T o k y o

We spent our last day in Tokyo at Ginza and Odaiba. The former is the famous upmarket shopping district in one of Japan most priciest area. The latter, a shopping & entertainment district, is built on a reclaimed island that houses bold architectures such as the Fuji TV Building & Telecom Centre.

 Before we hit to Ginza, we alighted at Tokyo Station to visit the Imperial Palace.

 Stone monument along the way to the palace.

 An artist painting the scenery of fall before the leaves disappear fully.

 Tokyo Imperial Palace is the current home of the Emperor & his royal family.

 Nijubashi (Double Bridge)

 Everything comes in pair here.

 Ginza skyline

 Road signs pointing to where the happenings are.

 Ginza - where a cup of coffee would cost as much as $10.

 Chuo Dori is the popular street where everyone wants to go and be seen. The street is closed to traffic on weekends afternoon.

 From Ginza, we took a short train ride to Odaiba. This man-made island is a fun place to visit if you have a full day to spare.

 The Rainbow Bridge connects Tokyo to Odaiba

 We continued our shopping here at Decks Tokyo Beach

 Decks is a huge shopping mall with restaurants and indoor theme parks.

 Beside shopping & entertainment, there are residential developments where you could get away from city living.

 This has become Sharon's favourite store. They sell almost everything about cats here.

Rainbow Bridge & the Statue of Liberty illuminated beautifully at night.

Although it was a short 4 days tour of Tokyo, I thoroughly enjoyed myself there. The city itself has plenty to offer but if you are not comfortable with the crowd, you could like us, make a day trip out of Tokyo. There are equally fun and exciting places that are not too far away, and I would for sure, will return to see it.

And another travel trip awaiting....

T o k y o

There are many places we could go to in Tokyo. Being my first trip there and for a start, we only visited the recommended attractions. One of it is Harajuku, where the youths in their colourful cosplay, would hang out on weekends.

Harajuku in the morning.

 Not exactly cosplay, but they fitted the street fashion.

 Shops for the trendy & fashionable

 Tighten your belt.

 Want to spice up your life? Dress it up.

 Burger from tavern on wheels.

 A busker with his crystal ball tricks.

Bag worshippers? Give me my LVs & my Guccis, pleaseeee...But seriously, I had no idea what they were woshipping. Perhaps they were practising for a play or something.

 Entrance to The Meiji Shrine.

 One of the attractions here is the rows of sake barrels

 Visitors in their traditional costumes

 Family in uniform

Look up dear, so that I can take a nice photo of you.

 Interior of the shrine. Love the wooden gate door.

 Blessings & dedications to your family and loved ones.

 I was fortunate to witness a wedding procession during my visit. It was an elaborated but important event that involved the likes of shrine maidens, Shinto priests, and wedding party with women in their gorgeous kimono.

 Beautiful bride and her nervous groom parading inside the inner court of the shrine.

 The couple taking a bow to the Shinto priest, and receiving their blessings.

 More ladies in their kimono.

 A purifying or cleansing stone well where worshippers wash their hands & rinse their mouth before they pray to the deity.

Worshippers performing the purifying act.

I enjoyed the visits to Harajuku and Meiji Shrine, although it could be better if today had been a weekend. Only on weekends where we could see the youths parade their cosplay in full force. It would be a shutterbug's joy to capture them in their outrageous but creative costumes.

And another travel trip awaiting....

L a k e K a w a g u c h i

Today, we visited Mount Fuji. There are many locations to see Fuji-san, and we decided ours to be at Lake Kawaguchi. Kawaguchi-go, also known as Fuji Five Lakes, is situated north of Mt Fuji, and offers a lake view of the majestic mountain.

There are many places of interest around the lake, and to fully see them all, it would need 2 days. Unfortunately I only have a day and since winter has shorter daylight, I have to maiximise my day fully.

 We arrived at Kawaguchiko Station by coach. You could also take a train there from Shinjuku, though you need a transfer along the way.

 Useful map detailing the lake and places to visit.

 You could hop on a sight seeing bus with a pass, but we decided we could walk to the lake since it is not too far away.

 Radish bound for the market.

 The red maple leave signal autumn though we were into early winter.

 Arriving at the lake, where there would be water activities during the summer days

 Spotted a tabby concentrating on something on the lake

 Ah... a pair of duck that he has targeted.

 We took the ropeway up Mount Tenjo to have an overview of the lake. It also offered a wonderful view of Mount Fuji

 Ascending from the eastern side of the lake.

 At 400m high, and from an observation deck, we have a panorama view of the surrounding beauty...

... and as far as the tele-lens could reach.

 Here's another side of Fuji-san from the lake.

 A nice garden that we came across

Evening sunset on the lake

 Doggies have their photos taken with Fuji on the background.

 Some of the interesting places that you could visit.

We visited Wachifield to see Dayan the cat.

Merry Christmas, King Dayan.

The visit to Lake Kawaguchi is an experience not to be missed. We should stay a night in a ryokan and perhaps enjoy an open air onsen that would otherwise complete a wonderful trip. The autumn chilled air, couple with the red leaves canopy, would be an ideal setting for a romantic getaway. 

And another travel trip awaiting....