Tokyo Anime Fair 2006

The trip to Tokyo Anime Fair (TAF) 2006 had been vital for my brother, although it was on the day before his visit in Tokyo ended. We went on the opening day - with lots of adults in suits and none of the screaming ultra-mini-skirt-wearing high school girls and shaggy-bleached-haired high school boys in purposely-ruffled uniforms. Understandably, the first two days of the TAF were meant for business and the main reason my brother took hubby and I there was to help him out in identifying and meeting suitable business partners.

Since only my brother and I were dressed appropriately in formal suits for business meetings, hubby took the chance to wander around and helped himself to all kind of goodies and freebies - comics, plastic files, postcards, keychains, calendars, candies. As he hurried from one booth to another, my brother stopped for essential snapshots here and there as we met famous anime characters.

While I am not a big fan of anime, I used to join my younger cousins watching their share of cartoons in the evening when I was staying with my uncle in Putrajaya. Thus, being where the surrounding was full of hot air balloons depicting famous anime characters like Naruto and Conan, as well as bumping into real life actors imitating famous characters really made me thought of my younger cousins. Given a chance, some of them would probably join in the chorus of oohs and aahs coming from their Nihonjin peers who had a chance to witness the fair in person.

Towards the end of the show, tired of rushing for business meetings, my brother and I took a stroll. We even managed to laugh at our silliy attempt of lending our voice for animation in nihongo (aided by the persons in charge who read out the script and let us follow them since I could not read much kanji, while my brother could not read nihongo at all). I must say that despite having no idea of what he was saying, my brother would make a lot better voice talent for Japanese anime than me.

I guess we owed a kind Nihonjin who was working as an English interpreter at the fair a lot. She was kind enough to get us tickets for the Welcome Night party where my brother got a chance to mingle with hundreds of who's who in the business parts of the anime world. Hubby took that chance of being in the exhibition site when the show was over to snap lots of photos. Since we did not had any proper lunch, I indulged myself in edible sandwiches and lots of soft drinks, as well as reserving some for hubby and brother.

All in all - it was a good trip, though I doubt I would go when it's open for public. This year, both hubby and I got free entrance as we formed part of my brother's business entourage, so we did not have to pay 1000 yen each. We received lots of warm welcome at most of the booths we went to because we were seen not as mere anime fans, but prospective business partners - and yes, all of us had heavy bags filled with goodies on our way back home. My brother got more than he bargained for when we got the invitation to the Welcome Night party - for which he thanked me profusely because I was the one who inquired about it at the Information counter when I heard the announcement for it in nihongo. Of course, he's also thankful for the kind Nihonjin interpreter's assistance, which got him introduced to many prospective Nihonjin business partners.

They went places - Hakone

We started our preparation very early in the morning - at about 3.30 a.m. Mak prepared breakfast. There's only one bathroom in my house, so that partly explained why we had to wake up so soon. The train ride from Gyotoku to Shinjuku normally takes about 40 minutes, but I have to consider longer walking time for my two aunts, so I thought leaving home at about 6 a.m. would be okay in order to catch the 7.28 a.m. Romance Car in Shinjuku.

As it happened, we were ready to leave the house by 5.50 a.m. However, my son's buggy failed to work properly. Mak, hubby and I tried to fix it, but to no avail. We suspected that it had something to do with putting so much weight on the buggy's handle when we went to Disneyland (lunch for 6 adults, go figure...), so finally Mak, hubby and I only left the house at about 6.15 a.m. We boarded the train heading to Tokyo about 10 minutes later, while Mak keep asking whether we would be able to make it. If we miss the 7.28a.m. Romance Car, we could neither ask for refund nor board a later train.

The mbah group - my turning-70 year old Mak Su, 65 year old Mak Ram and turning-59 year old Mak

Considering my aunt could not walk fast, I chose not to change the train line just once at Otemachi, but changed twice instead - first from Tozai line to Ginza line at Nihombashi, then to Marunouchi line at Akasaka Mitsuke. We arrived in Shinjuku at about 7.15 a.m. Shinjuku eki is one of the largest and busiest station in Tokyo with several train operators having different entrance and exit points - so it was easy to get lost there. I had to stop twice to ask for direction to Odakyu's Romance Car platform.

Alhamdulillah, we managed to find our seats about three minutes before the train departed - phew...

Hubby and my aunts enjoyed the out-of Tokyo scenery on the train, Mak took care of Huzaifah while my brother and I planned the schedule for our day out in Hakone. It was my first time there and while our Freepasses allowed up to 3 days unlimited use of all kind of public transports in Hakone area, we decided to make it a quick one day tour. Hubby and my brother were a bit disappointed on realising that the Romance Car that we boarded was not latest edition, but rather an older train. Still, just like it newer counterparts, it took only 85 minutes to Hakone Yumoto, compared to 120 hours by normal train.

So, as soon as we arrived in Hakone Yumoto eki, we boarded a bus to Hakonemachi. While Mak attended to Huzaifah, the rest of us walked to the replica of Hakone Sekisho - the Shogun check point area. My brother and I decided to go inside while the rest browsed the row of (mostly souvenir) shops in the area.

As my brother exited the Sekisho later than I - hubby, my two aunts and I decided to wait for him at the boarding area for the pirate lookalike sightseeing ships. When my brother joined us, he looked worried - he could not find his Freepass. He thought that I might have kept it with me, but I did not. So we walked back to Hakone Sekicho and I asked the girl at the entrance gate if she had kept a lost Freepass similar to mine. Well - alhamdulillah, she did. The Freepass costs 5,500 yen - similar to one day ticket for Disneyland, but could be used up to 3 days. One can use it for unlimited boarding of various types of transportation - train, ropeway,bus, sightseeing ship, cable car - so yes, alhamdulillah, it was a relief to find it.

Next we boarded the sightseeing cruise across Lake Ashi, where we were supposed to be able to view Mount Fuji. Unfortunately it was cloudy that day, so Mount Fuji was not visible. still, it was a good 40 minutes ride since the view of the mountains surrounding Lake Ashi was in itself good enough.

We met another group of Malaysians - Melaka mari - on the ship. My brother and aunts were especially glad to be able to chat to others in Malay language after almost a week of chatting only among ourselves. We took a group photo as we arrived at Togendai, just before they went to explore the surrounding area while we made our next move to board the ropeway to Owakudani.

The ropeway here is what we mostly refer to as cable car in Malaysia. Since there seemed to be lots of vacant cars, hubby, Huzaifah and I boarded a separate car from the rest.

We stopped in Owakudani, where Mak treated us to Ebi Tendon for lunch. Initially my brother wanted to try the Ebi curry rice set, but when the meal arrived, it turned out that the curry contained some meat, so I asked the (unhappy shop owner) to change the dish to ebi Tendon. Mak wondered if we would be charged for the untouched Ebi curry rice but in the end it turned out that we were not charged for it.

Owakudani is famous for its volcanic areas and black eggs. These eggs became black from being boiled in volcanic hot springs and are famous because some believe that they can prolong the eaters' life by seven years. At 100 yen each, I would say that they probably are better at prolonging the sellers' bank accounts. Hubby, my brother, and my 65 year old aunt decided not to miss the opportunity to see volcanic sulphur hot springs. And yes - it was also a small cure for missing mountain climbing because the volcanic springs were located in hilly areas.

By the time we arrived back at the Owakudani eki, it began to to drizzle. We took a bigger, seemingly more modern ropeway (cable car) to Sounzan.

Next, from Sounzan, we took a cable car - which, to us, resemble the Penang Hill train - to Gora. The Freepass allowed free entry to Gora koen, but since it was raining, we had to give it a miss. Otherwise I think the mbah group would have enjoyed a quiet moment in the park.

From Gora, we took the most confusing train ride back to Hakone Yumoto. Gora eki is located halfway up the mountain. The mountain train moved very slowly, but since it made 3 switchbacks on the way to Hakone Yumoto, it seemed like it wasn't really moving forward, but rather forward and backward. I had already read about these switchbacks ahead of time so was not really surprised by it, but Mak was really concerned on whether or not we are moving towards our destination. I assured and kept reassuring her until we arrived in Hakone Yumoto.

Next, a boring 2 hours long ride on normal train to Shinjuku. Then right before we exited the Odakyu part of the eki, one of my aunts realised that she had lost her Freepass. Again, I had to rely on my limited Nihongo to get all of us out of the eki - sacrificing the rest of the Freepasses in the process.

So there - our one day tour in Hakone.

They went places - Day 5

I basically had no rest the whole week my brother was in Japan. Even when the "mbah" group chose to rest, my brother would insisted on me taking him somewhere. I tried suggesting him to go out on his own, but he dared only to go to Gyotoku alone. Whenever he needed to take a train, he would ask me to be his guide.

So, on day 5, we went to Mitaka, to Ghibli Museum. But the ticket was sold out, so we could only viewed the outer part. I did not know my brother's planned schedule in advance so I dared not bought his ticket in advance. Anyway, the good thing was my brother managed to view some sakura in Mitaka - a bit early compared to Gyotoku.

We went to Shinjuku after that, to buy tickets to go to Hakone. After the guy behind the Tourist information counter assured us that the weather in Hakone was expected to be fine the following day, we bought Hakone Freepasses for the next day there and then. We planned on taking the Odakyu Romance Car on our way there and taking the normal train on our way back. Mak wanted to give my two aunts a taste of taking a shinkansen (bullet train) ride. While the Romance Car was not exactly a shinkansen, at least the inner looked like one, so we thought it would be nice to take one to go to Hakone. Hoping to beat the peak time, we decided to take one departing from Shinjuku at 7.28 a.m. - and what an adventure it turned out to be to ensure we didn't miss it.

And here're some photos of Huzaifah for those who wonder how my son looks like now

He turned 7 months today - and at 70cm high, I often get comments that he's tall for his age..

They went places - Day 4

Hubby opted for a day out - choosing to stay at home with Huzaifah while everybody else had a Tokyo Tour with me as tourist guide.

We went to Waseda first, because I needed to take my result (alhamdulillah, I did ok.)



Next stop was Ginza, because Mak wanted to let my two aunts experience walking on where it used to be the most expensive place on earth. We stopped for tea at a Fujiya after I reassured Mak that no, it wouldn't costed 10,000 yen each. When Mak saw the bill, she even claimed that she wouldn't mind footing another bill...


Then, Asakusa - not so much for the shrine, but more for the Petaling street-feel bazaar experience for my aunts and brother. Mak chose not to melt in the crowd because she had been here a couple of times before.


Prayed Asar in Tokyo Mosque. I even waited for Maghrib, but asked the "mbah" group to walk ahead of me and waited for me at Yoyogi Uehara eki. If they had waited to pray Maghrib/Isyak there and then, chances were we would not be able to shop at Oriental Bazaar, in Harajuku.

As it happened, we were the last customers to exit Oriental Bazaar.
My brother then treated us to dinner at a nearby Tenya.

We did not visit Tokyo Tower, instead I took them to Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, better known as Touchou. It was quite a long walk for the already exhausted "mbah"s, so I was shocked when I saw the main entrance was closed. Asked a guard on duty and he guided us to a different entrance for visitors who wish to go to the observatory areas. Mak tried to console my two aunts, telling them that it was akin to a KLCC observatory treat... My brother, needless to say, was thrilled with the view of Tokyo at night

And that concluded the longest/most tiring one day tour for the rombongan Cik Kiah

They went places - Day 3

The "mbah" group needed a day out after our long day at Disneyland, so they decided to stay at home. My two Abangs (I called both hubby and my younger brother Abang) though wanted to explore Akihabara, so I brought them there in the evening, after they felt they had gotten enough rest. We met a nice Indonesian salesperson named Yusri at a Laox outlet, so hubby and I got to pray Maghrib in a rather warm and secluded place in Akihabara.

For some reason or other, there was a Malaysian flag on a lamp post in Akiba, so they did not miss the opportunity to snap a photo there.

They went places - Day 2

Against my advice of not visiting Disneyland on weekend, my brother insisted on going there on the second day, a Saturday. As I predicted, although the weather was not sunny, rather cloudy and it even rained later in the day, the park was full - it took hours to queue up for the popular rides. My brother did not do any homework prior to going there, so we could not make full use of the FastPass facility, instead we just joined in any queue which took us less than 45 minutes. It was so crowded that even the toilet queue was so long that once, I just changed Huzaifah's nappy at a phone booth to save time. Not long after that, I noticed some Nihon-jin mothers followed my act.

It wasn't a great Disneyland outing, but at least it's one ticked off by my brother on his To-do list.

They went places - Day 1

Mak and my two aunts in front of Gyotoku eki

They were just getting their bearing in Japan, so no sight seeing on that day. They were introduced to 100 yen shop though, so they bought lots of stuff despite their initial plan of not buying much because like almost everybody else, they thought that "everything will be expensive in Japan". Later, I even took them to a 7-floor 100 yen hall in Funabashi, where they shopped till they dropped...

They came...

Mak was shedding her tears when I first saw her - which both surprised and alarmed me. I hugged her and she whispered - "Alhamdulillah, semua selamat..."

More about it later...