Day 1: Flight to Tokyo

So where do I begin? That's the second time I asked that question, and I still don't know where to begin.

Okay lah I'll break the story into parts so it's easier for me to tell you everything. I need to warn you that I will edit all the posts when I feel the need though so once I click "publish" it might not be the finished product. I don't know whether I should tell you this, but I used a Nikon D5100 most days (I only brought my phone to Disneyland) and I edited some of the photos using the ancient Photoshop CS5 because it's the newest version available on my laptop and some of them were edited online.

Siot ayat hipster gila.

Since I'm a crappy photographer and an even crappier photoshopper, most photos you'll see are of the crap quality so I apologise in advance if anything offends your sensibility,

I went to Tokyo with AirAsia, well, because of obvious reasons. Now I'll have you know that I have nothing against the company, but dear God that would be the last time I flew a 7-hour-flight with AirAsia. I thought I could stand the whole no-leg-room, cramped seat for 7 hours buuut nope, nooo I overestimated myself. I would rather pay more for comfort (and thus shooting down some of the points about foregoing comforts in my previous post haha I like to contradict myself but truly)  Thank goodness nothing bad happened during the flight, that was something to be grateful for I guess.

                                                                 Obligatory sky pic

                                        I love this photo because the clouds look like icebergs.

I have to say something about the flight attendants though, because each and every one of them was hot, which is a surprise, because well, it's AirAsia. Unsurprisingly, all of them were Japanese, even the male ones (the male ones weren't hot though). And sorry I didn't snap any photo of them, because my nap was more important to me than a few hot chicks (not really, I just didn't want anyone to think of me as a crazy lesbian. I will tell you the reason after this). And talking about naps, too bad I could only snatch a few 5-minute naps here and there though and at the end of the flight I got very cranky. The fact that I only slept for 2,3 hours the night before didn't help matters too. I guess the excitement was too much for me to handle.

My travelling mate (I'll call her M after this) and I sat beside a hot Japanese guy during the flight and oh man, he's hot and tall and looking at his arms, quite hairy. Truly my kind of man. Took a photo of him (which certifies me as a crazy stalker) and shared the photo with a few friends at home (proof #2 I should be certified as a crazy stalker). The highlight of my flight was when he went to the toilet and came back to the seat with his fly open ahahahahahahah both of us were too embarrassed to tell him and so we didn't say anything until the plane landed. I hope once he noticed his fly situation, he didn't think of us as a couple of perverts because we kept looking at him throughout the flight.

It was close to midnight when we arrived in Tokyo so we didn't bother booking a room that night and decided to sleep at the airport. Still, I couldn't sleep for shit and after a few tries, decided to explore the airport. Haneda is quite big and has a few interesting spots like the observation deck (and an impressive one too), where I spent close to one hour trying to capture all the activities like the un-professional photographer that I am.

There are 5 floors altogether in Haneda. Lifts are only available until 3rd floor (arrival is at 2nd floor) so 2nd and 3rd floors were full with people. If you don't mind carrying your bags, then go to 4th or 5th floors to sleep. I slept at the 3rd floor near the train stations and it was truly quiet before 6am. Once the trains started moving, terus jadi bising.

         Mismatched sky colours. I totally forgot which tools and effects I used in the previous photo.

And so there I was, exploring all the shops on the 4th and 5th floors and taking some photos. With all those closed shops and empty places and people sleeping, Haneda looked like it was under an alien invasion or zombie attack or something like that. I have to tell you the results were quite amazing, even if I have to say so myself.

Here's a tip: Most shops in Haneda open at 6am, so you might want to wait and look around first before you leave. Some souvenirs are cheaper at the airport than in, say, Harajuku or Shinjuku so please explore the shops in Haneda first. Even if you don't want to buy anything, you can make a note of the prices of the things you want to buy and make a comparison when you come across the same things in the city later.

The last photo shows that people were waking up. In Tokyo during the fall season, the days start before 6am and the nights fall around 4pm, so at around 6am, we dragged out our butts to head off to Sunshine City in Ikebukuro and I will tell you about that in the next post because I'm feeling the urge to watch The Lion Kingg again (blame it on my trip to Disneyland).

Oh here's another tip: buy a PASMO/Suica card at the Keikyu Line exit on the 2nd floor. A PASMO/Suica card is like a Touch 'N' Go card, which I think is easier to use than buying a single ticket everytime you need to go somewhere. If you're going to be in Tokyo for a week, then it's a safe bet to buy a ¥ 10,000 card. If there is any balance on your card, you can use the card at any shop at the airport. If you're unsure about anything, the people at the information counter are more than happy to help you.

Please note that Japan is notorious for the lack of visitor sim card availability and most major telecom companies do not offer any short-term data plan. The only company I know that offers the next best thing is b-mobile. Please be warned that it's hella expensive though. In case you haven't figured it out, for those 7 days, I was at the mercy of wi-fi availability and it was a torture because I couldn't place a regular call to any of my family members. Thank goodness for Viber, that's all I can say.