Tokyo Itinerary Thus Far...

Tuesday 8 June - woke up 3 am to go to the airport by 4 am. YaaaaAAAWWWNNNN! Our flight from 545 am to 1 am on Delta Airlines.

We caught the train to the city, reached Shinjuku Station and although we were prepared to be lost in it (the busiest station in the world with nearly 4 million people using it daily!!) but... most surprisingly, we had no problems. Had problems finding our way to the hotel, though. Finally, after about 20 minutes of dragging luggage down the streets, we saw a police post and asked for directions. We had "over-shot" only slightly, and retraced our steps, found the right road and checked into our hotel.

In the evening, we went out to explore our surroundings, and promptly got lost in the dazzling bright lights of the small streets in West Shinjuku. Found dinner at a Japanese fast food place, and did plenty of shopping till we had parted with several thousand yen.

Wednesday 9 June - Out of our hotel by 9 am to make our way to another hotel, to meet the Vienna Boys Choir! We had to take two metro trains and being unfamiliar with the transfer, we were slow and were nearly late! Caught the Disney Resort bus in the Roppongi area which was fetching the Vienna Boys (all 24 of them) to the Disneyland Resort for a whole day of fun.

It was drizzling that morning. Not the best day to visit Disneyland. At the theme park, the boys were split into groups of four and the one which belonged to us (i.e. two of the four boys were ours and the other two their friends) became our responsibility that day. Our first stop: the Big Thunder Mountain ride.

It drizzled intermittently that day, till the late afternoon. That did not dampen our spirits nor the parades and fun that was going on. And despite it being 'low season' plus the wet weather, the park was C-R-O-W-D-E-D!! Incredible! Big Thunder Mountain ride had a long queue of 90 minutes, but we took the Fastpass and came back later without queuing. Another popular ride, Splash Mountain, also had a long queue of nearly two hours.

The evening ended with the dazzling electric lights parade of a million lights, and the fireworks. Then, we said bye-bye to the Vienna Boys and caught the train home to Shinjuku.

Thursday 10 June - the boys had another day at the resort to tour Disneysea, but we decided not to join them this time. Our feet... they were hurting from too much walking the previous day! And so, we had a leisurely morning, and then headed out to an onsen i.e. a Japanese hot springs spa for a few hours of relaxation, plus massage. However, a couple of folk in our group who were not used to the um... Japanese custom of relaxing in hot springs bath did not quite relax.

After the spa, we returned to the train station and on the spur of the moment, decided to take it to Shibuya instead of back to Shinjuku. The highlight of the day - spending two hours at the Burbury Blue Label section of the department store and picking out handbag, wallet, dresses and other pieces of clothing without even looking at the price tags. Another highlight, coming upon the Hachiko Exit unexpectedly and being reminded of the famous dog. We simply had to take pictures with it... with the statue, I mean, even though it was suddenly drizzling again.

Friday 11 June - Our two boys would be singing in the Vienna Boys choir that evening, but they had a free morning, and so their mummy wanted to visit them at their hotel. We spent the morning with them, packing up a very messy er... room, because they had stuff they wanted us to bring back to Singapore for them. Well, they had a lot of stuff!

I headed for Tokyo Tower which was within walking distance from their hotel, and had lunch there. Checked out the temple nearby, and then explored the area before heading back to Shinjuku for a rest.

to be continued... see Part Two