by the grace of God

Shibuya, Harajuku

Shibuya, Harajuku and Omotesando Hills are so close to each other you can walk from one to another. I didn't go to the pain slope (Supein zaka), love hotel hills nor see the famous Hachiko dog statue. I couldn't even see Hachiko dog statue although I was near it.
Half a day is all you need actually to go around Shibuya, Harajuku (meiji jingu and yoyogi park). Just visit those places above, took photo and go. Unless you are trapped in Shibuya 109 (like me) which sells clothes and accessories. There is 109men too.

Shibuya Station

109mens

The Crossing and 109 building in background

On the way from Shibuya to Harajuku

Another homeless

I actually took a peek inside

"safety can be fun"

Display in front of a shop, i think it was Zara?

We know we have arrived at Omotesando hills because of the expensive brand

TGI Fridays if you miss American style food

Almost ¥1000 for a meal

Lifehouse church street band on the intersection in Harajuku - They play every Monday and Thursday night

Banana that cost ¥157, which is even more expensive than a banana in Sydney when we have banana crisis

Hakone - Mount Fuji

Stayed in a hotel in Hakone for 1 night and went to see Mount Fuji the next day. My friend told me we were very lucky to be able to view Mount Fuji and the weather was unbelievable. It was sunny, clear blue sky, the wind was fresh and not too cold. Mount Fuji which is known as a shy mountain, showed herself. Complete with a little bit of snow at the tip of it, just like in painting. It does look like a painting, God's painting. Let's see if I can see Mount Fuji once again if I have opportunity to revisit Japan.

Odawara Station is your first stop to Hakone

There are couple of ways to travel to Hakone tourist areas, take train to Odawara Station (from Yokohama Station by JR Shinkansen is only under 30 minutes), which is like the gate to Hakone areas. From here, you either continue with Hakone train (have to buy special Hakone pass for one or two days) then cable car, ropeway car, bus to take around the trip to Lake Ashi, romance train (I think you can ride it from Shinjuku, but it is quite expensive) or rent a car from Odawara.

My friend drove us to the hotel, Lake Ashi, then a stop where I can't remember the name, which allows us to see Mt Fuji closer then to an aquarium and Shizouka area (Looks like a quiet town, went there on Sunday, where I still can see rice paddy.

Tea ceremony

Tatami room -inside the empty open house where the tea ceremony was hold

To be honest, I don't understand the meaning of tea ceremony. It was my first and I didn't ask or get explained the meaning of it. While we are waiting, sitting on tatami floor with our feet tucked in Japanese style, a lady in kimono brought us the tea which she made inside the kitchen, some show you how to do the tea, but this one didn't so I was disappointed. She also brought us a sweet because the green tea is bitter. Then that's it...we just drank tea and ate the sweet. It costs ¥500.

The two photos of Mount Fuji (taken from Lake Ashi) was taken by my phone because my camera's battery went flat.
I just found out that buying Hakone Pass (one day is ¥3900) entitled you to take the big pirate boat (or the other one, there are several, some are covered by the pass, some aren't). Cost0-wise, it is good as it covers the transports you need to go around to see Mount Fuji (not to the famous 5th station which is where people usually start when they want to climb the mountain).

A day is enough, but it is recommended you stay a night where you can possibly see try to catch the Mountain in sunset and sunrise.

Tokyo - Shinjuku

Arrived in Tokyo Narita Airport early around 7 AM. My first 'adult' solo travel experience. Mind you that although I did self research the places to go, but it was a shallow information as it turns out that there are many things that I overlooked and just found out first hand in Japan.

The 'older' style toilet

First stop when I touched down at the airport was the toilet. Nature calls, as simple as that. And so I meet the infamous high tech toilet. I got a feeling the version I saw is the older version, I think I've seen it possibly on the net before. Still...Japan can make a toilet that can serenade you and makes you want to stay and spray for a whole day.

The bus sign to central Tokyo

I took the airport limousine bus (just a normal bus) for ¥3000 one way. Little did I know, that you can actually catch an express train called LTD. EXP Narita Express to Tokyo station (or whatever station you like) for only ¥1280 (1 hour journey). Great job for doing your homework (Sarcasm mode). Hyperdia website is good for timetable.
From the bus to Tokyo (Narita Airport is at Chiba), I can see one of the Disney Resort Hotels, and just cars after cars as we went through high way. Even to the most common thing on the street I would shot a look just to savor Japan.

Intersection near Tokyo Station

45 minutes to 1 hour later ( can't remember), we arrived at Tokyo. The stop is Tokyo Station. I got there, saw many people and all Asians (compare to where I was in Sydney), and the big station was surprisingly, old and the ceiling is low.
As it was still early and I am staying at friend's house who's still working (I will stay in another town, about 45 minutes -1 hour from Tokyo by train), I have to rent a locker (the biggest locker that can fit my big luggage cost ¥600 for whole day, it's a bargain). There are different sizes of locker. A tip, once you put in the money, don't open it unless you are sure you won't use the locker again. Otherwise, be prepared to put it another coins.

So according to my imperfect itinerary, I was supposed to go to Shinjuku today. Shinjuku is close from Tokyo, only a few stops by Yamanote Line. One thing I found was that there is no English on the ticket machine, and the young train staff I approached couldn't speak English at all, and I have stopped immersing myself in Japanese since early 2010 that by May 2011, all my japanese flied through the window. Somehow I managed to get a ticket. As as I found out later, the transportation fees are at skyrocket price. They are more expensive than Sydney! If you stay long in Japan, it's better to get pasmo or suica card which allows you to just swipe your card, and if you don't have enough credit when you arrive at a destination, you just pay on spot.

What's in Shinjuku? Not much, just your normal big city for shopping, business, eating, meeting your gay friends (my homework leads me that they have this gay areas in Shinjuku and I just have to take a peek) and hang out in one of the red districts. As I later found out, the clothes are expensive, lots of cool and cute ones, but as expensive as Sydney. For lunch, I went straight to Yoshinoya, a cheap fast food chains where you can get a bowl of beef and rice for under ¥500. If you are a big eater, don't go near it. I went for it as 'YOSHINOYA' was the first Alphabets I laid my eyes on.