Big Snow Fantasy at Terminal 3

We were both on leave yesterday and decided to bring the kids out to Changi Airport T3 for the bouncing castle again. We have gone there once 2 weeks back and both Ethan and Caden enjoyed it thoroughly.

The kids (Caden, Samuel, Kimi and Ethan) were all very excited with the trip, it was planned to be indoors due to the recent rainy weather condition (although Mummy actually voted to go beach instead). It was quite a wait for them as we reached too early (we only knew that the event starts at 12noon daily) but I told Sam and Caden to start queuing up first so that they will be guaranteed a slot into the castle..

First in queue

Ethan was not able to keep still thorough the wait

The big snow fantasy will end on the 4th Jan

Registering themselves and listening to the briefing conducted by the T3 staff

The kids waited for almost 30minutes before they were given the entry passes into the bouncing castle. They enjoyed it so much that they were panting with exhaustion after their 15mins of play is up. Besides this bouncing castle, the kids had also done the coloring on the wooden blocks which displayed the singapore heritage culture. When we returned home in that afternoon, all 3 young ones were completely knock-out and had a good nap.

bouncing happily as they slide

The Fantastic Four

These 4 boys have learnt to like each other company's as their parents gather fairly often at each other's house for their MJ during weekends.

Posing for pictures when having their afternoon cereal and raisins snacks

Stroll in Orchard

We did an early stroll around orchard to bring the kids to see the deco. It's Ethan first trip for xmas lightings so his eyes were really bz the whole evening..

The Christmas Tree is up

Caden requested PaPA to put up the Xmas tree at home when he saw our neighbours opposite having one with the festive lightings. So this weekend, the kids got themselves so busy in helping their PaPa on this mission

Tokyo Trip - Day 7 : 1st Dec

Despite spending 6 days in tokyo, we still think that there were still so many other places that we ought to cover but did not have the chance to do so, e.g Gotemba outlet, Ginza, Akihabara, etc. So probably I would want to come back here again soon!

We spent our last night in the hotel room busy packing our luggages and only went to bed after 12 midnight, so on day 7 we were really exhausted and down with energy. I suggested to go to Tokyu Hands for a stoll in the morning (which is a 8 storey mega store next to Taka) and was taking it really easy in the morning, so we had took some time to browse through the household stuff and love them...

Then we explore around Marui City Shinjuku and near Isetan area, before we hit for lunch. In the last 2 days we had tried their Mcdonalds, Lotteria, Wendy's and all serve very good burgers. Because we have a 230pm bus to catch to the airport, and Caden suddenly asked to do his big business, PaPa brought him back to hotel first to clear his business and claim our check-out baggages. I went on to a last min look at Franc Franc, near taka, which is similar to Loft and was stuck with their photoframes and cushion covers.. but had to go without getting anything cos time was running out for me as well.

At the Airport Lumousine bus station, waiting for our bus to come

the bus journey to the airport was so comfortable that both PaPa and Caden fell asleep on the way

We did some last min shopping in the airport for food stuff for my mil and headed towards the departure hall. And I was so disappointed to know that the Samantha Thavasa bag which I bought in Shibuya was being sold in the duty free shop and costs S$50 cheaper!! although the same design was carried there, I can only console myself that probably the color which I got is not available in the airport.

T2 Tokyo airport where we will be taking the JAL.

My skin got very dry throughout the trip due to cold weather and we cannot wait to see Ethan back in SG, so 7 days away is just nice for us! Caden was also very excited to show his DiDi his toy loot from JApan.

By the time we reached home in SG was near 1 am.. it was so tiring..

Tokyo Trip - Day 6 : 30th Nov

We planned our trip to Harajuku from Shinjuku on day 6, & finally, we can wake up abt 8am and take our breakfast first before leaving for Harajuku as shops only open starting from 10am. We took the JR Yamanote line which costs us abt 130 yen per pax and children under 6 is free. It was our first attempt on JR line and was quite impressed with it's organised system (ie, they have clear directions on which path will lead you to the right lines).

As it was quite late on Monday morning, the train was not as packed and we have sufficient breathing space when we took the train. The wonderful thing abt Japan's JR train is that you can't use the handphone on the train and it is very quiet to read a book and catch a nap.

In Harajuku train station

Outside the train station, looks very authentic..

We didn't get to see young Japanese dressing up Gothic, Lolita or Punk along Harajuku, probably because it's a Monday and everyone has gone to school. It was quite quiet (maybe it was still considered early) and we moved on to Kiddyland (mega toys store) which should be able to keep Caden very occupied there. But in the end, it was me who was stuck in the store with all the Sanrio stuff on level 2. We bag home abt S$100 in souvenirs and stuff for myself or the kids..

We had to move on to Shibuya (which is one-stop away from Harajuku) after lunch. I found this Loft store which is located near Shibuya's Parco deptal store and loved their stuff there.. it's a lifestyle shop which carries alot of Japanese made household stuff and even nice cushion covers. It seems quite difficult to navigate around Shibuya as the buildings are not easily identifiable and it took me some time to locate OiOi dept store (Marui store) where I intend to get the Samantha Thavasa bag which I saw in Shinjuku the day before. Since this place offers tax refund, it makes more sense for me to get here, and also gave me a day to think abt if I shd get that bag.. I also got my ah lou a Nike waist pouch as a surprise for babysitting Caden throughout these 2 days..

We gave up on shopping in Shibuya and decided to have our dinner back in Shinjuku. So we took a train back and have our Udon meal (ah lou suddenly craved for udon) back in My lord building (between Lumine 1 and 2). By the time we finished our dinner (near 8pm), our legs were really tired and we decided to call it a day and return back to our cosy hotel room..

Here's the sky terrace which links up Takashimaya, Odakyu, Lumine, My lord and other dept stores and JR station in Shinjuku. Very convenient as you save alot of time passing through the buildings to get you around these more popular shops.

Xmas lightings started in Shinjuku.. this is near the Takashimaya

Tokyo Trip - Day 5 : 29th Nov

Today our group will prepare for their departure from Tokyo back to SG in the evening and it's time we deviate our journey to be on our own for the next 2 days. We bid goodbye to our tourguide at 830am as she had arranged bus transport from Narita Excel hotel back to Tokyo Terminal 2 airport so that we can catch the airport limousine bus back to Shinjuku. The bus ride to the Airport only took us abt 15mins and we managed to buy the 920am limousine bus to Shinjuku which means we will reach Central Tokyo before noon time (the ride was abt 85mins).

At the Airport Limousine bus counter, while waiting for our timing of the bus ..

It was fairly simple to purchase a ticket at the airport and get yourself back into Shinjuku as Japanese usually have a fairly organised system. They will tag your luggages using numeric sequence stickers and you will be given the same numeric coupons which you will need to use them to claim back your baggage upon arrival of the destination. There is an attached lavatory within the limousine bus so it helps for Caden who usually cannot hold his bladder. When we reached Shinjuku station, it took us only abt 8mins walk to our hotel at Sunroute Plaza and we were impressed with the lobby deco upon arrival. Since we cannot do check-in as yet, we left our luggages and start my shopping journey..

My ah lou insisted to check out the booth where they sell the airport limousine bus tickets first and we spent a fair bit of time navigating around to search for the ticket booth. It's actually opposite the place where we alighted in the morning and just outside this Keio departmental store (beside Lumine 1).

This is the exact location in shinjuku station

When we settled the tickets back to airport scheduled on the 1st Dec, it was near lunch time and Caden saw McDonalds and requested to have his lunch taken there..

I first tried their Ebi (shrimp) burger and really loved it.. Caden finished up his cheese hamburger and my ah lou's teriyaki chicken was not bad either. The Mcdonald's meal costs us abt $10 per set so it was not too cheap to eat fast food in Tokyo either.

We had planned our day 1 trip around Shinjuku area only and set aside tomorrow for Harajuku and Shibuya since travelling by their JR line is required. So that means my trip to Gotemba premium outlet was cancelled as my ah lou was quite sick and tired of travelling via bus from the last few days and he reminded me that we cannot cover Shibuya if we had gone ahead with Gotemba trip (bus ride will be abt 90mins per round if there is no traffic jam).

I didn't buy any stuff from the big departmental stores (takashimaya, etc) as the dresses there costs at least 10000 yen onwards (which means >SGD160) and their cardigans start from 7900 yen onwards (abt >S$100). Their work jackets were pretty but I cannot bring myself to spend >S$200 on a piece. To think back now, maybe I should have gotten one at Lumine 2 since their cutting were made for the Jap ladies who are typically small built (like me) and will hang proportionately well for my height.

Caden bought himself a Mask Rider belt

Tokyo Trip - Day 4 : 28th Nov

It's Day 4 and we were still on the 6-7-8 am schedule. The thing abt checking out hotel each day is managable for us as we have organised our stuff into respective sections and had planned the night before the attire for the next day. Today is the day trip around Central Tokyo where we would cover a few tourist spots in the city.

We were dropped off in a garden near the Imperial Palace. For some reason, the track that leads towards Imperial Palace was sealed on that day and we could only take some pictures outside..

This is the Nijubashi Bridge in front of the main entrance of Imperial Palace


We relied alot on these vending machines to get us hydrated during the day.. the ones carried by both of us (which is a bottle each) only lasted us for abt half a day). The cold weather made us dehydrated faster and I actually developed into rashes during the trip.



Next, we reached the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building where you will get a bird's eye view on the 45th floor. Caden wasn't too interested in the scenery and kept himself very occupied with the goods sold in the 2 store set up on that level. I was stuck on the Astro boy's merchandise and comtemplating if I should be getting another bag since I already got myself one at Disney store 2 days back.



Jude then dropped us at Isetan in Shinjuku and we were busy figuring out where our hotel would be in the next 2 days (Sunroute Plaza). In Isetan, they have a food corner on basement 1 where you can buy their bento sets or al la carte japanese snacks and bring up to the rooftop garden to take your lunch.. It was a Sat when we were in Central Tokyo so we saw a fair no of families doing their picnics at the rooftop garden.




In Asakusa, where ginko trees were spotted with autumn leaves.. refreshing air and beautiful scenery with shrines and some Japanese ladies wearing their kimonos. We were given time to tour around Sensoji Temple area.

Caden holding on to a toy Ninja sword which we bought for Ethan.

At Nakamise Shopping lane, there were many stores selling traditional Japanese souvenirs and we simply love this burger ice-cream which costs abt 300 yen per piece and it is really nice to eat the ice-cream in cold weather! It's a hit amongst all the children there.

At Palette town - a few interesting shops to browse their fashion goods in Odaiba. Caden had a fun time playing in their arcade and even managed to input his name in the tennis machine where his score brought him to the 1st on their list (which I think it's damn kelong)

At night, we had the Japanese BBQ dinner near our Narita Hotel and this is the last night we were together with our tour group. I had lotsa of scallops and my ah lou ate alot of beef again..

Tokyo Trip - Day 3 : 27th Nov

We started day 3 at 6am as usual and packed all our stuff to prepare for check-out and move on to a next hotel in Central Tokyo tonight. Since we are staying at Ryokan, we have been served with traditional Japanese breakfast with rice and miso soup and Caden seemed to enjoyed it alot..

View from our room

Leaving our Ryokan onsen at Lake Kawaguchi

Ah Jude (our tour guide) took us to Oshino Hakkai Village for a shot from the foot of Mt Fuji and we had our first Japanese coffee in this cold cold morning (cost us 450 yen for a tiny cup!). We could have gotten the Japanese Mt Fuji souvenirs here cos it was more costly up on the hill at 5th station. The titbits sold were fairly reasonable as well - 3 packets for 1000 yen (SGD 16 equiv).

Clear Mt Fuji view (behind us)..

Our bus went on to drive us up to the 5th station of Mt Fuji and the wind there was very very strong on that day. We had to climatise ourselves in order to withstand the cold weather (Jude said it's abt 3 deg) and strong wind. I was almost blown off in a few occasions and yes, literally, really blown off to the other side of the road as I walked. Caden didn't want to remain out on the track to enjoy the Mt Fuji scenery and kept asking to be hiding from the wind inside the souvenirs shops. Jude told us that we were very fortunate to see Mt Fuji so clearly on that day as she had led groups that did not have the chance to see Mt Fuji at the 5th station (so considered a wasted trip up).

We were here on the 27th Nov!

I braved the cold wind to take this morning shot of Mt Fuji at the 5th station

Ah Jude arranged another Japanese lunch for us and it was fantastic. We were served Udon set and Caden had his kiddy fried rice meal. Japanese meals are always very nicely arranged so it was very appetising to begin with.

Next we proceed on to Peace Garden at Gotemba (it was so near to my Gotemba premium outlet!). There we saw the ginko trees with Autumn leaves and up at the temple, you get to see another view of Mt Fuji. Caden had a good time helping his Mummy and PaPa to take pictures and playing with his Buzz Lightyear sword which he got at Disneyland.

This pose is directed by Caden

We then rushed on to Hakone where sulphurous fumes rise from crevices in the rocks, which is known as Owakudani Boiling Valley. It was a tiring walking up the hill to see how the sulphurous eggs are being cooked which are believed to lengthen your life by 7 years if you eat one. As Caden is prone to cough, we didnt venture up and to be honest, both of us are really tired after the full day of walking. We spent a fair bit of time in the souvenir shops hiding from the cold weather.

This is the track up to the top..

many tourists come here for the eggs which is believed to lengthen 7 years of your life if you eat one

with my fav Sanrio character

Next, we moved on to Yokohama train station to experience the bullet train to travel to Central Tokyo. It wasn't as fast as I had imagined it to be, probably it's known as bullet train as it took a short amt of time to travel from one city to another, as compared to our coach bus on the run. the speed of the bullet train can be comparable to our underground mrt train so Caden kept asking me why is it so slow as well..

how it looks like inside the train - very comfortable with toilets attached

We had shabu shabu for dinner and my ah lou ate 3 plates of beef while it was a torture for me since I am not a fan of beef or pork.. We were given free time to shop around at Ikebukuro but again we didn't shop for too long as we were really dead tired after all the walking in the parks and sulphur mountain in the day. We missed Ethan alot and called home on the same night but mum said that he was playing happily at home and when asked where's PaPa and Mummy, he will say,"sit aeroplane, go japan" :)