Konichiwa Tokyo Once Again!

Never cross in my mind that I will be back to Tokyo once again after a year (My Blogpost: Tokyo After 5 Years) - and this time around, it's my third visit! Another of my family annual trip and as usual, they chosen Japan instead of other country. No wonder people said, "Once Went Japan, Almost Every Year Feels Like Going Back Japan!"

Imagine came to Japan for the 5th time, this is my first and initial experience of wearing Yukata, the traditional Japanese garment. And it's absolutely free of charge.

Basically, we just solely focus the city of Tokyo without going any outskirt towns within our 8 days and 7 nights trip there. Some of the popular attractions like Shibuya, Harajuku, Asakusa I went for the third time. I posted few of my photos in Instagram, so do follow me there!

Just a short and brief post here and I have the feelings that I will be back Tokyo again. 

Tokyo After 5 Years

#1: Direct flight from Kota Kinabalu to Narita Tokyo with Malaysia Airlines 

I never thought I will going back Tokyo again after 5 years. Initially my plan is flying to Hokkaido which from the research I found, July will be the perfect time to visit there but because this is annual family trip and two of my brothers have never been to 'Land of Rising Sun' before, re-do, re-route and re-change my plan from Hokkaido to the capital city of Japan, Tokyo.

#2: Narita International Airport for the very first time.

Honestly speaking, I can see there is slightly changes of Tokyo five years ago and five years later. First of all, language barrier is no longer an issue as majority of Japanese can speak at least simple English nowadays. Whether we were taking buses, in restaurants, in convenience store, train ticket offices and more, unlike 5 years ago. 

But somehow there is one major issue which I didn't enjoy Tokyo is overcrowded almost everywhere. Even more crowded than Shanghai. I'm kidding not. Three trains approached but we didn't manage to jump in cause it's overpacked with working people especially. What a nightmare!

Talking about my 8 days trip to Tokyo with my family, there are number of places I went for the second times such as:

#3: Akihabara Electric Town - My brothers spent more than 7 hours here.

#4: Shibuya - For crossing street, Hachiko statue, Disney store, best ramen and more 

#5: Tokyo Tower - Came here twice but never got the chance to go up. Came here just for One Piece Store

 

#6: Asakusa Senso-ji Temple 

and even including Harajuku, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro and more. 

As for the following, it's my maiden visit to:

#7: Gundam Statue in Odaiba Park 

#8: Rainbow Bridge and Statue of Liberty

#9: Yokohama - Second popular city after Tokyo which less than an hour away

#10: Tokyo Disneyland 

#11: Hakone for Mount Fuji but unfortunately, the weather wasn't on our side

And of course, by end of this trip eventhough we're tired and exhausted, my family and I were really enjoyed each and every part of Tokyo. No wonder people said, "Once Went Japan, Almost Every Year Feels Like Going Back". This is my third times to Japan and I can't wait to look forward for another Japan Trip - prefecture such as Nagoya, Okinawa, Hokkaido and more.

#12: Look what we found in Tokyo - Super-sized soft ice-cream with 8 different flavours

Oh wait! I haven't start to blog about my 2013 Japan (Kansai Area) yet. So many outdated travelogues!

Tokyo Disneysea

Date of Visited: 1st November 2010

If you came back from Tokyo, besides Mount Fuji, sure most of the people you know will ask whether had you been to Tokyo Disneyland. Tokyo Disneyland is the first Asia Disney theme park opened outside the United States.

Tokyo Disneyland is one of three main entertainment sections of Tokyo Disney Resort which opened on 15th April 1983. Then Tokyo Disneysea came in September 4th, 2001 with a park themed based on nautical exploration to create a world where imagination and adventure set sail. Due to the time constraint, Nicole and I can only choose one; either the Disneyland or the Disneysea. Since both of us had been to Paris Disneyland and I just came back from Hong Kong Disneyland, therefore both of us agreed to visit Tokyo Disneysea. The other reason is because this is one and only ocean theme park exclusive to Japan.

In order to get to Tokyo Disneysea, we need to take Disney Resort Line monorail.

Note: Tokyo DisneyLand and Tokyo DisneySea are separate themed park. So, if you want go for both, you need to purchase admission ticket for two.

Before this in my Shibuya entry (click here), I ever recommended that if you plan to go Tokyo Disney Resort, to take a safeguard in case you didn't bought the online ticket, you are advisable to purchase ticket from there. Why?

Don't wait until you reach there or else you will regret.

Once we reached Tokyo Disneysea, we saw a huge model of globe which similar to the one in Universal Studio (although I haven't been yet to any of the Universal) in the entrance of plaza. It is one of the two symbolic icon of Tokyo DisneySea.

DisneySea Aquasphere

There are seven uniquely themed areas or known as "ports of call". One of it, Mediterranean Harbour is the entrance of the park which opens up to another six more nautically theme ports; Mysterious Island, Mermaid Lagoon, Arabian Coast, Port Discovery, Lost River Delta and American Waterfront.

1. Mediterranean Harbour - the main entrance "port of call" and themed as an Italian port city, complete with Venetian gondolas. Here, we saw an artificial gigantic volcano, Mount Prometheus, located in the center of the park. is another symbol of Tokyo DisneySea.

Another Venetian replica

2. Mysterious Island - the smallest "port of call" features a large volcano and located in the center of the park. It is also known as Vulcania Island. This area has little greenery, and is mostly rocks and ornaments.

One of Mysterious Island's attractions which featured from Disney movie

3. Mermaid Lagoon - Tokyo Disneysea is incomplete without the home characters to "The Little Mermaid". The facade is made to resemble like the Palace of King Triton and features colourful seashell-inspired architecture. This unique "port of call" is mostly indoors and recreates the feeling of being underwater. Lots of attractions and rides are available in this area but mostly are geared towards younger children.

Time to be "Under the Sea"

4. Arabian Coast - recreates an exotic Arabian harbour, combining another Disney popular animated film, Aladdin with an enchanted world from the 1001 Arabian Nights. As such, the architecture and atmosphere are inspired by many Middle-Eastern and Indian influences.

5. Port Discovery - This "port of call" is hailed as the marina of the future. It is also sometimes known as "Tomorrowland" of Tokyo Disneysea.

6. Lost River Delta - features the most famous attraction Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull, which based on the Indiana Jones film and it is the sixth collaboration between Disney and George Lucas. Don't tell me that you don't know who is George Lucas. Still don't know? Go google it.

For this ride, both of us had to queue for almost two and half hours. Most of them are Japanese and I only saw few Caucasians in the theme parks. My most here define as 99% and I had checked the calender. Neither school holidays or public holidays but everywhere crowded with the locals. Guest they no need to work or school.

7. American Waterfront - represents the northeastern seaboard of the United States in the early 20th century. This land is dominated by the large passanger ship (picture as below).

The most popular attraction, Tower of Terror. Not sure whether similar to the one in Paris Disneyland (click here) but what I know I don't want another long queue again.

So there you have it. A brief introduction of the seven different themed areas and their attractions in Tokyo Disneysea accompanion with the picture I took. Lastly, never leave Tokyo Disneysea with empty hand.

There are 2 items unable to allocate to be part of my collection - fridge madgets and Mickey T-shirts. Too bad!

How to go there:

Take the JR Keiyo Line to Maihama Station which is adjacent to Tokyo Disney Resort. Turn left once out from station to take the Disney Resort Line monorail which cost 200 yen. For Tokyo Disneyland, it is just few walking distance.

The admission fee and opening hours is vary from time to time. For safeguard, do visit the website for more details. Before I forgot, do print out the map as I can't find any English version. Luckily I print out earlier for my research before I reach there.

[Credit to: Wikipedia, Wikitravel and Tokyo Disney Resort main homepage]

UPDATED: Tokyo Disneysea is being recognised as one of the world's best theme parks (click here).