The Land of the Rising Sun - Part I

April 4th, 2013
Its the day me, Bard, Ivy and Wa make our journey into the land of the rising sun. Bought Airasia flight ticket back in Sept 2012 for a price of RM660 (one way KUL to HND), cheapest we manage to scout since it was during cherry blossom season.

It was a pleasant flight, beside for me being the last person on the flight to received my meals. Reached Haneda Airport 30 minutes earlier than ETA. The flight attendant keep reminding us to keep walking towards immigration as it will get busy soon. Right after our vessel landed, the were two other giant flight landed as well, Singapore Airlines and China Airlines. Within minutes, the immigration cue grew long all the way to the toilet (if you've been there u'll know what i mean). By the time all of us pass through the immigration, it was almost midnight! 
With our sense of direction still shocked, we simply bought the express train ticket towards asakusa and hop on the first train that arrived in which later end up somewhere else in Tokyo. Apparently, we board the intercity train service. Manage to talk our way with the train staff and the next station we ended was Ueno. It was almost 1am and we had to took a taxi from Ueno to Khaosan Tokyo Hostel which cost about JPY1,600 per cab.
The adventure drama doesnt end here. Since arriving in Tokyo, I had tried calling the hostel to let them know that we will be definitely late (the hostel has a policy - registration counter closed at 1am). No luck in trying to contact them. We were lock outside in the cold for awhile, when we met a guy whom happen to be the staff there. He is cute mat salleh and yet he speak fluent Japanese *pengsan!*
Finally all of us get into our room, freshen up and sleep well after the long flight and drama.

April 5th, 2013 - Day 1
Our hostel does not provide breakfast, so we decided to look for nearby 7e. The weather that morning was awesome! Bought a few JPY100 onigiri filled with Salmon, tuna and egg from 7e. Onigiri packaging is an art! There are step to follow in order to remove its packaging before you can eat.

First stop is the Sensoji temple, about 10minutes walking from the hostel and 1 minute from the 7e. Along the pathway, there are plenty of souvenir shops selling pretty much everything. The temple has a beautiful garden with river flowing through it. A few of famous person are buried there as well with huge headstone. 

From here we decided to head towards Tokyo Skytree by walking, when only then we discover there is a free panda shuttle with tourist places of interest around Asakusa itself. Phew!! Interesting little minivan, decorated entirely with panda theme. Soon we arrived at Tokyo Skytree. Did not manage to get to the observation deck due to the long que going up, instead we start hunting for lunch. Bought ourselves a little bento and decided to have our little hanami outside under the perfect sun. After filling our tummy with delicious food, we walked back to hostel (about 20minutes walk), rest for awhile before heading out again in the evening. 

Asakusa metro station is located at the end of the Ginza line. It was end to end 30 minutes ride towards Shibuya Metro station. The most famous crossing road, with few hundreds people crossing the road at one given time. Walked around with no specific direction. We sat down by the road and were amazed with Tokyo cultured, working in the day and socialising till late night (or perhaps it was Friday night). Later we head back to our hostel, and it was a long ride back.

Only my mobile phone are able to make calls. All of my friends new smart phone does not have network, due to their hardware difference (new sim cards). We were wifi suckers since the day we arrived here. (Roaming is bloody expensive! Besides their sim card were unrecognised) Hehehe~~~

Day 1 spent
MYR660 : KUL - HND Airasia promo tix
JPY600 : Haneda Airport to Euno train station
JPY1600/cab : Euno train station towards hostel 
JPY230 : one way metro ticket Asakusa - Shibuya
JPY600 : whole day meal
JPY2300 : 1 night accomodation in Khaosan Smile Tokyo

Part II - http://goo.gl/0lBNt/
Part III - http://goo.gl/tw1YA