Tokyo Winter 2008 Day 1

We flew TG410 to Bangkok for our connecting flight to Tokyo.

Thai Airways is pretty good, we actually had dinner during a 2 hour flight. Not to mention pretty air-stewardess. One of them looked like Suzanne Jung from CNA...

Bangkok Airport.

Bangkok Airport.

Breakfast, just before we reached Tokyo.

Alien registration form. That's what they call foreigners.

The start of our "get-lost-in-huge-underground-shopping-centers-like-train-station" nightmare.

Roughly translated, it means "GoodLuckHaveFun".

Luckily there's an English option for people like us.

It's not easy as it seems, there are more stations not listed on the map.

Train to Yawata station.

Finally, we arrived at our hostel after a long train journey from Narita Airport to Yawata, to Akebonobashi. I think it costed more than 1000 yen.

Lobby of Ace Inn Shinjuku, cool place to stay.

Everyone gets a cozy little hole in the wall, a small locker, free towel, and free internet access. But...it costs 100 yen to shower..

Chatting with dmd folks. Ok, we weren't at the maid cafe.

Just one of the weird vending machines in Japan. This one sells cigarettes. And no, we didn't encounter any selling used panties.

We randomly entered a ramen shop for lunch.

To order food, you have to put in your money and select whatever you want. Hand the ticket from the machine to the waiter and you'll get served shortly. I had no idea what i was ordering. But hey, i would rather prefer it this way then to try order my lunch in Japanese.

Yummiest ramen i ever had in my entire life.

More Ramen.

Walking randomly, came somewhere near Kabukicho, the infamous red-light district, pimps round every corner.

No idea why we didn't get to try this during our stay in Tokyo.

Though it may not look so in the picture, we got lost here, Shijuku station has over 100 exits, and too many lines to count, one of the busiest train stations in the world.

Shibuya station ticket machines. The way the announcer says "Shibuya" is really cute.

Playing with the camera before our food arrived.

We ordered by pointing on the pictures of the menu, and giving a "1" or "2" sign. Weirdest shit ever.

Tender Katsu-Don with scallops and unlimited veges.

The crossing at Shibuya, the red light stops all vehicles and unleashes a flood of humanity from all directions.

Neon lights everywhere.

Trendy place for young people. The yakuza look-alike sales assistants are all decked out in leather jackets and boots. However they were super friendly and polite. They even helped me to tie my shoelaces when i tried out the shoes.

There were people watching.

I don't know wtf are we doing..

Crepes shop. Almost all shops selling food have super realistic plastic models.

On the way back, we saw a girl playing keyboard and singing outside Shibuya station.

She was super cute and had a lovely voice.

Another Picture.

Really lovely voice.

Bought a CD each from her. Her name is Ibuki Yui. What a magical encounter!!

Random Yan pic.

Cozy little hole. Yawn. Goodnight.