Today is June 24, 2014
Day 1
I am sitting in front of my laptop in Keio Presso Inn, Ohtemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. It's my first trip to Japan. I left my home since June 22, 2014 at 6pm. I took a cab to the air port. It was sunday and the traffic at that time was not too crowded. It just took less than 2 hours for me to get to the airport from Sawangan. I used Taxiku to take me there. The highway fare is free when you use Taxiku. They will pay it for you.
I paid the cab for about 170K rupiah including the tips for the driver. I use to get the airport by dawn, but that Sunday i left my home right after Magrib prayer (at arround 6pm Jakarta time). I am here for business. I met my friends in the air port and checked into Garuda check in counter. We used economy class which the ticket had to be redeemed at around 760 USD/person. It was quiet cheap compared to the previous day's price which was around 890 USD.
The plane took off at 23.30 Jakarta time and we checked in at about 10 PM. We waited at the waiting room for more than 1 hour before the gate was opened for boarding. The plane itself seemed to be full according to the stewardess which i had a chit chat with her before take off.
Gosh! i was very hungry since i only got indomie goreng and teh telor before take off. Anyway, we sat in the 52nd row (which means the last rear row on the plane!). The flight to Narita took about 5 hours 45 minutes and i waited for the dinner quiet long. I spent my time watching some movies served on the plane. The most remembered movie of all is "The Hobbits: The Desolation of Smaug". It was quiet an accident (or no?), i watched "How to Train Your Dragon 2" a couple days before this trip to Japan. Smaug is an evil dragon in the movie. So, it was all about dragon, the good and bad one.
Finally, i got my dinner! i forgot the time when actually the stewardess brought me my dinner. I was happy, but no too happy, because the stewardess told me "Maaf pak, tinggal makanan jepang, makanan Indonesianya sudah habis". Well, no other choice, i took that noodles and finished it as fast as i could (i don't really like Japanese food).
I couldn't sleep at all during the flight up until we arrived in Narita.
Finally, i got my dinner! i forgot the time when actually the stewardess brought me my dinner. I was happy, but no too happy, because the stewardess told me "Maaf pak, tinggal makanan jepang, makanan Indonesianya sudah habis". Well, no other choice, i took that noodles and finished it as fast as i could (i don't really like Japanese food).
I couldn't sleep at all during the flight up until we arrived in Narita.
Day 2
June 23, 2014 we arrived in Narita safely, alhamdulillaah. After passing the immigration gate check and taking our luggage, we went to the train station in Narita. We looked for a train to take us to Tokyo. It was 7 or 8 AM in the morning when we finally got the ticket, it was JR NEX (Japan Railways Narita EXpress) Line. We paid 1500 JPY for a single trip. It took around 1 hour from Narita to Tokyo. We arrived in Tokyo at 0920 AM. It was quiet shiny in Tokyo that time.
We took Marunouchi North Exit. One of our colleague picked up us there. It was very crowded at that time. Exiting the north gate, we turned right to the hotel. It was quiet strange to me when we had to bring our luggage walking along the pedestrian lane to the hotel. It was more than 1 km walking across the roads.
Arrived at the hotel, we couldn't just check in and get into the room. Check in time was 2 PM local time and we arrived to early so that we had to wait. Waiting that long, we decided to go to a money changer to get the USDs exchange with JPY. We went to Mizuho bank and got the JPY there.
We didn't go anywhere that day. Entering the hotel, i fixed the presentation slides for tomorrow's meeting. Downloading emails were quiet smooth at the hotel since they have a free wi-fi connection in the room.
Day 3 was completely a full day meeting
Day 4 was also almost a full day meeting
and also, it was our last day in Japan. We were scheduled to go back to Jakarta tomorrow morning, so there was no sufficient time for us to explore Tokyo (at least). So, we setup a meeting and decided to wake up very early in the morning (4 AM).
So, this was the only chance for us to go around. We walked to the Tokyo station and took the first train to Ueno Park. It was still too early in the morning, few people walked along the road slowly. Ueno park was also so quiet at that time. We climbed up the stairs and we saw some old man jogging in the park. Actually, i knew nothing about Ueno Park. One thing i remembered from people saying about Ueno park was cherry blossom trees which were beautifully planted on the lakeside in the park.
There should be pink flowers along the lakeside, but it was June and no flower at all. It was all green :). Nothing interesting was found in Ueno Park, we decided to go to Asakusa temple. Again, i knew nothing about Asakusa either. So, i just followed where the plan go. Next destination : Asakusa temple....
Went back to Ueno station and straight to Asakusa. It was still quiet in the morning when we arrived at Asakusa. Stores were still closed, few people were walking around, some are jogging and and couple of them stood in front of the temple for a while when they walked, prayed a bit and then continue walking.
Tokyo was shiny during our visit, sky was bright and weather was very good, especially in the morning. I was quiet sweaty that morning, we walked crossing the roads, took picture on the bridge near by the Tokyo Skytree. Although it is placed near by the main road, the temple was quiet and surrounded by clean environment.
It was getting hotter since the sun raised up higher and time was ticking 8 times in the morning. Some store keepers opened their stores and started to sell the stuffs. As our formal business trip scheduled us to go to Omiya (30 minutes by train) the last day, we had to meet our colleagues in Tokyo station. We would depart for Omiya from Tokyo station. So, basically it was not so many activity or place we visited this morning since we had to get back to the real business (which we were there for business :) ). But actually, we still had some idle slot after Omiya visit, afternoon-night, we setup a small whatsapp group consisting me and two of my friends (lol, it was just 3 of us), and discussed the next plan in the group. Next destination would be Akihabara.... :)
Again, i had no idea what Akihabara is.....
and it was electronic, merchandise, duty free, gundam and there was sooooo many interesting stuffs there. And we looked for something affordable for sure.
First time arrived at Akihabara, i saw many AKB48 banners there. I thought it was JKT48!!hoo...so not updated. They call it Akiba for Akihabara. Stores opened and most of them young sellers there. Akiba was so crowded at that afternoon. I bought some souvenirs, gundams, umbrellas and some key chains. I got most of the stuffs in Akky International store (it's duty free store). Though i know it is not the best price i got there (i know it on my 2nd visit to Japan).
We went to Yodobashi-camera, it's a huge mall and there was a lot of nice stuffs there. You will find electronics, hobby center, gadget, bicycle and soo many stuffs there. I bought some boxes of "konapun" for my daughter, it was quiet cheap compared to internet sale price in Jakarta.
Finally, sky went dark and we were getting tired. It was time to eat, but unfortunately it wasn't easy to find halal food in Akiba. Though we were with my friend's colleague which has been living there for 8 years, it was still not easy to find halal food. It was all our journey in Akiba, we stopped by the italian pizza restaurant at the end. With shopping bags, we walked to the station and got back to the hotel--tired.
We had a noon flight to Jakarta the next day, so we spent rest of the time packing up our stuffs. I brought a small luggage and it was full. So, i had to add one extra shopping bag out of my luggage. I was lack of sleep that night.
We checked out right after the breakfast. Bringing up our luggage crossing the roads to Tokyo station. We tried to directly get to the point where JR NEX ticket counter was and we were shocked by the ticket price that day. It was 3000 JPY!!! it was doubled compared to ticket price we got at the first day arrival in Narita. Well, no easy option for us, we paid that price and departed to Narita (i took bus from Narita to Tokyo and vice versa with only 1000 JPY per single trip in my 2nd visit).
Leaving Tokyo, i looked into the window and saw flash of places we had visited the previous day. There was Tokyo Sky Tree tower which we didn't visit it because of the the tight schedule, Tokyo residential settlement we stopped by near Asakusa and Yodobashi Camera in Akiba.
Oh, short trip to Tokyo, so lil time to grab all nice places to go....
June 23, 2014 we arrived in Narita safely, alhamdulillaah. After passing the immigration gate check and taking our luggage, we went to the train station in Narita. We looked for a train to take us to Tokyo. It was 7 or 8 AM in the morning when we finally got the ticket, it was JR NEX (Japan Railways Narita EXpress) Line. We paid 1500 JPY for a single trip. It took around 1 hour from Narita to Tokyo. We arrived in Tokyo at 0920 AM. It was quiet shiny in Tokyo that time.
We took Marunouchi North Exit. One of our colleague picked up us there. It was very crowded at that time. Exiting the north gate, we turned right to the hotel. It was quiet strange to me when we had to bring our luggage walking along the pedestrian lane to the hotel. It was more than 1 km walking across the roads.
Arrived at the hotel, we couldn't just check in and get into the room. Check in time was 2 PM local time and we arrived to early so that we had to wait. Waiting that long, we decided to go to a money changer to get the USDs exchange with JPY. We went to Mizuho bank and got the JPY there.
We didn't go anywhere that day. Entering the hotel, i fixed the presentation slides for tomorrow's meeting. Downloading emails were quiet smooth at the hotel since they have a free wi-fi connection in the room.
Day 3 was completely a full day meeting
Day 4 was also almost a full day meeting
and also, it was our last day in Japan. We were scheduled to go back to Jakarta tomorrow morning, so there was no sufficient time for us to explore Tokyo (at least). So, we setup a meeting and decided to wake up very early in the morning (4 AM).
So, this was the only chance for us to go around. We walked to the Tokyo station and took the first train to Ueno Park. It was still too early in the morning, few people walked along the road slowly. Ueno park was also so quiet at that time. We climbed up the stairs and we saw some old man jogging in the park. Actually, i knew nothing about Ueno Park. One thing i remembered from people saying about Ueno park was cherry blossom trees which were beautifully planted on the lakeside in the park.
There should be pink flowers along the lakeside, but it was June and no flower at all. It was all green :). Nothing interesting was found in Ueno Park, we decided to go to Asakusa temple. Again, i knew nothing about Asakusa either. So, i just followed where the plan go. Next destination : Asakusa temple....
Went back to Ueno station and straight to Asakusa. It was still quiet in the morning when we arrived at Asakusa. Stores were still closed, few people were walking around, some are jogging and and couple of them stood in front of the temple for a while when they walked, prayed a bit and then continue walking.
Tokyo was shiny during our visit, sky was bright and weather was very good, especially in the morning. I was quiet sweaty that morning, we walked crossing the roads, took picture on the bridge near by the Tokyo Skytree. Although it is placed near by the main road, the temple was quiet and surrounded by clean environment.
It was getting hotter since the sun raised up higher and time was ticking 8 times in the morning. Some store keepers opened their stores and started to sell the stuffs. As our formal business trip scheduled us to go to Omiya (30 minutes by train) the last day, we had to meet our colleagues in Tokyo station. We would depart for Omiya from Tokyo station. So, basically it was not so many activity or place we visited this morning since we had to get back to the real business (which we were there for business :) ). But actually, we still had some idle slot after Omiya visit, afternoon-night, we setup a small whatsapp group consisting me and two of my friends (lol, it was just 3 of us), and discussed the next plan in the group. Next destination would be Akihabara.... :)
Again, i had no idea what Akihabara is.....
and it was electronic, merchandise, duty free, gundam and there was sooooo many interesting stuffs there. And we looked for something affordable for sure.
First time arrived at Akihabara, i saw many AKB48 banners there. I thought it was JKT48!!hoo...so not updated. They call it Akiba for Akihabara. Stores opened and most of them young sellers there. Akiba was so crowded at that afternoon. I bought some souvenirs, gundams, umbrellas and some key chains. I got most of the stuffs in Akky International store (it's duty free store). Though i know it is not the best price i got there (i know it on my 2nd visit to Japan).
We went to Yodobashi-camera, it's a huge mall and there was a lot of nice stuffs there. You will find electronics, hobby center, gadget, bicycle and soo many stuffs there. I bought some boxes of "konapun" for my daughter, it was quiet cheap compared to internet sale price in Jakarta.
Finally, sky went dark and we were getting tired. It was time to eat, but unfortunately it wasn't easy to find halal food in Akiba. Though we were with my friend's colleague which has been living there for 8 years, it was still not easy to find halal food. It was all our journey in Akiba, we stopped by the italian pizza restaurant at the end. With shopping bags, we walked to the station and got back to the hotel--tired.
We had a noon flight to Jakarta the next day, so we spent rest of the time packing up our stuffs. I brought a small luggage and it was full. So, i had to add one extra shopping bag out of my luggage. I was lack of sleep that night.
We checked out right after the breakfast. Bringing up our luggage crossing the roads to Tokyo station. We tried to directly get to the point where JR NEX ticket counter was and we were shocked by the ticket price that day. It was 3000 JPY!!! it was doubled compared to ticket price we got at the first day arrival in Narita. Well, no easy option for us, we paid that price and departed to Narita (i took bus from Narita to Tokyo and vice versa with only 1000 JPY per single trip in my 2nd visit).
Leaving Tokyo, i looked into the window and saw flash of places we had visited the previous day. There was Tokyo Sky Tree tower which we didn't visit it because of the the tight schedule, Tokyo residential settlement we stopped by near Asakusa and Yodobashi Camera in Akiba.
Oh, short trip to Tokyo, so lil time to grab all nice places to go....
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