Day 3 in Tokyo ( Harajuku )

From Harajuku, we took a train down to Shibuya, the famed shopping and entertainment district within Tokyo metropolitan. At the heart of Shibuya(above) - prominent landmark of Shibuya is the large intersection in front of the station Hachiko exit, which is heavily decorated by neon advertisements and giant video screens and gets crossed by amazingly large crowds of pedestrians(below) each time the traffic light turns green. We had to rush to take this shot as you can see swarms of pedestrians departing across the traffic crossings behind Gayle.

(Below) Another shot of Gayle posing at the Lumine departmental store at the famed intersection.

(below) Us resting at a famed udon cafe for lunch.

(Above and Below) Walking along the many shopping streets at Shibuya.
(Above) Gayle posing in front of the famous Shibuya 109 shopping centre which sells many overpriced but hip clothes and cosplay dressing,frequented by Japanese youths.

(Above) Inside Shibuya 109, shopping. It's like an upscale upmarket Far East Plaza. Clothes are ridculously priced with a mini skirt ranging between $100 -$250SGD.Similar clothing can be found at Ikekuburo at 1/3 the price for similar design and quality.
(Above) Spoilt for choices for dinner. You just can't resist the window displays of food.
(Above) We went back to Harajuku street to soak in the shopping atmosphere. Crowds of Japanese schoolgirls tend to congregate around the streets and shop.
(Above) Gayle outside a cosplay and lingerie shop

(Above) Posing infront of a cosplay maid dress.

Day 3 in Tokyo ( At Omante Sando)

Day 3 in Tokyo, we took the subway to Harajuku station to shop at the famed Harajuku shopping district. We were surprised that the subway station wasa quaint retro looking train station in such a hip and modern place(above).

En route to Harajuku, we dropped by and walked down to the branded fashion street there - Omote Sando Hills, known for it's neat rows of classy branded shops, lined by rows of trees. Among the shops we stopped at were Burberry and Chanel.
(Above) Gayle outside the Burberry store ,carrying her Blue Label Burberry handbag which I bought for her.
(Above) Posing on the overhead bridge. Notice the neat row of trees behind us.

(Above) A cutsey public bus along Omote Sando.(Above) Passing by a pretty delicious looking confectionary and chocolateire shop along Omante-Sando.
(Above) In front of Laforet, a famous place for youths to hang out and a place for hip, cool and young harajuku fashion.

(Above) Gayle posing by the stylish elevators at Laforet, a well known departmental store for the young and hip. Prices there are pretty steep though.
(Above) Gayle shopping at Laforet.

(Above) Another picture of the street sidewalk along Omote Sando with a stylish apartment block behind.
(Above) Me posing outside Kiddy Land along Omote Sando Hill - The place where you have to hold on to your waller tightly because of the many great temptations inside - toys, fanciful gadgets and cute stuff galore.

(Above) Gayle posing outside Kiddyland's cute window display

(Above) Cute Japanese cartoon stuff inside Kiddyland.

(Above) Gayle looking at the cute rabbits
(Above) I found my toy ! Optimus Prime in Ultra Magnus mode.

(Above) Me clowning around on the way to Snoopy floor, filled with all kinds of Snoopy merchandise.
(Above) Playing a Japanese arcade game with a sword like joy stick, interesting and unique!

More posting on our next stop at Harajuku!

Day 2 in Tokyo

(Above) Us at Tokyo Disneyland, in front of Cinderella's castle.

Our 2nd day in Tokyo, we rose early to get breakfast and catch the morning train to Disneyland so as to avoid the long queues there later in the day. We went to the Subway sandwich outlet(below) at the office building opposite Shinjuku Washington hotel.

We took the train to Maihama station which is the stop for Tokyo Disneyland. We thought we were early but still were caught in Tokyo's morning rush hour and experienced how packed the trains were. Reaching the ticketing stands, there was already queues forming up.(Above) Gayle clowning around with the Disney bus and monorail station behind her.


(Above) It's only 30minutes since opening time and already the crowds have streamed into Disneyland. We had good weather during our trip there, bright sunlight, yet it was cold and windy.

At the other end of the World Bazaar, filled with shops and restaurants decorated in the Christmas mood. You can see the huge Christmas tree in the background, which was a draw for many tourists. (Above) First Disney character to drop by us was Pinnochio , a hit with adults and kids. (Above) Me posing with Cinderella's castle behind. I brought a backpack to put in some of our purchases and basic essentials like umbrella and water bottle. One should be hands free in a place like Disneyland. (Above) In the ride at the 'It's a Small Small World ' attraction at Fantasyland.


Queuing up for the rides take up a large portion of your time. We strategise our time there by zooming in first on what we really wanted to ride. You can't complete all the rides there in 1 day so we just went for the ones we were really interested in. We also took the fast pass for rides that had longer queues so that by the time we finished with one, it was time for another ride and we didn't have to waste extra time queueing.

(Above) The cute and cherry animated figurines at the 'It's a small small world' attraction.

(Above) Another photo of Gayle clowning around, imitating the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland themed attraction.
(Above and Below) Watching the street parades featuring Lilo and Stich, Peter Pan and Pirates and the Mickey gang. Check the schedules and be prepared to book a space in advance to be in a position to watch the parade close up.

(Above) View from a boat during the Jungle cruise at Adventureland. The guides are very animated so although we didn't know what they were saying in Japanese, we could infer from their actions when to swing to a certain side to avoid sprays of water etc.
(Above) Animatronics elephants spraying water from their trunks at the passing boats.

(Above) Posing in front of the Disney Ambassador hotel.

(Above) Having a rest and hot chocolate at a cafe in Disneyland.

(Above) The most popular flavoured popcorns were the curry ones, judging from the really long queues.We skipped that as we decided it wasn't worth spending our time queueing up for popcorn. We went to grad the caramel flavoured ones where there wasn't much of a queue and it was crunchy and deliciously sweet.
(Above) Our popcorn queen having a mouthful of the caramel popcorns.

(Above) Gayle and me posing infront of another ride we took - the Space rocket ride.

(Below) C3PO at the Star Wars Shuttle ride
(Below) R2D2 exhibit on display
(Below) More with the space theme, me posing with Wall E and Eve.

(Above) Gayle trying out the minnie mouse snowcap

(Above) Getting ready for another ride
(Above) At the starting line, waiting for our turn to zoom off.
(Above) At the disney store, filled with all kinds of tempting stuff that will lighten your wallet by a big deal. Welcome to the dark side!
(Above) Gayle has found Mickey's passport!(Above) Leaving Disneyland, at Maihama Station with happy memories!