DAY 4 TOKYO

We had to leave Tokyo in the afternoon so we still had some free time in the morning. So we went to Tsukiji fish market in the morning. There are 2 very famous sushi restaurants and it is worth to try!! We didn't have the map so we just asked the local people for the way. I was suddenly feeling so proud that I could speak Japanese :D

The sushi restaurants are quite small and there were many people waiting outside. We chose one and then we waited for nearly 45mins. I can say that the suishi was the best that I ever had!! I chose the "chef recommendation" menu and the chef made me sushi with the freshest fishes.

I had 10 more pieces sushi and all of them was very good!! I loved the sea urchin and salmon eggs sushi!! I didn't like the salmon eggs sushi in Hong Kong but surprisingly this one was so tasty!! Wowwww yummy!! It was a very great brunch for us!!

Then we bought some sea urchin in the fish market and some snacks and strawberries in the department store. Although we were full, we still wanted to eat some more things!! :D The strawberries were so sweet!! Very fresh and delicious!! :) Seems like this trip I only eat!!! :D

4 days is pretty short but it was good to get away! I went back to Hong Kong at around 11pm but unfortunately I have to work on the next day :(

DAY 3 TOKYO

Finally it was a nice sunny day today!! But I planned to do some shopping but not sightseeing. We spent whole day in Shinjuku, walked and shopped around. Unfortunately Japan Yen is very strong now and I didn't buy many things. Just some clothes, camera accessory, snacks, scarf and cosmetic. I wanted to buy bags and shoes but I couldn't find something that I like.

We were quite tired for walking for whole day. We walked around camera shops / electronic goods shops in the morning, had lunch at a sushi restaurant and then shopped around at the department stores in the afternoon. I wish the Yen was cheaper!!

We had Kaiseki ryouri for dinner, I searched this restaurant from the internet and booked it in advance. The food was pretty good!! We had an independent room and a pretty Japanese lady served us and explained to me about the food. Very good service!!

But I think Shinjuku is more complicated than before coz I saw quite a lot of gangsters on the streets in Kabuki cyo. The shops in Japan close quiet early so we walked back to hotel after dinner.

DAY 2 KAWAGUCHIKO / HAKONE

What a nasty weather!! I was so disappointed to wake up seeing the rain outside. It rained even heavier than yesterday!! Darn!! I don't want a rainy vacation!! After having Japanese style breakfast at the hotel, we took the couch to Hakone. It is supposed that we would go to Mt. Fuji but becoz of the rain, it was canceled.

On the way to Hakone, we saw a few Sakura trees! What a surprise!! The sakura should have withered and fallen at the end of April but it was still a bit cold in Hakone, luckily we could still see them!! It was my first time to see the Sakura!! Very beautiful!!

Then we went to Owakudani, it is a volcanic valley with active sulphur vents and hot springs. We walked up a bit to see the hot springs but I didn't really have good mood becoz of the weather.

There is a very famous food - Kuru-Tamago (Black egg) in Owakudani. The eggs are hard-boiled in the hot springs and they turn black and smell slightly sulphuric. It is a rumuored that eating the eggs would increase longevity and one egg adds 7 years in your life. I didn't eat any coz I don't want longer life LOL (Actually I don't like hard-boiled egg and I tasted it many years ago already).

After visint Owakudani, we went to Lake Ashi and had lake cruise. The sightseeing ship is modeled on medieval sailing vessel and the name of the ship is Victoria. It rained heavily and it was very foggy so I couldn't see Mt. Fuji from the ship. What a shame!!

We then have lunch in a local restaurant. It was a Japanese set lunch with rice and udon. The food was ok only. And after lunch we took the couch to Tokyo and it was quite a long journey. When we arrived Shinjuku, it was nearly 7pm. We checked in and rested a bit at the hotel, then went out to have dinner.

My friend recommended me to try this Japanese BBQ restaurant "Rokkasen" so I booked it in advance. It was a BBQ buffet and it costed Yen6,300 per person. They have many kind of food just like crabs, shrimp, scallop, fish, beef, chicken, pork, salad, vegetable... We ordered a lot of food and I loved the beef a lot!! So tasty!! And their service was good too!! We were sooooo full!! :D

DAY 1 HONG KONG / KAWAGUCHIKO

Yay Here we go Tokyo!!! Many friends think that I often go to Japan or I'm an expert in Japanese culture of stuff but frankly the last time that I went to Japan was 7 years ago!! It has been a long time and it surprised me a bit too LOL Actually I like travelling to Japan and I want to travel there more but the reason that I didn't go much is going to Japan can be more expensive than going to Europe!! I think I will crazy for shopping around LOL

This time I got a very "special offer" to Tokyo for 4 days, tho it is short, I was still looking forward to it!! We took the morning flight to Tokyo, when we arrived Narita airport, it was nearly 2pm already. The weather in Tokyo wasn't fine, it rained a bit. We took the couch to Kawaguchiko directly coz we would stay a night there. It was a long journey to Kawaguchiko!! Nearly 4 hours by couch and when we arrived the hotel, it was nearly 7pm. Nothing much to do today actually...

We stayed in Kawaguchiko hotel which is a classic Japanese style hotel. I heard that the Japanese Emperors have stayed there before. This hotel is facing to Kawaguchiko and I'm sure the view would be very great if the weather was fine. My room had the lake view too!! What a shame that the weather was so gloomy!!

We had dinner at the hotel, they provided us set dinner with Shabu Shabu. The food was just ok, I had no expectation for the meal at the hotel LOL

After dinner, we wore the Yukata and then joined the party at the function room. I didn't really want to join the part coz I knew it wouldn't be interesting but I had no choice. They provided free Asahi beer and snacks so it wasn't too bad. But it was really boring and luckily the party didn't last too long.

I was too tired so I went back to the hotel room and watched TV for a while, then I slept right away. There is nothing around the hotel except the lake so it wasn't a good idea to go out at night since it was raining.

THE SHINJUKU ACCIDENT

Watching Jackie Chan's new movie "The Shinjuku Incident" today. I thought it would be a typical "Jackie Chan's movie" with stunts but Jackie rather performed his "acting" than Kung Fu.

I'm a bit disappointed with Daniel Wu's role coz I perfer him acting a cool guy or something but he was such a coward in the movie. This movie was pretty violent and bloody and surprisingly it didn't have any comical humor or martial arts that we've been so used to seeing in the usual Jackie Chan movies.

The movie is so so, not too bad but if anyone expects to see any crazy stunts, I wouldn't recommend.

AC'S B-DAY

It's AC's B-day and we had dinner at Tony Roma's. Me, FC and Hang came out earlier to buy presents for her. It wouldn't be hard for us to buy things for her coz what she cares most is her face LOL We bought a SK-II foundation and Lunasol Eyeshadow for her.

Haven't been to Tony Roma's for a while, the food was still good!! I love the salad!! Good recommendation by FC and Hang!! But comparing with Tony Roma's, I think I like Dan Ryan more!

I'm glad that AC liked the presents and she was happy!! :) After dinner Hang went back home and then we girls had girl's night out!! We went to bar for drinks and chatted together. Hang is more like an old man now!! How come he wanted to go home so early?! :D

HE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU [BOOK]

I think I'm really a fast reader!! I finished this book not more that one week tho this book isn't thick at all. I like to read the books after watching movies coz I can understand the stories better.

This book is totally not same as the movie! Or I should say the director just used some points or pharses to build up the movie. This book is just a love advice book which help women to find the guys who are really into them.

It's quite interesting to know but I don't think all his "theories" or advices are truth. Everyone are unique, right? We can't just use these theories to judge.

Here are the theories:
1) He's just that into you if HE'S NOT ASKING YOU OUT
2) He's just that into you if HE'S NOT CALLING YOU
3) He's just that into you if HE'S NOT DATING YOU
4) He's just that into you if HE'S NOT HAVING SEX WITH YOU
5) He's just that into you if HE'S HAVING SEX WITH SOMEONE ELSE
6) He's just that into you if HE ONLY WANTS TO SEE YOU WHEN HE'S DRUNK
7) He's just that into you if HE DOESN'T WANT TO MARRY YOU
8) He's just that into you if HE'S BREAKING UP WITH YOU
9) He's just that into you if HE'S DISAPPEARED ON YOU
10) He's just that into you if HE'S MARRIED
11) He's just that into you if HE'S A SELFISH JERK, A BULLY, OR A REALLY BIG FREAK

Very funny but it seems hard to find the right guy if girls believe all the above theories?

HIKING FROM TUNG CHUNG TO TAI O

What a sunny day!! Went hiking from Tung Chung to Tai O with my cousins. Actually it wasn't really a hiking route, it was more like a jogging route coz it was easy!!

Normally you can just finish in 2-3 hours but my little niece also came with us so we took nearly a double of hour to finish!! We all didn't expect that!! Yan Yan felt tired in the very begining and she didn't want to walk. She needed her mom to carry her all the way...

When we arrived Tai O, it was nearly 5pm. There were a lot of people in Tai O! This little place was so crowded!! Hong Kong is really too small that we don't have many choices to hang out during weekend

We had a nice dinner in a small restaurant in Tai O, the food was good expecially the fish and the Toufu!! Nothing is better than having a nice meal after a long walk!! :D

OCEAN PARK

Going to Ocean Park with my cousins today. I think it was 15 years more ago when we went to Ocean Park together!! Grandma was still alive and we were just little kids!!

I'm not so into rollar coaster now coz I'm too old to ride on such exciting stuffs. But I don't wanna be a loser so I still got on them and had "great fun".

We also watched the show in the Ocean Theatre, it was cool!! The dolphins are so cute and clever!! Really wish I could go down there to touch them!!

Actully I wanna see the pandas too but we had to rush and leave coz we gotta join the other family members for the barbecue in Sai Kung. So I have to wait to see the pandas next time...

I don't know why Big Bro suggested to barbecue in Sai Kung, it doesn't make sense to go from Ocean Park to there. So far away!! We all were extremely tired when we were at the barbecue place. But it was good to have family gathering like this and I enjoyed a lot!!

LUMIX FX580

New Toy!!! I got a Panasonic Lumix FX580 digital camera! :) I have been thinking to buy a new DC coz my Canon is 2 years old and it sometimes doesn't work so well. Also my sis often takes my camera and doesn't return it back to me when I need it!! Good excuses, aren't they? :D

Since these years Canon put more resources on developing the DSLR than compact DC so this time I wanted to try other brand. I heard that Panasonic was quite good and they use Leica lens so suppose the photo quality should be good.

This is a touch-screen model and I'm so into touch-screen technology!! My mobile, iPod Touch and camera are all touch-screen!! It has quite a lot of features like 25mm ultra-wide-angle LEICA DC lens with a 5x optical zoom and I can control shutter speed and aperture manually. The Intelligent Scene Selection seems cool!! For sure I will bring it everyday everywhere!!

HE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU [MOVIE]

Recently I'm quite into chick flick, maybe becoz I'm kinda stressed at work and I just want to watch some funny and romantic comedies. No need to use my brain to figure out the plot :D

It was just an okay movie, not too bad but not so good. There were too many characters and some plots were kinda stupid. I don't think women are like that in actual life. There were a few funny lines tho.

WONDERFUL THURSDAY

Wonderful Thursday!! Another unexpectation!! I'm too easy to be happy by little thing :D Anyway it feels good to have something to look foward to!! :) Just let it happen!! I can't wait for it!! :)