Day 5: Disneyland

Disneyland, the holy grail of all Mickey fans, the place where thousands and thousands of Japanese girls trying to look their cutest when posing with Mickey for pictures, and hours long queue to get a ride of Space Mountain.

Our group arrived before the park open but the whole place was so packed, yan san, yan hoi. And the fact that it’s a weekday really surprised me.

It was said that in Japan, they won’t ask you “Have you been to Disneyland?” Instead, they will ask you “How many times have you been to Disneyland?”
You can see all the girls from children to hot chicks and even the young guys are wearing those Mickey ears on their head. Some even come in a Chip & Dale jumpsuit. From 10am – 4pm, I only managed to try Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, MicroAdventure! & Space Mountain.


Because it’s the last night in Tokyo, the tour agent arranged for us something grand in Shinjuku. According to them, the full crab course meal, kanidoraku, is very expensive, and very seldom they get tour groups having them, especially such big group. From appetizer to the last course, it’s all crab.

The most memorable was to meet up with Chika (Sonobe) & Nao (Hikino), I haven’t met Nao for almost 5 years. It’s a pleasant surprise to both of them in Tokyo. My memorable visit to Japan, the Land of the Rising Sun, came to an end the following day, but not before I had another bowl of the mouth-watering ramen ! Sayonara, mata ai ma sho (hope to see you again).

From top L-R: Queuing up to go in at 10am, Cinderalle castle, the beauties of Disney, Haunted Mansion, parking lots for baby pram, It's A Small Small World, getting ready for the Grand Parade, anticipating children & Crystal Palace.

Guys with Disney-character-ear clip-on, cap, hood, etc. Like pondan la.

From top L-R: In Shinjuku, kanidoraku (full course crab meal) & meeting up with Chika (left) and Nao (right).

A message from the tour guide, Noi. He is a fantastic guide.

Day 4: Tokyo

On the journey to Tokyo, we stopped by Odaiba to visit the Toyota Showroom where Toyoto (or I should really say it’s the Japanese) really show off with their technological superiority.

After that, off to Ginza for lunch. Ginza is the Bukit Bintang equivalent in Tokyo. It has the most expensive price tag for land in the entire Japan which can go up to 20 billion YEN (USD 200 million) per sqm2. I can’t believe it either !
Lunch was yakiniku tabehodai (eat-all-you-can BBQ).

The rest of the day was spent in Asakusa, dinner at Aoi-Marushin, the 1st restaurant in Tokyo and Hard Rock Café in Roppongi Hills.

The tour guide recommended the best ramen in Tokyo, which is just 15 minutes walk from the hotel. Everything about the ramen is special, from the soup, the ramen (noodle), the char siew & the egg (it’s the super nice duck egg yolk). The shop operates from 10.30am – 4.00am, and even at 1am, there’s a queue outside the shop. Find out more about the ramen at http://www.mutekiya.com/.

From top L corner, clockwise: Having a go at the GT4 simulator in Toyota Showroom, eat-all-you-can BBQ lunch, kabuki theater and the famous Ginza street.

Random images at Asakusa.

From top L, clockwise: a cute Japanese cashier, tempura set dinner, going to Roppongi Hills & Hard Rock Cafe.

The best ramen in Tokyo. Costly (750YEN), but worth it down to the last spoonful of the soup. Just look at the duck-egg yolk.