Japan Trip—Day 1

Mom’s been wanting to visit Japan for awhile, and so we made it happen. (Thanks to Bae and Margaret’s financial and intellectual support.) Here’s day 1 of the 10 trip to Japan. The crew consisted of:

Day 0—The departure.

We took the Asiana Airline (yes, I know), but I’m very impressed by the quality of its service. Delicious food, individual movie screens; it’s pretty awesome.

To save on cost, we had a layover in Korea. The total flight time was around 15 hours. I watched 5 movies, played a few games of sudoku, and took a nap. I always expected myself to utilize the time for work or to be somewhat productive, and it’s always been utter disappointment. Picture taken by Allen.

Finally arrived Tokyo around 9:30 PM, we bought a couple tickets and ready to head towards our hotel located in Shinjuku.

The journey hasn’t been smooth so far. The flight was first delayed for an hour, leaving us just 20 minutes to transfer in Icheon. Then, the bus to Shinjuku popped its tires and put us back for another 45 minutes. Our asses were half-numb and half-sore. Mom wasn’t too happy:

Touch down:

We rented this pocket wifi device for about $8/day. It provides 75mgbs LTE whereever we go. Not only would it provide us internet for google map when we’re lost, we can stream HD YouTube videos while at it.

Day 1—Shinjuku. Shibuya. Harajuku.

I was fully ready to be a tourist.

Bicqlo. A collaboration project between Bic Camera and Uniqlo. Located in downtown (三丁目) Shinjuku. Bic Camera is one of the largest electronic appliances store in Japan and Uniqlo is one of the largest clothing brand around the globe. I was hoping to see something innovative in the store as I stepped in. Frankly, I didn’t see much influence between the two except having all these electronics and apparel across the floor. It was alright.

Cool sign, though:

They managed to place ads everywhere.

I tried the 70-200, and it’s absolutely stunning.

Mom tried their $5000 massage chair. You can tell how amazing that thing is:

Lunch:

One of the most common thing I see in Japan is their vending machines. They appear at every street corner. And for this particular ramen joint, we even use a ticketing machine for ordering food.

mm, wonder where we should go today.

Taking the metro. It’s priced depending on the distance. And it starts with $1.6 per ticket.

Shibuya.

The city has a fairly cool brand mark. They should do this for every city (new project idea?!).

One of the most crowded intersection in the world.

Shibuya’s known for their shopping district. And when mom shops, dad sleeps.

This place’s called “Gg”. Word.
That’s right.

The cars in Japan seem quite box-y.

A shop full of condoms. They’re slightly over-priced, but serve as good souvenir, no?

One of my recent discovery is the back alley of Omotesando Hills. Some of the most decorative shops are located here.

Ragtag has a refreshing idea. It’s a thrift shop. However, they only buy back name brand items—LV, Supreme, Visvim, Hermes..etc, making it an high-end second hand boutique. They mark each item down from 50-80% compare to retail. But as you can tell by the brand, it’s still too much for me to afford even after the discount.