This was the final leg of our Japan '24 trip :")
Each city was so memorable in their own ways, and Tokyo certainly is that, too!
Let's continue where we left off: boarding the train in Kyoto.
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DAY 7B
As soon as the train moved, I started eating lol. I was quite hungry!
I started with tuna sandwich that my mom got for us. It was actually incredible! Soft, full of flavor, not fishy at all!
Then I proceeded to try the Ekiben we purchased. OMG.
So we got two: one chicken & one beef. I have to say, both were so so good. The only thing that could improve this, is if the shinkansen had microwaves :")
We didn't heat it up at the station/store, so it was room temp (even towards the colder side, due to the way it was kept in the store). But they were sooo flavorful! The rice was sticky & succulent, the protein was well-cooked & tasty, complemented with fresh & crunchy pickles. I paired these with green tea + a chocolate pudding/panacotta thing. DIVINE. It was a first class experience xD
Within like 1.5 hours, we would pass Mt. Fuji :")
It was raining that morning in Kyoto. The sky was gray and cloudy. I thought I wouldn't get to see Fuji-san this time. But as we went further and further from the Kansai region, the weather got clearer! And by the time we passed mt Fuji, there it was. Standing tall, gorgeous. The angle we got to see was different to the ones I had seen on Instagram, YouTube, or books/websites. But nevertheless, it was impressive and majestic, complete with its iconic white top. I was especially lucky that people didn't just flock to the carriage-connector cabins to look out! Maybe this isn't such a special occasion for everybody, huh? xD double lucky!
Not too long afterwards, we arrived at Tokyo Station. This, however, was not our final stop. We had to take another train to our hotel, located in Ginza. And, this was where the Tokyo mayhem started xD After being in peaceful Osaka & Kyoto, the train station of Tokyo immediately felt sooo different! More crowded, more confusing, with way way more lines & things to look out for! Aaahh! Especially while carrying several luggages, it wasn't as easy to navigate. Unlike our experience of taking the train & bus in the previous two cities, we certainly didn't get it right the first time here in Tokyo. But we managed. We got to Ginza Station, found a way out, and somehow made it to our hotel. (Once again, the GPS was overwhelming to read as we got out of the station, trying to find our way to the hotel. Have a lot of patience & research as much beforehand!!)
We arrived at the hotel, checked in, collected our two luggage which we had sent the day before, and initially, I had planned for us to hang around Ginza for the rest of the day. But being ambitious tourists that we are, we somehow decided that we want to go to Shibuya (particularly, my dad wanted to go to On Flagship store).
On our way back to the train station, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, somehow we found that the traffic on one of the main road had been closed off. Which means, we got to literally snap a photo in the middle of the street, with the beautiful tall buildings of Ginza as our background. Mesmerizing!
A little hiccup happened here: upon arriving at the station and trying to get to the platform, I got separated from my family. It was super crowded. When the train approach, I still couldn't locate them. I assume they had followed me to the platform and was just standing somewhere away. BUT it turned out, they were in fact NOT standing on the platform yet. Meanwhile, I had boarded the train! LOLz. The Tokyo Mayhem struck again. Fortunately, this route had many many trains. The next one was only 4 minutes away. Hehe. We were promptly reunited in the Omotesando Station. As we walked to the On store, we were captivated by the beautiful buildings, housing one name brands after another.
Sadly, when we got to On, they had closed their queue line for the day :") It was only 5 pm! And the store was supposed to officially close at 6:30 pm! But that's ok, we still had several days here, should we want to try again. Whilst in Shibuya, what why not find & cross the Shibuya crosswalk? So that was our next stop.
It was indeed very, very crowded. Not as crowded as what we'd see in the TV (this wasn't the peak season, after all). But it was so fast, so full of people, and did get overwhelming (again, especially coming from Osaka & Kyoto, lol!). The funny thing was, most people crossing the street did have their cameras out! Makes you wonder, how many people were crossing the street just for the experience (like we did) and how many really did need to cross? Lol.
Another thing to do Whilst in Shibuya: visit Echire! I had seen this bakery/shop on Instagram for a while. They are a French butter maker, but they then use their butter to create incredible treats. The ones that caught my attention: the madeleine & cannelés. So I patiently waited in line, ordered these two, and added a small round of butter too. Hihi.
Afterwards, we inspected the New Balance store in this mall. I was so tempted HAHA. But I persisted!
For dinner, we were debating whether to eat here in Shibuya/Shinjuku area, or in Ginza. We couldn't make up our mind!
However, I remembered a place that I really want to take my family to - which happened to be in Ginza. Perfect for tonight's dinner. So, off we went to Ootoya in Ginza!
It was located in the basement of a building, very close to (one of) the Ginza station exits. We got seated quite quickly, and as we can order via tablet with an English menu, it was a very good choice to calm our overwhelmed senses down. Ha!
We had a very good dinner, then walked back to our hotel. This was the our first experience of Ginza's beautiful nightscape :") It was so Christmasy. The small touch of fairy lights wrapping around each tree made the whole ambience more twinkly and dreamy. I wonder how long it took to transform this whole street to get this magical look?
At the hotel, we brought back a 'tradition' which we had started back in Osaka, but had to pause in Kyoto: nightly foot soak!
We weren't exactly onsen people. And we certainly do not walk 20k steps per day in our normal life. So to still get a resemblance of the Japanese baths tradition, but also to help our feet recover faster, we brought Epsom salt and started this ritual xD We had to pause in Kyoto bcs our room didn't have any bathtub (it did have a real onsen downstairs :") but too shy to try this time lol).
And so, we sat around the rim of the bathtub, bringing drinks, wine, snacks, and stories. What a beautiful way to end each day.
DAY 8
It was a Sunday. We have officially been in Japan for 1 whole week! First on our agenda today was actually the museum. Yep, thus far, we hadn't gone into any of the temples, shrines, or museums, until now!
The museum was a recommendation of a relative who visited Tokyo a few months prior. We bought the ticket to the museum online - there's a small discount if you purchase the tix the day before & online! Definitely took advantage of that.
The trip started with another Tokyo Mishap. When we looked at our Google Maps in Osaka or Kyoto, it would tell us which station to go to, which platform number to go to. The train would come, we hopped on it, and always got to the right destination. Here in Tokyo, it seemed to tell us the platform number as well, but somehow, when we got to said platform, sometimes it didn't match the train that we want.
I'm still not quite sure what happened, but I think more than just the platform number, you also have to look at the line - which train line are you taking that day? And before anything else, make sure you are in the right station! Japan has multiple train service companies, and sometimes they have different stations that have similar names!
Tbh, my public transport research ended with how to get to & from the airport. LOL. I didn't do enough research on the local (esp Tokyo's) public transport, and I guess this is the price to pay xD
But anyway, a kind station employee helped point us to the right line & we found the platform (same platform number, different place, idk.) We got on the train, all the way to Omiya Station, and then changed to another sky-train looking thing to get to the museum. Fitting, right?
The train was full of families with kids going to the museum. LOL. We were probably the only adults-group there. But that's okay! Because the museum, whilst can be fun and interactive for kids, are also very informational & fun for adults, too! Especially as someone who takes a lot of public transport, it was so nice immersing myself in the history and culture of trains :")
We were welcomed with a 'show', where the train in the middle of the exhibition hall would ring its horn, and with the help of some sort of turn-table thing, would pivot around! How cool!
We spent a good few hours here, walking up and down, across buildings, trying things out. HA! My highlight was probably that you can make your own 'avatar', which you can then scan into each information-screen, and it would seem like your avatar is interacting with their mascot! Pretty cool, right? Yep! It's just that, the other ones doing it are parents with little kids. LOL. But again, it was all good fun.
Another highlight: finding trains that I do recognize - the shinkansen we took the day before, of course, and some 'sister' trains to the ones we have in Jakarta. Whaat a small world xD
From the museum, we went back to Omiya Station.
We were actually contemplating on where to go next? And since it was lunch time, where should we eat?
When we first got to Omiya Station, we saw this canteen-looking establishment, and thought it could be nice! The menu seemed interesting. And we also passed by a bakery that sold the most sweet-smelling mini croissant that made us drool like crazy.
When we got back from the museum, we somehow forgot how to get there :") We walked around & couldn't find it. Maybe it was in a different wing of the station or something....
Until, we decided to let it go, and just hop on the train to Shibuya and find something there to eat. Buuutt, just before we went downstairs to the platform, we checked one corner - and there it was! The croissant shoppe ^^ And that canteen! The realization came that we were too hangry to travel, anyways, so we decided to eat.
It was a WHOLE new experience! Even though we ordered our food through a machine, there was no English translation (so we used Google Translate) anddd they were made by different smaller stalls inside of this establishment! We were waiting for our ticket number to be called - fortunately a few minutes later we discovered that they do display the numbers on the screen as well xD But which vendor did we order this from? Some were visible within our eyeline, some were on the other side. So we had to memorize what we ordered and go find it whenever the number was called/appeared.
On top of that, some of the food were not as it seemed :")
What we thought was like noodle & sweet and sour chicken, turned out to be sprouts and (wait for it) some sort of cartilages. HA! Maybe chicken feet? but who knows - it was already chopped into smaller pieces. Ha. But had to admit, the flavor was good that one. The others..... were more interesting than good. Ha. But that's fine - a memorable experience indeed.
After we were (somewhat) fueled, we headed back to Shibuya. Once again, we want to try our luck at the On store. The train took about 40 mins, and was rather crowded on a Sunday. We arrived at around 4 pm - and once again, the line had been closed! :") Quite sad, because we were literally an hour earlier than yesterday, but the line was already closed only 5 minutes before we arrived.
Sooo we tried to look out for other stores who sell On shoes, visited some, but my dad didn't find the exact series he was looking for.
For me, I kept my eyes on food & snacks lol l So! I tried to look for matcha - but the line was super long there, on a shop near the On store! But whilst we were in Shibuya, Shinjuku area, why not walk a little bit to Harajuku! And get one of my fav fav snack: Harajuku-style crepe. So off we went to Marion Crepes in Harajuku. The line was long, but moving quite fast all things considered.
I got strawberry nutella, and banana, strawberry, with whipped cream and ice cream. Delicious :") After the sugar boost, we walked back to Omotesando to take the train back to Ginza. Once again, I was amazed at the city-sight here. And we happened to pass 'Angelica', the famous Parisian cafe with their hot chocolate :"))) cry.
Upon arriving at Ginza, now the inevitable question: What's for dinner?
We opted for ramen - to redeem whatever that was we ate in Kyoto xD
We went to Ippudo. There were 2, close by locations. Initially we went to the smaller location, but since the line was quite long, the staff directed us to the other, bigger location, where the staff from that location had reserved the seat for us :") How nice & efficient! And this time, the bowl of ramen was satisfactory. YUM.
We walked back to the hotel and enjoyed the scenery of Ginza along the way. Oh! And another experienced unlocked: we (finally) tried the 7-11 smoothie! HA! Because we were in desperate need for fruit & fibers. And, surprisingly good! Not only that, the machine itself was impressive - its clear instruction, speed, process, and self-cleaning feature. Hihiii. A healthier drink to accompany our night foot-soak ritual.
DAY 9
For me, this was the utmost SHOPPING day! hihiii I've been looking forward to this day for months, if not years!
If you know me, I'm not that into shopping for clothes or shoes anymore than what I need. BUT! When it comes to books and stationery, or snacks, I just couldn't help myself.
So I scheduled a visit to 4 stores:
1. Don Quijote
Some people debated whether DonQ is the best budget shop there is, but for me, I was very happy with my trip here. This is where I got all of the snacks I gifted to my friends - from matcha mixes, furikake, and a whole basket of Kit-Kat. And in December 2024, with a purchase over Y5500, we could get tax refund in the form of direct price deduction. The only things is, they packed our snacks in a sealed bag that shouldn't be opened until we leave Japan. That worked for us! We came back with 3 of those bags lol. We dropped it off at the hotel (it was only a 2 minutes walk - literally!) before hitting the next store heheee.
2. Kyukyodo
This store was located on our way to the next store. But, Kyukyodo is as historical as it is beautiful. So, I couldn't help but get in.
It was filled with beautiful stationeries, more on the traditional side, with Japanese styles and motifs. I think they also specialize in more paper-based stationery (notebooks, postcards, greeting cards, etc) and things that would complement your paper experience - (inks, stamps, etc.) I got myself a set of 'orizuru' origami stickers. Then, off we go to the next store!
3. Itoya
Itoya was 12 floors of awesomeness. Each floor made me squeal and melt and fall in love. They had a whole floor for postcards, stickers, stamps, and inks. Then, a separate one for fountain pens. Another separate one just for journals and notebooks. Another one for scrapbooks. Sure, each floor is not a massive in terms of the space. But still, the options could feel so unlimited! I think you have to come in with a game plan, otherwise you'd get swept by the waves of wander, and end up with a huge bag of everything.
And, I actually did come with a plan! I was looking for a specific leather journal, which I had found a few months earlier on the inter-web. It was made in Vienna, and the only store around Asia-Pacific is is Japan! Otherwise, you'd have to have it shipped. When I went to Itoya in Osaka & Kyoto, I've seen this brand as well, and have had a feel on similar products, but not quite the one I wanted (different prices, too).
Unfortunately, in Itoya Tokyo, they also didn't carry that line of product :") I was quite disappointed that I didn't get to bring it home that day. However! I didn't lose hope after reading that the shipping cost is still quite reasonable. Hihi.
As a consolation, of course I went ahead and got myself some more stickers xD
4. Loft
So, we've spent quite a few hours hopping from store to store to store. It was getting late in the lunch hour, and the fam was hungry!
BUT I got one more stop to go. So while the fam went ahead to find a place to eat, I rushed to Loft, as Loft was only a 4-minute walk from Itoya
I also came to Loft with a plan! I wanted to purchase a Hobonichi journal/planner.
Loft was 'only' 5 levels, but again it was 5 whole level of cute, useful, and tempting things! Fortunately, I didn't know it in this (first) visit *hint: we'd be back*. I thought the Loft was only on the 5th floor of this building, so up I went, found my Hobonichi, grabbed a Sarasa as well (reunited with my Sarasa felt so good). And at this point I felt very very satisfied, as I had ticked off all of my Japan goals. Yay!
But, the fam was yet to find lunch. I think they were trying to find a place that was closed that day. So we searched for an alternative. I actually passed a street with 4-5 shops selling soaps/body care. It smelled AMAZING.
At the end, we had some tempura for lunch. I actually found it delicious! Simple, filling, fresh. But I over-ordered slightly, as my meal came with both rice & soba! Oops. Language snaffu.
From here, we walked around a little bit more - smelling perfumes, entering Ginza Six to find matcha place. Afterwards, the rest of the fam wanted to continue shopping. As I've finished all my shopping, I decided to go on my own little solo walk xD
On a longer trip like this, I always treat the second-last day as the 'mock' last day. I succumb to the melancholy of parting with this place I'm visiting, and try to soak everything in. That way, the actual last day felt more like a bonus! HA! And sometimes, a redemption for all the things you found you would regret if you missed it.
So, walking around Tokyo, just near sunset, in the beautifully crisp air, was all I needed that day.
Of course I wasn't walking without a destination. I couldn't! When you type in 'Ginza', one of the most recommended snack is this place called Age.3. Turns out, it was quite a walk away from our hotel. But that's why I so enjoyed this detour. It gave me the chance to explore the outskirts of Ginza (still so beautiful, though without its skyscrapers and brand stores). Just a few minutes towards sunset, I crossed this bridge over the highway, and snapped a beautiful picture. It was so lovely.
When I finally got to Age.3 15 minutes later, I found this tiny hole in the wall place! They don't even have a place to queue: instead, they would have to line people on the other side of the street, right next to the zebra-cross xD LOL. At the time, I was the 2nd or 3rd party waiting across the street (there might be 1 or two people waiting inside of the store). Got a look at the menu (which I hadn't done online - lol it was that popular) and found that Age.3 specialized in crispy fried bread (maybe shokupan?), with Japanese whipped cream and toppings. Well, that's the sweet menu anyway - they do also have the savoury menu - maybe similar to the sandwiches found in konbinis. But as a sweet tooth, I went ahead and ordered the fresh cream with mandarin, and the chocolate sandwich. They were NOT cheap - for a single piece of friend bread and cream! And it took a while for them to prepare the order - I guess they had a big order before me? Or they fried the bread just as it was ordered? Idk. It probably took (what felt like) another 10-15 minutes for me to get my hands on my orderes, and walked back to the hotel. The beautiful neighborhood started 'transitioning' into night mode: small izakayas and restaurants were opening up as I rolled merrily along with my goods.
I rejoined my fams in Uniqlo for a little check in, in the BIGGEST Uniqlo store I've ever been in! And, fair enough, there are Uniqlos all over the places that I've lived, but this was another 12 stories of UNIQLO! It has a little florist at the back, it has a coffee shop, a customization section. It was so, so crowded (with met a few Indo tourists too hihi). I guess unfortunately, as we were visiting in the colder months, all they sell were winter clothes and jackets. Yep, all 12 floors were repeating similar items!
I did get away with buying a pair of work opants (that I do need - and was intentionally done), but I would've loved to buy some lighter pieces as well. On the bright side, that means my shpping got under control LOL LOL. Purchasing these pieces got us tax-refund as well, so that was a good deal.
Off we went, back to the hotel to drop off all our shoppings from the day.
All? Oh, did I not mention? While I was getting Age.3, my mom got a pair of Stan Smith shoes. And, while we were in DonQ and Itoya, my dad and sister got themselves a pair of On shoes -one each! Yep, they woke up and got themselves to Shibuya before the store opened, got in line, and got in! Hihi.
Ok, back at the hotel.
It was time to taste-test this thing. Was it any good? Was it worth the walk and wait and hype?
It only took 1 bite of the fresh cream & mandarin one: it was DIVINE! Fried bread, it turned out, was the BEST THING ON EARTH! The cream was not too heavy nor sweet. The mandarin was fresh and juicy! Oh, and the chocolate one? Not too sweet at all! IN fact, it has that deeper, 'dark chocolate' flavor as well. So, it was very much a splurge, but also a worth it one. Wowza. Would love to recreate that some time.
It was getting dark outside, and so it was time to find our next meal! And whilst we were in Japan, we wanted to eat not just the ramen and takoyaki, but also something as sublime as Sukiyaki. We found a place online that was quite close to the hotel. It was a Kansai-style sukiyaki. So that's where we were headed.
It took a few minutes to find the right restaurant - because the sign and the name didn't really match xD But we walked in and saw that it was the right place - because of how full it was. I mean, sure it wasn't too big, but it was a beautifully modern place, and people did come from all over to eat here. The servers were one of the highlights of this place because of how energetic and sweet they were!
I remember the group in the line before us, 4 girls, and from their shopping bags I could see that they'd been running around and got so hungry. So one of them started snacking. The serer saw this and started kind of acknowledging how long the line was and got this motherly laugh. Ha! So cute. And no matter how little time they got to take a breath (there were only two servers doing the WHOLE thing: taking orders, serving, taking payments, helping out, etc), they never stop smiling and 'yelling' out their chants - either to welcome or to say goodbye.
Now about the food - well... they didn't have any English menu, and Google translate wasn't much help. And the two lovely server didn't exactly have enough English to explain everything to us. So - they ended up ordering something for us - we knew not what (nor how much it'd cost!) But food did come (phew xD) and it was so lovely :")
In this style of sukiyaki: you got a little burner in the middle of the table, then they bring out a hot-plate of meat and veggies and glass noodle. You'd then pour out soy sauce (3 circles) after it's been 5 minutes. But also! You are given an egg each person: and the idea is you'd dip the cooked meat in the raw egg before devouring it.
Ok, I have to admit, I tried this style of sukiyaki (homemade) back in Indo, and didn't really love it. The raw egg weirded me out.
But here, it was the opposite :")
I do love a runny egg on my eggs benny or on any rice bowls - it tasted exactly like that! The richest, creamiest runny egg, coating a delicious piece of beef or tofu, doused with the perfect amount of sweet and salty sauce. It was so warming. I thoroughly enjoyed this meal (though the rest of the gang ended up 'cooking' their eggs on the stove. Oh well.)
When it was time to pay - we had a little game. How much would it cost? It was the most expensive meal we had in Japan HAHAA the price was quite premium - as it was the menu most tourists order to get a full experience xD But I didn't mind. It was a great experience for sure.
Going home - for dessert, I got this frozen strawberry thing from 7-11. Like a ball of strawberry sorbet - and it was sweet & refreshing! Perfect to accompany out grapes gummy hihi.
DAY 10
DAY 10
Finally, the final day in Japan (not counting the next day's travel day, though it'd still have some Tokyo Mayhem hihi).
As I mentioned earlier, when I treat the penultimate day as the mock 'last day', suddenly some things that I really wouldn't want to miss would shoot up to the list. That included 3 things for me: visiting Tsukiji Market, getting one final matcha, and visiting Jimbocho area.
So that day, I dragged my sister to come with me to get matcha in Tsukiji market. Ha! It was a perfect coincidence. And it turned out, Tsukiji market was less than 20 mins walk from our hotel in Ginza! Double perfection.
Whilst in Japan, my Instagram still got recommendations from influencers lol. And I saw this person drinking what looked like a legit cup of matcha. The color was right, and the taste was described as wonderful. This person didn't mention the name or place - classic. But a part of the cup did show on the video - which I screen-captured and Google Search-ed to find it was the 'Matcha Stand Maruni' in Tsukiji Market. HA! I already had that in my list xD So must be quite good and highly recommended.
Now, I initially did put Tsukiji market in our list, but I know that food in markets can be quite expensive,
but this became the perfect excuse to look around and feel the vibe of the market, but also getting myself a final cheeky matcha! And it was the perfect final matcha. It was super strong HAHA. Which is good and exactly what I want.
Tsukiji market itself was quite hectic, but at that time of year & day, you could still walk around quite comfortably. Lots of stalls selling fresh fresh fresh seafood! Which made me realize - whilst in Japan, I didn't get to try any sashimi or sushi! :") except for a few slices of fresh salmon on top of my chazuke in Kyoto. My mom doesn't like raw fish, and the thing is, sushi in Japan means raw seafood. There were no fusion sushi like what we had in Indo. Oh well, a reason to come back soon!
After fetching my matcha, we continued on to Jimbocho.
So, I knew of Jimbocho because I read the books 'Days at the Morisaki Bookshop' and 'More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop'. The main character, Takako, had a deep connection to the bookstore run by her uncle, Satoru. In the book, Uncle Satoru's bookstore was located in Jimbocho. The writer, Satoshi Yagisawa, painted a cozy image of the area in which secondhand books are sold by shop after shop, each specializing in a genre or type of book. Even though the 'Morisaki Bookshop' is fictional, I do want to see this area!
It turned out that the bookstores are much much simpler and smaller than I'd imagined. Sure, there are one or two bigger bookstores, and there was even one newer, 'international' bookstore. But in general, it was on the tiny side.
It was also a little bit more modern than I had conjured up in my imagination HAHA no wooden buildings - these are all bricks & mortar, with outdoor stalls, and sometimes racks on the alleys. And they weren't only selling books - there are also DVDs, postcards, etc.
After inspecting the block, it was time to meet our parents for lunch. This time, it was my dad's 'no regret - redemption' lunch.
We went to Gyuan Ginza. There was a line and we were hungry, but to be fair, it moved quite quickly. We were waiting less than 15-30 mins. Again, I was quite impressed by the server - they were all ladies! Not gen-z or millenials - older ladies maybe in their 50-60s. But they moved super fast. Impressive.
At first, I wanted to order hambagu - a 200gr beef patty with Japanese sauce. But they sold out :") BUT THEN, I read that they also offer a 100-gr version, combined with 100-gr of steak. So I initially pivoted to that. BUT THEN, I also saw that they offer 100-gr hambagu, 75-gr steak, and side salad. HAHA. So that was what I chose at the end. It was also called 'Ladies Lunch'. Fitting - since it was filling, hearty, but had a lighter side at the same time.
My gosh. It was delicious :") I mean the hambagu, I figured that I would like that - the sauce was sweet, savoury, rich. The meat was soft and flavorful. The steak was cooked nicely and not though at all. With the rice, miso, and tea, it was the right lunch to end our trip.
Afterwards, we walked a few blocks away to 'Glitch Coffee'. This was my sister's redemption coffee.
Glitch was a special coffee shop! You don't just buy a takeaway cup here. They were selling an experience: the barista would present the coffee beans to you, recommend the beans that would fit your preferred taste profile, and they also carry unusual coffee beans (like ones with 'melon'-aroma). So, it was only natural that the line was long. Ha! Since I don't drink coffee, and since my mom also wanted to visit Loft, so we split up. Yep, Loft was my mom's redemption store.
And for the first time, I experience the 5 floors of Loft. :") It was as magical as Itoya HAHA. Even though Loft doesn't only specialize in stationery, they actually sold a bunch of interesting thigns. Starting with snacks at the first floor (with coffee from all over - including from Rokumei Coffee!) - where we bought some snacks to gift the grandparents. Moving on to the second floor: skincare! Body care! hair care! Third floor: travel essentials. Fourth floor: kitchen essentials. Then, the fifth floor: stationery. Ok, so I thought, we wouldn't spend too much time here, since we had done Itoya yesterday... and tbh it was quite accurate, until I found the stickers section.
All hell breaks loose. HAHA. We began inspecting rows by rows of stickers, washi tapes, stamps, and did not want to leave! :")
We left with a literal stack of stickers xD
My dad & sister came by - and ended up purchasing a luggage. Ha, not surprised. What made me surprise was our cash was just enough - right to the dot xD HAHAA phew talk about shopping anxiety.
We dropped this huge thing back at the hotel first before dinner.
Before eating our very final meal in the city of Tokyo, we took a long walk. Strolling through Ginza, finding alleyways we hadn't walked past, main streets with even more luxurious brands despite their smaller/more 'exclusive' stores, also festive with string lights and sparkles.
As we walk and walk and walk, I thought, why not try to sneak a peek at Tokyo Station? Since we were walking closer and closer in that direction.
Remember the train museum? We saw an information section on Tokyo Station - which looked SO COOL! The Station - which also houses a hotel - had a distinct red & long building stretching over one of the busiest stations ever.
Well, Tokyo Station wasn't as close as we thought. I think - just like 90% of the stations here - Tokyo Station has so many exits, that the closest one was close to where we had been walking, but that iconic red building was quite a few blocks away.
HOWEVER. That turned out to be such a good decision - because once again, we passed a part of Tokyo we hadn't seen before: the business district! JP Morgan's huge building! The office 'skyscrapers'. And when we finally reached the station, we discovered a plaza/square, which was so open, reminded me of Julliard's Hearst Plaza vibe. Again, twinkly, lined beautifully with sparkly trees, and so open and vast! Such a luxury in the heart of Tokyo.
Of course, I'm not me if I don't plan ahead - since tomorrow we are taking a train from this station, we also needed to figure out where to go tomorrow. We did a little sleuthing, a lot of photographing and being mesmerized.
Ok - time for dinner.
Well, we kept it simple - we went back to Ootoya HAHA. It was just a homey, Japanese dinner that we can order easily. I do love me my Ootoya. Whilst we wait for our order, we reminisced about all the meals we've had in Japan. 10 days flew in a blink of an eye.
I ordered the same thing - of course - a chicken katsu in a little broth/sauce, with veg & mushrooms + rice. Simple, hearty, heartwarming. We finished dinner and didn't linger around - we had an early start tomorrow!
So we took one last walk in Ginza, from Ootoya to our hotel, saying goodbye to the gorgeous view and the streets we called home for the past 4 days. Final packings, finishing up any leftover foods, setting our alarms, and off we went to bed.
DAY 11
I set my alarm at 5 am. Final packing, final checking, and we were downstairs ready to check out at 6 am. We had a train to catch at 7 am, and a flight at 11 am from Narita Airport.
This early in the day, it would only take us 10 minutes to get to Tokyo Station. But we cannot afford to miss this train - otherwise getting to the airport would be a big nightmare. That's why I dragged my family at 6.15 am to order ourselves a premium uber, loaded all our (now) 6 luggage and go to the station.
We arrived with plenty of time to spare - but as I was looking for the machine to print out our Narita Express ticket - nothing worked!
It either said 'QR Code not found' or something like that.
I tried asking in the first office I saw, but the person didn't really give me helpful answer. So frantically I try to find other gates and machines. I started panicking - because I also I knew that from this station lobby, we still had a long journey to get to our platform! Fortunately, I found the right person to ask - who pointed me to the specific machine that can print out my ticket. Phew!
And at the same time, I also deployed my family to find the ticket gates - and we met at the same spot. We made a small error here - but a forgivable one, fortunately. So, we should have inserted our express ticket into the gate (naturally - this made sense). But because it was another Tokyo Mayhem episode, I didn't have time to confirm this method, and we tapped our ICOCA cards instead. Fortunately, later on in the exit gate at Narita airport, the staff kindly helped us to cancel our ICOCA transaction and scan our NEX tickets instead.
Okay, now that we were on the other side of the gate, the race to the platform continued! From GF, we had to get to B5! Unfortunately, it was not a simple 'get on the elevator' trip. It was a literal maze!! What's good is the station had clear direction and signs - we could just follow the red arrow on the floor and there were sign boards all over the place. But with 4 people, 6 luggage, one short staircase with no ramp, two or three elevators to take, it tok us a while.
Praise God we made it to our platform with plenty of time to spare! This gave us the opportunity to witness the actual Tokyo rush hour! Where, from the platform opposite us, we saw Japanese salarymen in suits rushing out of a packed train, striding to catch their next train. I couldn't imagine everyday being like that :")
The express train finally approached our platform, and we got on. It took about 1 hr to get to Narita with this train, and I just witnessed my first Japanese sunrise :") It really was majestic and beautiful, a wonderful way to say goodbye to this country. We arrived at Narita airport just shy of 8 am, quickly get ourselves checked in, and got our mandatory McDonald's! hihi. Trip tradition!
The McDonald's here was placed right across the Traveler's Factory store! AAA it was so tempting. But I had all the notebooks I wanted. But, I remembered: I didn't have any Tokyo postcards, yet! Hihi. A cheeky excuse to go on a little shopping at the airport. The designs were so cute :")
At 9-9.30, we went to the security & immigration - which went quite smoothly! And then, family toilet break haha. A long one - which gave me the time to walk around the airport. And as I kept walking, and walking, and walking, it just didn't end! I decided to turn around after a while - bcs I could still go on for another few minutes I think! There were restaurants, and 7-11, and liquor shops, but I had something else in mind haha. To me, trips mean Starbucks!
Ever since we touched down in Japan, back in Osaka, we noticed that instead of the usual Gingerbread latte or Toffee Nut latte, Japanese seasonal Christmas menu includes this pink milk drink that didn't exist in Indo or in Aussie. But you know, I was yearning for the matcha lattes.
But now, with all my matcha cravings satisfied, it was time to give it a go. Flight treat! And it was quite yum! But tbh, it tasted more like a good strawberry milk - nothing else. Or maybe that was the point?
Our plane boarded and departed in time. I took this time on the flight to sleep and watch movies. Remember how hectic our 'vacation' schedule was? This was the first time in weeks, or probably month or the year, where I had absolutely nothing else to do! I couldn't touch my phone, no one could bother me with questions or request. It was honestly bliss :") .
And, because we flew Garuda Indonesia, we got the most delicious in-flight meals! The meal that I chose was the Japanese-inspired fish dish - complete with a little soba appetizer, dessert bite, and green tea. Then, we got a cheeky ice cream for a pre-arrival treat.
We arrived just in time in Bali. Our baggage took LITERALLY forever to arrive, but we got there. We headed straight to Warung Lao Ta for a late but super satisfying dinner. Then, we drove for an hour to our hotel in Ubud!
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So, that's our Japan 2024 trip done and dusted.
Whilst I still have it in my memory, I would try to list down some tips & tricks that I learned in my next post - for our next trip hihi God willing!
It was utterly fun, and the word I couldn't stop using is 'beautiful', because it truly was.
Until next time, Japan. Thank you for being such a gracious host.
I hope to see you in your every season, every iteration.
Hopefully, very soon.
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