Day 2 (15/2/12)- Books?? Nightmare!

      I woke up at 8.30, I think, took my shower and prepared to go out. At 9 something, we went out to the Midoridai station, 5 minutes from the house. It was damn freezing that morning but we managed to arrive there safely (unfrozen, I mean). One thing that I learnt today is that the Japanese people always find a way to save space. Like the gas station yesterday and the place for bikes too.. Usually, there would be only the place below.. but today, I saw that bikes could also be parked on top of another bike. Well, maybe in other countries they have them too, but this was my first time seeing anything like that.

Real image that I took in Chiba, Tokyo

     Also, they are really punctual. When they say that the train would arrive at 9.23 am, at that exact time, they would be there. Every minute counts. So, it would be easier for you. You see, the people in Japan had this application on their iphone. It's the train schedule. You just type where you are, and your next destination. Then, it'll give you the best information. The time when the train would arrive, at which station you had to change, at what time you'll be arriving, that kinda of stuff. So, at the station, if you don't know what platform you should be at, you just have to watch the time when the train departs. Then, you'll find it easily. Simple and convenient isn't it?

At Midoridai Station

     With that, we're off to Museum Ghibli in Mitaka. The things were so cute and fascinating! The thing there resembled a lot like the one's in the movie. They had the windows with the characters from the movies on it. If you're a big fan of Studio Ghibli, then you should really visit this place.  I even watched this short movie that was both dumb and hilarious. It's a movie that the sounds was made up by only two people, if I'm not mistaken. Even though I didn't understand a thing what they were saying, I could understand what it's trying to convey. We rounded that place about 2 hours or so and bought souvenirs. I bought a really cute Totoro money pouch and 2 pins.. Then, off we go to Shinokubo.

The wall.. unique isn't it?                               

One of the characters in the movie.
Though this one is 10 times larger

The movie ticket up close

Cute Totoro purse and the 2 pins

The entrance and movie ticket

Cookies from the museum

     The main reason why we went to Shinokubo was to eat at a Thai restaurant (halal) but they had already moved to another place. So, we bought kebab rice and ate at the stairs instead. Fancy place to eat, huh? Don't get me wrong.. because it's a take away food, they don't provide a specific place to eat. It's not a restaurant, ok? So, we decided to stop by at the surau on the 4th floor at this one building.. but unfortunately, the girl's surau was locked. Maybe because there's hardly ever a person that use it.. so, we prayed on the stairs and ate the food there.

The delicious Kebab rice

     Next, we went to 7 Eleven.. and oh.. it's not like the 7 E's we have in Malaysia. This one was really convenient.. I bought a blue notebook there and my sister treated me an ice cream.. and it's BIG! For a person who loves ice-cream, I felt like in 'heaven'. Not the real Heaven though..

     After that, I top up my Suica card (a train ticket) with 3000 yen. The Suica card is actually like the touch and go card in Malaysia. We use it as a train ticket and we could also buy drinks at the vending machine using the cards.. and you know what? The vending machines in Japan is really high tech. It's a touch screen and not only for drinks, I also found a cigarette vending machine, but I didn't have the chance to take a picture of it..

The Suica card

The high tech, touch screen
vending machine

     Then, we moved to our next destination.. Akihabara! the electrical town (like what my sister said) and also the town for anime lovers (otaku).. I saw the ladies in cute cosplay costumes. We went to the most cheapest bookstore called BOOK OFF. It sells 2ndhand books.. but still, from the looks of it, the books seemed brand new to me. Even though I really LOVE books, this is the first bookstore that bored me to death.. Why?? Because I don't understand one heck of a thing! It's all in Japanese!! I can't even read it! Even the English storybooks like Alice in Wonderland, they translated them into Japanese. My held felt dizzy.. So, I just stood there, walking with no specific direction, looking at the books and sighed.. I did that for almost AN HOUR because my sister was so into books. She found this twilight series (in Japanese).. so she bought them all.. Good to know that she could read actually those.. and also the Harry Potter books.. My feet felt numb for standing and walking for hours.. #sighed..

Akihabara Station

     Finally, we went back home at about 7 pm. The night doesn't get any warmer. We walked through the cold breeze. At home, I ate noodles that Kak Fatirah cooked. It was delicious. I envy the person who can cook this well.. #because I can't.. I'm still learning though..

     There goes my second day. I ended up writing this journal while hearing my MP3.. That's all for today~

Day 1 (14/2/12)- D-Day

     Today, 'the day' finally arrived.. I'm on my way to Japan! I woke up with excitement and worries in my heart.. both. I did a last minute check up on my things at 9, my dad brought me to Dr. Suraya's clinic to get the medicine supply in case I got sick there. Then, I fed the GONS one last time and went to the airport.
  
     Unexpectedly, my stomach hurt a lot.. great.. just great.. perfect timing. After having lunch with dad, I bid dad my last goodbye, then went straight up the escalator on my own. For the first time, I did what my heart told me to. I just followed the signs and went there with confidence. And oh.. before that, when I checked-in (by myself that is), the lady at the counter was shocked when I told her I'm going there alone.. haha.. you guys should had seen the look on her face.. ok.. back to business. I went through gate T-18 and sat by the window. I wondered who would sit next to me, but thankfully, no one did. So, there you go.. I'm off to Japan..

My big luggage                                              

Me..alone..

My front seat

At the LCCT terminal

     My flight was from 2.45 p.m Malaysia time until 10.15 p.m( I think) Japan time.. I ate once on the flight.. nasi lemak.. the rest hours, I filled with dreams, toilet and books.. plus Mp3. There were times when the plane rocked hard because of the cloud but nothing bad happened.

     I arrived safely at Haneda, Tokyo International Airport.. when I first stepped out of the plane, it was damn freezing.. 5 degrees! but somehow, I felt the same feeling when I was in England.. the smell and the breeze in the air seems so familiar.. I went on the bus, that went straight to the entrance.

It was really cold outside..

Haneda Airport

     After I passed the immigration and check ups, I went through the arrival gate, hoping that my sister would be waiting for me there.. But guess what?? She wasn't there.. I thought she was playing hide and seek with me.. but seriously, I couldn't even see her shadow anywhere.. I got panicked.. what should I do?? I remembered to exchange the SIM card of my phone to dad's (he gave me his old one because I couldn't roam using my cheap phone.) I tried to miscall my sister 3 times but she didn't answer. I managed to send her a text message but that too, she didn't reply.. What the heck?? To make things worst, I only got 7% of my battery left!! Not knowing what to do, I sat on the bench and opened the Percy Jackson's book (so I won't panic..)

     Then, out of the blue (20 minutes later), I saw a familiar face.. not my sister.. but Kak Yasmeen.. I recalled that she had been to our house once..As I was trying to compute what was happening in front of me..like who's that person and etc., suddenly, a hand touched my head.. and there she was! I felt so relieved that I got mad.. I was like " WHERE WERE YOU???" She was a bit late cause she thought that my flight would arrive late. She brought her friends with her..; Kak Yasmeen, Kak Fatirah and abg Qayoum (driver)..

     So, there you go.. reunion..  we drove to search for a food outlet when suddenly, the car nearly ran out of gas! Gladly, we found this one gas station (a unique one actually).. the gas nozzle was hanging up on a ceiling.. I'd never seen anything like that anywhere..

     Then, we went to Denny's (a restaurant) because abg Qayoum was hungry. So, I ate one bowl of pasta and a delicious ice cream.. and that was about 1 o'clock in the morning.. what a day..

     After our stomach's were full, we went to Kak Fatirah's house.. yup.. this was the place I would be staying these 5 days.. And so, there goes my first day in Japan..