Japan Trip 2017 : Part 1 (Tokyo, Emblem Hotel)

9:58:00 PM

Hey guys!

Been missing from the blog for over a week, wonder if anyone missed me? I'm sure most of you who follows my IG would know where i went while i was missing.. I went for a trip to Bali with my fam for a week. It was super fun! And because i want to blog about that trip eventually, i decided to finally blog about my Japan trip >.<.

Although i wrote 2017 ini the title, the trip actually started at the last days of 2016 :p.

In case you get confused, we were wefie-ing with the Hachiko statue because it was super crowded >.<. Hunny and i took a pic with it already so we didn't bother taking another one. You can't even see Little O in this pic because he's too short *LOL*, but trust me-we took his pic with the statue later on, we're not such horrible parents :))). I just dunno where hunny stored the pic since he took it with his own phone

We went to Japan for the second time on the Dec 30th 2016 and stayed there for almost 2 weeks. I didn't blog about this trip earlier not just because i was lazy (although i admit, i was...) but mostly because there were so many things happening during the trip that i wasn't too happy about. Don't get me wrong, we had FUN, lots of it. In fact we had a lot more fun compared on the depressing things that happened, but i was just too traumatized with what happened at the end of the trip. Which was me losing my Iphone, which also means i lost my main phone every single time i go to Japan. It comes to a point in which i began to think that Japan and i just don't match. Maybe we're star crossed lovers or something >.<. Coz i lost Japan so much yet it seems to be repelling me WTF.

Isn't it just insane that i lost my phone twice in the safest country in the world? I mean, i've been scammed multiple times in Vietnam, i witnessed people getting pick pocketed in Italy, but i lost my phones in Japan. Technically, i didn't lose my Iphone IN Japan to be fair, it was stolen/lost during flight to Hong Kong. I receive a compensation from my travel insurance (with no delay or difficulties for once) and all (plus my phone was actually having some memories issues that i can't even keep datas in it anymore), but i am still scarred -____-. So whenever i think about this trip, i can't help but think about my stupid Iphone. For someone that has an unhealthy attachment to their stuffs, losing valuable things are especially hard to get over with you know.

Another thing is because my Iphone was still my main phone back then, i casually snapped pics of the most mundane things with my Iphone and now they're forever gone zzzz. Hunny actually activated my icloud, but somehow i still cannot access the photos. They're not much and they're very mundane, mostly of food we casually had... But those are the essence of my travel posts so i was really disheartened by it. FYI, i cried like a baby when i realized that my phone was not in my bag anymore because i was super shocked, like... How could this happen to me - AGAIN??? I'm sure i've been extra careful already! And the guilt. You know Iphones aren't cheap, i didn't actually buy mine, i got it as a "bonus" from a bank saving plan-but i still feel incredibly stupid and guilty. I am always very careful with my money, so this is like a huge slap to my face.

But i decided that there are still so many sweet memories that i need to preserve tho, and they're all slowly coming back to me as i was going through the photos while i was prepping them for this blog post. I want to end the whole thing in a sweet note, and that can only happen if i face it head on and actually talk about it, that's just how my brain works. Writing is the only teraphy i need, sometimes i just forget that.

Anyway, i also realized pretty fast that when i repeat a place, i lost interest quickly as well *LOL*. I will always love Japan i believe, but i actually was not super excited about Tokyo anymore. Or maybe because i was there twice in a year, i think i will take a break from Japan for a few years, i'm sure i'd be craving them like crazy again.

I hardly took any pics in Tokyo the first two days because we just went to places we already went, so... I mostly only took pics of Little O to commemorate his first time in Tokyo and 95% of the pics in this blog post is a lazy snap using my Oppo coz i couldn't even be bothered to whip out my camera.

We transited at Hong Kong for a few hours and we had a birthday lunch there (celebrating MT's 16th bday) , i also managed to do some shopping at Zara. The sale was unreal! I thought i shouldn't be shopping too much since we haven't even reached Japan T.T and we were going to stay overnight transit on the way back anyway so i planned to shop then, then i lost my phone and all my will too shop flew away. So sad.

This is the only pic i snapped in HK airport T.T

The bday lunch food, photo stolen from H's FB (H is a friend of my big bro KC and he joined our circus of a group for this trip)

We arrived in Haneda very late in the 30th of December, instead of traveling all the way to the city, we decided to stay in a hotel in Haneda (CL planned the itinerary of this whole trip, and she's brutal! She made the schedule totally jam-packed that we hardly had enough rest throughout the trip, which ended up in most of us getting viciously ill, including myself. That's also why i was miserable for a portion of the trip coz i was so ill T.T)-it's called Tokyo Inn and even though the price would be sufficient for a few starred hotels in Indonesia, ofc it's very minal and basic (and cramped) in Tokyo :)).

Was too tired to even snap pics, i mean... We can hardly walk in the room!

Look how the bed's pushed to the wall, and the other end is also against the wall *LOL*. There are two beds, the other one has a half leg space between the bed and a table (that's placed against the wall to the bathroom). We had to store our bags in the tiny space between the two beds and the opened luggage directly in front of the bathroom's door, meaning we had to do a dance and hop around from the bathroom to the bed :)))

A cute thing about Japan hotels are that they provide sleeping dresses (can be worn by both male and female), look how cute Little O looks, all swallowed by way too big sleeping dress :DDD

Ofc i had to insist on a wefie

The night was quite horrible for me *LOL*. The bed's pretty small, i can't sleep with Little O because he kicks and slaps all night and i am a very light sleeper, plus the bed's so narrow that i'm sure he'd end up in the floor. We decided to let him have a bed while hunny and i shared a bed. Well, bad idea because he snores like, SUPER loudly directly to my ears (coz the bed's so small i can't run away) *he always snore like insane during trips WTF* and my arm keeps on falling asleep, so it was a totally torturous, sleepless night for me T.T.

In the morning we checked out of the hotel (check out time is insanely early in Japan T.T) and trudged our asses to our next hotel-which is actually a hostel : Emblem Hostel Nishiarai.

Photo source : Tourvista
Emblem Hostel Nishiarai

gNavi 3-33-6 Umejima, Adachi-ku,Tokyo 121-0816 Japan

03-5845-3490

There's even a photo spot here hahaha. It's like a high end hostel so ofc there are a lot of memorabillia and hand written notes left by their visitors worldwide, there's even a wall of money from different countries. For some reason i didn't snap any pics of the place even though it's very nice and i had a lot of time while CL was checking in. I guess cold weather froze my brain too. I will be attaching photos from the internet to give you illustration of the place

Photos of the hotel mostly are taken from online booking sites like hotel.com and also from Tripadvisor. This is how the reception area looks like (it's so much more luxurious looking than the Tokyo Inn although it's not even a hotel haha, but it is a higher end type of of hostel and pretty expensive) attached to the cafe area. I never saw the area empty like this tho, it's always bustling with people even late at night!

The cozy cafe area

I will show you the rooms and talk about it more later, so keep on reading if you're interested to learn more!

After we're done checking in, it's time to look for lunch.

Somehow we ended up at Mr. Donut

And then we decided to go to Tokyo Sky Tree. This was potentially where i lost my BB phone last time, and here is where DB lost her Prada sunnies :)))). FYI, this is the trip where we managed to lose the most amount of stuffs. I think i took the cake by losing multiple items (including an exp as eff Iphone). And you bet we claimed them all to the travel insurance -___-.

Wefie with Tokyo Sky Tree, FAIL

Asked someone to take our pic, still FAIL :))))

I made a promise when we were there months earlier that we're gonna come back and bring our baby here, it happened sooner than later! I love bringing Little O overseas, he's actually a very easy kid to travel with

Cutest Crayon Sinchan cafe :D

The actual cafe was not so cute tho

Took lots of photos because there are so many pretty decor in Sky Tree. I dunno why i look so crazy puffy here

It honestly felt like a blink of an eye between the time that we first came here and the second time!

Finally succeed on taking a rather proper family pic by the lit up Tokyo Sky Tree :)

Then i took loads more self-absorbed pic

A chic, effortless, fashionable blogger in winter gear i am NOT *LOL*

Okay, it's almost over, i promise. Btw, we revisited that Hokkaido milk ice cream i loved so much, took a pic with my Iphone and so ofc. It's gone -___-

I still took my IG photos using my Iphone back then because it was the one with the internet and i was too lazy to transfer from Oppo!

We did some shopping (mostly for Little O) and embarrassingly i had a bit of a meltdown because i was pissed with hunny (one thing that i despise about him is the way he can gets so fixated on his gadgets and forgets to pay attention to me. Yes, i am definitely a high maintenance kind of gal, but he knew that the moment he decided to pursue me and he should know that it's a lifelong commitment alright -___-), but i forgave him when he told me he was looking for the same store that turns candies into accessories because he wanted to buy me another one. Maybe he just knew the right things to say by now, who cares. It works anyway.

Honestly i was quite out of it the whole day, i was tired, sleepy and pissy (i almost didn't get any sleep the night before) so i was grateful when we decided to go back to the hostel early because we wanted to go to the nearby temple at midnight to celebrate the new year with the locals. I don't remember if i actually managed to get any nap or not, but i felt better after showering and stuffs.

That night we started the celebration with having snacks and drinks with KC, CL, Au and some of Au friends (all Indonesian girls who are also studying in Busan with Au and holidaying in Japan as well). That's both a good and a bad idea, good because it was so so SO cold that night so the alcohol helped a little bit to warm myself up. Bad because i always get soooo sleepy whenever i have even the smallest sip of booze!

We then took an MRT to get to the temple (must walk a bit), and it was incredible. Thousands of people were queueing starting from a few feet from the station up to the temple-and the queue was SO DARN NEAT. I actually took a few photos with my Iphone (i wanna cry again WTF), but what can i do, i only managed to snag two pics from CL's FB :

Of us queueing, and me looking like an ugly dude *LOL*

I think we went to threw some coin.... Arghhh my memory is so bad!!!

Since it was the new year, it was totally bustling with food stalls and traditional festival games. It was too damn cold and i wasn't dressed properly (i insisted on wearing this custom made Japanese high school style jacket that's very thin, probably more suitable for fall -___-. I surprise myself with my own vanity/stubbornness sometimes) so after a while, i couldn't function properly and just want to go back to the warm hostel >.<.

When we arrived at the hostel, another incident happened. Little O placed his Ipad on the edge of the top bunk bed, it slipped off and the screen smashed into pieces. I know it's an innocent mistake and he didn't do it deliberately, but it was almost 2 in the morning, we were extremely tired, and Little O is notorious for not being very responsible so we couldn't stop ourselves from berating him -___-. I did try my best not to be super angry because i'm superstitious and i believe that we should not be starting the new year by scolding our only son. I'm sure he's already scared witless, he didn't even dare to cry. I feel super bad now that i think about that, i should've comforted him - but i was kinda speechless when it happened.

Writing this is also a reminder that i should be more patient, especially because the dad is already very impatient with him so i have to be the one that's softer. I do think (and hope) he understands (or will one day understand) that we are trying so hard to discipline him for his own good, and that we only have his best interest at heart.

So we woke up pretty late later that day and realized that most stores and restaurants are closed during new year >.<!!! WTF. They're closed for a few days actually, up to the 3rd/4th -___-. We seriously had no idea... So we ended up having breakfast at KFC :))))). Not me tho, i always prefer to have onigiri for breakfast!

CL bought a few slices of cake as MT's belated bday cake haha (and yes, we did the whole thing at KFC)

Excuse Little O's froggy face, dunno why it's his fave expression to protest whenever his pics are taken -___-

Being crazy in MRT. Btw we actually managed to sit a lot in MRT during this trip, and we didn't get to experience the full blown crazy crowd like like last, probably because Japanese were also on holiday

We just went to Shibuya (where i did some major shopping at H&M and scored super good deals. But i experienced my very first horrible Japanese cashier here too. I was shocked of the number she got because she forgot to input all of the discounts -____-. I had to wait for her to do it all over again, the fact that i had around 21 pcs of products and that the cashier had to input the whole thing twice meant i was stuck at the cashier for a VERY LONG TIME WTF).

Ofc, there are not much to see in Shibuya (and lots of the stores incl Shibuya 109 were totally close) so i just went on total mummy mode and snap pics of my son at every interesting displays and spots >.<

Didn't i say every spot?

You see the red go karts opposite the street? That's a real life Mario Kart that latter on people in Mario characters costumes ride in!

This is the last time you're gonna see that white jacket because Little O has seriously overgrown it >.<. My baby is growing up so fast, i feel kinda sad :(

Saw a tourist taking pics here and ofc i must copy *LOL*

Crazy pair of of father and son :)))

Okay, that concludes our uneventful (except for the Ipad breaking incident) 2 days in Tokyo! Let's talk more about Emblem Hostel now!

I don't know exactly how many types of rooms Emblem Hostel has (i think they have a lot of different ones, including private rooms), but we booked an 8 beds mixed dormitory (H and MT stayed in a male dorm with other guests).

And it looks like this

Only 2 beds are open like this while the other 6 are closed box style with the opening from the foot of the bed. I am quite claustrophobic so i decided to sleep with my head on the opening instead. It is strangely comfortable, it felt weird at first but after a while, it was okay. I really don't mind it at all *LOL*

Every guest get a spacious locker at the front part of the room with locks, but since we're one big family we didn't really bother locking anything *LOL*

As we stayed in a dorm type of rooms, ofc we have to exit the room and walk a few feet to the bathroom. The bathroom and toilet's very clean and pristine, but the guys were complaining about other guests not flushing their number 2s especially the Westerners >.<, latter on i understood why... They didn't know how to flush it with Japanese confusing high tech toilets *LOL*. I actually had a Caucasian girl called out to me asking me if i knew how to flush (ofc i did) and had me taught her *LOL*. The flush signs did point to a weird area so i understand how they get confused! I also think that they do not have enough bathrooms for the number of beds they have because we feel like we have to keep on queuing to use'em!

Box bed test, 4 persons : check!

6 persons checked! *LOL*

I was talking to hunny innocently in my lower bed when he snapped this

CL slept on the bed on top of mine

LOL!

Overall i loved our stay in Emblem Hostel! The hostel's clean, the rooms are clean and comfortable, the staffs are super nice (they even told Little O that they heard about the Ipad and they're very sorry. Oh , they're also the ones who told CL about the temple and recommend us to go there for the NY eve) especially if you're a single traveler/traveling with a group of friends, i would highly recommend Emblem Hostel. The location is very nice too, there are convenient stores, combinis, various eateries nearby and the MRT station is also very close by! It's an awesome and memorable stay for sure!