(This is the first of 11 posts on my awesome Japan trip. I’m gonna blog about it from the very beginning all the way to the end!)
Our flight to Tokyo was at 8:30 in the morning! We bid farewell to Singapore (on her independence day, no less!) and got on our flight.
You know those flight safety videos that play on board the plane right before it takes off? They tend to be boring don’t they? Well, not if you’re flying on a Japanese airline! The Japanese are so good at coming up with cute stuff!
The last time I flew on JAL, the cute flight safety videos that played on the monitors left me with a deep impression. This time round ANA didn’t disappoint either! The animations looked so cute and lively, passengers couldn’t help but watch the whole thing!
Some cirrus clouds we spotted along the way.
We were served sparkling wine in an interesting black bottle. I thought it would put me to sleep. Instead, I spent most of the time on the flight watching Shrek 3 and Pingu!
Pingu is a Japanese cartoon with cute clay penguins. I couldn’t understand a word but watched it anyway. I love penguins!
Lunch was creamy seafood penne marinara. And more wine!
Then, we spotted the faint sight of a mountaintop peeking through the clouds. That’s Mount Fuji! It could only mean one thing – we were approaching Tokyo!
There were some very low-lying clouds. Notice how they were so low-lying, they even cast shadows on the sea!
Then, it was fields after fields of lush greenery in different shades. Japan looked beautiful! I’m not quite sure which part of Japan that was. Does anyone know? It certainly looked too green to be the urban Tokyo. Was it Narita?
Finally, the plane touched down at the Tokyo Narita Airport! Here are some Tokyo hotels to consider. Read on to find out where we are staying.
Aug 21, 2007
12
Welcome back to Sunny Singapore! It will be great to read the upcoming posts + photos to see beautiful Japan! Yearning to head back there again? haha
Aug 21, 2007
12
Wow! Looks like you were REALLY into your trip!!
Love all the photos. You are too funny!
Aug 21, 2007
5
Wow! Japan looks really good and so fun!! I am looking forward to the 11 days of photos (“,)
Aug 21, 2007
44
Wow! It’s only Day 1 of your Japan trip and I’m all excited to look forward for your subsequent posts …
It’s about time i compose a haiku for you …
Japan oh Japan
Sushi Ramen Porno vidz
Come Enjoy Japan!
Jayson
Haiku Senior Sinseh
Aug 21, 2007
2
Looks like a really fun trip. The mount Fuji shot was great. :)
Aug 21, 2007
2
Such nice photos! Looks like you really had a lot of fun. =)
I LOVE Tokyo. Was there for 5 days in March on a music shopping jaunt. Awesome! Definitely going back. I stayed at Shinjuku too, which was near a lot of the record stores I wanted to check out. =)
Aug 21, 2007
80
Why is there a shower head in the airport toilet? Were they expecting people to shower there?
Aug 21, 2007
1
ur post reminded me with my blog.. check it..
I am living in Tokyo now. Wer do u live? :)
Nice discovering ur blog.
Aug 21, 2007
90
OMG, i watched Shrek 3 on my flight to Brisbane too.
Ha ha… couldn’t quite figure out the Japanese script, eh? Kee kee…
Yum… the katsu don looks nice. My friend and i were having a good laugh at the process photo. :D Still… the LG Shine’s really coming in handy!
Sugarless drinks? Hee hee… like drinking plain water.
Er… u didn’t get a couple of copies of those magazines for me did ya? :D
Aug 21, 2007
20
Very nice photos! I like how you took photos on the plane and of all the food you ate. Where was that shot of that restroom taken? I took some shots of the restroom in the Narita Airport, but they weren’t as nice as that!
I too, took photos of the ticket machine. I love how fast and efficient those places are.
Also, was it expensive staying in Shinjuku? We stayed in Narita, which is far from all the action of downtown Tokyo. Either way, nice place to stay!
Aug 21, 2007
29
Awesome!! I went Tokyo once, but didn’t have the chance to explore.. drool! :P
Aug 21, 2007
14
Great post! I hope you won’t be addicted to Tokyo! Haha! Many of my friends, like myself, would make a trip again at least once!
By the way, the pingu is Swiss animated, not Japanese. Er, I happen to know coz I’m a parent and my sons love watching the series!
Can’t wait for your subsequent 10 entries! :)
Aug 21, 2007
14
By the way, if you like Pingu, I think you’ll love Pocoyo!
Aug 21, 2007
10
their ramen look sooooo good :)
nice pictures!
Aug 21, 2007
1
hey snowbiscuits here=)
the view of the green rice fields you saw from the plane probably means that you are in narita. In fact, did you know that narita is not in tokyo even though the airport is called tokyo narita airport? It’s in the neighbouring prefecture called chiba (it may sound offensive).
i love your pictures=) felt like going back to jp after looking at them even though i just came from there 2 mths ago=) i uploaded some nice shots of food and scenery too on my blog.. so feel free to drop by at my june archives…
Aug 21, 2007
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Welcome back to Singapore! :D
Wow. Love the pics and description about your first day there! Awaiting the next 10 entries! :)
Aug 22, 2007
2
Aren’t there cigarette vending machines all over the world?
Aug 22, 2007
1
Sounds like you had a good trip – for reference, Pingu is in fact an icelandic claymation and a penguin who speaks penguinese! Tokyo is an awesome place, but then again so are many places in Japan – personal favourite of mine is Himeji.
Aug 22, 2007
3472
Dennis: Yes! MUST go back to Tokyo!
Michael Baxter: Haha glad you enjoyed the post!
viswali: Day 2 is up!
Jayson: Thanks for the haiku boy! But what’s with the “porno vidz”?
Herry: Thanks! I knew I would see Mount Fuji peeking through the clouds so I had my camera ready.
modcentric: Shinjuku is an awesome area to stay in! It’s near to everywhere lol!
pkchukiss: I think it’s meant for showering babies? The tub looked just the right size.
subzero: Hello there from Singapore!
Miccheng: Heehee I spent some time doing that picture of my ordering process. Oh, sorry to disappoint, but no porno magazines for ya!
Ken: That restroom was at the airport too! Probably somewhere around the train station I think. It’s near a short flight of stairs.
Jacelyn: This is my second time to Tokyo! The first time round I was there on a stopover flight. I didn’t have time to explore too.
Cobalt Paladin: Wow thanks for the info! Pocoyo is cute and it seems to be a claymation too! But I love Pingu for the penguins :)
xinyun: Tasted good too!
snowbiscuits: Yup I knew that! Those fields looked too green to be the urbanised Tokyo. So I thought it must have been Narita!
Jasmine: Thanks! Day 2 is up!
hardyandtiny: Not in the places I’ve been to. And most definitely not in Singapore.
Peter Trinder: lol penguinese! That’s totally awesome! This wouldn’t be my last time to Japan. Himeji would certainly be a place I’d love to visit.
Aug 25, 2007
27
Well, I told you it’s ‘chikin’, pronounced more like ‘chiking’. Glad to know that you got what you wanted in the end :-)
BTW you aren’t just one of the best designer-cum-blogger around, but turning out to be quite a photographer as well. Very nice.