Tokyo, Day 5

Gotemba Premium Outlets. Pretty much the whole day was spent here. Had to catch the bus fron Shinjuku Station at 930am and reached Gotemba at 1110am exactly as scheduled. Loads of branded stuff here at highly discounted rates. Left the place at 430pm and headed back to Shinjuku station where we had a yakitori dinner.

We happened to chance upon this alley and decided to order 2 sets of yakitori to try. Pretty decent save for its cost. Run by a Taiwanese/Chinese (China one), we got ripped off. (So I think it's China one). Paid 4,400 yen for 12 sticks of yakitori, 2 beers and 4 seats. Yes, we had to pay for the seats! And even then it was a squeeze at a table meant only for 2. Each seat cost us 3oo yen.

Thank goodness we only ordered 2 sets, which left us with space for sushi, which we bought from the supermarket and ate back at the hotel.

Tokyo, Day 4

Thankfully the weather was good today.

We started the morning at Ginza and spent the afternoon at Shibuya and Harajuku.

Ginza
Stopped by Sony Building at Dad's request to check out the showrooms.

The streets of Ginza were closed to cars today and lined with branded shops. We walked around Mitsukoshi departmental store, where I managed to get my Blueberry Blue Label handbag. Didn't buy very much at Ginza, except for a blouse at H&M.

Shibuya
After Ginza, we took a train to Shibuya. We walked Shibuya Center Town - the busiest part of Shibuya. One can get lost just crossing the traffic junction! The main streets and alleys are lined with shops popular among the young. A little like Far East in Singapore.

Harajuku
Like Shibuya, Harajuku is filled with trendy shops catering to the young. Check out some of the people there...


Headed back to Shinjuku for dinner at the noodle stall near the hotel.

Tokyo, Day 3

Following Father Giao Gui's instructions, we took a train train to Shiodome and then changed to the Yurikamome line (a monorail) which would take us to Odaiba. Odaiba isn't on the Tokyo Subway Route map - told you the whole thing was complicated.

The monorail actually travels under a suspended bridge known as the Rainbow Bridge. It's quite an amazing structure.

Upon reaching Odaiba, we walked around Aqua City and had lunch there. One one particular floor (think it was the 5th), there are 6 outlets serving ramen from various parts of Japan (Sapporo, Nigata, Tokyo, Tokushima, Hakata). Pretty yummy, except that the ramen we had was the fat yelllow mee kind, which isn't exactly my favourite.



After lunch, we took a walk to Palette Town, whose main attractions are the shopping malls. Venus Fort is structured to look like a medieval European town. Lots of shops and a mini casino. There's also a giant ferris wheel at Palette Town.

Within Venus Fort itself, there's a shop specially catered to selling pet stuff and pets. Check out these 2 cuties we saw there!


It's nice to know that the Japanese really love their dogs - these 2 have got bling bling on them! And I realised that the Japs have a preference for French Bulldogs, Poodles, Corgis and Long-haired Daschunds.

We left Odaiba and headed off for Roppongi. I think Roppongi is overrated. Nothing much to see. Perhaps its was also the weather that dampened our moods. It was raining the WHOLE day.

Let's hope it's better tomorrow.

Tokyo, Day 2

Woke up at 9am this morning and headed out for Asakusa.

When I first saw the Japanese subway maps, I commented that it was confusing and purplexing. Many said, 'No, it's very comprehensive'. I've had my first experience on the trains and I beg to differ. They ARE complicated. So we ended up just checking with the station master each time we were headed somewhere. Not fun. Anyway, we covered 3 places today - Asakusa, Ueno and Akihabara.

Asakusa
The main attraction at Asakusa is Sensoji Temple and Nakamise Street that leads to it. The street sells all the typical Japanese tidbits from Mochi and rice crackers to kimonos that all cost a bomb.

Asakusa itself is nice, as it has a feel of olden Japan. Lunch was at another vending ticket outlet. This time we had noodles. Nothing to shout about though, but Dad liked it. Seriously, I think the food tasting better than Jap food in Singapore is really due to the weather. In such cold weather, any hot soupy dish would deem yummy, right? You see that long brownish stuff in the soup? It smells and tastes like fart! I thought it was the usual pickle but it's not! Ok, ok I don't know how fart tastes like, but it sure left a farty after-smell when you bite into it.

Ueno

Ameyoko must be Ueno's main attraction - mainly streets selling dried food stuff, tid bits and clothes. I managed to get another jacket at just 1000 yen (about S$15). RT managed to get some tops from Adidas and Asics at a steal too. This place is a little like Chatuchak in BKK. Except that in Chatuchak, they don't charge you S$8 for an apple, S$1 PER strawberry. Not a punnet hor, A SINGLE STRAWBERRY. For a papaya, it's about $10 a piece, and a watermelon one third the size of what you get in Singapore costs about S$10.

As I'm typing this, I'm eating a White Peach Jelly, probably going to be my source of fruit while I'm here. With fruits costing like that, I think the Japs need to be eating loads of vegetables. Or they can forget about removing their bowels!

Akihabara

Dad wanted to see this place - where all the electronics stuff is sold. So we dropped by the area for a bit. Honestly, all these gadgets don't interest me at all. Tried looking for the Naruto masks as the toy shops, but didn't find them again. The Japanese' fascination with toy figurines is another fascination which is beyond me.

Met the Giao Gui family for dinner back at Shinjuku. Katsu rice at Suzuya. This katsu is apparently the only one of its kind in Tokyo - served on a hotplate and then you pour green tea over the rice or the pork.

After dinner, we walked through Kabukicho. Popped into one of their outlets, which isn't really the outlet. Father Giao Gui explained that it's just a shop front, with computer terminals for the selection of the girls. Once selected, Mr Hamsup is led to another place where the girl is.

Walked over to Krispy Kreme to get some doughnuts. Funny thing is, the minute you're in the queue, you're offered a doughnut free! So in total we had 6 free doughnuts and bought paid only for the 8 we bought. Japanese hospitality.

Tokyo!

Probably my last trip before I deliver. For just $622 per pax, we experienced our first ride on the A380. Honestly, it didn't feel much different from the Boeing 747. Then again, we weren't on the suites.

It got us to Narita airport ahead of schedule though. Which was probably a good thing as we didnt have to wait long for the Airport Limousine. The Airport Limousine is actually a bus, and it cost us 3000 yen (approximately S$50) each - the first indication of how expensive things were in Japan.

After slightly over an hour's bus ride to Shinjuku Washington Hotel, we left our baggage at the reception as check in was only at 2pm. We spent the next 2 hours or so at Times Square Takashimaya and had a lunch of beef rice at "Song Wu" - one of those vending machine lunch outlets. Lunch was not too bad. Headed back to the hotel to check in, slept for about 2 hours and then headed back out to shop again at Shinjuku area and meet Mother Giao Gui and Baby Giao Gui for dinner. Bought myself a light jacket as when evening came, I realised what I had brought along wasn't sufficient.

Dinner had to be the highlight of the day - extremely yummy sukiyaki at this restarurant in Shinjuku called Na Be Zo. For 1900 yen (about S$30) per person, it was free flow of beef and pork and vegetables for 90 minutes.

After dinner, we headed to Yodobashii to get see if we could get the Naruto masks which RT's nephew and niece wanted. Didn't find the masks, but found these 200 yen toy dispensing machines. We were told Baby Giao Gui was fascinated with the machines, especially the Am Pan Man ones. The Japanese fascination with these machines escapes me, but the fascination with Am Pan Man, I can understand. He's quite cute leh. And I think it's also because I like eating Am Pan (red bean bun). Check our Baby Giao Gui - she looks like a fuji apple! Think it's got something to do with the air in Japan.

After that, it was back to the hotel. We were all dead beat. Hotel room is a tad small, but nonetheless comfortable. There's even a massage chair! Great after a whole's day's walking.

Beanie's 20-week Check Up

The detailed scan on 30 March showed that everything was in place, normal and growing well.

"Hands here, the right and here's the left. Both kidneys here. The lips, top and bottom. The four chambers of the heart. Here's the left ventricle, and here's the right. And here we have the right atrium, and the left. Brain developing well, we can see the mid section. And the spine, developing well. The pulmonary artery. The aorta. You know the sex? It is very obviously a boy. Good. Baby's of average size and growing well thus far. Still in breech position but that's normal at this stage."

Honestly, I couldn't make out half of the things the gynae was seeing on the scan. The most distinct was the spine. The scan from this angle makes my baby look like a dinosaur.

Anyway, I'm glad I'm already at the halfway mark of the pregnancy.

The terrible first trimester is over. No more nausea and reduced lethargy. No stretch marks...yet. No pigmentation....yet. No water retention...yet. Each day I get my colleague to check out if any varisose veins have developed on the back of my legs. None yet, she says. I have about 3 more weeks before I enter the third trimester. I'm hoping and praying none of these will set in.

As at 30 Mar, my baby weighed 357g and I've put on 5 kg. Bleah. I've never weighed so much in my life.