Japan Trip 2008 - Ueno Shinjuku 06Aug08

Ueno is where we are staying... its far, 30mins from town. It definitely looked nearer on the map. but we were wrong.

another pachinko outlet.

clothes, bags, cosmetics, fresh fish, dried food and spices are sold along Ameyoko

we did a bit of shopping in the malls there as well. before heading to Shinjuku to continue!

Shinjuku station is japan's busiest railway station... headache again... plus in summer it gets a little too hot and stuffy for comfort.

its dark when we arrived, probably had few hours before all the malls start to close. we went to the 100yen shop where she bought like crazy. on hindsight, i should too... some gems to be picked up.. well, maybe i can try my luck at the IMM Daiso to see if they carry the gems too,

the fashion in Shinjuku is definitely more suitable for us, more international labels i guess. means they have my size too!

time to end the day, rest my feet and have a bowl of ramen by the roadside.

nice architecture,

Japan Trip 2008 - Hakodate Shibuya 05Aug08

a very budget hotel with a slightly budget breakfast of bread and coffee.


this morning, we are headed to the Hakodate morning market.


really fresh seafood. probably just left the ocean couple hours ago


cheap cheap urchin


not surprised if she's one of those ah lian wrecking havoc below my hotel.



and so we tried the huge fresh scallop made by her, with some hokkaido ice cream

and i must try the famous squid sashimi, and yup its still moving in my mouth.

salmon is still my fav.

After we are done and satisfied with Hakodate, land of bengs and lian and seafood, we made our way via the Shinkansen to Tokyo! Back to hot and humid summer Tokyo.

Checked into the Ueno hotel, and we decided to make our way to Shibuya for the night. Before that we had our ramen at this shop just below the hotel. A very popular shop where people queue up for the ramen.

took the train to Shibuya...

of cos, there's nothing really spectacular with most of these big cities neon lights and thousands of people... makes my head a bit dizzy.

inside Shibuya 109 men. I must admit their Hello Kitty Collection is pretty amazing, especially the glittering bicycle.

as the fashion place for youth in Japan, I must pick up a piece or 2. Well, the problem was, most of the fashion are... well, too stylish? I did pick up a few casual shirts which look damn cool \, BUT they all come in TINY SIZESS!!!! the biggest size they have fits my sister or my mother., no size sorry bro.

so just take picture with this loyal dog la. Hachikō, a dog who waited on his late master at Shibuya Station every day from 1923 to 1935, eventually becoming a national celebrity for his loyalty.