HARAJUKU ON A SATURDAY

Salam semua,

Plan nak ke Harajuku ni on a Sunday tp ntah mcm mana plak tercampak ke sini pada hari Sabtu. Bukan ape, kalu p hari Ahad, boleh la cuci2 mata tengok org2 jepon bercostume...he..he.. Tapi x apelah, what to do. Saturday pon Saturday lah...

Apa ada kat Harajuku ni?

According to Wiki, Harajuku is known internationally as a center of Japanese youth culture and fashion. Shopping and dining options include many small, youth oriented, independent boutiques and cafés, but the neighborhood also attracts many larger international chain stores with high-end luxury merchandisers extensively represented along Omotesando. Kira kalu kat Mesia mcm Bukit Bintang kot..he..he..

Kami sampai pon dah petang/gelap but as u can see from the photos, crushes of shoppers were everywhere. Ada yg shopping, ade yg window2 aje, ade yg lepak2, borak2..dn mcm2 lah... here u can see people from all walks of life mcm kat Sungei Wang....:)

So, from Ueno park tadi, we decided to stop by at Harajuku. Actually there are 2 stations adjacent to each other near Harajuku. One is Harajuku Station and the other one is Meiji-Jingumae Station (metro). U can stop at any of these 2 stations and u will be in the middle of Harajuku's busy area. For us, we took the Yamanote Line (inner loop) from Ueno Station  straight to Harajuku station. It took us about 30 minutes, price 200 yen.  Boleh juga naik local line tp bnyk berhenti2. OR, If u plan to use the Metro service, get on the metro at Ueno (Tokyo Metro Ginza Line) and change to Metro Chiyoda line at Omete-Sando. Then, proceed to Meiji-Jingumae. Journey takes about 30 minutes too with the price of 200 yen. So, u decide! pilihlah nak guna servis yg mna.. bukan apa, ada org ade JR Tiket, ada jugak yg ade metro pass...dan ade jugak yg main hentam macam kami..he..he..

Harajuku Station as the background

Flocks of people 

Other angle, still crowded with
people. (P/s: mat baju coklat ni sape
pulak ya? tetiba posing kat situ)

While we were strolling slowly among the crowds...

Budak adik bukan boleh nampak MCD...Maka

Bile dah refuel, kami pon meneruskan perjalanan menyusuri setiap jalanan di harajuku. Mcm2 kedai ada! Duit aja yg x ada...he..he...

Tiba-tiba...

Antara Daiso terbesar di Tokyo. 5 tingkat kau.. Hah..ni aje kedai mampu
milik...Jom masok!

Ape yang ada??? Sama mcm kat Mesia aja cuma sini bezanya harga mur2 sket... 100 yen (not inclusive tax). Daiso Harajuku is located in the middle of Takeshita Dori, the busiest street in Harajuku. Bukak dari 10 pagi sampai 9 mlm. Boleh guna credit cards!
Sebenarnya 100 yen shops kat Jepon ni memang berlambak2 tp Daiso lah yg paling glam...he..he...

Kami ukur setiap tingkat dan hasilnya.... dapat 2 baskets.

Lepas mengganas di Daiso, budak2 ni request nak p Kiddy Land.  Mereka siap google toy shop kat harajuku. Nak jugak menghabiskan duit... adoila! So, nak x nak, on GPS, menapakla ke Kiddyland. X jaoh pon, dekat ja. Dalam 5 minit jalan menyusuri alleys.

Pintu gerbang Kiddyland... where children's
dreams come true! ha..ha..ha..
Openning hours: 11 am to 9 pm.
Rasanya kat Venus Fort pon ada satu

Apa ada kat dalam? Toys la, obviously!

Koleksi Star Wars...

Orang paling sibuk sekalik....

Meanwhile....

Tangkapan hari ini...

What's inside the bags?
Faris with his action pack figurines
while Farah with her merapu toys

Lepas belik2, jalan2 sekejap menikmati suasana malam yang sejuk di Harajuku. Niat hati nak lajak ke Shibuya nengok Shibuya Crossing... Dah x larat la pulak...huhuhu.... walhal dah dekat sangat dah... near yet so far.. lagipon anak2 dah lapar sangat. So, dengan hati yang pasrah, baliklah kami... Bnyk kena sacrifice bila jln2 dngn anak2 but what to do.. they r the crown jewels of the heart...huhuhu.... x da mika, x syiok!

Pokok2 di tepi jalan semua di hias begini

Yang ini bas yg chartered khas untuk berparty keliling kota...

Spotted these guys...

 Dan sebelum balik...

Mengabdikan kenangan di Harajuku bersama patong2 tiruan ini....hehehe... kira ganti cosplay ler...kikiki

From Harajuku, we traveled via metro back to Suitengumae. Metro Chiyoda Line (Meiji-Jingumae), changed train at Otemachi and straight to Suitengumae (Hanzomon Line). Price: 200 yen, Duration: 30 minutes. 

Kiranya inilah summary perjalanan kami pada hari ke-7. [Click on the map for clearer view]  Triangle kan..? i myself didn't realize this  until i came up with this sketch. ...hehe... train expenses for today:  850 yen, 
Faris n farah half the price! Till the... ✌

UENO PARK IN AUTUMN

Ueno Park is one of the most famous parks in Tokyo where people, locals or outsiders like to hang out. It is a famous place for people to enjoy cherry blossoms. When we were there, although it was already mid December, the park still looked like it was at the end of its autumn season. I always come across Ueno Park's photos during spring where people will relax under the trees enjoying the beauty of sakura. Well, sad to say, during autumn, Ueno Park is nothing like the Ueno Park in Spring...ha..ha... It looked a bit eerie to me with all the branches without the leaves and flowers. Still, people were everywhere... strolling and sightseeing with their loved ones. Nothing much to say about Ueno Park, just some photos taken during the short visit. We stopped by at Ueno Park on our way to Harajuku from Nippori Fabric Town. The park is too big and we didn't even cover 1/10 of the area..he..he...he...

Ueno Station, courtesy of Wikipedia. i lost my Ueno Station
photo...sob...sob...

Street Performer entertaining the visitors. 

The last bits and pieces of leaves

The end of autumn

Faris n Farah took the liberty to play here after a stressful Nippori visit
(stressful to them)

Errr.... Temple, i guess?

This is huge! I don't think i can complete the loop. 

Catching my breath...

People who enjoy nature would definately love it here. There are plenty of different species of trees including Ginkgo Biloba and of course, Japanese Cherry.  There are many attractions nearby the park including temples and shrines, Ueno Zoo and HRC Ueno.


Nippori to Ueno Park is just a short distance train travel. It took us about 5 minutes from Nippori to Ueno JR Station. If u have the JR Pass, u can travel for free. If not, the price would be 140 yen for a 3 to 5 minutes train ride. You can either take JR Yamanote (outer loop) or JR Keihin/tohuku (local line).

This is how it looks like during spring....:)  Look at all the people...
 Courtesy of Wikipedia

NIPPORI FABRIC TOWN

DAY 7

Yesterday was fun but no luck to see Fuji... Hari bukak chapter baru. Pagi ni kami nak bershopping sket kat Nippori Fabric Town. I think Nippori Fabrictown ni memang sangat2 terkenal dalam kalangan warga Malaysia. Bukan apa, masa kat sana pon, 50% kedai tu dipenuhi org2 macam orang melayu...he..he.. sumer belik kain pasang.

Orang sibuk berasap, die sebok bergambar

Dkt train station dah ada signage nak ke fabric town

Macam mana nak ke Nipppori Fabrictown ni? Senang aje sebenarnya... Kalu dari Suitengumae, kami naik metro ke Ueno, then tukar naik Yamanote Line untuk ke Nippori (330 yen). Boleh refer hyperdia for more accurate route coz saya tukar 3x. Dari metro hanzomon ke ginza line, then baru transfer to Yamanote Line. Travel time lebih kurang setengah jam.

Bersebelahan Nippori Station (Yamanote), kita boleh nampak Skyliner
punya station untuk ke airport. Demhar kata, skyliner ni paling laju
nak ke airport. Harga pon boleh tahan.

Jo, tengok sekitar Nippori sebelum sampai ke textile town. Jangan risau, signage berlambak, takkan sesat punya. ikut aja....

Kedai kasut pon ada

Ni kedai video game baru launching. Faris cuba masuk tp x lepas coz
only for above 18.

Dah nampak dah Tomato...

Ada banyak kedai kain kat sini tapi yang paling glamour ialah Tomato. Tomato ni bukan ada 1 kedai sahaja malah berkedai-kedai kat sini.

Faris  n Farah sampai bersila
nunggu mama

 Tips belik cotton: Look for summer cotton. Ia lebih mahal tapi sangan selesa di pakai di negara panas macam Malaysia. Hargannya above 600 yen semeter. hari tu saya belik 699 yen dan ada juga yang 899 yen per meter. Quality memang 1st class... x kecut, x turun warna, selesa da x panas.
Ada juga winter cotton. Ia lebih murah tp kurag sesuai di pakai di Malaysia coz hangat. 100 yen per metre pon boleh dapat tp rata2 hari tu dalam 399 yen per metre. Puas jugaklah berayam beritik dengan sales girls tu coz most of them speak very little English.

Summer cotton. Yang belah kanan atas tu winter cotton

Kami belik yang ni...

Saya x adelah belik banyak pon. Janji belik. Luggage masa balik pon x ambik banyak. Cuma 20kg aje. Tp banyak kain yang lawa2 dah tinggal sikit (x cukup meter)...hmmm...mesti pelancong2 mesia lain dah sebat...he..he..he... style membelik kat sini lain sikit:

1.  Pilih kain yang kita suka
2. Bawak ke kaunter menggunting.
3. Beratur ikut turn.
4. Bagitahu petugas berapa meter kita nak
5. Bawak kain yang dah digunting ke cashier counter.

Jadik, kalu ada 10 jenis, bawakla ko 10 gulung ke kaunter. My case hari tu, dah penat berator, kain x cukup meter, p carik lain, beratur lagi.. x cukup lagik...aishhh... lama2 dah cerdik sikit.. bawak 3-4 choices.. adelah penat berator... Bila dah balik malam tu menyesal belik sikit sangat.. coz dah x larat nak berator carik, tu yang belik sikit sangat tu... huahhhahahaha...lagipon, faris, farah n papa dah buat lasak kat situ. Alm-maklumlah, mereka bukan suka area kain2 ni... allergic katanya...