so we arrived at changi airport on 10dec 10pm terminal 3!
my first departure from this new terminal which is so very brightly lited (unlike shanghai pudong) met up with the rest of the extended family and mommy + bro + uncles spent an hour + at the counter-.-cuz the lady took so long to properly put our family in convenient seats...yup.so soon we wooshed oursleves off to the departure hall.cuz we were kinda late already, so we skipped the shopping stuff ): but we saw mickey xmas deco on the way out and took some photos there.oh.and my aunt's boot's soles fell outo.o
yup!so we boarded the plane on china eastern airlines at 0055h only to realise that the freaking plane does not have individual monitors=no free movies/games/dramas/etc to occupy our many hours on the plane ): it made me sad for a while.but that meant that i could take a short nappy.anw, we reached pudong had some trouble deciphering what to do next and then went to breathe in some polluted very chilly winds took a photo or two and ran back into the airport...and cuz the next flight to kansai int airport was at 9 am and we arrived at 6..so we had to rot our time away at the airport which i now understand why singapore's changi is no.1...i wonder why i didnt realise this when i went to pudong 6 yrs back...anw, we just finally reached KANSAI!!!i felt so honoured to finally be on japan land after...many many years of dreaming about it...lalala..and we took a shuttle train ride to the main arrival hall^^looked like singapore's one(:but the airport is kinda empty
my first departure from this new terminal which is so very brightly lited (unlike shanghai pudong) met up with the rest of the extended family and mommy + bro + uncles spent an hour + at the counter-.-cuz the lady took so long to properly put our family in convenient seats...yup.so soon we wooshed oursleves off to the departure hall.cuz we were kinda late already, so we skipped the shopping stuff ): but we saw mickey xmas deco on the way out and took some photos there.oh.and my aunt's boot's soles fell outo.oyup!so we boarded the plane on china eastern airlines at 0055h only to realise that the freaking plane does not have individual monitors=no free movies/games/dramas/etc to occupy our many hours on the plane ): it made me sad for a while.but that meant that i could take a short nappy.anw, we reached pudong had some trouble deciphering what to do next and then went to breathe in some polluted very chilly winds took a photo or two and ran back into the airport...and cuz the next flight to kansai int airport was at 9 am and we arrived at 6..so we had to rot our time away at the airport which i now understand why singapore's changi is no.1...i wonder why i didnt realise this when i went to pudong 6 yrs back...anw, we just finally reached KANSAI!!!i felt so honoured to finally be on japan land after...many many years of dreaming about it...lalala..and we took a shuttle train ride to the main arrival hall^^looked like singapore's one(:but the airport is kinda emptyof course, one of the first pictures we had to take would be the wonderful toilets and vending machines~im supposing this toilet is built for meeting the needs of every single passenger that passes through the kansai gates.i think we can shower and do all our hygiene stuff there for both young and old(:
and the vending machines that sell not so cheap stuff~apparently goods sold in japan have controlled pricing...so we seldom find things more ex/cheaper regardless of the location of goods being sold.anw, nice machine.i just realised we didnt buy ANYTHING from a vending machine!!oh..at least my bro did at the port hotel...bought cup noodles and chicken nuggets~
yup...so we took off onto the streets and found something very common amongst the vehicles, they have a particular shape (not sedan) the flat backside shape..yah.its everywhere...i guess they are env friendly vehicles cuz the air there is so fresh and clean despite some industrial works going on! and on the highways are also some sound absorber metallic things that reduce noise pollution!but its not such a pleasant sight...singapore is kinda quiet..so i guess we dont need themand at universal studios, we kinda camwhored for abt half an hour...but we didnt go in..ahhhh..so near yet so far ne~but there were gokusei EVERYWHERE!omy...which country sends their high school students on excursions to universal studios...JAPAN..ahh):singapore wld only send us to science parks even if uni studios/disneyland opens here...
then we went to KOBE..the land of nice beef...how sad.but apparently, the cows led a good life before they were sadly slaughtered.they are individually housed in air-conditioned sheds and fed well, afterwhich, they are given a good rub massage...and thats why they are so ex...so yea, they sold kobe beef at the kobe chinatown(below) that we went to.but the queue was kinda long.so we settled for xiaolongbaos that were sold by chinamen!wow...and there was this cute jap old guy helping to promote the xiaolongbaos...his eyes can hardly open but he was very friendly and spoke to us in reasonably good english
and we went to the harbour of kobe...where an earthquake occurred at the wee hours in the morning when the ppl were sleeping, causing massive casualties...nice ship here tho ..its a great place for walking/briskwalking/jogging/running. great scenery, very large park.i dont think we can find this kinda places in singapore....there were also very cute doggies (most of them are saussage dogs/malteses/a type of poodle) and all of them were dressed up!we saw a pair in reindeer/xmas wear..so cute!!!
so when sun sets, we arrive at SHINSAIBASHI our first shopping destination which was very very good.it was our first opp to people watch and observe the jap girls' dress sense which was basically boots, black knee-highs/stocking, and mid-thigh long coats with furry lining on their hoodies.usually, they are dressed in classic black. and they put on quite a lot of makeup with fake eyelashes...mind u...this is on a weekday.but the stuff sold there were great and the shoes and clothes that were ON SALE were pretty cheap. sports shoes/sneakers addidas/nike/puma/asics can be found as low as 50-60+ S$...yah...shd have bot..but anw, bought a checkered top at 1050Y which is abt S$17.50 ^^happy with my buy. and almost every guy wears checkered i think...then we had our first official meal in japan!we had to pay it ourselves tho..this meal (below) costs about 20dollars.its meant to be for 2 ppl but our family shared since we dont have such a great appetite.and this is the cheapest meal we could find-udon with tempura and lots of seaweed. and of course, we have to return our trays without being told to!
we stayed at a pretty posh hotel--osaka dai-ichi hotel i think .the rooms were great and we were pleasantly surprised to find our favourite toilet bowl ever with those wash the bottom functions^^the beds were LARGE too can prob slp two my-size people.and we tried wearing the yukatas/pajamas that can be found in every hotel/inn we visited, which was pretty cool. at night, there was a very funny arashi variety show that had such funny content, translation was not required...hontoni ureshi desu...anw, our hotel was opp hilton hotel!nice...and the breakfast was held in a restaurant with great ambience(below)nice spread too...kor's fav porridge was uncovered
so we went to the todaji temple located within the NARA deer park. it is where a large buddha is placed!a really beautiful place with wonderful picture perfect scenary. we got a study to get great results fu2 from the temple at 500Y ^^its pretty too...like those that we see on terebi
so we drank from the well water too~it does have a special taste to it...not like normal water...
and what is a deer park without deers?we caught this cute deer acting cute(: there were tons of deers around and jap school girls were kinda squealing with delight while feeding them with biscuits.many students there again i guess they were there for history lessons?anw, we found that the incense was different from s'pore's cuz they burn fully and dont leave an unburnt portion behind...they come in pretty colors too~yup.i also saw a nice checkered school bag too..ahhh.why couldnt i find/buy them? andandand, more than half of them wear their schoolbags yamap style!!!ahhh....if i done that in singapore i wld be stared at like how i was staring at them..
after leaving the temple, we walked around the deer park and found great places to take photos with.one of which includes the very red maple tree as shown below.definitely stood out against the yellow/withered trees
on the way out, there was a drum performance going on and there were cute kodomos with very cute colored hats on them!i wld later realise that each school has a different coloured cute hat(:we dont see that here either... and then we had greentea icecream in the icy cold winter~lalalalala~and while still munching, a busload of gokusei (guys) arrived (OMY) and i filmed them.hahaha.i think some of them noticed!some of their hair is great and the ones that walked in front were kakkoi...but the behind one looks quite gangster-like.hahaha^^oh...and this pic is taken just outside the park.there are no gates that mark the inside/outside but the deers just refuse to make an exit/step out of the designated boundaries (marked by some poles that they can easily cross)...weird 
and this was taken at the osaka castle!we climbed a short flight of very steep rock stairs and arrived at the top.bro then took a photo of us with the nice blue sky backdrop^^superman pose!!!we had a very full lunch meal with unagi in a hotpot and rice and a large udon bowl with fishcakes and we made a futile attempt to use fishcakes as my eyes-.-my sis laughed so hard, she couldnt take a proper photo of my fishcake eyes=/oh well
and how can we say we've been to osaka castle unless we take photos in our samurai/samurai's wife gear?hohoho^^ we took a very long walk in and out of the place from the bus...it was like a morning exercise
later, we tried the shinkansen experience, taking one stop from osaka to kyoto.yup^^and people can actually cross without using their passes but of course,japanese people have integrity and there are also the men who check the train passes on board.
our attempts to take the mouth/nose of the moving shinkansen train failed...so we had to make do with a stationary one.we were chao high.lols
at night we made our way to another temple...i forgot the name but it is a large beautiful place with great backdrop and many fun things like the love stone...cuz there were two stones located a distance from each other and if a couple walk towards each other from each stone and meet, then they are fated to be together.cute right..^^my bro made wishes there.there are lots of wishing alters there to wish for good health, wealth, great results,love, etcetc.it was fun to look around. and there were lots and lots of ppl there...its kinda difficult to walk.heard some koreans while walking too~ahh.but no thsk
and i saw the first really shuai-ge on the streets near the temple (where my mom is photo'd) yah...so sad i didnt take a photo with him~~~i think he was shocked cuz when i glanced the first time and suddenly turned to give a second lookXDembarrassed ne~hahaha.we also tried some yummy stuff that tastes like muachees(taiwan style) and had a green tea cream puff.ok lah
and we spent the night at nagoya at a place called tokyu inn not bad~there were a bit of red light district there...yah and lots of karaoke places! there was a karaoke building where the room is facing the road and the wall is actually a glass window.so everyone on the streets can see them getting high in their karaoke rooms.quite cool if u dont mind the stares(:didnt eat a lot for breakfast, but mom koped the mandarin oranges to munch on the bus.very sweeet~so we took 2 hr ride up to MOUNTAIN FUJI foot to have lunch.prior to that we had a toilet stop with quite a big convenience store which has a voucher machined for the little high class kopitiam there...i think the locals thot we were crazy cuz we were taking photos beside the voucher vending machine thinking that it actually churns out the food itself and the toilets had seat warmers so warm, it made me want to sit there all day long.lols.anw, we had a very full lunch at lake kawaguchi.its also another beautiful place.the wind was chilly but bearable and we went to a hotel nearby to buy stuff and take photos.they had a nice waterfall but we couldnt take there.there was also doraemon on sleighs.apparently there's only one person manning the whole hotel, from reception to the inhouse gift store. they had cute mtfuji things there and i realised jap loves stitch!lotsa stitch stuff wherever i go
only reached the forth station...so can barely see the top.it was freezing and we were really frozen while taking this shot cuz we were standing on tables and stools.the land was above the cotton-candy like clouds that looks so puffy we can jump on them.HAHA^^it was kireii
snow can be seen on the way up/down but only in little bits on the ground.snow wasnt falling unfortunately.the sun was shining very brightly.and here is our little inn we stayed at.quite ulu but nonetheless well equipped.the outside scenery was def not japan hr kind...but it has the winter forest look.they had our beds done when we arrived.really soft and puffy quilts they had.nicenicenice. and those jap doors are really paper!it kinda tempted me to poke a hole through it but i didnt
and thankgod, it was ulu cuz there were few customers=few or NO ONE would be at the hotspring bath when we go in.hohoho...so we took a dip for a couple of minutes^^ i wanted outdoors one tho..ala the japan hour style where the hot spring dippers are surrounded with snow.unfortunately, we had to settle for indoors one...but its good enough
mr santa claus came!!!he sure is a jolly man
had sake (the potent tasteless kind and the umeishu kind) the mei jiu one tasted much better.and in her drunken stupor.my sis drank half a cup more than me i think.im def not cut out for alcohol consumption...
ahhh...the most well positioned meal i had ever had...this was the time i had eaten the most amount of mushrooms within one meal.i think i ate all?usually i only take a nip.but yup^^for the sake of enjoying the full experience of trying new things
next day was to TOKYO DAY.on the way out of the inn, it started pouring ice..and then IT SNOWED AND SNOWED AND SNOWED and i was in the bus-.-at least i could put my hand out and actually observing snow fall.took a video of it.ahh.my first view of falling snow...too bad i couldnt dance on the snow filled land...oh.and i said gd morning to our dimpled driver!and he showed me a photo of the merlion.hahahhaha. 
so basically, we walked 2 streets in tokyo--ueno/nakamise shopping street and shibuya.
we first ate at ginza too!they are great places.at ueno, there's also a wet market selling seaweed, tentacles of some animals and the hokkaido giant crab (legs and body each sold separately). didnt buy anything here.kor saw a seiko watch which was super cheap at 150S$.friends of his should go there and buy one for him cuz he is deeply regretting not buying it.we also tried some fried thing with mayo sauce.decided to try it cuz there were many ppl eating by the stall.manymany.and the cook was an old lady.it was ok food i guess.never tried before.me and mei also went inside a spectacle store and tried on some designs.how nice to have retailers not tailing you...but always at yr beck and call...anw, there was a pair of nike that she so wanted to buy...but no sizu):
the bus drove past akihabara and i could tell it was aki the moment i saw it cuz of the anime pics and all.there were a lot of ppl on the streets and i wondered which area did the killings occurred?i think i might have seen it...but anw, we arrived at shibuya which is a fantastic teen shopping paradise, we decided to finally take neoprints(as i insisted) and boy was it fun~hahaha.only 400Y.abt half the price of the same machine in s'pore
we also saw cosplay girls in those pink maid dresses and i tried asking them to take photos with us. me"gomen-ne, take photo(with hand signs), ok?(with hand signs)."japanese cosplay girl"nonononono~"in a kawaii way..awww.why not??we spent abt half our time looking for toilets and most of the other half choosing sneakers for meimei.there were a lot to choose from and they were so cheap~~~):and the funnest thing would have been at the samsung road show.i love the music just before the snow...
munched in shinjuku.posh street.totally not posh dining experience.stayed at keio plaza hotel~
and we found mister donut shop there!FINALLY.went in to buy ONE 100Y donut...wonder why we only bot one...but it had a prata taste...hahahah
there were very pretty christmas lightings there which we really enjoyed...nothing this elaborate in singapore ever...and the christmas tree was bigggg
munched in shinjuku.posh street.totally not posh dining experience.stayed at keio plaza hotel~and we found mister donut shop there!FINALLY.went in to buy ONE 100Y donut...wonder why we only bot one...but it had a prata taste...hahahah
there were very pretty christmas lightings there which we really enjoyed...nothing this elaborate in singapore ever...and the christmas tree was bigggg
the coolest most crowded place on earth--TOKYO DISNEYLAND--ooh.it got me so excited when i saw the gantry~and finally, we got to see the house outlined before every disney show.it was a really really beautiful castle!somewhere in between meimei and i got lost, so we decided to walk around the shops ourselves and tried on the mickey mouse caps!!!and did lots of fun stuff.there was a caucassion guy playing the piano outside of the shop and everyone else was clapping along!and sadly, the only mascot we could take photos with was jimmy the cricket-.-do u even know him?but his appearance is sure recognisable.unfortunately, taking photos with mickey was an "attraction" and u had to queue up to take photos with him..AND the attraction was CLOSED cuz the line was getting too long-.-whyohwhy
winter edition mickey and minnie,at first i thought they were new characters-.-
disney japan celebrating their 25th anniversary with a big big xmas tree.the biggest ive ever seen amongst the many in japan. anw, we eventually found our family members.and we started queueing for rides. the first was the pirates of the carribean.there was a mini whoosh down the ride in the beginning but the effects and the look of the characters including jack sparrow was akin to johnny depp really being there!they looked super real. we also tried the haunted house--the nightmare before christmas and it was totally not a scary ride but a fascinating ride because of all the visual effects used to make the ghost-like appearances and the very happy song playing on the background.me and my mei totally freaked out when we were going uphill-cuz we thought it will go downhill really fast but nope.nothing like tt.we also tried a lazy boat ride.sadly the guide was speaking in jap and most of the time, we dont know what the others are laughing about.our last ride was at a mini roller coaster that freaked mei out.saw friends there..amazing.cuz we thought it was impossible amongst the 100000+ people present.she sure has fate with her good friend
of course..what is a cow lover without a taking a photo with mickey clad in cow suit
the coolest popcorn bucket ever.everyone incl guys have them around their necks .oh and i notice mom in the background! 
the coolest ears around...everyone was wearing them. guys were totally wearing them too. there are also the pin on version that dang it...we should have bought them despite the prices... 
can u believe my head is in this freak looking three eyed toy story alien.i laugh whenever i look at this-.-
the electrical parade of dreams?i think thats the theme..it was really really beautiful!too bad i missed the fireworks.the lights were many times better than the chingay..but cannot compare lah.and when each charater passes, they play the signature music that we have all heard when we were young~brings us back to childhood times...mickey and minnie are in this pic!
byebyedisneyland (poor quality camera for night shots)
winter edition mickey and minnie,at first i thought they were new characters-.-
disney japan celebrating their 25th anniversary with a big big xmas tree.the biggest ive ever seen amongst the many in japan. anw, we eventually found our family members.and we started queueing for rides. the first was the pirates of the carribean.there was a mini whoosh down the ride in the beginning but the effects and the look of the characters including jack sparrow was akin to johnny depp really being there!they looked super real. we also tried the haunted house--the nightmare before christmas and it was totally not a scary ride but a fascinating ride because of all the visual effects used to make the ghost-like appearances and the very happy song playing on the background.me and my mei totally freaked out when we were going uphill-cuz we thought it will go downhill really fast but nope.nothing like tt.we also tried a lazy boat ride.sadly the guide was speaking in jap and most of the time, we dont know what the others are laughing about.our last ride was at a mini roller coaster that freaked mei out.saw friends there..amazing.cuz we thought it was impossible amongst the 100000+ people present.she sure has fate with her good friend
of course..what is a cow lover without a taking a photo with mickey clad in cow suit
the coolest popcorn bucket ever.everyone incl guys have them around their necks .oh and i notice mom in the background! 
the coolest ears around...everyone was wearing them. guys were totally wearing them too. there are also the pin on version that dang it...we should have bought them despite the prices... 
can u believe my head is in this freak looking three eyed toy story alien.i laugh whenever i look at this-.-
the electrical parade of dreams?i think thats the theme..it was really really beautiful!too bad i missed the fireworks.the lights were many times better than the chingay..but cannot compare lah.and when each charater passes, they play the signature music that we have all heard when we were young~brings us back to childhood times...mickey and minnie are in this pic!byebyedisneyland (poor quality camera for night shots)
on the way away from disneyland, fireworks started and we managed to film down a small portion of it. we then took a long ride towards narita for our hotel at the port hotel.where hilton hotel is too!the scenery from our room was great!lotsa withered trees and the vending machines were found on every floor.the hotel had a nice ambience and we had to also say byebye to our driver with dimples):
morning breakfast was great.i love miso soup for breakfast!!!the outside scenery was saikou!!!veryverynice.but very chilly weather too.kor and i tried to explore the place but ended up at the deadend where the water heaters were i think...i think those jap workers found us weird..but anw, the morning sunlight was the best for photos
kor looking like he's superman with added light effect on chest
zen garden.i wished hot water was in that pond so that we can have an outdoor hot spring
the best photo taken by korkor..i love the lighting effect...it creates some sort of illusion .cant see it from here but me and mei were holding maple leaves!
of course.ninomiya...no chance to find johhny's ent ppl so can only take with magazines):
the cutest cow in my favourite 100Y shop--DAISO JAPAN the real thing
byebyejapan at narita airport
best on board meal ever, with cha soba, sushi, unagi,bean paste pancake and rice with tamago!munched it all up
our plane passed mt fuji!!!breathtaking experience, akin to sitting on a helicopter .this is really taken with my camera!there was another photo with mt fuji that can be seen from afar, against the orange sunset light...it looked like a pyramid above the clouds.very mystical..and def pretty
just a shanghai photo with polluted air and somewhere in that place there are many ppl who loves to con you
zen garden.i wished hot water was in that pond so that we can have an outdoor hot spring
the best photo taken by korkor..i love the lighting effect...it creates some sort of illusion .cant see it from here but me and mei were holding maple leaves!
of course.ninomiya...no chance to find johhny's ent ppl so can only take with magazines):
the cutest cow in my favourite 100Y shop--DAISO JAPAN the real thing
byebyejapan at narita airport
best on board meal ever, with cha soba, sushi, unagi,bean paste pancake and rice with tamago!munched it all up
our plane passed mt fuji!!!breathtaking experience, akin to sitting on a helicopter .this is really taken with my camera!there was another photo with mt fuji that can be seen from afar, against the orange sunset light...it looked like a pyramid above the clouds.very mystical..and def pretty
just a shanghai photo with polluted air and somewhere in that place there are many ppl who loves to con you