Cannot smile because i was not fully awake. Haha
I bought a slice of cake the night before but were busy packing that i missed out the cake so we had it when we took the shinkansen train. Initially, i didn't know that eating and drinking is allowed in the train until i saw passengers taking their foods or drinks and consuming in the trains. This were contrary to our Singapore trains where no foods and drinks are allowed. I think i had been conditioned since young when we took our Singapore MRT that i had the idea Japan had this rule too, because i don't eat/drink in their trains too. Despite no such rule, it amaze me because their trains are very clean. I can't say the same for our country if there were no enforcement by imposing fines. Maybe minority of the Singaporeans might be considerate but i think majority just couldn't care less.
If you had asked me about my first impression of Tokyo, i would say, i would prefer Kyoto more. Tokyo, the capital of Japan also means that it is a very large city, more human crowds and we see more salarymen dressed in formal wear, with their suits and some with their briefcase. This sight were rare in Singapore but it were so common seeing them in trains. However, this also means they have a very fast paced life as i observed everyone is rushing to somewhere and it was very crowded too.
As our air bnb were due to check in only after 4pm, we decided to place our luggage in the lockers first so that we can visit Disney Sea. In Tokyo, they used suica card instead of icoca but i think there were some stations that allow you to use icoca because we tried it out. They have many different train service providers so it were rather confusing but i thought google map is awesome as it will guide us on which line to take etc and if you can't find it. Ask and you will get your answer.
Prior that, i did some research on Disney Sea, to skip the queue, you can purchase the online tickets beforehand, print it out and flash it at the entry point. It's quick, easy and fast however do note that changing of dates is not allowed so you really need to plan it wisely the dates that you are planning to visit. I think it's fair enough so that they can estimate the crowd expected at the theme park daily. It would also allow the management to assign more crew on very crowded days to facilitate the congestion in the theme park.
There is this crowd congestion forecast calender that you can refer to plan on the date that you would like to visit. I purchase the tickets directly at Disney site, it cost 7400 yen for adult, you can check on their rates by visiting here.
Now that i have came back and did additional research as i wrote this post, i found out there are external vendor that you can purchase the tickets that cost less than 7400 yen per pax. You can click on Klook to do a comparison before deciding which platform to purchase. Personally we bought it directly as i was skeptical about purchasing fake tickets. If you do decide to purchase from Klook, you will need to indicate the time and date that you want to collect and the Klook personnel will hand them over to you on that day and you don't have to print it out or queue for it.
We decided to visit it on weekdays because i expect the theme park is going to be very crowded on weekends compared to weekdays. If you have tried to research on Disneysea, i bet you will have many different bloggers sharing their experience on how to maximize the full use of your time in the theme park.
For eg: reaching the park at least an hr early before it opens to get the fast pass.
Unlike some theme parks that you have to pay to get the express entry pass, Disney system is different.Regardless of the ticket price that you purchase, everyone is entitled a fair chance to get the fast pass at each of the rides unless all the fast pass has been issued out for the day. This is also why many will advise to reach the theme park at least an hour before it open to get the opportunity to obtain the fast pass for the popular rides that save your time.
To get the fast pass, look out for the machine that is located beside the entrance of the ride, and simply scan the QR code with your e-ticket to receive a fast pass with a designated time that you can come back for express entry! (So it's important to keep your e-ticket even after you have gain entry to the park) For us, we didn't exactly follow the advice because i thought we wouldn't really spend a whole day in the theme park especially i am not a thrill seeker for the popular rides. But i was wrong. Even if you are not a fan of the scary roller coaster rides, there are many activities to do in the theme park itself.
I decided to visit Disney sea instead of Disneyland because i wanted to purchase my Duffy and Shellie May! Be prepared to spend lots of yen in the park because there is this 'Buy Buy Buy' effect where everyone is wiping the bears off the shelves and you will want to purchase one or two item to bring back for keepsake purpose!
There are many ways getting to Disney sea, for us, we didn't bought the railway pass so from Tokyo station, we took the keiyo line (red line) which is just 3 stops away to Maihama station. From Maihama station, you can board the disney monorail to reach the park that you want, eg disneysea/disneyland or even the resorts.
With our e-ticket, it was a fuss free process to gain entry to the park
Me with my happy purchase!
I bought a Duffy and Shellie May bear. The store sells the clothes separately so i bought the clothes set and dress them up so that it look different from the others because majority purchase the bear only as the clothes is almost the same price for a bear. There were some minority where you can see Duffy/Shellie May wearing different set of clothes and i guess they probably sell them during the different seasons!
My Duffy bear ready to explore Disneysea with his new clothes!
Perfect weather to visit the theme park and i were so excited to explore the place! We got the map brochure so we can figure how to explore the whole place. Disney Sea sit on 71.22ha, 172acres area (Source: Wikipedia) so you can expect the theme park to be really huge and you definitely need a day to set aside for Disney sea if you are planning to include in your itinerary. I would strongly recommend you to visit at least once for the memories and experience that i am unable to depict through my post here.
I couldn't make up my mind after visiting the store whether i should buy stellalou back as i was spending so much already on Duffy and Shellie May, so i told Jeremy 'ok just take a photo of stella lou and me in the store will do.'
Stellalou is Duffy newest friend in Disneysea, and it was launched this year on 30 mar 2017. In apr 4, stellalou had a debut in a greeting drive during the start of Disney Easter day in Disneysea! So its common to see many visitors buying Stellalou and its other products. Stellalou is so cute! I didn't buy it initially but i had one whole day to decide if i should bought home. Thus most of the photos that you see only have Duffy and Shellie May.
Ps: eventually i did buy back one, with her ballerina clothes as well. heh.
There were many different stalls at different island in the map selling popcorn.
Each store has a different character if you are planning to purchase their popcorn bucket. We didn't buy the one with bucket but tried out their curry popcorn!
Took a photo while waiting in the queue for our first ride.
We saw some mascots, i think this is the Alvin and the Chipmunk right? No idea who but i just went forward to take a photo with. Hahahaha.
If you have your Duffy or Shellie May,they have this phototaking spot for you to place it to take photo like the one i did for the above!
For a moment i thought i was seeing things like a goofy sitting at the pavement. Hahaha before i realised it's just the hat.
We went to try the Toy Story ride after that.
I didn't know it was one of the most popular rides, we didn't had any fast pass so we joined the normal queue. The wind was so strong and my headband was flying off my head so Jeremy was holding my headband or is it my head? Hahaha
The cute board sign along the queue while waiting for our turn.
After the ride, we walked pass this look-like european style area and unfortunately, we didn't have the time to explore this part except photo-taking during the daytime.
Turkey key in between when we were not hungry for a proper meal.
The theme park is huge and instead of walking from point A to B, we took the option of taking the boat ride.
We saw everyone crowding around the pavement, only to realise it's stella lou meet and greet drive through~
Here's a video, of the meet and greet session~
We had our lunch at Cape Cod restaurant and if you dine in, you will be able to enjoy the stage show, titled 'My Friend Duffy'
After we have paid and receive our foods, we will be directed to our seat to enjoy the show. It seems the show is on-going with some small breaks in between. So fret not if you realised the show ends just as you sat down. They probably start again the show after the small breaks.
Someone drew this on the pavement as we was passing by, cute!
Found this backdrop that could act as my backdrop for OOTD. i warned Jeremy to take a nice OOTD for me and luckily not too bad.
The beautiful sky before it turns dark (no editing done for the sky), we came out of one of our rides and i was amazed to see this sight right in front of us. It's definitely better than the photos i took. Even though it's not exactly empty as shown in this photo, (i photoshopped the crazy number of people around) It was so pretty!
Quickly took some photos before the sky turn dark!
We visited the indoor, mermaid lagoon and we watched the mermaid show which was awesome! Unfortunately no photo-taking is allowed so none to show, but do visit the show. It's awesome with all the music, sound & special effects.
As i mentioned earlier, i was hesitating whether to purchase the stella lou so i went in the store again, i saw this video that i took below and immediately i got sold. Grab one of the stella lou and head for the counter. Hahahhaha. Good marketing for their stella lou.
By then, we thought of checking the Toy story ride again to see if we might had any chance to queue, but the queue doesn't stop and it would take another 45min so eventually we didn't manage to take this ride but i think i will be back for this again next time!
It looks even more magical and beautiful at night.
Selfie.
We was walking to the exit of the theme park and passed by this big river and it was so beautiful that this photo that i take does not justify how beautiful it really was.
Nevertheless, we had a very memorable and fun day at Disneysea, and we only left the park half an hour before it closed. We will be back again next time!
We took the train back to Tokyo station and retrieve our luggage from the lockers to locate our air bnb. One thing that i like about air bnb beside the cost is, you can simply retrieve the key and check in anytime after the official check in time that you want. No staff is required to process your check in at the counter. Instructions would be given beforehand so you just need to follow the guide to get the key and open the door to our unit.
For our Tokyo air bnb, it was cheaper than the one i book in Kyoto. For Kyoto, it was $160++ per night but for our Tokyo air bnb it was only about $120++ per night.
So far, i think i am good at judging the rooms based on the photos and both air bnb were comfortable for us. It was quite a fuss free process to retrieve the key to unlock our unit, except we didn't exit at the right station so we had to pull our luggage and walk a very long distance before finally reaching our unit. Coming to Japan can help to tone your legs because the place is so huge and be prepared to walk if you are not on group tour. (As i expect buses are catered for group tour usually) The airbnb that i chose was located in Shinjuku kabukicho.
I am amazed by how the Japanese has proven that you don't need a big space to stay in or rather how even if you have a very small space, it doesn't deter you from building a apartment that can have everything that you need. Our entrance to our unit.
You don't even need a huge kitchen to whip up a meal, even though i didn't use it at all during our stay. Hahaha
As we walked further in, this will be our bedroom! the air bnb indicate it can fit up to 3. But i think 2 pax will fit well.
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The weather was very cold and windy at night compared to daytime so when we finally reached our unit, i was lazy to head out for dinner and partly because i had been coughing throughout this trip, finished my first bottle of cough syrup bought in Japan, started the second bottle but i was still not recovering. Thus, Jeremy went down to check out all the eateries nearby. Unlike the Kyoto airbnb that we stayed which is peaceful and quiet, this place were very happening at night time and there were many food stores on the same stretch.
It was so funny when he came back and sharing with me his findings before he said this to me 'i think this is a red light district area' My reaction was, 'oh really?' As i was the one that do the research to booking the unit. I didn't bother to google the surrounding area because i was more particular on the unit itself.
So he continued, by telling me a guy approached him, speak to him in chinese and ask if he want to look for 'women' which i guess in this case, the direct term is 'prostitute' and the guy should be the pimp in charge. He told me at the back alley, there were many ladies wearing sexy standing on the pavement as well. I was feeling amused when he told me, and tease if he had asked for the price to find one. But he told me no la. Hahaha. As this building has security guard so i think we were pretty safe.
Anyway, he bought ramen back and thats our dinner for the day!
Till then!
