Jue and Man in Tokyo

Well, it's been more than a week since Jue and Man arrived in Tokyo.

Due to some traffic problem encountered by Che Lee on his way back from grocery shopping, Jue and Man had to wait for about an hour in Narita airport before we arrived there. I quickly assisted them with phone rental and changing their exchange order to get JR Rail Pass.

Side note - we had been receiving visitors daily since Thursday, 20 March 2008, which was public holiday in both Japan and Malaysia - for being Spring Equinox day and Maulidur Rasul respectively. Hubby had been invited to give a Maulidur Rasul related ceramah in Ichikawa Ono (more about this could be read at HE's blog). In early Thursday morning, there were Kak Yan and Tuan Syed Nahar from Aoyama who joined us to be picked up by Rosli to go to Ichikawa Ono. When we returned, there was Hafiz from Iwate waiting to meet hubby. Friday noon we received Faizal and his wife Aishah-chan, a Nihonjin Muslim revert. Friday evening, Fary came with her mom and her brother's mother-in-law. It was amazing to learn that Fary's mom actually knows hubby's family members while her besan knows my mother. What a small world, eh?

Anyway, back to Jue and Man. They came bearing us lots of goodies - Malaysian stuff that would cost a small fortune here in Tokyo. They even brought us a packet of Ramly burger, woohoo. The burger sold at halal shops here doesn't taste as good and they get 'benyek' very easily. Jue even brought Acuvue monthly disposable lenses for me - which is not available in Japan. Here they either sell the daily or 2-weekly variations. Apart from that, I finally got my hands on Sophie Kinsella's "Shopaholic and Baby" as well as Sis Zabrina's "Life is an Open Secret" - thanks so much Kit dearie!. And not forgetting Pokcik and Kak Mai who sent us some traditional kuih (I have no idea what it is called - but Pokcik said it comes from Kedah), dodol and jeruk. Honest-to-goodness miscellaneous jeruk all the way from Penang which made me cried out in delight the instant I saw it. Hehehe. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Okay, okay, back to Jue, Man and their little cutie Husna (who was born a month after Huzaifah, but could now pass for someone a year older than Huzaifah due to her bigger size and ability to talk). In the past week, they have

• made lots of changes to their over-ambitious earlier schedule, making it more feasible.
• been to Imperial Palace, Roppongi, Akihabara on Day 1 (I have to miss a meeting with blogger Lina at blogger Kak Ani's place since hubby could not play tourist guide for that day, having other mosque-related commitments.)
• spent a day in Universal Studio Japan, Osaka on Day 2 without taking too many photos since Man forgot to recharge the camera's battery the previous night
• been to Yokohama on Day 3 but scrapped earlier plan to visit Hakkeijima Sea Paradise on the same day. Bought 1 Day Ticket (450 yen) for Minato Mirai subway line, covered Yokohama eki area, Minato Mirai 21, Chinatown, Yamashita Koen, missed the opening hour of Anpanman Museum, rode the Cosmo Clock (a big feat for Jue who normally suffers aeroacrophobia or 'gayat' as Malays call it) in Cosmo World, and were treated to several sing-a-song-while-preparing-orders sessions as they enjoyed their "Mint Mint Chocolate Chocolate Chip" and "German-chokolatekake" (while I devoured my "Romancing the Cheesecake") in Cold Stone Creamery.
• been to Shinjuku Gyoen for ohanami, Oriental Bazaar in Harajuku, took a second trip to Akihabara and dined in Malaychan in Ikebukuro on Day 3.
• had some 'escapade' episode at Tokyo eki on Day 4 when they realized at the last minute that they have boarded the wrong train to go to Maihama, where Disneyland is situated.
• gone to take a peek at Jom Makan (Malaysian Kitchen franchise in Tokyo) in Daikanyama, only to find it already closed for the day after an exhausting day in Disneyland. I know it is probably not patriotic of me to say this - but after my one experience in Jom Makan, personally I wouldn't recommend it to others to go there... (Chances are, despite not being an accomplished cook, I could serve more authentic and better tasting Malaysian food at home...)
• been to Kyoto on Day 5, but only achieved half of their earlier-set ojectives. Disappointed to realize that some part of Ginkakuji was on construction after they have already purchased the ticket there and had to give Gion a miss because their daughter Husna was not feeling well by the time they were boarding the shinkansen back to Tokyo.
• shopped till they almost dropped in Kichijoji, and experienced panaromic view of Tokyo at night in Tochou (Tokyo Twin Tower) in Shinjuku on Day 6. Passed by Ginza for the second time (the first time on Day 3) and Jue had resolved to have a stroll in Ginza at least once before they return to Malaysia

It's been an interesting week. They are in Karuizawa today, to enjoy some time in snow and maybe do more shopping too in the nearby outlet.

While they were in Tokyo on Day 3 & 4, they have been very generous to let hubby and I used their JR Rail passes for 2 days , and we in turn had taken the opportunity to have a touch-n-go tour around Kansai on Wednesday followed by a day tour in Hiroshima/Miyajima on Thursday. Thanks to Jue and Man, hubby and I had our first shinkansen experience - and not just once, we boarded 5 different shinkansens all in all.

Yes, while it was tiring to travel with two knapsacks and two kids (and one of them an extremely active 2 1/2 year old toddler who could get really cranky at times), hubby and I had heaps of fun too. Many thanks to Ghazali and Fiza for their warm welcome when we stayed overnight at their place in Higashi Hiroshima.

Ghazali picked us up from Higashi Hiroshima eki at around 11.00 p.m., long past his normal sleeping time. Fiza insisted on us having late night supper (dinner was more like it) and when we woke up the next day, not only had she prepared breakfast, she also made extra nasi goreng and sandwiches for our bento. On top of that, both Huzaifah and Humaidi were presented with a t-shirt each (Huzaifah insisted on wearing his new t-shirt for 2 consecutive days and refused to take it off despite my many pleas). May Allah bless them for their generosity...

Like us, Ghazali and Fiza are returning to Malaysia in September, so we look forward to strengthening the silaturrahim that began here when we go back home, insya Allah.