Tokyo is a country I always wanted to visit because of it's nice food and sceneries. So this time round I decided to go on a short break and visit Tokyo! My flight was 8am and I was early so as to have my breakfast at the airport and to go for some duty-free shopping. Boarded the plane and was glad that the seat beside me was empty, which means more leg space for me throughout the 8hrs flight! Was so tired as I did a very last-min packing the night before and only had a few hours of sleep. So I immediately KO after settling down comfortably. I vaguely remembered having 2 meals on-board and also a cup of haagen daz ice cream in between my sleeps before arriving at Tokyo international airport at 5pm. (Sorry that I forgot to take a photo of the food as I was in a sleepy mode) Was so grateful for in-flight entertainment cause I managed to watch 2 movies (Mandela and Frozen) throughout the long flight too.
After walking out of immigration, you can easily see counters selling the train tickets as well as other bus and limousine services. We decided to take the train as it goes directly to the station near my hotel. The escalator to the train station is located directly beside the exits, so it's quite easy to find.
We've decided to get the Suica card as it can be used for paying our fares when traveling around Tokyo. It's just like the EZ-Link cards we used in Singapore where we top up a certain amount of credit and with every trip, the fares will be deducted from the card when we tap out of the train stations. The Suica card can be used on JR East lines in the Tokyo metropolitan area as well as for subways, buses and the Tokyo Monorail that connects Haneda Airport with Tokyo. Another good thing is that the Suica card can also be used to make purchases onboard trains as well as from vending machines, to rent coin lockers and for spending at convenience stores!
The trip from the airport to our hotel station (Shimbashi) took about 1hr 10mins and we had another round of sleep inside the train too. Am glad that the trains are so quiet and the seats are comfy too. Took a short 10mins walk to our hotel from the station and checked in to our rooms! We're staying at Mitsui Garden Hotel.
The room is quite small but for the price that we paid, it's considered quite well as hotels in Tokyo are rather pricey! We had a queen size bed and there were enough space to fit in 3 big luggage around the room. It was pretty clean and the environment was nice and that's all that matters to me cause all I need is a comfy bed and quiet place to rest and recharge at night.
Oh and how everyone raves about the toilets in Japan, definitely my favorite activity everyday. HAHA!
After settling down and washed up, we decided to head out to have dinner and check out the surroundings. Stopped by a small shop and had ramens and gyozas together with some sake. We were all famished that we gobbled down our food the moment it was served, hence no pictures we taken. Sorry guys! Took a stroll back to our hotel after dinner and bought some snacks and drinks at the convenient store nearby. Decided to take a hot bath and totally knocked out after that.
Woke up pretty early after an early night and feeling all excited for our first day in Tokyo! Walked to Daimon Station which took around 10 mins and our first stop is to Shinjuku. Thankful the train wasn't crowded and we all had seats for ourselves.
Stepped out of the station and everywhere is flooded with people. No doubt the busiest station as it is a large entertainment, business and shopping area around Shinjuku. Once you're out of the station, all you see are tall buildings and shopping centres. You can find many of the famous shopping centres like Isetan, Takashimaya, Mylord, Odakyu and more in this area. For guys who are looking for electronic stuffs, there are also a few big electronic stores around the corner.
First stop is to find some food for our empty stomachs at Omoide Yokocho (Memory Lane) or also known as Shonben Yokocho (Piss Alley) on the west side of Shinjuku Station. This is a small alley filled with small yakitori bars. But as it is way too early, most of the stores are closed so we settled for some ramen at the store located right at the entrance of the alley.
Most of the stores in Tokyo uses this vending machine for ordering. You just put in notes and press the item that you want. A token/ticket will then be issued and you just have to pass it to the person at the counter after being seated. It is fully in Japanese so we just blindly match the words to the pictures above. If you can't find the item that you want from the menu on the vending machine, you can kindly ask the staffs in the stores to help you out. But of course, do try to speak slower and use simpler words for the staffs to understand.
I ordered this pork and dumpling ramen which was very filling for me. The soup tasted so great that I finished every single drop of it. I am super afraid of soup that has the pork kind of taste/smell and this totally tasted nothing like that. The soup is rich but not too salty which I find most of the ramen base are. The meat is also so tender and soft, I just can't get enough of it. However, the dumplings are quite normal, nothing fantastic about it.
This is the store front and it is very easy to locate once you're at the road junction. Do go try this store out if you are around the area!
After filling up our stomachs, we went to shop around the area before taking the train down to Harajuku which was just few stops away.
There are a lot of stores that are selling this lucky box thing for 100 yen and the boxes each contain a prize. If you are lucky you may get the good prices such as cameras, mp3, watches etc. But if you're not that lucky as me, you might end up having keychains, earphones and small accessories.
After a long walk down Harajuku Street, we decided to take a short break and enjoy some nice coffee and pancakes.
Continue down the Omotesando Street (Tokyo's Champs-Elysees). This street is known as one of the foremost 'architectural showcase' streets in the world and has many fashion flagship stores like Louis Vuitton, Prada, Zara, Tods etc near each other. This street is 1km long and is a tree-lined avenue stretching from the entrance of Meiji Shrine, our next location point.
Meiji Shrine with the huge cypress tori marking the entrance. This shinto shrine is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife.
After the visit, we continued walking down to Shibuya for more shopping and dinner.
Look at the amount of stores and restaurants located within Shibuya. So spoiled for choices but we decided to have gyozas for dinner.
Stopped by to have some finger food after a long walk around Shibuya. This chicken nuggets were smelling so nice from far and I couldn't resist getting one too. It was soo crispy and juicy I just kept reaching for it and finished it in less than 10mins!
One of the prominent landmark of Shibuya is this large intersection in front of the Shibuya Station Hachiko Exit. This intersection stops all cars from all direction and allows pedestrians to cross the intersection in every direction, including diagonally at the same time.
This is the famous Hachiko statue which was built to remember the loyalty of the dog to his owner which continued to wait for his master in front of the station exit everyday even after his master had passed away. A movie about Hachiko was also made and I remember crying throughout the whole movie.
After a long day out, we finally took the train back to hotel and we went for onsen (Hot Spring) in the hotel to relax before tucking to bed!
Will continue to blog about my trip in Tokyo in the next few days! Do stay tune! (:
First stop is to find some food for our empty stomachs at Omoide Yokocho (Memory Lane) or also known as Shonben Yokocho (Piss Alley) on the west side of Shinjuku Station. This is a small alley filled with small yakitori bars. But as it is way too early, most of the stores are closed so we settled for some ramen at the store located right at the entrance of the alley.
Most of the stores in Tokyo uses this vending machine for ordering. You just put in notes and press the item that you want. A token/ticket will then be issued and you just have to pass it to the person at the counter after being seated. It is fully in Japanese so we just blindly match the words to the pictures above. If you can't find the item that you want from the menu on the vending machine, you can kindly ask the staffs in the stores to help you out. But of course, do try to speak slower and use simpler words for the staffs to understand.
I ordered this pork and dumpling ramen which was very filling for me. The soup tasted so great that I finished every single drop of it. I am super afraid of soup that has the pork kind of taste/smell and this totally tasted nothing like that. The soup is rich but not too salty which I find most of the ramen base are. The meat is also so tender and soft, I just can't get enough of it. However, the dumplings are quite normal, nothing fantastic about it.
The set also comes with a ramen egg and a small bowl of rice with grilled pork topped with home-made sauce. Had to share my meal with the rest as it was super filling and my stomach almost exploded! But no doubt, the food was superb and price was very affordable.
This is the store front and it is very easy to locate once you're at the road junction. Do go try this store out if you are around the area!
After filling up our stomachs, we went to shop around the area before taking the train down to Harajuku which was just few stops away.
Takeshita Street, located just right opposite the exit of Harajuku Station. It's a street filled with teenager clothing, shoes, bags, cosmetics and street foods. There is also a 4-storey Daiso store located near the entrance. As it is a Sunday, it is fully packed with teenagers and a lot of them are in their cosplay suits.
We decided to try out this potato chips store where they have chips topped with different flavours. There was quite a queue so we figured it must be well-known or really delicious so we joined in too. We got the sour cream and salty flavours to try and personally I prefer the sour cream one as the salty one is a tad too salty for me.
There are a lot of stores that are selling this lucky box thing for 100 yen and the boxes each contain a prize. If you are lucky you may get the good prices such as cameras, mp3, watches etc. But if you're not that lucky as me, you might end up having keychains, earphones and small accessories.
After a long walk down Harajuku Street, we decided to take a short break and enjoy some nice coffee and pancakes.
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| Peanut Butter and Chocolate Pancake topped with Whipped Cream and Nuts. |
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| Meiji Shrine Entrance |
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| Barrels of Sake |
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| The Shrine |
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| Wishing Tree |
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| Prayers by visitors |
After the visit, we continued walking down to Shibuya for more shopping and dinner.
Shibuya is a place filled with youth fashion and culture and its streets are the birthplace to many of Japan's fashion and entertainment trends.
The gyozas were so crispy and the fillings were so juicy. The skin was perfect too, not being too thick nor too thin. It was so delicious we could easily devour 10 each!
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| The name of the store with a big gyoza sign outside |
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| Look how the streets are bustled with people at night |
Stopped by to have some finger food after a long walk around Shibuya. This chicken nuggets were smelling so nice from far and I couldn't resist getting one too. It was soo crispy and juicy I just kept reaching for it and finished it in less than 10mins!
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| The famous Shibuya Crossing |
One of the prominent landmark of Shibuya is this large intersection in front of the Shibuya Station Hachiko Exit. This intersection stops all cars from all direction and allows pedestrians to cross the intersection in every direction, including diagonally at the same time.
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| The famous Hachiko Statue |
After a long day out, we finally took the train back to hotel and we went for onsen (Hot Spring) in the hotel to relax before tucking to bed!
Will continue to blog about my trip in Tokyo in the next few days! Do stay tune! (:
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