http://www.bmobile.ne.jp/english/

i used this during my last travel, both valid for 14 days, i bought the unlimited quota but limited speed, very turtle slow. better get the 1GB. if want surf net surf at public wifi or at hotel (bring posts or wifi router), save the 3G for GPS and map search.

there's the same unlimited quota limited speed 384kbps, valid for 30 days and save 1000 yen, but you need jap's hand phone to activate, if call English rep you need to pay extra 2500 yen. if you travel longer than 14 days it's still cheaper than buying 2 visitor sim for 28 days 8000 yen vs 3000 yen + 2500 yen activation, or best pay someone to activate for you lol. hotel staff might just willing to do it for you for free or for minimum fee as i think handphone activation is toll free, ask before you go.

angellus - don't spend so much on mobile data, get the b mobile. if you want to surf Internet use public wifi or hotel wifi. save the mobile data for important things like gps...

back from tokyo today...another satisfying trip.

stayed at hotel just next to the market. walk through tsukiji everyday be it off day or crowded day. very unique experience.

tried many sushi, included the 3 most famous sushi place - daiwa sushi, sushi bun, and sushi dai. people said queuing up for sushi dai is stupid, and i can tell you either those people are sour grape, or taste bud malfunctioning. best place is still sushi dai. period.

out of the 3, i would rank sushi dai as top, followed by sushi bun, and daiwa. i was pretty disappointed with daiwa, not sure why, but it was a rather young chef at the time - bad balance of wasabi, mild taste overall despite they do the same as sushi dai where they brush vinegar sauce on the fish. for the price asked (omakase), it's expensive as in price/quality ratio.

sushi bun is interesting, i don't quite like their balance of rice and fish cut - rice is too small to go with the fish, and the rice seems mushy. but still their sushi has better taste as they don't brush any sauce on the fish (which either works, or fail), and they actually have special aroma in their vinegar rice - perhaps that's why they serve the rice ball smaller. their specialty is their sauce brushed on anago - very concentrated taste and the sause has been around for more than a century.

and sushi dai? as the name suggested, their sushi truly is to dai (die) for - intense and concentrated taste of the vinegar sauce that brings out the goodness of the fish, with a very good skill from the chefs, even the otoro can be picked with chopstick without the fish falling off which is very common. the taste is so intense that dipping the soy sauce is dumb, except only the tekka maki, or the rolls. you might read sushi dai serve smaller piece than daiwa - WRONG! sushi dai serve just the same size, if anything, they have more generous cut than daiwa. for few hundred yen more, you get few more pieces. and first time in my life i get both from sushi meal - satisfaction, and actually fill the stomach. went there twice (yes twice, first time 5am+ queued for close to 2 hours, 2nd time on last day 4.30am queue for about 1+ hour) and interestingly, they're so amazing that i wander around mindlessly right after walking out of sushi dai - first time ever! my opinion is, if there's ever anyone telling you that sushi dai isn't worth the queue, yes, only if you're not a sushi fan. if you're a sushi fan, either you stay near the market and wake up 4am to line up, or you take taxi, or you're going to queue up 4 hours.

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other than the sushi, the next best thing i've ever had in tsukiji is the curry udon. yes, you heard it right, curry udon. look for itadori "ura", or refer to this itadori ura. there're many itadori around, i think all of them serve the chirashi don with 3 types of tasting, but search for the ura. taste? F*CKING AMAZING!!

few others worth mentioning would be nakaya chirashi don (didn't try ōedo cause long line to queue), inoue ramen, kitsuneya gyudon (also amazing compared to places like sukiya/yoshinoya), sadabō (which is away from market, hidden, serve japanaese style western food, great), sakaeya curry rice (pretty damn nice and not expensive, only 500yen).

to be continued...

This post has been edited by little ice: Nov 19 2013, 05:25 PM

gundam spotted!

thank you...

just came back and close to a thousand of photos for me to sort out, going to post little by little.

the one and only 1:1 gundam @ DiverCity Tokyo Odaiba.

if you follow tour, you'll never get to see the way of life of the local people, which can be VERY rewarding.

i would also hunt for restaurant that's hidden and mostly only local patrons. they're mostly surprised to see gaijin waltz into their restaurant and you can see they're as nervous lol. and you'll get to enjoy food that's different than commercialized restaurants. i often find small restaurants serve food with better or unique taste. not to mention tours will not bring you to famous (and truly good) restaurants cause queuing the line is a big no no for tight schedule.

here's my very first chiong of the trip. didn't sleep much straight chiong for sushi dai @ tsukiji market.

5am in the morning (4am malaysian time!) and i have to line up beside the road lol. best sushi i've ever tasted, and it's the best in tsukiji market, that's why people are willing to line up this early in the morning, or 3~4 hours just for the sushi.












most amazing otoro sushi ever!



and more sushi...

...and the rest of the course.

lol it made my hungry every single time i look at the photo.


daikokuya tempura @ asakusa

IMHO better than sansada. somehow sansada has more oily smell, while the daikokuya has special soy sauce added to the tempura, give a unique taste that you don't get at regular tempura place.

don't bother visiting shinjuku, that's the place i hate the most. you can probably just go there take picture and go else where. even the famous kabukicho gate has taken down (during my visit, not sure temporary or permanent)...

apart from shinjuku gyoen being one of the nicest hanami place, and lots of izakaya and eatery and shopping (which i didn't find them interesting), that's about it. i was particularly pissed off by the red light districts. in fact i tried to find what's special about shinjuku and i can't find any. maybe anyone can enlighten me about what's special about it?

the gate has been removed. i've been there once and i know where it is (beside suzuya tonkatsu) and all i can see is the filled up holes on the road...the sakura dori gate is still there though. oh and there was some kind of wine festival so it's like whole street of food stalls, it was nice though.

This post has been edited by little ice: Nov 25 2013, 01:24 AM

it was the ichiban gai gate, yup it's been removed. i was there on 15th nov and the gate still not up yet. not a good luck during this visit cause the asakusa kaminarimon lantern also removed for overhaul... (._.')

This post has been edited by little ice: Nov 25 2013, 12:46 PM