Breakfast; Tokyo Dome Hotel
Chitose Airport >> Haneda Airport
There was no itinerary planned for the day except transferring to the airport. Our 5 tour members were extending their stay in Sapporo so they sat the bus and alighted at their hotel which is nearby. The road was very slippery and really hard to maneuver around with the luggage if they were to walk there. As for us, we flew from Chitose airport and separated from the tour group when we reached Haneda airport. At Chitose, we bid goodbye to Shallen, our local tour guide residing in Sapporo. Unfortunately, the photos turned out bad. Blur and not looking at the correct camera :/.
After we were done with our check in and baggage check in (both separately), we went to shop and eat! There is quite a lot to shop at Chitose airport. We bought a box of Royce chocolate (¥777) and thought that we could finish it before going back home. But guess what, we finished it within 10 minutes! Both of us, 10 piece each at one go. The chocolate is so rich and good! You don't get tired of it. And although it is champagne flavoured, the taste is not overwhelming, and my no-alcohol-bf could take it.
At Kinotoya, we tried the baked cheese tart (¥183) and milk ice cream cone (¥388). The baked cheese tart is creamy and the crust is fully crispy. I liked it. The ice cream, on the other hand, is not as good as I expected. I preferred the one we had at Mombetsu Prince Hotel. These were all the food we had for lunch!
Upon arrival at Haneda airport, we bid goodbye to the rest of our tour group. It was now our time. First thing first, we had to purchase our 72 hr Tokyo Subway ticket at the airport. There are certain conditions to meet to purchase the pass and we have to be tourists to enjoy this concession. You may refer to their website for more information because it helped us save on transportation cost!
We had a hard time figuring out where to purchase the pass. But we found out that we were supposed to get to the international terminal instead! We were at the domestic terminal 2. There was a free shuttle bus service that transfer passengers to various terminals. We found the Visitor Information Center and bought the pass at ¥1500 each. The customer service staff can speak good English and we were given complimentary bottled water. We only started using our pass on the 21st so the expiry date and specific time is printed on the back. I suspect that the card might disappear into the machine if it was past the expiry time, but we got to keep the card as we did not use the metro on the 24th.
To get to Kinshicho station, we purchased our one time ticket (¥660) which includes the monorail to Hamamatsucho station, and then a transfer to the JR line. The lady who assisted me was also super friendly even though she could not speak much English. I had my first fun experience of seeing the ticket get sucked in at one side of the gantry and then appearing almost immediately at the other side.
From Hamamatsusho, we took the JR line to Tokyo station. We walked to the Yokosuka. Sobu line and was figuring out where to take the train to Kinshicho station. We realized that there were three destinations (Narita, Kimitsu & Kazusa-Ichinomiya) on the line and we could actually take all except the Narita Express. We were walking around the station for approximately 20 minutes with our luggage before we figured it out!
When we finally got on the train, we stood on the inside where there was more space for our luggage. There's even a toilet within the train. Something was announced on the train but we did not understand at first. Subsequently, a number of passengers walked out of the train. Not knowing what to do, we waited. Then, the LED screen displayed the message in Japanese and English. We deciphered by some of the Chinese letters that another line had stopped due to an accident related to human. Our line was suspended as well and the estimated time the train would resume was stated. We just waited because the other JR way was affected too. If we went out and took the metro instead, it would be too troublesome. Oh man.
We waited from 4.30pm and passengers slowly boarded the train as the door was opened. When the train was expecting to resume, more passengers got on the train and it started to get really packed. We made a mistake of remaining at our corner spot instead of moving closer to the door. When the train started to move, it was really crowded. At Shin-Nihombashi, I was taken aback when more people squeezed in! Not sure if our luggage were a blessing in disguise because it allowed us some breathing space. But the thought of us squeezing out with our luggage seemed impossible then. We were only 3 stops from Tokyo station to our destination but the unexpected had to happen. Already feeling very tired from the long wait, I felt really panicky.
At Bakurocho, we tried to push ourselves out a little bit so we could get nearer to the exit. However, nope, no advancement could be made. Secretly, we were hoping the exit door for Kinshicho station would open on the other side where we were closer to. I now understand how the peak hour in Japan feels like. Those train videos you see during Japan's peak hour are real! Even though you think there were hardly any space, more people could still squeeze in. Our hotel was at the very next stop. It felt like it was so near yet so far! Bf and I agreed that we would meet at Kinshicho station in the event that either of us could not make it out. That would likely be him since he was behind me.
We prepared ourselves physically for the push out. I was extremely nervous about it. I did not want to miss my stop! When the door opened at Kinshicho, I quickly pushed my luggage in front of me. Thankfully, there were passengers going out and I quickly used the space to our advantage.
"SUMIMASEN!"
I shouted out at the same time because I had to make everyone know I was going out. Hopefully, they will give in to me because I am a tourist! I made it out successfully and stayed at a safe spot and searched for my bf. After awhile, I saw his face at the door and was so relieved! We were quite excited that we made it out and high-fived each other. It was a victory! A cool first experience for the both of us. Don't think we would ever forget it. [After that, we found out that the delay was because somebody committed suicide.]
Tobu Hotel, Levant Toyko
We walked happily to Tobu Hotel, which is conveniently located near the shopping centre, Arcakit Kinshicho. We estimated for us to reach our hotel at about 4 - 4.30pm but we were there only at 6pm lol!
Dinner; 松屋
We had dinner nearby at 松屋. You have to purchase the tickets at the machine and pass the meal tickets to the staff. They served us hot tea when we sat down. We ordered a marinated beef set (¥600) and a bibim set (¥550). We were so hungry and the food taste really good! I like the soup that comes with the beef set. It is like miso soup, but the many vegetable ingredients inside it gives it a sweet and rich taste. Japanese style + Korean kimchi was really appetizing as well since it is a little spicy.
After a hot meal, our bodies didn't feel so cold as we stepped outside.. and that lasted for about 3 minutes 😆. We shopped at Muji and bought our cup noodles for breakfast the next day.
Our next day - Disneysea Adventure!
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