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It’s amazing how quick time flies when you’re having so much fun. Our honeymoon trip to Japan last year sure felt a little too short. What? Only a little over 10 days?

Day 9: Ginza

Time to move to  different hotel! For our last 2 nights of our Japan honeymoon, we decided to spend a little bit more and chose a nice Ginza hotel called Mitsui Garden Ginza Premier. And not just any room – we picked the room with a bath and a very nice view (from the bath) of Tokyo, including the Tokyo Tower. The view was magnificent, but I didn’t take a good shot of it, oops.

Day 9: Imperial Palace

After settling in to our hotel, we walked towards the Tokyo Imperial Palace. You can book a time one month before your preferred visit from their online Application for Visit page. We did that and it was a breeze. We went a little earlier and had lunch at a nearby Italian cafe/restaurant. I had pasta. Nothing too grand or anything, just filled our tummies to get it ready for some walking…

So, the Imperial Palace tour started with us standing a line and following the guides through to a building where you would get your audio guide (because obviously the tour itself would be in Japanese). The ear piece was a little uncomfortable and at times I got a bit lost as to where we were up to, but all in all, I was glad that we had an audio guide to translate the whole thing for us. After watching a short movie about the history and stuff, we started walking with a bunch of other people – some international visitors and some others local tourists. The rest would be best described in pictures:

Once the tour ended, we were encouraged to visit the wonderful East Garden. It was a really nice walk although I’d recommend you get one of those maps, as we had trouble finding the exit! LOL.

Oh and yes, there were heaps of flowers and trees on the way… This was mid-March and we were really excited to find some cherry blossom trees blooming already, as we were worried that we would’ve just missed out on all that. I would love to have a picnic under the cherry blossom trees, but we didn’t have any food with us! We did take heaps of photos though, and I was happy.

I didn’t even know there were so many different types of cherry blossoms. Also, the plum trees were in full blossom. The plum flowers are usually darker in colour, I think. There were also some bamboo trees in the garden which I thought was awesome.

And that was the end of our Tokyo Imperial Palace adventure. I would recommend you to visit Tokyo Imperial Palace if you have the time. The tour is free anyway!

Day 9: Shibuya

Next stop was Shibuya! My camera’s battery was dying, sadly, so I didn’t have too many photos of Shibuya. Not that I’d have the time anyway, was busy shopping and people watching! LOL. Anyways, have you heard of the famous Hachiko dog? The dog that supposedly waited for his owner at the Shibuya Station each day even though the owner had passed away… The dog that symbolised loyalty and has a statue in front of the Shibuya Station’s Hachiko exit. Well, the dog was dressed up while we were there as it was Tokyo Fashion Week or something. It had a pink bow, how pretty!

One of the most famous scenes of Tokyo would have to be the Shibuya crossing during peak hours. We were there around 5.30 pm and was overwhelmed by the amount of people crossing at the intersection. Every. Single. Time. We just stood in one corner and watched as hundreds of people crossed the road. Yup, I know, this might be a silly boring thing to do for some of you, but we found it amusing!

Apart from that, we had dinner and dessert and just walked around 109, a popular shopping complex for young girls. I love how different each shop was from the other. But more importantly, how they customised each shop from the style of the clothings to the things they sell to the outfits of the shopkeepers… and for some shops, they even had perfumes that signified the shop. It was totes amazing! We people watched heaps.

And that was another day gone! We went from traditional Japanese palace to cherry blossoms to shopping at one of Tokyo’s busiest streets. Love it! (: Hope you enjoyed reading about this as much as I loved sharing my experiences…

Note on the type of travellers we are: The hubby loves to just walk around and immerse himself into the culture, getting lost in the process and tasting local foods. I, on the other hand, love photography and I love people watching. Oh and I’m a keen observer of all things kawaii. We both appreciate the beauty of nature, but are more the type who love big cities and the hustle bustle. Castles and temples won’t make us go WOW! as much as Kit Kat in different flavours.

The rest of the days of our March 2012 Japan trip:

• Day 1: Tokyo Disney Sea, Urayasu
• Day 2: Tokyo (rest day)
• Day 3: Hakone
• Day 4: Kyoto
• Day 5: Kyoto and Kyoto (rest day)
• Day 6: Tokyo – Harajuku, Yoyogi Park, Akihabara
• Day 7: Tokyo – Shinjuku
• Day 8: Tokyo – Ikebukuro
• Day 9: Tokyo – Imperial Palace & Shibuya
• Day 10: Tokyo – Odaiba

Which one do you prefer when travelling to a new country: traditional historical stuff or modern culture? Share your thoughts!