Travel Blog: Japan Trip 2013 Day 3 - Shibuya, 日本之旅第三天

日本之旅第三天：6月4日2013年, 星期二 - 涩谷
Japan Trip Day 3: 4 June 2013, Tuesday - Shibuya
日本の旅行第三日：６月４日２０１３年（火曜日） - 渋谷

Our third day morning was an exploration around the hotel. We had not really seen much of the hotel even though we had stayed there for two days. I think everyone should at least take a short walk around any hotel that they stay in to know more about it and to appreciate everything about the hotel. We realized that many Japanese couples tie their knots in the two church/chapels in the hotel. There was a Crystal Chapel and a traditional Glass Chapel. Both exquisitely designed and equally romantic to get married in. In fact there was so much to explore in the hotel that we spent almost the whole morning wondering around and taking pictures.

After writing to this point, I think I highly recommend staying in this hotel for its many facilities, gorgeous views of the sea from the rooms, the gardens, chapels etc. One thing to note is one should opt for the sea-facing rooms instead of the park-facing ones. You can see from my pictures below and in the previous day's post how spectacular the views from the rooms are if you're facing the sea compared to the ones facing the park.

Crystal piano. Looks gorgeous.

The view of the sea-facing side of the hotel.

The interior of the Crystal Chapel.

The exterior of the Crystal Chapel.

That's the Glass Chapel behind us.

The interior of the Glass Chapel.

A man-made waterfall in the garden.

A tunnel behind the waterfall.

Last picture with Mickey.

Highly recommended to go for this hotel.

One last look at our hotel room.

A family suite.

View from the sea-facing rooms. Can see both the Crystal Chapel and Glass Chapel.

The other side where the garden and waterfall is.

In the far distance on the right, the Tokyo Gate Bridge can be seen on the horizon.

The park-facing view. The minute Cinderalla castle in the distance.

We waited for the shuttle bus to bring us to Bayside Station since we were carrying so much luggage. Then we alighted at Resort Gateway Station. I brought them to take a picture of the entrance to Tokyo Disneyland since they did not have a chance to go in. We also then visited the souvenir store right outside the theme park, which was open to the public and without having to enter the theme park. It was then I realized I left something very important back at the hotel. The universal adapter! So they ended up waiting at the Becker's restaurant near the Maihama Station while I headed back to Sheraton Grande to retrieve my universal adapter.

Goodbye Tokyo Disney Resort!

Our last tickets for the Disney Resort Line.

Hotel Okura Tokyo Bay, right next to Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay Hotel.

And Hilton Tokyo Bay Hotel to the right of Hotel Okura.

There are four statues here.

Entrance to Tokyo Disneyland.

Have you got your passport chopped?

That's a huge pocket watch.

So many things to buy!

When we were at the souvenir store, we parked our luggage at one corner while the two of them went searching for souvenirs. Then I checked through our belongings and found that I had left my universal adapter in our hotel room! I quickly told Dear that I needed to travel back to retrieve my stuff. Therefore I spent another 250 yen to travel back to Sheraton Grande and spoke to one of the hotel staff about my "wasuremono" (meaning "forgotten stuff" in Japanese). Luckily I knew that word and immediately the staff knew what I meant and retrieved my universal adapter promptly. Really appreciated their fast and friendly service. Then I took another trip back to find Dear and Nut. They already had lunch at the nearby Becker's at the Maihama Station, as we had previously arranged. I ordered the same meal seeing that it looked so appetizing.

This looks appetizing!

Thai-style Chicken Wrap Sandwich Set for only 690 yen.

That settles our lunch.

The Duffy Bear head popcorn container which Dear insists on getting.

From Maihama Station, we took the JR Keiyo Line to Shinkiba Station with a 150 yen ticket. Then we had to transfer at Ichigaya Station and then finally to Shinjuku Station with a transfer ticket which cost us 290 yen.

At Shinkiba Station.

Our tickets to bring us to Shinjuku.

At Shinjuku Station, we checked out the various maps throughout the station to find our way to the hotel. In my research via Google Maps, I did not realize that there was actually an underground passageway which led all the way to Shinjuku Washington Hotel. So it was a rather pleasant surprise since I thought we would be walking along the streets. No fear of rain or shine using the underground passageway. However, there were some minor uphill and downslope sections along the passageway. In fact it was a pretty long walk from the station to the hotel. At least 7 mins. And there was nothing of interest except for some art displays in the earlier sections of the passageway.

Arrived! Shinjuku Washington Hotel.

Upon checking in, we found ourselves in a rather cramped triple-bed hotel room. There was not much room to move ourselves around. However we quickly unloaded our stuff and prepared to continue our exploration around Japan.

Looks ok. But the room is very small and cramped.

It was a physically-challenging day as our only mode of transport for the day was...our legs. We walked from our hotel past several streets to the entrance of the Meiji Shrine. A small torii gate greeted us which led to a huge forested area. After about 10 minutes of walking, we reached the actual compounds of the shrine area.

A small torii gate which leads to the Meiji Shrine.

Wash your hands and take a sip of the crystal clear water.

A gigantic tree in the compounds of the shrine.

Write your wishes and hang them here.

Nice tree as a background for a picture.

We hung around the shrine compounds for quite a while. Dear and Nut both dropped 100 yen coins into the donation boxes to pray for good luck and health.

Compare the height of this giant torii gate to Momo and Nut.

Sake barrels.

More sake barrels.

Our initial plan was to visit Harajuku, where all the cosplay culture started in Japan, but we spent too much time visiting the Meiji Shrine that we had to drop the idea. I had already visited Harajuku in my last visit to Japan back in 2006 so I was ok with not visiting it. But too bad for Dear and Nut. Maybe next time!

We made our way to Harajuku Station, which was the closest we got to the Harajuku area. We then took a train to Shibuya Station to meet Liezel for sushi dinner at a restaurant she recommended called Umegaoka Sushi no Midiori.

No chance of visiting the cool cultures at Harajuku this time round.

Looks like an authentic Japanese sushi restaurant.

We ordered freely for some of the dishes recommended by Liezel. What appeared before our eyes was stunning. You can never be too amazed at how beautiful and artistic Japanese food can be. We slowly enjoyed our food as they were served, and also to rest our legs after a whole day of traveling. This was pure indulgence. And truly experiencing the Japanese way of living. There were many locals having their dinner in the restaurant after a long day of work. This meant that it really is a highly recommended restaurant for a good meal of sushi and sashimi.

Fresh sashimi.

Some avocado rolls.

Be sure to visit it!

So beautifully displayed you wouldn't bear to eat it.

This is food art.

More sashimi and food art.

Always have beer to complement delicious cuisine.

Dear's favourite - eel.

Umegaoka Sushi no Midori
1-12-3 Dogenzaka, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan ‎

Shibuya Mark City

Website (Japanese): http://www.sushinomidori.co.jp/index.html

After such a scrumptious meal, it was time to take a walk again, in the bustling streets of Shibuya. Of course not to be missed was the famous scrambled crossing right outside the train station. Dear wanted to look for more Disney products so we ended up at a nearby Disney store.

Didn't look too fascinating to me as it was my second time there lol.

Shibuya - We Were There!

Disney...again!?

In the end, nobody bought anything at the store. Dear was feeling unwell so we had to return back to the hotel to rest. Along the way, we witnessed some locals gathering outside some restaurant. We realized that they were watching a soccer match between Japan and Australia. The match ended a draw, but that already made Japan the first country to qualify for World Cup 2014. The locals were ecstatic and everyone gathered onto the streets to celebrate as though they had won the World Cup. Mostly youngsters and young working adults, they thronged the roads when it was green light and they gathered in the middle of the roads screaming and cheering "Nippon Nippon!" oblivious to other people. We were only at a small street in Shibuya while witnessing such euphoria. But when we made our way back to the scrambled crossing area in front of Shibuya Station, more than hundreds and maybe thousands had already gathered to celebrate. Policemen were deployed to prevent any unruly behaviour and to control the situation. What an interesting sight for us tourists. And especially for us. Singaporeans can never witness such things happening.

Japan had qualified for World Cup 2014!

I would probably do the same if I were a local.

How often will you see this happening at the famous scrambled crossing in Shibuya?

We then said goodbye to Liezel as she made her way home, while we took the train back to Shinjuku. Upon exiting the station, some local newspaper companies had already printed some one-piece newspaper celebrating the qualification of Japan for the World Cup. And they were giving it out for free. Now THAT's a great souvenir. I suppose I'm the only one in the world to have such souvenir from Japan LOL.

And it's back to our hotel with these tickets.

We ventured into a small alley lined with small food stores which were at most 6 square metres on both sides. It is actually an area which has its own website. It is called the Shinjuku Omoide Yokocho. We can see many businessmen, working adults, all enjoying their dinner or supper in these stores. We would have tried having some snacks in one of these stores if Dear were not feeling unwell. Looks like we will just have to try it the next time we visit Japan.

Plenty of good local food can be found along this alley.

Right outside Shinjuku Station.

Shinjuku Omoide Yokocho
Website: http://www.shinjuku-omoide.com/english/index.html

Back in our hotel room, we watched the news to find most of the news channels on TV reporting about Japan's qualification for the World Cup and the various things happening around Japan as people celebrated. Surely it could not have been a more appropriate time for us to witness such unprecedented sights in Japan. Go Nippon!