Ginza

Today, after I checked out of my hotel at 11 and before leaving for the airport cos my flight is at 7pm, I decided to walk to the posh shopping mecca district of Ginza since it's literally besides my hotel.








You do get to see every singel posh designer brand on earth at that stree, including the Apple store. haha...the apple store even has a really cool rotation Apple icon ontop its building!


As for the rest, I'll just show the photos...Yes, LV and Loewe included! I also went into Shiseido HQ! haha...and also i saw local brand Hour Glass at Ginza too!

Even MOS has an outlet here that sells posh nosh!

Gucci, Armani, LV, Loewe, Dior, Cartier, Bulgari...blah blah blah...haha

This is the Nissan Showroom.

maxing out my rail pass

yes, i really maxed out my rail pass and today, i decided to head to japan's 4th largest city 2 hrs away from tokyo call nagoya. I'd passed nagoya twice on this trip, on first day to Kyoto and on my return from Hiroshima and the city looks nice. True enough, the moment i stepped out into the main rail station, Takashimaya is housed in the same building! How great?!

Ok, I did not just take a blardy 2 hr trip there to max out rail pass and to visit Takashimaya, but rather, Nagoya also has a famed castle. I was actually deciding last night if I should visit Nagoya or Nagano, site of 1998 Winter Olympic and where the Olympic torch will be having its relay this coming Sat. But since Nagano only is famous for a temple, and I just went to Toshugu in Nikko yesterday and Kyoto's many temples at the trip's beginning, I decided that castle it shall be (since I had only seen 2 castle so far, at Osaka and Himeji).

(the 2 tall towers is where the JR train station and Taka is at!)

I took the 11.33 train and got there at 1.30, then took the 5.22 train back. There, I visited, whatelse, Nagoya castle, and also shopped at Taka. This castle is one of the few in Japan that is in its original structure (like Himeji, but unlike Himeji, and same as Osaka, the interior has been re-done), and the unique part of this castle is the way it is built; the stones forming foundation are laid in fanshaped sloping with curvature.

Also, the gardens surrounding the castle has many peonies and flowers, and a sign that spring is indeed here in Japan, just look at the gorgeous blooms!

The castle is pretty but Taka is prettier! haha...I finally re-found the prawn crackers! I dunno if i had mention this but on my first Japanese trip in 2003, I chanced upon this brand of ultra posh prawn crackers where it's individually packed in nice copper foil (circular with diameter roughly 7cm) and it costs 100 yen each! I saw it at Osaka again on this trip after failing to see it in Kyoto, and i bought just 1 to confirm it is indeed the one i had years ago. The next day, i failed to locate the place in the complcated basement of Osaka station!

So imagine my excitement when i see it at Taka @ Nagoya! I was snapping up so many of these lovelies that before I knew it, the bill came to 6000yen! That's 84 bucks for just prawn crackers!! I also had lunch at this chicken speciality restaurent and I opted for the cheapest thing, the 800 yen Oyako Don (same price as Oyako don i had at Kinosaki but the old lady; so Japan do have high standards of living throughout the country)

Before I left Nagoya, I had some time after all the shopping and lunch and I decided to try desserts! I chanced on this place that sells Soft Ice Cream and since I had seen it all over Japan, and Rachel told me to give it a try cos all are good, I decided to try this Green Tea favoured one and boy it is delicious! So soft and creamy yet smooth! Yummy! Then I went for tea and decided to sit on the deck to enjoy the view of Nagoya.

Then, I came back to Tokyo and just as I was about to swith to the Yamonote line back to my hotel to pack, and rest, I remembered that Dawn told me that the basement at Tokyo Station is a great place, and so, I ventured down and gosh! It is food paradise there man! I bought dinner (Oyako Dona again, but this time, I opted for the 1,200 premium chicken meat one...haha)

and also 2 bottles of plum wine and the weight of crackers, cheesecakes, magdalines and wine became so freaking heavy that I really needed to come back to the hotel! Look at the marks the stuff left on my arms!

Also, I want to share with you this beer (out of the many I tried here) that I think is not bad. I think I'm lucky cos the main breweries of Asahi, Sapporo and Kirin have all come out with new 0 sugar level low calorie beer recently and I tried Sapporo's Viva (very light and refreshing), Kirin's Green (not bad) and this from Asahi whish along with Viva, is my favourite!

another bag to my collection

yeah, i did the un thinkable again: i bought yet another bag! Ok, now all of you can so scold me now...haha...just how many do i need huh? But every bag is unique and each serves diff purpose ok!

Anyway, I got one for my work! Well, if I even get a job anyway...

Ok, I bought a Paul Smith bag cos ever since i am in Japan, I keep seeing all these really cute Japanese guys in their impeccable suits and all carry nice bags! So i was walking pass Paul Smith at Omiya (I passed Omiya when I went to Utsonomiya earlier and realised that there are Sogo and Takashimaya, so i decided to drop by this town before coming back to Tokyo cos the sales stuff here from prior day's experience at Isetan Shinjuku sucks!)

So, I was walking pass and I saw it! The design that fits me so perfectly! Haha...all the excuses I can think of huh? But look at it! It is soooooooo nice! And! There's a sling you can attached to it too! And! The best part is, it's entirely made in Japan!

And! It costs on 26,700 yen! Meaning it is less than 400SGD! For a Paul Smith!

Now go ogle at the photos!

Day Trip (Another One?!) to Nikko

I was so disgusted with Tokyo that I suggested to Rachel, whom I met up for dinner last night, and she brought me to a really local and nice japanese dining bar, that I want to go to Nikko. She said that's a good choice cos the fare there is ex if you do not have Rail Pass and since going to Nikko involves a train change in Utsonomiya, I can check out the famous gyozas from the area too!

So, I woke up like late today and only reached Nikko at 2pm. And since Japan Guide.com only really reccomended one place to visit, which is the Toshogu Shrine, i only visited this one single place even though the lady at the tourist centre told me you need at least 2.5 hours to cover Toshugu and 2 to 3 other sites.

Turns out Toshugu is gorgeous! The shrine, just when i get sick and tired of temple/shrines/pagodas/tori gates, is so different from the others I had seen. It is so lavishly decorated with wooden carvings and gold color coating!













I'll let the photos speak for itself above, and Nikko is also a really nice place, and it is actually up in the hills and I managed to get a really nice view with the snow capped mountains in the background oputside the train station there!




One of the famed wooden carving that I can grab a photo is the Three Monkeys: Ain't they cute?!






Then, there's this Sleeping Cat that is said to bring good luck! So cute!





Then on my way back, I had 30 minutes before my Shinkansen connection at Utsonomiya and decided to check out the Gyoza Alley (I dun even have to step out to the town to try Gyozas!) And I picked the most expensive item on the menu, so smart right? Cos I thought that one got seafood mah! Turns out when I re-look at the menu, I found the chinese characters seemed to tell me that what I pointed at is Whale. Oh my god! As if my first sashimi experience last night with Rachel was not bad enough! But i reckoned that since it is cooked it'll be ok...When the gyozas came, i kindda realised that the meat looks white and suspect that it is not whale meat per se. My intuition that the guy tried to cheat me was more founded when I paid at the cashier and the girl looked at the handwritings and stopped to think for a minute. As if what was written is a code or something to charge me 510 for whale instead of 290 for normal ones. Anyway, i paid and left and when the guy bowed to me on my way out, I snub him. Who say Japanese are always honest?







I decided to stopped by Omiya and went to buy Shiseido's Tsubaki Shampoo range cos i bought a bottle earlier and realised that it rocks! haha...then, i bought cheap strawberries from this Japanese Carrefour and then blew on Paul Smith, but that's another story...haha, but a preview of what I bought tonight anyway:


Oh! And i just wanna share with you what I had for lunch on the Shinkansen today and the view of Tokyo tower from my hotel!