One of the things we knew we wanted to do in Tokyo was go on a guided tour up Mount Fuji!

As usual, Saliheen and I did our research and even though there are a few options available online, the one that interested us the most was the Mount Fuji, Lake Ashi and Bullet Train Day Trip by Viator - you can watch this video clip with a brief description of the package below:

We paid S$402.78 for the both of us (S$201.39 per pax), which is reasonable la, considering we got to take a coach up to Mount Fuji, take a cruise boat out on Lake Ashi, ride the Mount Komagatake Ropeway for a view of Hakone National Park and most importantly, we got to return to Tokyo area via shinkansen!!! Which is a Japanese bullet train, super fast and super sleek one. 

We especially liked the return by bullet train part because kita memang nak rasa naik shinkansen but the actual price to ride one costs, like, S$300 plus??? And from Tokyo, it usually goes out to other areas like Kyoto, Osaka, etc. It didn't make sense for us to pay that much when we weren't travelling out to stay in those areas ah. Setakat nak tau apa rasa ride dalam bullet train je. (It feels macam naik train biasa ah actually hahaha. But the train does feel super stable and super quiet for something that is moving so rapidly)

Anyway. We started the day out by walking to the meet-up point, which is the Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo. You can choose from a few meet-up points but we chose Keio because our hotel is only 7 minutes walk away! Once you've walked for 30 minutes in Tokyo before, walking for 7 minutes becomes chicken mcnugget la kan #eksyen

Row of vending machines we saw on our way to Keio. Cantik!

Once we arrived at the meeting area in Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo, we were issued tour stickers (to indicate which group we were in) and ushered up an air-conditioned coach. I think there were about 15 to 20 pax in our group? Anyway, travel time to Mount Fuji took about 2 hours. Do all your toilet business in the hotel first!

OHAYOU GOZAIMASU, MOUNT FUJI! ❅❅❅❅❅

The top view was pretty! But the weather and temperature was seriously no joke seh. It was sooooo cold and we were freezing!!!!! I couldn't even feel my face wtf. Lagi tak kelakar was when Saliheen was taking pictures and suddenly felt his fingers freeze up and cannot gerak. Tu jam baru terkial kial ah nak pasang heatpack!

After 30 minutes or so on Mount Fuji, our tour coach brought us to a nearby restaurant for lunch. Lunch is optional ah - up to you whether you want to include lunch in the tour package when you're booking it online. Personally, I'd suggest the lunch option because it'll be troublesome for you to look for lunch yourself. Can choose vegetarian meal because the regular one includes chicken. If you are was-was even of the vegetarian meal then sure, don't take it up but at least bring along your own bread/chips/whatever. Kat sana tak banyak food options.

After lunch, off we went to take our cruise boat out on Lake Ashi!

Ya, I know our gambar tak justify how peaceful and lawa the lake is, so I have to top up with gambar of our busuk faces la hahahaha. The cruise boat ride was for 15 minutes only, after that our tour guide brought us to the place to ride the Mount Komagatake Ropeway pulak. No pictures from inside the cabin because we were packed in with other guests but it's really just a cable car besar yang boleh fit ramai orang, and it looks like this.

View from the top! It was really nice and peaceful. And tiba tiba ada satu temple tercampak kat atas, haha. Busy seh orang kat sini nak sembahyang kena daki bukit.

Aaaaand that was it, that was the end of the whole tour! Our tour guide brought the people who took the package with shinkansen option to a train station about 30 to 45 minutes away (by coach) and then passed us tickets to naik the shinkansen. Don't worry about not knowing how and where to naik the shinkansen, where to drop off, etc, because the tour guide's instructions will be quite clear. I only remember the part where you need to take the shinkansen from platforms 1 or 2 ah. Bukan platform 9¾ eh, tu nanti terpergi tempat lain eh.

Us inside the shinkansen! Amaciam, nampak steady tak kita naik bullet train hahahaha. Oh, and sorry, no pictures of the shinkansen itself because we were too busy taking videos of it hahaha #asiantourist

Dropped off at Shinjuku Station and walked around Lumine (Lumine 1 and 2 are at the front whereas Lumine Est is at the back) in search for dinner. Didn't see anything that suited our mata and tekak but did see this kedai called Zakuzaku Croquant Chou that sells cream puff from Hokkaido! A little unconventional because it is in stick form coated with almonds. Costs ¥220 (S$2.60) per stick. 

I knew about this from a friend's Instagram post! (Of course) Also has lots of good reviews online (like the one here) so we decided we'd give it a try if we saw the shop (which we did). Quite nice! But I wouldn't travel or specifically look for it la. Japanese people seem to really like it though, the queue was looong (but fast moving).

Walked out of Lumine after that and settled down for dinner at a little sushi bar near our hotel. Food was good! Stuffed ourselves with so much sushi and green tea sampai tak larat to jalan jalan anywhere after that haha. So we headed back to our hotel and crashed for the night because besoknya nak tengok museum and orang sumo!

Birthday Trip, New York City, May 2015 (Day 8)

Last full day in NYC already, everybaaady!!!!! But before I start all the reminiscing and perasaan pedih pedih, you all please read Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6 and Day 7 first ok.

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Guess what we did on our last full day in NYC, you guys????? We woke up bright and early to......

..... see the Statue of Liberty!!!!! Again!!! Kwa kwa kwaaaaa.

You'd think that after we saw the Statue of Liberty via water on our 4th day and via air on our 6th day, we'd be very bosan with that statue already, right. But nooOoOoooOooOOooo, laki aku masih ah nak pergi visit the lady herself! This time betul betul on her own island i.e. Liberty Island pulak.

I asked him over and over again, you betul masih nak pergi tengok? You betul belum puas? We've seen the Statue of Liberty upclose and personal already, two times somemore! But mati matiiiii he insisted, mati mati dia nak jejak Liberty Island itself. Padahal pergi dekat dekat pun bukannya boleh pegang bontot!!!!! Haiiiiiii gasak kau lah nak.

13 May 2015 (Day 8)

- Liberty Island (Statue of Liberty)
- Ground Zero - 9/11 Memorial (North & South Pool)
- 9/11 Tribute Center
- Wall Street Walking Tour
- Brooklyn Bridge

Went to redeem our free ferry tickets to Liberty Island (via New York Pass) and the morning crowd wasn't too bad. We didn't have to wait long either, although everyone were subjected to strict US airport-style security checks before boarding the ferry. Had a very, very nice clear view of the Manhattan skyline as we made our way to Liberty Island via ferry, and once we arrived, it was time to check out the lady herself.

The bontot that my husband did not get to pegang.

The ferry operator that we got was Statue Cruises, by the way! If you're not redeeming it under the New York Pass then the regular fee is USD18.00 per adult. Kalau nak naik sampai to the crown of Statue of Liberty, add another USD3.00.

We chose not to naik all the way to the crown because it is 377 steps (via spiral staircase!) all the way up and there is no elevator access from the top of the pedestal to the crown platform. Thanks, but NO THANKS. Siang siang I told Saliheen already, jangan berangan nak naik sampai ke crown, unless he wants to go through another one of my meltdown episodes inside the Statue of Liberty ala my meltdown while trekking in Ubud ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

If you don't want to pay to see the Statue of Liberty, don't mind taking pictures of the Statue of Liberty from afar, don't mind not stepping foot on Liberty Island, and don't mind squashing with 10 million other tourists and locals (who use this mode of transportation to travel to and fro work) then the free Staten Island Ferry will be your best bet. The ferry (which is ginormous by the way) will pass by Statue of Liberty and you can take pictures as it does.

Tak free VS Free

I have to admit I actually enjoyed visiting Liberty Island and seeing Statue of Liberty up-close and personal hehe! I think it was because queues and waiting times weren't long and irritating and it was pleasantly surreal to see the actual icon of New York towering down on you, y'know? Must say the statue is WAY smaller than I envisioned it to be since I was younger, though. All those TV shows and movies making it seem more gigantic than it really is... Haha rubbish!

We hopped on the subway after that, grabbed food for lunch then walked over to the Ground Zero (9/11 Memorial) to see the North and South Pools which used to be where the two Word Trade Centre buildings used to stand.....

This is the new Freedom Tower, which is next to the North and South pools of Ground Zero.

We also visited the 9/11 Tribute Center (entry tickets under New York Pass) to see the artifacts and memorial pieces from the tragedy. I will reserve Saliheen's and my opinions about the September 11 attacks because it is a very sensitive and controversial matter after all, but when we were in the 9/11 Tribute Center, all I wanted to do was remember that there were real human lives lost to such horrible and senseless attacks on that unfortunate day :(

I think I was the most affected when I saw the memorial corner (the one with tissue boxes!!!) where there were pictures of all the innocent victims who died during the September 11 attacks. Took the time to look at every single picture and wondered about their hopes and dreams, their aspirations, and their families and friends who they didn't get to go home to..... I imagined packing Saliheen off to work in the morning and then receiving a phone-call telling me that his office building has collapsed after getting hit by a plane a few hours later and my eyes just started watering OKAY.

After about an hour in the memorial centre, we went on to a guided tour which was pretty nearby - a Wall Street walking tour by Wall Street Walks this time because we wanted to learn more about the workings of Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange and the financial district in New York. This is more for Saliheen than me actually, since my mind turns into sludge when it comes to numbers, mathematics and finance hahaha WHAT

Graveyard is not part of the guided tour la haha but we saw a plot of land with gravestones next to all the office buildings and modern skyscrapers while we were making our way to the meeting point. It was pretty cool to see something from 1700s against a 21st century setting! And as always, I start thinking about all the possibilities, the way of living, the occupations, the faces and styles, the cause of deaths of all the names that I saw engraved on each tombstone and how the surroundings must have been like between 1700s to just before the current buildings took over...... FASCINATING!

Anyway. We ended the guided walking tour at the Charging Bull, which is pretty iconic la and I wanted to see it for myself in real life. Turns out this is how it looks like during mid week at 3.00pm:

Lahabao betul. Ni dah macam ape tau, macam Expectation versus Reality.

TENKZ.

Didn't bother to get close to touch or take picture with the Charging Bull because at the end of the day kan, INI SEMUA BERHALA! Hahahahaha abeh bitter eh. Okay la bulls made of bronze frightens me a little anyway, I mean, have you guys heard of the brazen bull torture method????? THAT SHIT NASTY.

Once the tour was over, we went to Brooklyn Bridge next! I was exhausted gila after the Wall Street walking tour but how can I not step foot onto Brooklyn Bridge while in NYC kan?! Terpaksa semangatkan diri. Had to walk quite a fair bit before we were really, truly standing on the Brooklyn Bridge but don't worry, there wasn't any epic meltdown, just a really satisfying feeling of accomplishment hahahaha

Went to makan at City Kitchen at ROW NYC after that, the concept is something like our local food courts...? The whole place is air-conditioned, and has about 9 to 10 F&B stalls with popular brand names in NYC.

I mention this because this is one of the makan places that I would return to if I ever patah balek NYC. No halal certified stores though, so if you was was then this makan place is not for you. But if you don't mind checking it out, I recommend the lobster roll set from Luke's Lobster! Much yums. Doughnuts were from Dough, and they were one of the food items I wanted to eat so badly in NYC so - ting ting ting - achievement unlocked! Hehe.

The doughnuts were pretty delish by the way, but I think it might have been better if I had chosen a conventional flavour like chocolate instead of my poppy seed lemon doughnut. Chose it just because poppy seeds are banned in Singapore so kirakan macam mana punya badass ah makan benda yang ada poppy seeds HAHAHAHAHA BYE LA

Went back to the hotel to wash up then we went out to borong the last bits of souveniers to bring home, grabbed a tub of our favourite Magnolia Bakery's banana pudding and takeaway platters from The Halal Guys food-cart then sat down on the famous red steps in Times Square, just eating, chatting, people watching and taking everything in.

We must have spent at least 2 hours on the steps, watching the world go by and enjoying Times Square as it pulsated with its bright lights and loud sounds and almost bursting from its colourful stream of wide-eyed tourists, eager business peddlers and shady characters haha. We left Times Square at around midnight, buzzing from the crazy energy that Times Square fed us with, but also feeling sad knowing that this was the last night we'd be able to that... for now.

Birthday Trip, New York City, May 2015 (Day 7)

A week of NYC already, guys! But first, please read Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5 and Day 6 first k. 

We only did two main activities on this day, I think, but the day felt packed somehow. Probably because of aaaaallllllllll the walking we did for a pre-scheduled Little Italy, Chinatown and Soho tour that we booked under New York Pass and the shopping run we did after that. But let's start our cerita from the morning dulu k.

12 May 2015 (Day 7)

- Museum of Modern Art
- Little Italy, Chinatown and Soho tour

We started out a little late on this day, had breakfast at our favourite deli (it's just beside our hotel!) then while waiting for Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) to open at 10.30am, we browsed through their in-house store. So many clever and artistic products on sale and we almost bought a Van Gogh replica piece for display in our living room! Unfortunately, its dimensions wouldn't be able to fit into the frame that we already bought for our living room. Shame.

Anyway, we were so distracted by the store sampai we didn't realize the museum was suddenly filled with throngs of visitors and queues were starting to snake! By the way, if you're entering the museum via New York Pass, make sure you're in the correct queue okay, it's shorter! I almost waited in the wrong (and longer) queue but realized it within a few seconds and quickly went to the correct one. 

I should probably mention that Saliheen and I only allocated about 30 to 45 minutes to browse through MOMA because we both agreed that we're not art enthusiasts and have almost zero knowledge and appreciation for art. Plus someone told me that the MOMA is pretty boring so I figured we won't need to spend much time in there, just jejak masuk to look see look see apa yang ada. 

Turns out we were GROSSLY MISTAKEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Maybe because they were holding several exhibitions that we were super interested in during our visit and/or we underestimated what MOMA can really offer, but Saliheen and I looked at each other in despair (hahaha!) when we realized we had to leave for the next item on our schedule. Mehhhhhhh. Even considered forfeiting the next thing on our itinerary but decided we didn't want to do that either so we left MOMA with heavy hearts sigh sigh SIGH. 

If we ever have the rezeki to return to NYC one day, MOMA will be the first place I want to return to!!!!! And I will spend at least two hours minimum in there!!! There was quite a crowd while we were there (but still comfortable enough to browse in peace) so I guess it's not just us who feel the same way. One thing I regret is allocating more time for American Museum of Natural History (which turned out to be a total snoozefest for us) instead of channeling that time to MOMA (which kept us captivated for the mere 45 minutes while we were there.)

Even though we were so heavy-hearted to leave MOMA for the next activity, we tried to keep an open mind and hoped that our pre-scheduled guided tour around Little Italy, Chinatown and Soho would be half as interesting. There were about 15 to 20 pax in our group and we got Rachel as our tour guide... she was so excitable and so animated and so earnest in sharing about New York City,  that it was hard to find fault with the tour hehe. 

We enjoyed the 2-hour long walking tour, although this is probably something we'll do only once and not something we'd recommend if you'd rather walk around and get lost amongst the streets yourself. Saliheen and I wanted to learn in depth about the different neighbourhoods from a local/almost-local so this guided tour was suitable for us + we redeemed it from our New York passes, anyway. Saliheen was especially excited because he wanted to see the locations where triad members / mafia members used to clash or have a stronghold of (He read about the gangs in this part of NYC from a book titled Born to Kill by  David Thai) haha. Tapi memang interesting ah.

An Indonesian and Malaysian food restaurant we saw in Chinatown. Just a few steps away from this restaurant, our tour guide showed us the place where members from different Chinese triads clashed in a bloody fight oooOooOoOooh

Rachel also showed us the fourth floor apartment where Heath Ledger (10 Things I Hate About You, Brokeback Mountain, The Dark Knight) died from drug overdose. As in, she showed us the building la, not like we got to go inside the unit or what. It's the white building shown in the picture above the Little Italy signboard picture. 

Can't really remember what we did after that (Padan muka, siapa suruh hegeh hegeh with the blog entries) but I think this was when we walked back to the Soho area (the guided tour ended at Chinatown) and Saliheen went on another gila shopping spree. As always, ini budak LAWAN TAUKE. Tak tau la tauke mana dia lawan, tauke lori balak agaknye.

Oh yaaaaa, we also went for another round of cereal milk ice-cream from Momofuku (part ni is aku punya kehendak hehehe) and tapao-ed platters from Halal Guys and went to visit his friend who just started staying in NYC. Had a nice dinner and chat with his friend, and kita feeling feeling la sangat inside his apartment hehehe. Also grabbed mini cupcakes from Baked By Melissa on the way back to our hotel, they were okay la, harapkan cute aje. 

Below are pictures of the aforesaid mini cupcakes and the Late Show with David Letterman signboard which we passed by while on our way to his friend's apartment: 

Eh eh, macam tau je print advertisement dalam subway ni.