Ochen Priyatna

Bought my tickets to Tokyo earlier in March and I waited for the longest time for this trip to finally happen! Boarded Thai airways for a rather comfortable 6-7 hours flight from SG-BKK, BKK-TOKYO Narita airport. Weeks before this trip I was already tracking the temperature in Tokyo and it was relatively warm (24-29) so I didn't pack too much for cold weather as well. However, our first day coincided with Typhoon Talim passing through Japan and there was strong winds and rain the whole day. Temperatures also fell to 19 degrees at night which was freezing cold for any regular human being but an extremely enjoyable temperature for me


From Tokyo Narita airport to our accomodations in Shibuya, we took the regular train through Uedo before arriving at Shibuya station. The Tokyo subway is extremely connected and complicated, but thankfully Googlemaps has the latest updates and schedules and is an extremely convenient way of finding the shortest route. Japan being Japan, the train schedules are almost always accurate.



Arriving at Shibuya, we had to cross the famous Shibuya crossing to get to our accommodations. Over the days, we will cross this junction frequently and there were huge crowds EVERY SINGLE TIME. Tourists and locals alike. So I guess it was a good move to convert it into a massive multi-directional crossing altogether.

Our Airbnb accomodation was about 15 minutes walk from the Hachiko statue. Despite our terrible encounter with Airbnb hosts back in Paris, Airbnb was still preferred in Tokyo as hotels had extremely small rooms and were pricey. Our second accommodating in Tokyo was at Hotel Villa Fontaine Mitsukoshimae and the floor space was pathetic for 2 pax.

We were famished despite finishing both inflight meals onboard Thai airways. Our check-in was at 3pm so we were loitering around Shibuya central and I dropped my first Yen on these extremely photogenic fruit mille crepe cakes.


Most cafes in Japan have a policy whereby each patron had to consume one drink at least. Despite ordering one cake, we still needed to purchase one drink each and I got the refillable coffee. A few more cups of coffee later, my 700Yen coffee became rather affordable.

HARBS
Address: Japan, 〒150-8510 Tōkyō-to, Shibuya-ku, 渋谷区Shibuya, 2 Chome−2−21−1
Opening hours: 10AM-9PM
Nearest station: Shibuya


Since we had a bit more time to spare before we check-in our luggage, we decided to drop by JINS to make a pair of spectacles. JINS is similar to the OWNDAYS concept whereby spectacles are made almost instantly (45-60 min) and prices are hence kept low as well. The concept of low prices are only maintained in Japan though, as seen from the pricey options we have in OWNDAYS in Singapore. Perhaps it may be because OWNDAYS in Japan has other competitors such as JINS and ZOFF as well. Spent a good 30 minutes walking around the shop space of JINS to find the "perfect" pair of spectacles to avoid regret cost but eventually succumbed to a pair of home-wear pink plastic spectacles.


Thereafter, you may request for an eye check (inclusive) and depending on the type of glasses you want (plastic vs glass lenses, thick vs thin lens), there are options to top-up from the original cost of the spectacles. I got mine fuss-free and it cost 5000Yen (or roughly SG$60, tax-exclusive as I had tax-free) which is extremely affordable. The spectacles were also aesthetically-pleasing and extremely lightweight.


I was extremely pleased with the quality that I dropped by Zoff to grab another pair of spectacles. In my opinion, Zoff had a greater spread of trendy spectacles and quality was slightly better than JINS. The service at Zoff was lacking slightly but the quality of the spectacles (and case) was a great surprise. Spectacles from Zoff also priced at 5000 Yen.

JINS Shibuya
Address: Japan, 〒150-0042 東京都渋谷区Udagawachō, 31, 宇田川町31番1号
Opening hours: 11AM-9PM
Nearest station: Shibuya

Enough about Japan's amazing spectacles technology, we hopped over to another establishment Japan & Tokyo are known for - Ramen. Thanks to google maps, we were able to identify that there is an Ichiran just a stone's throw away from JINS. (Map details below)



Most of the Ichiran stores in Tokyo are underground and upon entry, you'd first be greeted not by a staff, but by an ordering vending machine. We did a watch-learn-do and followed exactly what the locals before us did. In addition, order chits were also provided to choose for a thicker/thinner soup base, less or more onions or meat. Just check out the amazing space-tracking technology right here


Like any other blog out there, yes, our Ichiran ramen was served from a window and we sat in booths. I wouldn't call this a life-changing experience but it was rather authentic in displaying 1. individualistic culture amongst modern Japanese with the presence of individual booths and 2. the fuss-free dining experience suited for the working class or students to have a quick meal. These characteristics were further enhanced in the remaining days when we dined at the Japanese fast food chains (Matsuya, Yoshinoya).


I'm using the pictures I've taken to recall what I've done on the first day and there is a strange break in terms of the imagery journal - I must have fell asleep when we headed back for a break. Blame my red-eye flight for that haha.

Ichiran Ramen Spain-Saka slope Shibuya
Address: Japan, 〒150-0042 Tōkyō-to, Shibuya-ku, Udagawachō, １３−７ コヤスワン
Opening hours: 24 hours!
Nearest station: Shibuya


Our Airbnb was between the Main Street and the street filled with dozens of love hotels. Despite so, the streets are still relatively safe before 10pm. There was a good amount of convenient stores around (family mart, 7-11, etc) and we found this gem while we were searching around on google maps for our dinner place.



The shop had 98% locals and everyone was ordering in Japanese. I blamed myself for not following through with my Japanese lessons and I was illiterate in front of the words-only menu and we could only rely on the random sprinkles of Kanji words to assist our comprehension. Also, our knowledge of basic types of yummy sushi also came into handy.


Sushi was yummy and it was our first taste of the fresh sashimi in Japan. Screw the thoughts of raw fish soaked in radiation because these slices of goodness were extremely tasty and melts in your mouth. Cool experience that would change my food options in Singapore forever - I seldom crave for sub-standard Japanese cuisine now haha

Sushi Daidokaya
Address: Japan, 〒150-0043 Tōkyō-to, Shibuya-ku, Dōgenzaka, 2 Chome−2−15−1 ノア道玄坂
Opening hours: 11AM-11PM
Nearest station: Shibuya



We decided to walk off the dinner calories by visiting the one-stop shop for souvenirs - Don Quixote. Have watched so many youtube videos about the wonder of this store and I was exhilarated that the Shibuya outlet was a MEGA one - 6 levels of wacky cool shit. Our buys for the day was small as we didn't want to carry all these shit to Hakone haha

Mega Don Quijote
Location: 28-6 Udagawachō, Shibuya-ku, Tōkyō-to 150-0042, Japan
Opening hours: 24 hours
Nearest station: Shibuya (Shibuya 109 exit)

And just like that, Day 1 in Tokyo ended and now I'm getting an idea of why this Tokyo trip felt so long - we did so much in a day?!?! and we were only getting started on this 8-day vacation in Tokyo...

Finally at the last part of the 5 part series! Recalling the trip and reminiscing the hits and misses through the images we captured was an interesting activity that allowed me to rethink our experiences from an alternate point-of-view. My greatest regret was not taking enough (clear) footages to truly capture the essence of the places I've visited.

13. Nature, picturesque at every corner
Europe, or at least the cities I visited, were the epitome of picturesque. Every snap, every street looked like it came straight out of a piece of art - unique and full of character.











14. Tourist passes
Having such amazingly photogenic monuments would no doubt draw many tourists to this part of the world - the European tourism boards saw through this and launched a series of tourist-friendly passes that enables ticketing discounts at key landmarks and more often than not comes with a map of the city as well. For lazy tourists touring in the entire continent in a short period of time, these are the perfect tools to ensure you touch base with each city's offerings. For us? We were interested in the discounts for entries more than anything else.





15. Unforgettable? The goods and bads - Airbnb
The good and the bad of Europe - we saw it all

14 words to remember Europe for it's good and 1 word to recall the bad experiences we've had.
All these happened when we were in Paris. JJ has booked the accommodation thinking we've had a good buy since the price was affordable considering it's relatively centralised location. We made our way to the place and exiting the train station, we had a sense that we were in the area of French where most African-French resided in. We had no issues with that but we should have sensed something when the Airbnb address directed to an old cafe with broken furnitures in it.

(I'd insert the pictures as soon as I search around for them)

First contact
JJ first contacted the Airbnb owner who listed this property as she listed the property as a "boutique hotel" and I absolutely have no agenda for stating this but the property was a dilapidated shophouse - no more than that. We were directed by her "Receptionist" - 2 guys - to our room in the basement. As the staircase leading to the basement was too narrow for us to roll the giant luggage down, we proposed to leave the luggage on the ground level. Worst decision of our lives.

The room
When we entered, the place was extremely cold so we immediately turned on the heater. We soon realised that the basement was sheltered by glass and people walking by the streets could actually peer into the room. Feeling like my privacy was being intruded, I was quite apprehensive with staying here, especially with two guys as the receptionist in the first storey. We brushed that off since we assumed they would leave at night time.

As soon as we returned after our day exploring around Paris, we soon realised the receptionists were here to stay as they were cooking mini pots of soup on the ground level. We flashed a nervous smile entering and I nudged JJ that we had to change our accommodations. We browsed through Airbnb for the cancellation policy and we somehow ended up on a feedback page. We raised our concern of privacy and before we know, Airbnb cancelled our booking immediately and provided a full refund. We were shocked at these as it was way too late to leave for another property to stay right now. Hence, we wrote to the owner that we would definitely pay her separately on the one night we stayed at, packed up, and prepared to leave early tomorrow morning.

The shocker
The next morning, we shifted all our luggages upstairs to prepare to leave and we were shocked to see, our large luggage, is gone. Apparently, the owner was extremely pissed to know that we have cancelled on her and continued to stay at her property - even though we agreed to repay her the amount for the first night, she was asking for the full repayment before she would agree to return the luggage. We spent about 2 hours of our precious time, arguing with her, her receptionist and Airbnb - all the time in French. Jj only learnt French while he was there and he had extreme difficulty trying to explain the situation to them in French and to explain our stand as well. Things turn bad and I felt we could not waste our time and money (we had rebooked Disneyland tickets the day before for entry today) so we went ahead to check into another hotel down the street and left for Disneyland.

The whole time, the owner was setting up a context that we were cheating her money and that no luggage was stolen the whole time. We were extremely pissed with the situation as we had explained that we would pay her, but she would not return the luggage. In addition, it didn't help that Airbnb was not able to render any assistance and was trying to calm both parties down. Airbnb could have done more and they should have realised that the luggage was what kept both parties in the play. Otherwise, why the hell would we be fighting to pay the owner when the owner had nothing on us?


JJ speaking to the Airbnb peeps - who were getting on our nerves for being so unhelpful

This incident made me lose faith in Airbnb and French a little as I felt that the whole situation was so appalling and at so many situations, if we had a mediator - either Airbnb or the police - the circumstances could have been reversed and both parties would have been appeased. Both Airbnb and the police did not live up to my expectations and at times like this, I lament my lack of popularity (to hustle a crowd or response from mass media almost immediately) and my poor command of linguistics (not able to communicate well with the Police or with the receptionist/owner). This whole incident was a downer to the trip but it also made me treasure the present and made me a cautious user of Airbnb - Yes, I still use Airbnb as a platform but having been through this, I've realised that things can be better solved between people, outside of the platform.

Hopefully, this would be a good cautionary tip for people interested to book Airbnb in new places.

Tada, the end of my Europe trip recollection! coming in 9 months later but everything still seems so vivid! Ending the memories with a cautionary tip that would hopefully help Airbnb fans.

By the time we arrived in Munich, we were more than half way through our trip and I remember still feeling butterflies about the new places I was heading too but also experiencing much frustrations because of the language barriers - not that the locals did not understand what we were saying/asking, but more of the fact that I couldn't fully apprehend what everyone else were saying to their friends or family LOL is this what they meant when a person has a need for information. oh wells, let's begin.

10. Fun & more fun

From the various visits to Heineken, Bayern Munich's stadium, Amsterdam Zoo and finally the much awaited Paris Disneyland, the trip was filled with lotsa fun and laughter as we tried every facility like how a typical tourist would.









11. Witbier

I don't particularly fancy beer before heading to Europe since beer had a rather bitter aftertaste that doesn't gel well with my millennial tastebuds that can't take hardship lol. Hence, when I discovered witbier, although many say witbier has much more calories, the aftertaste of wheat is so fragrant I felt like I found a new love.






12. Sports
Europe is undeniably the home to one of the most viewed sports in the world - Soccer. Since we travelled during winter, there were no games scheduled (or players would freeze to death). Nevertheless, we (or just JJ persuading me to do so) still made it a point to visit one of the stadiums in Munich to do a stadium walking tour.