & she told me to go to the counter & purchase from there @ ¥190. So I went in. It was fairly easy ..

Ginza

I found them after some time getting lost when exiting. They were sitting near the giant junction with that big TV screen… This was one of the places I wanted to go also but I wanted to walk around to shop.. So after we took a few photos, we left to take the train back. (Sigh!) We dropped at Y?rakuch? Station and dropped by McDonald’s a few blocks behind our hotel for dinner. After assurance from the staff that there was no pork, I bought myself a fish fillet. It tasted the same. So, no complains there. After that, we headed back to our own rooms & called it a night. I slept with the aircon off & covered myself with a blanket. It was still quite cold for me.. *Brrr..*

Shibuya

2nd June 2008

Today, I got a wake-up call from Nadia at about 8+ am asking to meet at 9.45am but I slept back directly after that. When I woke up, it was almost 10am. Darn! I was late again… So I called her up & told her to go ahead & have breakfast without me as I will be late. She said that they were currently eating some bread in their room. So I said I’ll call them again when I’m ready. So after I got ready, I called them & we made our way to Asakusa via Tokyo Metro. Asakusa is a good place for you to go if you want to find traditional souvenirs like kimono, fan, keychains, etc .. & tidbits.
* Directions : From the hotel, turn left & you will see Tokyo Metro Station – Higashi-ginza. Pay for a ¥210 ticket & take the Asakusa line. When reached, take the Kaminarimon exit (A4). To go to the front of the temple, when exit turn right, then left & cross to the right at the first traffic light. Walk down until you see a giant red lantern, which is the entrance. If you are shopping there, please take note that there is a great price difference in certain things between shops near entrance & shops near the temple. Please do not buy your things in haste. Walk around first & you’ll be glad later that you did.

Asakusa

After spending a good few hours down there, we headed back to the hotel to catch some nap & to dress up for the meet & greet session with Mariah Carey. A few hours later, we went out to Peninsula Hotel Ginza. I wore a cute white dress with white wedges.. (a first!!) So we walked there..Damn it’s quite far & I wasn’t wearing flats!! Damn, that sucks!! Why aren’t we taking a cab????? We’ve got a free ride there!! The hotel is beautiful….inside & out…. & the toilet….. damn.. It has a spray, bidet, dryer & deodorizer!!! (Wow!! Your lil’ friend will be so pampered..lol) So we went up to 5th floor where we were supposed to meet her. This is where our waiting starts… We sat at the corridor area while waiting.. There were quite a number of people there. They were medias, Universal Records staffs, MC’s people & winners from China, Malaysia & Thailand. Unbelievably we had to wait for almost 5 hours!!! Oh man, I should have eaten before I came over. There were refreshments there like sandwiches, drinks,etc.. but they were grabbed up so fast that I only had mineral water left. So while waiting, I think at the 2 hour mark or so, Mariah Carey came out to go to the restroom!! Heavily guarded by the bodyguard & the hotel staffs, she walked pass us..(We were sitting beside the toilet, btw..) So we got our cameras ready & waited & waited just to snap a few pics of her.. I think she was in there for about 45mins or longer.. I dono… It was very long..

One of the crew approached all of us & told us that we should keep our cameras away & not to take any pictures. They were very strict.. So after she came out, we continued waiting.. At least there were some thrills there amidst the waiting.So finally the time came for us to take pictures. First was for the media to take a photo of her. Next was for us winners to take a photo with her. I was so disappointed that we didn’t get an individual photo with her & that we didn’t really get to talk to her except for a brief exchange of words cos after the photo-taking session, we were shooed by her huge bodyguard. Damn it! I didn’t even get to shake her hand or hug her… (sob-sob). It was a group photo taken by her photographer.. after all the waiting..man~ But well, look on the bright side, I did get to hug her as I was standing next to her & when else can you get to meet her face-to-face right??? + I get to go Tokyo for the first time & it’s freee!! So immediately after that, we took a cab back to a McDonald’s behind our hotel & bought ourselves the delicious Ebi-Chan (Shrimp Burger) meal to go – ¥630. This was the last time I will buy any food from their McDonald’s cos they have freaking McPork in the menu (Blooody!!). After that, we headed back to the hotel cos we were so damn tired from all the waiting.

3rd June 2008

It was freaking raining!!! We had planned to go Disneyland today & it’s raining!! I told them that we should postpone the plan to tomorrow but they insisted on going saying that the rain was not so bad.. Oh wells, what to do…majority wins. So we went out at about 11.30am with our loaned umbrellas to Disneyland.
* Directions : Take the train from the Metro Station located below Mercure Hotel, behind our hotel. Take Line 1 & alight @ Shinkiba Station. After that, go up the stairs & follow the directions to Rinkai Line. Then go in, turn left & go towards Keiyo Line. Take the train @ Line 1 & alight @ Maihama Station. You should know where to exit when you are there. You are dumb if you don’t.

Ok, so we had to pay ¥5,800 for the entrance with unlimited rides. So you can take any ride as many times as you want. We didn’t manage to cover everything because of the lack of time. But these are the rides that I recommend :-
Thrill: – Space Mountain (Tomorrowland) – Splash Mountain (Crittercountry)
Leisure: – Peter Pan’s Flight (Fantasyland) – Roger Rabit’s Car Toon Spin (Toontown)
- Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters (Tomorrowland) – Pirates Of The Carribean (Adventureland)

Tokyo Disneyland (Day)

At about 7.30pm, make sure you catch the Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights. The lights are soooo pretty. So make sure you don’t miss it. After that, at about 8.30pm, there’ll be fireworks. It was nothing special but it’ll be a must if you’re a fireworks enthusiast. We stayed there till closing @ about 10+pm. We went straight back to our hotel after that.
* Directions : Take the JR Line, pay ¥210 & take Line 2. Drop at Shinkiba station & take Line 2 again at the Metro Station. Alight at Ginza Itchome Station. Nearest exit will have to be Exit 11 but it will be closed after 10pm. Otherwise, take Exit 9.

Tokyo Disneyland (Night)

4th June 2008

We went to VenusFort today for abit of shopping (This was where MC came down to meet her fans).
* Directions : Take from the same Metro Station @ Mercure Hotel. Purchase ¥160 ticket & follow Line 1 to the right upon entering. Alight @ Toyosu, go up the stairs & escalators on the left. When exit, turn right to Yurikamome Line. Go up to Toyosu Station & pay ¥240 to Aomi Station.

The view…..Damn! I think the next time I come I will want to purchase a ticket just to go from one end to one end. One day & one night. It’s an experience that you must try. The train journey will give you picturesque views & will be going through the bridge. Perfect!! Ok, so upon exiting, turn left to Palette Town.

View from the Yurikamome Line

At the VenusFort, we ate crepes @ Portofino Dessert. I bought myself a Strawberry Chocolate Crepe for ¥450. It was nice but I was nauseated after eating half of it. Prolly due to the tons of whipped cream in it.

VenusFort

After that, we took the Giant Sky Wheel which will cost you ¥900 per person or ¥3,000 per group, with a max of 6 person. If you have 4 or more people, I suggest you take the group one. This price is for the normal carriage (You have a choice of normal or full clear glass). The glass one will have a certain waiting time & will cost more. This ride on the wheel will be about 16 minutes long. The ride was well worth it & I will definitely recommend it to you cos the view is soo.. gorgeous. You’ll be able to see the Rainbow Bridge, Tokyo Tower, the bay area & the beautifully constructed Fuji TV Building & many more..
* Using the same train, if you want to go to the Statue of Liberty replica with the Rainbow Bridge as the background, drop at Daiba Station. Beautiful view!!

View From The Big Wheel

After that, we proceeded to Tokyo Dome City.
* Directions : Take a train – Yurikamome Line to Shimbashi Station. After that, transfer to JR Line – Yamanote Line & alight @ Akihabara Station. From here, go up the escalator, turn right & take Line 5. Then alight @ Suidobashi Station.

Tokyo Dome City!! Where the Famous Tokyo Dome is & where one of the scariest looking roller coaster is housed. Located in a part of the amusement park called LaQua. I only got to take the Wonder Drop (a parachute-looking thing that will drop from above) for ¥600 per person. I would love to take the Thunder Dolphin (roller coaster) but nobody wanted to take it with me.. I expected Nadia to be as excited as I was cos she had earlier told me that she was a thrill-seeker like me. To my disappointment, she wasn’t as enthusiastic as me… So I didn’t get to take that bloody thing (Nvm, I have plans to go Tokyo again… So this time, I can force Jaz to ride with me). So, I reluctantly left the place to go Asakusa.
* Directions : From Suidabashi Station, Pay ¥230 & take Line 2. Alight @ Asakusabashi (Sobu Line). Go out & transfer @ Asakusabashi Station – JR Line & take the train @ the Asakusa Line & drop @ Asakusa Station.

Tokyo Dome City

This is my haven!! At Asakusabashi… If you are into jewellery-making, this is definitely the place for you! There are beads everywhere! But of course, it’s expensive as usual..So, most things are not worth it.. It’s better to buy from home honestly.. So after browsing a few shops, we didn’t have much time so I gotta rush through. We headed to Asakusa & bought a few more things. By this time, most of the shops are already closed. After that, we went to Harajuku!! If you wanna see cos plays, this is the place to go. Best day would be on weekends when the streets will be filled with cos players (people dressing up as comic characters, etc..).
* Directions : At Asakusa Station, purchase ¥230 ticket & take a train @ Ginza Line. Alight @ Omote-Sando, go down the stairs, following Chiyoda Line & take another train @ Line 1. Alight at the next stop, Meiji-Jingumae & take Exit 2.

Harajuku

It was about 9pm. And again, most of the shops here were either closing or were already closed. But I managed to grab myself a bunch of Disney socks & a checkered shoes. The shoes are ex but well… what to do. Funny thing about Japan is that they do not use numbers for shoe size. They only have small, medium or large. So, it can be pretty depressing some times. I had to buy a size M for myself.. which was slightly bigger but I don’t care. My feet might grow in time…(hahar!). After spending some time here, we made our way back to our hotel.

5th June 2008

It was our last day… So after checking out, we left our bags with the hotel staffs & made our last round at Ginza. I wanted to go Harajuku again but they think we might not have enough time.. (Sigh..) So, I have to make do with the Ginza visit. When we return back to the hotel, I had this regret feeling of not buying a bag I saw earlier in one of the shops. So, I went back to the shop alone & got myself that white leather bag for ¥8,800. Hah….I felt so satisfied… While making my way there, I dropped by a few shops but nothing seemed to interest me.. So I walked back, repacked my stuffs again & all set to go home.. (sob-sob!) So we hailed a cab that’ll bring us to Tokyo City Air Terminal – ¥1,160. I asked the guy in Japanese whether he could speak English. (He understands!!! Haha!) He replied a bit…lol! He asked us where we were from & we said we were from Singapore & were here for a holiday. The guy was so… cute & nice. He helped us with our luggages. So upon reaching at the Terminal, we bought the Airport Limousine ticket to the Narita Airport for ¥2,900. We board the bus 15mins later & off for about 1.5 hours journey. There will be 3 stops. 1st will be the South Wing, 2nd will be the North Wing & last, will be North Wing New Tower or something I don’t quite remember. So, if you are taking Northwest Airline like me, you will have to stop at the 3rd & final stop. So we checked ourselves in & walked around the airport. I did some last minute shoppings & we had lunch there. It was stock soup. The first rice meal I have ever eaten in 5 days!! It was a meal so there were side dishes like fermented tofu (gross), pickles & vegetables. All for ¥730. First spoonful, nice… halfway, I felt like vomitting.. Oh… I don’t like the food..I can’t eat Japanese food. It tasted like seaweed.. But I was so hungry that I finished it all up. At this point of time, I swore to myself that I will appreciate my mom’s cooking & I will eat when I’m home. So, we board the flight about 2 hours later. It was my first time sitting at the aisle seat cos we switched places with Nadia’s cousin. Damn, it was so dizzy… I swear I will not take any other seat except for the window seat. I had to look at the window across & it felt better but I can’t keep looking out the window every time right.. So at some time, I had to bear with the dizziness. For this flight, I didn’t sleep at all. I watched 3 movies! They were Definitely Maybe, The Interrogator (watched many times already… Definitely recommended!!) & Devil Wears Prada (Another nice movie I’ve watched twice). There was only one meal & it sucks!!! Why is this so??? I was hungry!! Somebody please explain!!!! It was more than 7 hours in the flight.. Give me something to eat!! Ok, so we reached Singapore at 1+ am on 6th June 2008. Jaz was there to fetch me & I told him how hungry I was & then we went to Simpang to eat.. haha! (Sorry, mom!) For your info, up till today, I only ate once at home.. It was still the same despite my promise to appreciate my mom’s cooking..

Recommended Places :

Shibuya – The gigantic intersection & crossing with the huge screen (think Tokyo Drift). This is also a place for women to shop for fashionable clothes & is a popular entertainment area. There’s also love hotels where couples become intimate.

Harajuku – This is where teens shop for trendy clothes. Best day to come is on weekend when the street will be covered with cos players (people who dresses up in costumes). It reminds me of Bugis Street.

Asakusa – A place where you can find a lot of souvenirs & traditional things like crackers, umbrellas, etc..

Disneyland – A must place to visit. Even if you don’t have kids… Gear up your camera cos there are many things to take pictures with..

Disneysea – Why not cover both while you are at it right???

Tokyo Dome City – An amusement park where one of the scariest-looking roller coaster is located. A must to take! The famous Tokyo Dome is also located here.

Palette Town – One of the largest wheel in the world that offers spectacular view of the Rainbow Bridge & Tokyo Tower. Located here is also the most beautiful architecture in a mall I have ever seen called VenusFort.

Ginza – Shopping Haven for materialistic people but the street is pretty. You may want to visit here to see only but not to shop. Big brand names like Bvlgari, LV, Tiffany & Co. has their own buildings & is lined along the stretch of roads.

Important things to take note of :

* Please switch off or put your phone in silent mode when you are taking the public transport unless you don’t mind the stares that you’ll be getting when your phone sounds off.

* There are rarely trash bins around & at some streets, you are prohibited to smoke. So, the safest place for you to smoke will be at the allocated smoking area where there might be a few cigarette vending machines & a few ashtrays.

* Japanese have the habit of recycling. So, if you have a can or a bottle to throw, please dump them in the recycling bins which are surprisingly widely scattered around.

* Bring along a warm jacket even though it’s summer cos when it rains, you’ll be freezing your ass off as the temperature will be dipped as low as below 16°C.

* Change your money in Singapore because the rate there is very low & it is very difficult to find money changer there. The only place you can change is the bank & they only accept US Dollars.

* Bring a lot of money because everything there is expensive. You wouldn’t want to be on a holiday with not enough money halfway.