Monday, 12 February 2018

Kayden's journal of Japan holiday in Nov/Dec 2017

          Day 1 (Odaiba)
          After an over 6 hour flight, we finally reached Tokyo. YAHOO! Temperature, 17 degree celcius. So nice, totally better than Singapore’s 30 degree. Natural aircon! One word to describe, “”! After a long bus ride, we finally reached our hotel. The Marriot Hotel. After resting for a while, off we went to the nearest railway station.
At the railway station, we had lunch at a ramen place called “品辛”. Let me tell you, the ramen they sell is the best! The noodles are so chewy and nice. I am definitely going to eat it again the next time I go to Tokyo!
Not long after getting train tickets, we took the train all the way to Odaiba. First, we went to the Toyota showroom MEGAWEB. We saw many cool Toyota models and I even played the simulator for the all new FT-1 sports car. Not only that, we even got to try out playing a Paralympic sport. Wheelchair Basketball! I even learned how to drive a real car! Unfortunately I failed the driving test as the instructor said that I drove very “dangerously” (LOL!).  
          After dinner, we went to the Gundam Base, a shop dedicated to Gundam. We saw many different types of cool gundams. Even some really cool custom made ones for competitions. I even saw a special Gundam Exia Trans-Am mode which will be released soon. It was so cool with all the shiny red and green pieces. Truly a wonderful Gundam! I even saw the life size statue of Unicorn Gundam attack mode! Not only that, it transformed into the original Unicorn Gundam within seconds and the color of the lighting changed as well! It was really wonderful! Way cooler than the Rx-78 Gundam statue at the previous Gundam center!
Day 2 (Ikebukuro)
          After a night of rest, I am up and ready for a new adventure. We had free breakfast at the hotel which was really delicious and off we went to Ikebukuro. The temperature was 15 degree and it was so good I didn’t want to wear my jacket, which means my short sleeve shirt was my only source to keep me from losing heat. We waited for my Yiyi at a shop. We had planned to meet up and go to the Pokemon Center Mega Tokyo together, so exciting! After having lunch together at a restaurant and indulging ourselves in delicious mint flavored cake, off we went to not only the highlight of the day, but also, my dreaaaammm laannddd…..
          The first thing I did when I saw the entrance to the pokemon center where there was a statue of mega Charizard Y with a Pikachu, I ran to it and shouted “CHEONG AHHH!!!!!!” At the pokemon center, I saw many cool statues of pokemon. There was a statue of Lunala, Mega charzard x and y, Pikachu, mega Lucario, solgaleo and mega mewtwo y! They were all so cool I took pictures with them all. There were so many things there which you couldn’t get in Singapore. I was on cloud nine. I saw something which almost made my mind explode; trading cards. My immediate reaction was like this, “CHEONG AHH!!! YOU CARDS ARE MINEEE!!!!!”. There was a amazingl huge variety of different packs to choose from. Not only that, all of them can only be found in Japan! Awesome! There were even some limited addition packs which guarantee at least one GX! WOW! I even saw some special deck cases and sleeves for the cards!
          What was even more exciting was the stationary and keychains. The stationary ranged from pokemon themed rulers, to files. The keychains were so nice and cool looking. Something you definitely cant find in Singapore. At the end, I bought six normal packs(not the limited edition ones), a Lycanroc (IDK whether its called lycanroc midday form so I will just say it as Ash’s Lycanroc),  a cool ruler with Solgaleo and lunala on it and a special card sleeve featuring Rotom the pokedex! From the packs, I got three rare cards, a Buzzwole Gx, and a full-art trainer Plumeria! OH YEHHH!!!!
          Afterwards, we went to Tokyuhands to get some stationary. I even saw a really cool pen which costs 1000 yen! It was a really nice multi-ink pen. Then, came the most horrifying, most terrible, and most BORING part of the day; my mother and Yiyi going shopping at Uniqlo.  I waited with my father, brother and sister for like almost 2 hours. IT WAS SO BORING!
          Thankfully, we went for dinner. Gosh I was starving, it was already 8 o’clock! We went to a very delicious ramen place by the name of Ichiran ramen. The queue was pretty long and we had to wait outside the store. What I found really cool and unique about the place, was the way we ate. Instead of sitting at one table, we would be eating one at a time in separate tables. Each table was limited to one person and you can’t see the person beside you as there is a piece of wood allowing the other person to be unable to see you. In front of you is some wooden blind and the cook will deliver your food by lifting the blind up and sliding the food onto your table. The ramen was so good I am quite sure its ratings will leave all the ramen in Singapore trailing far far behind….
          After that, we took the railway and said goodbye to our Yiyi.

Day 3 (Harajuku)
          Today I woke up especially early in the morning because my brother kicked me in the face. After that, I was wide awake and getting ready. Today, we were going to the Hedgehog café at Harajuku and I couldn’t wait to touch the hedgehogs. After taking a pretty long ride there, we finally reached our destination.
          When we walked out of the station, the first thing that caught my mum’s eyes was a big sign saying that GAP had a black Friday discount of up to 50%! Without a second thought, we went to the clothes store. There were three levels and I decided to go exercising mode. I ran up the stairs all the way to level 3 and for some reason, was very tired!  My mother then bought some clothes for me while my father went to scout ahead for the hedgehog and got our time entry ticket. Afterwards, we went ahead to the hedgehog café. My first question when we reached there was this, “do they sell food and drinks here, or are there just hedgehogs?” HAHAHA! I was so surprised by my mum’s answer. Turns out that the hedgehog café wasn’t really a café, it was simply a place to touch hedgehogs. So I am guessing that its called the hedgehog café to sound cool. Then, it was time to touch the hedgehogs. Spiky, hairy and cute were the first things that came to mind when I caught sight of the little hedgehogs in the enclosure.
          There were a total of 4 hedgehogs for my family to touch. The first one I held was the most docile one. It simply lay down on my hand and did not even attempt to crawl back into its enclosure. Well, all was well when I decided to carry one which looked like I was sleeping. Little did I know that it was the most ferocious one. The moment I lifted him up, he poked my hand with its spikes and immediately scrambled down back to the bottom of its enclosure. Now I finally realized what the gloves were for. Oh man, I seriously liked that hedgehog. So fierce and active, WOW! I named him “Spiky”. A  cool name, for a cool hedgehog. After half an hour, our time at the hedgehog café ended and I said goodbye to “spiky” sadly.
          After that, without any aim in mind, we simply walked forward. That was when a Nike shop caught my eye. My family and I decided to check it out as we were certain they had some things Singapore did not have.  The Nike shop was very big and had three stories. I even tried running on a treadmill with some cool shoes which are better for using on it. On the third floor, was the basketball section. There were many different types of jerseys and shoes. You could even customize your own shoes!
          We then went to Kiddyland to look at toys and cards. I also played a game called Pokemon Ga Ole, a really cool pokemon game. I even got  Turtunater!  My brother also bought his favourite buddyfight cards there. He even got  Buddyrare Bal Dragon!
          After that, we got some instant noodles and ate them for dinner…

          Day 4 (Disneysea)
                    Disneysea, here I come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Early morning. 7a.m. Status:Awake. Feeling:excited to GOO DISNEYSEAAA!!!!!!!!!!!! We took a cab there early in the morning but got there late as there was a traffic jam. WAH! The taxi ride was 7000+ Yen!?!? That means….. 700/100 x 1.2 = 84. WHATTTTT!?!!!?!?!??!? These taxi drivers are the richest man. Well, after arriving in disneysea, my father took off like the wind to get the fast pass for the all new toy story mania ride. Why he had to do that? Because It was like 9a.m. in the morning  and the fast pass timing for toy story mania was already between 6-7p.m.!?!?!? In the end, thank god we managed to get the 8.30p.m. slot. WAH HENG AH! After a major crisis settled, we decided to look for a ride. I suggested that we took the nemo ride (since it was nemo it shouldn’t be scary. I am afraid of rollercoasters) . After queuing for an hour, we finally managed to take the ride. Turned out, it was a some cool ride and even my younger sister(aged 3) enjoyed it! After that, we took a cool ride called Aquatopia. The only reason why I wanted to ride that ride was simple; you have a chance of getting wet. SPRAY MEEEEE!!! SPRAY MEE!! I screamed whenever a water spout gets close. Sadly, I did not get soaked, not even a little wet.(cry) 
          After that, we quickly hurried to watch the afternoon parade. It was absolutely spectacular!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And at that very moment; that moment of truth, KANGHASKANNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! appeared in  Pokemon Go. OHHH MYYYYYY GOD!!!
          I then saw a ice cream truck blowing siren , “WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW!........”
WAH! AWESOME! I cheong there and got a Minnie Mouse (dun judge) mixed berry popsicle. I took a bite. WOWWWW!!! SO NICeeeee……. But then, my mei mei wanted to eat. NOOOO!!!!!
          Ok, now after that was settled, we went to get some lunch, oh gosh I was starving. I ate chicken curry with rice and naan. Sedap!! We then went on ahead and watched the Alladin’s flying carpet show.  It was a really nice 3D show but sadly, I could not enjoy it much as it was in Japanese and I couldn’t understand a single thing they were saying and I was quite sure it said some funny things as many of the audience laughed. Mummy and I went to queue up for delicious and unique, currrryy popcorn while my brother, sister and father went to get the fast pass for the rollercoaster raging spirits. As my father and sister waited for my mummy and I, they decided to take a little fun ride for mei mei.
          What was even funnier, was when my dad saw my mum on the ride and shouted, “xue li…..” (my mummy’s Chinese name) and my sister copy my dad and also called out to my mummy and said “xue li…..” AHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHA!!! I tell you I laughed so hard I wanted to cry. We then walked to the mermaid section. My sister, saw a store which had a stuff toy flounder. My mother, father and I sat and waited as my sister and brother played at the store with the Flounder. That was when the person told my sister to return the toy as they had to close the store. Let me tell you, what she did was so funny I think she would have gotten funniest baby 2017 award, trash all others; she attempted to run away with the Flounder. Ok, 1..2…3… AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OHHHHHH!!! That was like the funniest thing I have ever seen. 100% swagness in being naughty. In the end, as my sister refused to return the stuffed toy(LOLLLLLL), my father had no choice but buy her the Flounder. Wah mei mei, pro man!
          Knowing that the time of the night performance was drawing near, we immediately got some food and went to ‘chope’ a spot on the floor at a place where you can get the best view of the performance. When the performance started, I was really surprised that there was a special children viewing area in case we could not see with the people blocking us. So instead of squeezing down on the floor, I got to sit comfortably with tons of leg space to spare. WOW!
          Then, at 8.30p.m. we went to the ride we have been waiting for the whole day, The TOY STORY MANIA! Whew, it sure was a good thing we had fast passes. So instead of queuing for two hours, we only queued for 5 MINUTES! LOL! Alright, now the ride, let me describe it; in a nutshell, absolutely AMAZINGGGGG!!!!! It turned out to be a really cool 3D target shooting game. Oh yeh, the guns… Best workout for arms, gain lots ‘o muscle, right here. How you shoot, you don’t press buttons, you have to continuously pull a string forward and backward to shoot. HAHHAH my mummy's hand almost broke, but she beat me in score!!!!
          All in all, I had a wonderful time at Disneysea and would definitely go there again in the future because I find it so much better than Disneyland!
          Day 5 (Skytree)

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......

Unfortunately, this boy forgot to click save for his long write-up from day 5 til end of holiday! We only discovered this when we wanted to post it....sigh

Nothing beats having the kids telling us their experience and for us to see it from their curious, innocent and excited little minds. We wanted to fulfill their wish the boys' wish to experience snow and to ski. Although it was artificial snow as it we were still too early, they had fun at the resort and learnt to ski. Like what many parents do, we extend ourselves and let them experience things we have not had the chance to. While the boys were at ski school, we spent time cuddling and keeping their little sister occupied in the cold but when we saw how much they enjoyed themselves and how fast they picked up skiing, we felt so proud and contented. 

It was tiring bringing all 3 of them out but it was all worth it to be able to spend time together experiencing and enjoying a different country, culture, food and activities. We are so tempted to go for hardcore winter in 2018 now....brrrrrrrr



          

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