Assalamu'alaikum
Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh!
Hey
there! I'm here!
Actually
I was going to write on something else but then I remembered that I
haven't fulfilled my promise yet so yeah... today I am here to share
a little bit of my experience visiting Japan last year! It will be
brief but don't worry there will be a lot of pictures for you to
enjoy. InsyaAllah.
(btw!! please please please ignore my spelling or grammar errors! Because I'm too lazy to re-read everything for errors. Urghh! That is all! Hahaha XD)
So,
let's get started?
Before departure, we had a meeting to decide what would be our part during the programme. Every each of us had to have a role :D So, when Azy, Azreena and Akmal said that they wanted to be involved in the performing team, I decided to join in too :3 So since that day, we all met up almost everyday to practice the dance that we would be performing in Japan :D
Our
flight was on 29th September 2014. From Brunei airport, we
didn't go straight to Japan as there was no direct flight to Japan.
We had to stop at Kuala Lumpur for a few hours before leaving to
Japan. It was my first time getting on a plane after more than 15
years. The last time I went overseas was when I was four year old.
That was long time ago. So, this time, I was kinda nervous yet
excited at the same time.
On
the first flight to Kuala Lumpur, I sat together in the same row with
Azy and Azreena. Actually, that wasn't the original sitting
arrangement but because the three of us were too clingy, Azy swapped
her seat with Rido – real name is Farid btw (who was also one of
us). When the plane was about to take off, Azreena gripped my hand
tight and I became even more nervous. LOL. But alhamdulillah.
Everything was fine after that.
And
we safely landed in Kuala Lumpur! It was my first time being there
too. Hahaha. We were told that we would only be there for about two
hours at most so we were not allowed to leave the airport and we had
to stick together with our already assigned group. I was in group
two, together with Azy, Azreena, Akmal and Muzafil. All the five of
us had to keep an eye on each other and Muzafil as the leader, he
would have to take care of us. It's called the buddy-to-buddy system.
Before departure
Group two! :D With Akmal, Azy, Azreena and Muzafil as the leader
I
didn't really know what can I do there so I only followed the others
around. I had to admit, our group is really the naughtiest especially
with Azy and Azreena. Hahah. When it was time to get to the next
flight, we got some burgers from the Burger King and hurried to the
gate where we were handed our tickets and the seating arrangement.
I
didn't sit with Azy or Azreena this time. But Nabil and Ann. Wait,
not Nabil as in the guy with the powerful smile but another Nabil.
LOL. Anyway, we were using Japanese airlines! So yesh, we were in a
Japanese plane with Japanese stewardess. Pretty stewardess. Umm.
Let's just make the story short.
Anyway,
it was a 6-7 hours flight. After filling up our stomach, the others
were all in their own world and some even already started getting
ready to sleep. I tried to sleep to but I couldn't. So I browse
through the list of movies they have and chose one to watch. I was
watching an English movie but it was damn boring so I checked the
Japanese movies list and found this one with the title... umm.... I
even forgot the title. Wait. Lemme check.
...
...
...
Found
it! It's called Sukitte Ii nayo. The male main lead was very good
looking and the story plot was fine too, so I watched it until the
end. It was a great movie. Finished with that one, I tried to watch
another but there was nothing else to watch. So I checked the MP3
Playlist and chose one with Japanese songs that I don't even know
whose the singer nor the title. Then, with the headphone still
attached to my head, I fell asleep.
Sukitte Ii Na Yo :P
Sitting next to me were Nabil and Ann
Sexy Zone's song on the MP3 list <3
The
next morning! We finally arrived in Japan!! OMG!! I was in Japan!
Seriously! I finally stepped my feet on the Japanese ground! It was
like a dream came true! The moment I stepped out of the plane and
breathed in the air, it felt so different. I have always dreamed to
go to Japan but I didn't expected it'd be this soon so it still felt
as if I was dreaming.
Just
like I promised to Asuki back in Brunei before we got on the plane, I
snapped a picture of my feet standing on the Japanese ground and sent
it to our group.
Narita
airport was pretty vast and they also provided an open wifi
connection :3 And the connection is amazingly fast. Once connected,
everyone focused on their own phone, mostly to update their family
back in Brunei. I texted my parents too :)
After
retrieving our baggages that have arrived at the airport earlier, we
hurried to the place where the person assigned to guide us was
waiting.
Waiting
for us at the airport was Miss Nakajima. YES YES! I KNOW RIGHT! She's
a Nakajima! But of course, she isn't related to Yuto Nakajima. Lol.
Okay,
let's shorten the story.
Anyway,
inside the airport was pretty hot that I had to take off the blazer I
was wearing. I was wondering if the air-conditioner wasn't working.
But, the moment we stepped outside, it was freezing cold. Well, what do
you expect.. It was around early Autumn/fall during that time we
arrived. Then, we got into a bus before heading to a restaurant where
we would be having our first lunch in Japan.
I
sat with Akmal, she is like my first close friend in the group, other
than Azy and Reena. I love being around her because she's really nice
and a very fun person. The best thing about her is that we share the
same hobby which is spying for good looking guys and we even almost
fall for the same guy! Umm, actually we did but I'll just save that
story for later. Anyway, we were sitting at the back part of the bus
and everyone was very loud especially the people at the most back
seats; Nabil, Ann, Apis, Azy and Azreena. Hahaha.
Everyone
was excited. We were like little kids that have just been released
after being stuck for years at home. We pointed at everthing we saw.
Even the traffic lights amazed us. We were like,
"Wow
wow! Look at that!"
"Omg
what is that!?"
"The
traffic lights are everywhere!"
"Is
that a taxi?"
"Pachinko!!!"
"Ku-rin-nin-gu---"
(She was trying to read some katakana and hiragana characters on
random buildings and boards, hahaha)
"Sailormoon!"
Tokyo
was amazing. Everything was amazing! I seriously couldn't believe it
that I was looking at Tokyo. It was the same sight like the one we
always see in Japanese dramas and movies. The streets and the
buildings... omg! I thought I would only be seeing them in movies or
dramas. I never thought that I would be seeing them with my own two
eyes. It was not a sight that you can see everyday. Is this a dream?
That is the question that I kept asking myself in my head.
That's Akmal next to me :3 And Azy and Azreena over there too
On the bus :3 From my seat
Looooook at thattttt!!
Umm. My feet.
I
don't remember our first destination was. But it was either to Ginza
for lunch or to the Imperial Palace. I'm sorry I have a very bad
memory. Hahaha. Anyway, it's either way. I will just assumed that we
went for lunch first.
For
our first lunch in Japan, we were brought to Ginza; one of the most
famous shopping districts in Japan. We got out of the bus a few walk
away from the restaurant so we got to experience walking on the city
street for the first time! It was just like how we always see in
movies and dramas. There were a lot of pedestrians and seriously,
lotsa shops selling branded stuffs. I'm not familiar with most of the
brands though but Azy and Azreena were both freaking out, oh well,
freaking out as in "OMG!! LOOK AT THAT LOOK AT THIS!"
hahaha!
Ginza street! Excuse my 'bangas' face.
I
was expecting Japanese cuisines for lunch but they brought us to an
Indian restaurant instead. But hey, I didn't mind as long as my
stomach is filled. The Indian restaurant was located in one of the
tall narrow building in the area and on the 7th or 8th
floor I think. The lift was tiny so we had to take turn before all 23
of us reached the restaurant.
It
was amazing how the people there welcomed us very warmly and they
sure were friendly to the max. It seemed like the whole restaurant
was booked for us. The restaurant was small but it was comfortable. I
sat at a table together with Azy, Azreena and Akmal. The food was
nice and they served different types of curry. I love the spicy one
though it wasn't as spicy as I expected it to be. Every time we
finished a plate, the waitress would come back and replaced the empty
plate with another one, until we were all full and couldn't eat
anymore. The service they provided was amazing.
Wait...
Now
that I think I about it, I think we went to visit Imperial Palace
first before we went for lunch! Hahaha XD
Alright,
let's move on to the visit to the imperial palace.
So
The Imperial Palace is the first place that we visited in Tokyo. We
hadn't even have shower nor change our clothes yet. Actually, we
haven't check in to any hotel yet. Anyway! The visit to Imperial
Palace was fun! We took a lot of pictures and had so much fun. There
was a vast park nearby and we went there. We even laid down on the
green grass. It was so clean over there. I could actually lie there
the whole day while staring at the blue wide sky.
Here
are some information on the Tokyo Imperial Palace. Please wait for a
few seconds while I google it. Yes, GOOGLE it. Hahahaha XD
...
...
...
"The
Tokyo Imperial Palace is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan.
It is a large park area locted in the Chiyoda ward of Tokyo and
contains buildings including the main palace, the private residences
of the imperial family, and archive, museums and administrative
offices. It is built on the site of the old Edo Castle. The total
area incluing the gardens is 3.41 square kilometres. During the
height if the 1980s Japaese property bubble, the palace grounds were
valued byh some to be more than the value of all the real estate in
the state of California" (Wikipedia).
Takuya-san
(our coordinator) did explain to us about the Imperial Palace but I
was too busy enjoying the view that I didn't pay attention at all.
Hahaha. We took a hell lots of pictures!
At
the park, there was a small shop that sells mini souvenirs like
bookmarks, keychains and magnet. I wanted to buy some but it was only
our first day in Japan and I didn't bring so much money. Plus, I was
sure that we would diefinitely come across another souvenir shops.
So, I bought an ice cream instead!! From a vending machine! A vending
machine! Isn't that cool!? I was so fascinated! It has so many
different types of ice cream.
While
enjoying the ice cream, Takuya-san called and instructed us to get on
the bus because it was already time to leave. We couldn't bring food
into the bus so I had to throw away my unfinished ice cream. So sad.
Bought this from the vending machine. It tastes really good.
And then, we went into a shopping mall (I don't remember why were there by the way) but all of us got to the roof top! The view was amazing!
Mi name tag!
Shinkansen!
Double decker... or whatever you call it.
Anyway,
when the sun was about to set, we were brought to a building in Tokyo
for an official orientation. We arrived there a little earlier and
because it was time for Maghrib prayer, we asked our supervisors and
Takuya-san to let us perform our prayer first. The Japanese are
really helpful. They quickly prepared us a place where we could
perform our prayer.
After
waiting for a while, JENESYS participants from other countries
finally made an appearance and there were a lot of them. We were all
then briefed about the programmes, what are we going to do, the
places we will be visiting and yeah, stuffs like that.
It
was long day and all of us were already exhausted. The excitement was
slowly fading away and most of us were now complaining. Hahaha. And
yeah, me too, of course. We have been wearing the same clothes from
the day before, we hadn't had a chance to shower too. We needed to
freshen up. Hahaha. After an hour or so, we were finally moving! Yay!
When
we left the building, it was already dark and seriously freezing
cold! We hurried to our bus for some warmth.
Tokyo
at night was even more amazing that during the day! The excitement
came back, though some of us had fallen asleep in the bus. I
seriously in love with the night view of Tokyo.
The
bus was full of laughter. I love how everyone played well with each
other even though most of us have only met for the first time a few
weeks before the departure, back in Brunei. I love this group of
people!
Especially
those sitting at the back part of the bus. They are all very loud. We
even played some weird riddle games and laughed a lot. I love them!
We
finally arrived at the hotel where we would be staying for the night
and the next night. It is called East 21 Tokyo. After recieving our
own card keys, we all headed to our respective rooms with our
luggage. I shared the room with Ann and Rasyidah, as have been
decided by our coordinator. Awesome hotel room by the way! Heeee.
Done
checking in and stuffs, we gathered immediately at the lobby because
earlier we had agreed that we would have dinner first before we
shower and stuffs. At the ground floor of the hotel, we could find
supermarket, DAISO and a restaurant. Dinner that night was Japanese
cuisine! Oh oh! Before I forgot, there was a rule that every time
before we eat, we had to wash our hands and check our body
temperature. This is very important!
Done
with dinner, we finally called it a day and everyone went back into
their room. I felt very refreshed after showering! Once changed into
new fresh clothes, I went to sleep.... I think.
Ah,
anyway, I guess, that is all for the post this time. I will write a
continuation post soon :3 There is still a lot more to share!
Espcially on the second day where we visited the Asakusa Temple! The
night escape plan! Shhh... and my first meeting with Ban-san.
PS: (btw!! please please please ignore my spelling or grammar errors! Because I'm too lazy to re-read everything for errors. Urghh! That is all! Hahaha XD)
Sorry. I just have to add this.
