Day 2 - 20 Mar

Rise and shine at 7...our plan is to visit shrines and shrines today...

Breakfast at hotel - always onigiri (rice balls) and miso soup...

i had this for almost everyday while staying in Toyoko Inn..until i grew so sick tat towards the end..i bought my own bread..

at the train station while setting off for Asakusa Shrine

Ikebukuro – Ueno (Yamanote-line) – Asakusa (Ginza Subway Line) JPY160
Note: we had to pay for subway cos its not under JR line so not covered by JR pass

can c tat i changed to my black padded jacket..cos it was raining thru the whole nite and was freaking cold in the morning! i even brought my gloves out..and to think that it was already late March..ppl were telling me tat it is juz like winter!

At the old street near Asakusa

the muz-do b4 we enter shrines...wash our hands to cleanse ourselves fr impurities..

Darling trying to act like a Japanese woman..too bad..not abit like one at all!

Outside the Sensoji...super windy cold!! my hair oso super messy!

Matcha manju

i dun usu like manju cos its always v sweet..but i quite like this and the matcha flavour was v fragrant..another special thing is tat the manju was deep fried...otherwise wat we usu get r baked manjus like our mooncakes..

we took a walk at the old streets and darling saw some v nice wooden swords and real samurai swords..but too bad cant bring back to spore...so he didnt buy...otherwise it will add on to the japanese look we hav in our bedrm..

cold weather make us hungry v fast...and i suddenly felt like eating pasta...we saw this v cheap pasta cafe so went in to hav lunch..

Nice garden salad

The wings were v tender!

Carbonara - darling had it wif raw egg..i didnt..

he didnt quite like it cos its not creamy enuff..but i thot it was quite nice cos i dun get too gelat after eating it..

Still raining!!!! one thing abt the Japan's weather forecast is that they r extremely accurate! the forecast actually said tat the rain will continue thru the whole day...and true enuff..still raining! there were more cases of its accuracy in the next few days...

We went to Yasukuni Shrine..wanted to go there hav a look cos of its v political element..it actually house the army soldiers of the World Wars...and always create alot of hoo-ha when their PM go and pray to these dead...


there was oso a museum on the WW2 beside the shrine..

The train tat used to run on the Death Railway in Thailand

The canons tat were used...c those little black marks? there were actually caused by enemies canons during war time..

the Suicide Fighter Plane..


on our way back, we went past a Budo Kan (their indoor stadium for Judo competition) and apparently there was a competition going on..but we had to buy tix to go in and watch so we did not bother..

went back to Ikebukuro for some window shopping again..the rain was very spoil sport cos we had to change our plans cos of the rain..shopping at Ikebukuro cos its underground so we wun hav to go in the rain and its not so cold..

had Gelato at the dept store..

we oso shopped for our dinner..

Ume Rice with Mayo Karaage...v delicious!

and i got a box of strawberries too! c how red they were? v sweet indeed!

we set off for our night train...

and i slept the moment i was on the train! super tired...and somehow their trains always make me feel so sleepy...and couldnt see any scenery cos it was so dark outside..so the only thing to do is to sleepzzzzz...

Tokyo (Yamibiko 223) - Sendai, Sendai (Ltd Exp Hokutosei 3) - Hakodate, Hakodate (Ltd Express Hokuto 1) - Noboribetsu

b4 we alight at Sendai, we quickly hav our supper...Ebi Roll..their sushi r v gd! and the ebi was v fresh as well..

and cakes!!!

i fell in love with strawberry cakes while in Japan..this is the 1st of the many many i had in 15 days...usu i wld hav order choc cake for myself as well..but if u r ever in Japan..their strawberry cake is a must-eat esp during Spring where the strawberries r v v sweet!


at Sendai..we switched to our sleeper train..its not cheap..we had to pay abt JPY8620 per pax for a bunk bed..but to save time..this was the only way..

the train coming into the station..


the bunk bed..mine was on top...cos i dun felt quite safe sleeping at the lower bunk..

darling making himself v comfortable..


sleeping on the train was like sleeping during an earthquake..and even thou its a non-smoking train..some idiots were smoking and i was waken up by the smoke! not to mention the other few times tat i woke up cos the bed was not soft enuff for me...

stay tuned for Day 3 at Noboribetsu!