Good times in Tokyo (23 Sep - 3 Oct 06)

Finally.. a moment to rest and recover after a crazy one month plus of running around for work.... was so tired after the IMF event that I managed to sleep all the way on the flight from Singapore to Tokyo.... I have been looking so forward to this trip to Japan to visit my friends, Constance, Cindy, Jeremy, David and his wife, Phoebe...... well, anyway, it was unfortunate that Jeremy was not in Japan during my time there as he was away back in Singapore attending to a personal matter..... (really missed you, Germ... hope all is better for you....)

Anyway, I was really thankful for David and Phoebe for allowing to stay with them on such short notice... and was extremely hospitable to me while I was there..... It was also a good opportunity for me to get to spend more quality time with David and Phoebe.... I had known David from our time in HQ, but never had the opportunity to get to know him better as we were always busy running around in our respective desks.... well, I would like to thank God for allowing me this time to get to know David and Phoebe better and have fellowship with them..... It was really inspiring to hear them talk about their relationship with God......

23 Sep 06 - Day 1 in Tokyo

Well, just to keep you clued... I arrived on 23 Sep 06 in Narita Airport and took a Airport Limo Bus (3,000 yen per person for a one-way ticket).... met Con-chan at the Tokyo Excel Hotel at Shibuya.... was really happy to see her again as we had not seen each other since Dec 05 ( i think...) when she came back from Japan to Singapore for a short holiday....

my journey on the bus from the airport to Tokyo...

Con-chan enjoying herself during dinner at Akihabara...

24 Sep 06 - Day 2 in Tokyo

woke up today and followed David and Phoebe to church... it was a good service and I met some interesting people who were actively working in different Ministries.... was really inspiring to hear the enthusiasm in their voices when they spoke about their experiences...... Following the service, we went for lunch at a restaurant near the church... here are some pics taken during lunch...

my lunch.... terayaki chicken and rice with yam paste.. very delicious....


the happy couple, David and Phoebe


David and Phoebe tucking in during lunch...


After lunch, David and Phoebe dropped me off at Shinjuku to do some sightseeing and shopping.... it was really interesting, and it reminded me so much of New York.... which I had visited in May 2001.... here are some of my shots taken at Shinjuku.... so colourful...

Following some shopping and chilling in the streets in Shinjuku, David and Phoebe picked me up again and David then took me to a restaurant to eat Nabe... which is like a Japanese hotpot... which was really good.... Japan is really full of good food.....

25 Sep 06 - Day 3 in Tokyo

Phoebe and Constance brought to the the Tsukiji Fish Market today to experience sashimi and sushi at its freshest... this fish market is apparently the largest in Japan.. and there is great variety of delicacies to taste.... here are some pics of our time at the fish market...

The Tsukiji Fish Market


spikey looking crabs...


Con-chan trying to find the restaurant to bring us to have lunch....


Constance and Phoebe


my lunch....


gorging away...


after lunch, we headed off to Ginza.... and stopped by a tea shop for green tea and green tea ice cream....

Such presentation just for tea and ice-cream.....


outside the kabuki theatre at Ginza..


Ginza


concept car by Nissan at its showroom...


was at the Sony Gallery @ Ginza... the new Sony PS3.. due out in Nov 06..
but latest info... delayed till next year.


ended up back at David and Phoebe's place... here's a pic of me and Con-chan....


David and Phoebe having a blast during their karaoke session...

26 Sep 06 - Day 4 in Tokyo and Niigata

Today, I made my own way to Niigata to visit my friend Cindy who was working as an Assistant Language Teacher under the JET programme... Cindy has been there for over a year, and it was good to visit her to see how she has been... before I made the journey to Niigata, I spent the morning at the Imperial Palace's East Garden... and took a few shots....

100-man guardhouse


old and new tokyo....

following the calming visit to the East Gardens, I proceeded to make my away to Tokyo Station to catch my ride, the Shinkansen (aka bullet train) to Niigata to visit my friend Cindy...


here is a pic of my train ticket

one of the bullet trains pulling into the station..

my train was leaving at 15:32 hours.. and i mean 15:32hours.. the train left exactly at that time.... what was even more amazing was that the train arrived in Niigata at the exact time it was stated to arrive..... cool.....

my ticket after it was used...
unfortunately, I could not keep the ticket as it was kept when I exited the station at Cindy's town, Urasa....


self-taken pic...

Cindy picked me up at the station, and we headed for dinner....
headed to a japanese pancake restaurant...


cindy with her dinner...

me attempting to cook my own dinner...

my dinner....

After dinner, I followed Cindy to meet some of her friends... and spent the evening with them... met this interesting grandmother, Yukiko, who invited both of us to her place to have drinks...

here is my name in Japanese.... cool....

Yukiko and I

Us three having a good time...

27 Sep 06 - Day 5 in Urasa, Niigata

Woke up today and spent a bit of time travelling around Cindy's town.... it was a nice little quiet town.. very different from the hustle and bustle in Tokyo....

Peace and quiet.....

Ivan @ Shrine in Urasa

I really liked this building in the shrine...

lunch!! only for 1,300 yen... approx S$18...

I headed off to Cindy's school to see her in action... and see her students acting out tv commercials in English... was really fun and hilarious commercials that the students put up...


the view from Cindy's school..

the winning team... who presented on a product called an alien magnet...

Following class, we headed off to Cindy's hometown ice-cream parour called Yummy....
great ice-cream....

Cindy enjoying her ice-cream after a hard day's work..


my ice-cream... almond praline and tiramisu flavours... also had a second cone ...
could not resist... hehe...


cindy and i

following dinner that evening, Cindy brought me to a baseball batting range....
here batter, batter, batter.....

swing batter, batter swing!!!

we headed off for drinks and snacks at a Japanese bar after the batting session.... had the most amazing spring roll... it was damn juicy.. damn shiok... here is a pic of the spring roll....

Cindy enjoying her spring roll...

28 Sep 06 - Day 6 in Urasa

Spent the day accompanying Cindy to her visit school, and helping her in her classes... was interesting trying to hold a conversation with people who dont speak much English, and I with no knowledge of the Japanese language.... hehehe...

Cindy in action.... teaching away.... hehe...

Cindy with her students, and her Japanese colleague behind...

we headed off to a Soba restaurant after classes... wah.. really good soba leh.... i kept saying "Good Stuff!!!".... Cindy was so tickled by my constant comment....

Later that evening, we headed to a Japanese pub (western style) that was set up by two 25-year old Japanese guys.... One of them was called Takeshi... real cool dude....

cindy and I at the bar...

the pet shark in the bar.... cool....

29 Sep 06 - Day 7 in Urasa and Tokyo

today, we headed back to Tokyo.... but before I did that... took the opportunity to take a few shots of the view from Cindy's place...

view from the front of Cindy's place

view from the back of Cindy's place

we then rushed off for lunch following Cindy's morning class session, where I also had to help her in her class by telling her students about South Africa... very fun but nervous... hehe.... here is our lunch..

organic lunch....

cindy's car.... no lah... just kidding.... this car was abandoned at the bus station where we caught our bus to Tokyo.... the car was crushed by the weight of snow that falls in Niigata....

Cindy's real car... its a really cute car, called the Carol... the yellow plates mean that the car is less than 660cc in engine capacity...

on our way to Tokyo on the bus... the journey took approximately 3 hours.....

some pics of the view on the way to Tokyo

Finally made it Tokyo in the evening...
headed to Roppongi Hills for dinner with Phoebe and Cindy.......

Roppongi Hills

me with Tokyo Tower in the background...

Cindy and Phoebe posing for the camera

my shock at the amount of food we ordered....
look at the size of the pasta in the bowl on the right side of the picture....

a sculpture of a giant spider at Roppongi Hills...
no, I am not the spider.... its behind me...

30 Sep 06 - Day 8 in Tokyo

Cindy and I headed to Asakusa to visit the shrine there... and chill around the various parts of Tokyo... it was really a interesting visit, and I had a very enjoyable time there... here are some pics....

we dropped by Macdonalds for breakfast....


munching away on my Sausage Mcmuffin with Egg...


the shrine at Asakusa


both of us posing for a pic....


two Japanese girls in Kimonos at the shrine...


we headed for lunch, and ended up having Japanese curry rice....


we headed to Ueno, and passed by the Asahi Beer building,
and the building we called the "Sperm Building"..... tried to take shot of us in front of the building, but was unable to get a good shot of us with the buildings.... look at the Asahi Beer building... it really resembles a glass of beer with foam on top...


we then headed to meet Constance, as well as Phobe and David, for dinner that evening... the three of us met for some coffee first..
here are some pics of us old IO Directorate colleagues....

Constance and Cindy


Constance, Ivan and Cindy....IO Directorate (2003-2004)


quite a nice pic taken by Cindy.... hehe....


some of the spread for dinner that evening....


the bunch of us after dinner

Was really sad to say goodbye to Constance again... was not sure when we would be able to spend time again together.... God willing, it would be soon....

1 Oct 06 - Day 9 in Tokyo

We decided to take it easy today... and spent a relaxing morning in Roppongi Hills for breakfast, before heading to Harujuku and the Meiji Shrine.

Cindy with her Cesar Salad crepe breakfast


my salmon crepe..


Cindy and I posing with our crepes....


headed off to the nearby park at Roppongi Hills before heading to Harujuku.... here are some of the Cosplay kids at Harujuku....



We headed to the Meiji Shrine that was next to the Harujuku train station....
where there were several wedding ceremonies held....



there were these 3 kids all decked up in traditional Japanese outfits... very kawaii.....


we then headed to Harujuku to take a walk there....


packed streets at Harujuku...

it was drizzling, and we decided to head for cover by heading for lunch... ended up at a Japanese-styled Western restaurant...

Cindy with her lunch


my lunch....


anyway, we headed back to David and Phoebe's place for dinner..... err... forgot to take pictures of dinner.... but it was fabulous... David is a very lucky man.... Phoebe can cook very well!

2 Oct 06 - Day 10 in Tokyo

Cindy left back for Urasa this morning... while Phoebe and I spent the day with her friends.. visited a art exhibition showcasing the works of Salvador Dali... interesting but disturbing works.... no pics taken as it was prohibited.... anyway, here is a picture of the exhibition ticket...

headed to Shibuya again to meet Phoebe's friends...

3 Oct 06 - Day 11 in Tokyo and leaving Japan

Made my way to the airport today... was sad to leave this city... but am sure I will probably be back some day... till the next time then....

rainbow bridge

tokyo tower

parting shot of Tokyo

Its been a really good trip to Japan... it was really good to catch up with Cindy and Constance again... and also to spend more time to get to know David and Phoebe.... Hope to meet up with all of them again one day.....