Tokyo Day 2 - Meiji Shrine

Day 2 was a fully packed day. We intended to cover 3 major places.

We started the day to Meiji Shrine. Taking the JR Yamanote line to Harajuku Station from Hamamsutcho.

The convenience store at the train station selling all sort of snacks.

At Harajuku, this drugstore is huge and sells many many beauty items. There is also a long line queuing for Garrett popcorn!

We had breakfast at Mac!

After breakfast, we proceeded to the entrance of the Meiji Shrine. It is next to the Harajuku station. To go to Meiji Shrine after getting out of the station, the direction will be:-
From the station facing the road, turn right and walk towards a bridge (神宫桥

), turn right again at the bridge and cross a side road to see the entrance of Meiji Shrine. From then on, walk inside the lovely greenery ground of the shrine to reach the main area. Along the way, you will see this display of wine containers.

When you reach the main area, most visitors will cleanse themselves just outside before proceeding in. Above is the wishing place. We are lucky to chance upon a wedding during a weekday noon.

Tokyo Day 1 - Odaiba

Landed in Narita Airport before 2pm and we were out of immigration by 2pm.
The direct airport limousine to the hotel is not leaving until 4pm.
So we took the alternative to T-CAT (Tokyo City Air Terminal) which runs very frequently and transfered to a taxi to Intercontinental Hotel at Tokyo Bay area, a short taxi ride away.

                            Luggage tag - very professional

                                        The cost of bus tickets


The full journey took about 1.5hrs. We check in with a awesome view from the room. 

                   Awesome view from the room - skytree at the far-away 11o'clock area

After freshen up, we proceeded at plan to odaiba as the subway is just right outside the hotel.

                          The automated Yurikamome transit system within 10m walk from hotel

Odaiba is a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, Japan, across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo.

The train crossed the Rainbow Bridge and we alighted at Aomi Station as we wanted to go Venus Fort, a Venice-themed shopping mall for dinner and shopping. The is a pretty well-stock good size Burberry Blue Label outlet. Automatic tax refund at payment counter. Venus Fort shopping was pretty quiet on a weekday Monday. We did not have to jostle around with crowd. It suited us pretty well as we had a long day started at 4am. We decided to go back early to the hotel to rest as the sky turned dark by 6pm+.

                                                    This carbonara was awesome




On the way to Aomi station, you can alight at the earlier station to shop at aqua city. Here, you can get to see the replica of Stature of Liberty near to Aqua City Shopping Centre.

At night, from our hotel room, we get excellent bay view
 

Night view - lit-up skytree tower right at the left edge of the picture

Jem - much awaited opening after the delay

Many shops are not opened yet - example NTUC, Esprit, Lee Hwa We were there for food, some shopping and then a cuppa. We took a long time to look for the restroom before going back. In the end, we realised that there isnt any restroom on Level ONE!

Star Vista

Spacious mall. Mostly non-airconditioned. For people who enjoyed shelter al-fresco dining, it is quite enjoyable. Should be cooler at night. Quite for a weekday lunch crowd.

CNY holiday

Intercontinental Hotel Lakeside Wonderful lakeview room There were at least 8 fireworks viewed from balcony on the eve of CNY Weather was superbly cool

Room view

Hong Kong Nov 2012

view from room 1414 Crowne Plaza Causeway Bay

Very cool and nice weather in Nov.
The hotel room is very spacious and new.
Free wi-fi in room if you are a priority club member.
Must visit is the Club@28 on the roof terrace. The view should be stunning but we missed it because it was raining on the night we went for our drink.

Major shopping malls like Time Square and  Sogo are within walking distance.

Visit www.cphongkong.com for more information

Taipei 九份

A hilly place to visit. It is often raining 2/3 of the year.

Bring brolly or raincoat. Rain usually in the morning.

By noon, it should stop but floor will be still wet.

Wear pants so that the wet will not stick to your legs.

Wild boar meat - a must-try, very delicious.