Before in Tokyo
by shz
OK, I’ll tell you what I’ve been up to. I am currently studying Tokyo like a maniac! I am yet to be tested in ab0ut 2 weeks. Honestly I’m pretty terrified.
I guess travelling in Asia is a lot different than any other continents. I mean, without trying to sound like a boast, I have been to many places. From the romance of Europe in Paris, Rome, Siena, Venice and Florence, to the hustle in New York, to the exotic Africa in Morocco. Normally I don’t have as much anxiety as what I’m feeling at the moment, but I guess this time around I’ll be bringing my 1.4 years old baby to one of the biggest cities in the world. Wait – it is the biggest city in the world.
I am mostly terrified of the subway during rush hour, which I hope easily can be avoided. Β And I trust the Japanese – I’m sure there are ways in the stations for strollers. People kept telling me to get the umbrella stroller, but I love the Xplory so much, its a fantastic stroller, only not as easy to fold like those umbrella ones. And I am after all are travelling with my three besties and Qadir. But you would think they’re up for some heavy Daisy lifting, lets just wait and see, shall we?
Interestingly I bumped into one of my old friend from Oxford, Izuan, the other day in KLCC. His wife lived in Tokyo for awhile and said it shouldn’t be a problem to bring a baby on a stroller in Tokyo. Her sister did it alone without the husband on a trip last time. He also commented on how typical Malaysians like to take tours on their trips. Sort of like, just sit and enjoy and let the tour guide do all the hard works. And when they reach to a certain destination, they’ll just say, “Ah, interesting. Nice. Next!” without ever really understood anything about it. That is hardly an experience I think. Its pretty stupid too because if you want to go somewhere just for the sake of it, might as well not. The real deal is to study the subway map, knowing the right pass to get, know the right exit, and get to the right place at the right time. I believe if you don’t suffer in your travels, you’re not really travelling. And if you see the other maps, I think London’s is such a peanut – a monkey could’ve find its way through.
I swear when I saw this I am tempted to leave Daisy at home. But its one week. I don’t think I can live without her that long. Worse, I might just make some drama at the airport and not go at all! I’d rather agonize in Japan than longing for her cuddle for a week.
On another note, I found this in an old file while looking for my degree:
I have a Japanese friends. One of them is Kaoru. Sometimes its nice to know that my circle of friends are not limited to just Malaysians. And at times like this when you’re travelling to your friend’s country it becomes extra exciting. Kaoru is one of the closest friend I had back in Oxford. She is back in Japan for good for now, but not for long I guess. I think she’s marrying her BritishΒ fiancΓ© soon but I’ll save all the juicy talk when I get there. We were house mates for awhile and suffice to say, the best house mate I ever had. During her stay with me, I made her watch Beautiful Life and we cried for days watching the whole series. When she got a job in UK, she credited me a lot for it – I’m such a motivational speaker. She’s a lot older than me, like a lot lot, but you won’t believe how cute and childlike she is – or maybe that’s a Japanese thing. One of my friend who read this card said she could hear Doraemon’s voice reading it in her head. Hahaha.
Kaoru will be joining us for the weekend. I miss, miss, miss her and this is one of the things that I look forward on this trip. And I really hope it will be a good one, and I really can’t wait to introduce Daisy to her. I have a good feeling they two will get along.
If any of you have been to Tokyo with a child, or even without, I appreciate comments and suggestions. I got my 6 days planned up, but who knows, you might have a surprise, unpopular, interesting discoveries to share. As for me, I’ll just get back to burying my head in Google for my never ending research.
salaam to u n daisy =)
hope you will have such a great trip in Tokyo soon! Love Japan so much. Don’t forget Japanese dictionary if u want to bargain for good price while shopping. oh maybe kaoru will help tho.
do not worry so much bout the stroller hassle at the subway. Japanese are so much helpful. i’ve never been there but i know how “canggih” they are n how user friendly of their system. Hope Daisy has a awesome trip too!
p/s: memang tak puas kan tgk Beautiful Life walaupun byk kali ulang tgk mesti nak nangis juga T_T sob sob..
Salam Ashieniesha
Thanks, that’s what people kept telling me too. Don’t worry. But I get videos in YouTube from time to time and Tokyo looks hectic all the time. So a bit anxiety there. And yea, thank God Kaoru will be there!
i have been planning my tokyo/kyoto trip for a while (agree with you on the whole tour bus thing – urgh), and the only thing that is holding me back is the inability to find a likeminded friend to go with! π
looking fwd to hear more of your trip!
Kudo, we really wanna go to Kyoto, but man, its expensive! The bullet train return tix costs the SAME with our flight return tix from KL. I hope you get to go though. Me? Can’t afford it now, thats for sure. Hehehe.
I know, trying to find the adventurous friend to go with your adventurous travel plans is not easy. I think my friends who are coming with me depends a lot on me & Fakhrul on this trip, but they’ve been helpful so far. I hope soon they can venture on their own to unfamiliar places. Sometimes its pretty tiring when you’re the one that have to do all the research.
Salam. I was going through my feeds and came across your most recent blog update, following which, I just came back to this post as I remembered I once commented here in anticipation of my own Japan trip. Just to let you know three years on, I did a solo trip this past spring – and the trip was waaay beyond my already high expectations. Seeing your blog photos reminds me of the places I visit. I did Tokyo-Kyoto-Tokyo (9 days). And guess what – I am going again this autumn ^^
Hi,
do u know about unlimited railway pass?
check this website for ref :
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/eastpass/
hope it helps you π
gambattene (^^)v
Hi there. Yes I do know about it. I think since we’re only spending our time in Tokyo, we thought of getting the tourist pass for Metro line. But it seems that its only sold at Narita airport. Do you know if they also sell it at Haneda? TQ
additional link :
http://www.japanrailpass.net/eng/en004.html
Hey ya! I was in Japan last April with my boy who was 11-mo at that time. Japan’s train station scares me the most because everybody walks so fast (but surprisingly nobody bumped into one another). It can be quite a challenge, but once you get on the train, syukur, women with small kids will always be top priority. Especially on public buses! My son has the biggest eyes on earth, Japanese seems to adore his eyes, so he’d normally get cookies or sweets from strangers/elderlies on the train/bus. Bless them all. π
Tokyo IS hectic I can’t lie. I may never understand the crazy JR lines and those confusing train lines (Hubs even threatened to leave me at the train station next time we go to Japan so that I can learn the map/exit/fee all by myself!) but ah, gotta love Japan for it’s efficiency. They may seem less friendly at times, but the minute you ask for help, they will definitely make the extra effort to help you.
Hope you’ll enjoy Japan. In the meantime, please ignore the scary youtube Japan train station videos and learn the basic Japanese instead! π
Hahahaha thank you Natasya. That makes me even scarer AND relieved at the same time!
hi shz!!
tick tock tick tock to tokyo!!
you can try ‘One-day Ticket for Tokyo Metro & Toei Subway’.
It costs 1,000yen and you can buy it at ticket vending machines at all Tokyo Metro lines and Toei Subway lines.
http://www.tokyometro.jp/en/ticket/value/1day/index.html
..and have you heard about ‘ Hato Bus’ ?
Just in case if you don’t have enough time to go around..this bus trip is worth a try.
I’ve never tried this before..but always wanted to join the night trip for the ladyboy show..hahaha..which is not on the list for international tourist. LOL
http://www.hatobus.com/en/
wish you best of luck shz!!!
I’ve been to Tokyo for 4 times already.
You can read my experience here –> http://yatiechomeyl.blogspot.com/2010/01/traveling-sightseeing-in-tokyo.html
my baby was 7 months old during the trip. hope everything went well for you π
shz,nanti kalau u nak naik train/ subway on weekdays, its best if you get on it after rush hours,after 8/9am morning supposed dah clear rasanya ,
and kalau malam 9-10 tu mmg crowded gila packed with drunk japanese. since its too packed sometimes tak boleh dapat spot near to the seat (kalau near there, theyll stand and give you one , no worries π sbb dah packed sampai pintu so kena stand all the way berhimpit with pakcik2 masam. my baby got very cranky becoz of that b4 and it was horrible.
kalau u pegi mall / shops just look for the handicap toilet coz usually they have the changing table for babies π or kalau desperate , you can just change her in the stroller π
and dulu for diapers i brought both pull up pants and the normal ones with the tabs everytime we go out, sbb sng nak tukar depends on the situation.
n one more thing japan sangat susah nak cari tong sampah, so keep empty plastic bags in your handbag, theyre very handy to keep the soiled diapers until you find a garbage bin!
kalau xjumpa2 public toilet/ garbage bin paling senang u pegi je any convenience store. mesti ada punya
sorry for the long comment but i hope this helps π
btw kalau you nak shopping for electric /camera /toys/ souvenirs n stuffs all in one place paling bes pegi YODOBASHI CAMERA in AKIHABARA. wont dissapoint you. kitorang ada the point card kalau u nak pinjam, saves you a lot. π we live inside uniten je
shz,nanti kalau u nak naik train/ subway on weekdays, its best if you get on it after rush hours,after 8/9am morning supposed dah clear rasanya ,
and kalau malam 9-10 tu mmg crowded gila packed with drunk japanese. since its too packed sometimes tak boleh dapat spot near to the seat (kalau near there, theyll stand and give you one , no worries π sbb dah packed sampai pintu so kena stand all the way berhimpit with pakcik2 masam. my baby got very cranky becoz of that b4 and it was horrible.
kalau u pegi mall / shops just look for the handicap toilet coz usually they have the changing table for babies π or kalau desperate , you can just change her in the stroller π
and dulu for diapers i brought both pull up pants and the normal ones with the tabs everytime we go out, sbb sng nak tukar depends on the situation.
n one more thing japan sangat susah nak cari tong sampah, so keep empty plastic bags in your handbag, theyre very handy to keep the soiled diapers until you find a garbage bin!
kalau xjumpa2 public toilet/ garbage bin paling senang u pegi je any convenience store. mesti ada punya
sorry for the long comment but i hope this helps π
btw kalau you nak shopping for gadgets /camera /toys/ souvenirs n stuffs all in one place paling bes pegi YODOBASHI CAMERA in AKIHABARA. wont dissapoint you. kitorang ada the point card kalau u nak pinjam, saves you a lot. π we live inside uniten je