December 2013: A Weekend in Tokyo

Tokyo is probably my second favorite Asian city (next to Seoul). It's a place I'll keep coming back to because of my love for fashion and the city life. I've been to Tokyo for a couple of times in the past years with my family, but I haven't experienced it with a friend yet. So when I heard that my friend who's based in Singapore would be on a business trip in Tokyo, I felt the need to travel almost 3 hours by bus from Suwa to Tokyo just so I could spend time in the city with my friend.

At around 8am of December 8, I took the highway bus from Suwa City, Nagano to Shinjuku, Tokyo. From the bus station in Shinjuku, I took the train to Royal Park Hotel Shiodome Tower where my friend was staying. Good thing my cousin lent me beforehand her preloaded Passmo card (the subway card in Tokyo). Anyway, the hotel is pretty nice but quite pricey.

inside the bus

My friend, Pam and I started our Sunday with ramen for lunch. It's just a small ramen place at the subway connected to the hotel. We shared in one miso ramen and a plate of gyoza. I think our bill was around 1,500 yen.

lunch

Then we proceeded to the Tokyo Imperial Palace. Entrance was free but apparently, almost nothing's left in that area. When we went out of the gates and walked towards the nearest subway station, we got a view of the Edo Castle from afar.

garden at the Imperial Palace

autumn leaves

old Japanese house inside the Imperial Palace

Edo Castle

We headed to Asakusa where we had a view of Tokyo Sky Tree from afar. It's the tallest tower in the world. We followed some groups of tourists following a tour guide and it led us to the Senso-ji Temple. There were a lot of both tourists and locals there.

Asakusa (Tokyo Sky Tree right there!)

Senso-ji Temple

We're too tired so we headed back to the hotel to rest for a bit. At the subway, we found a kiosk of Almond Cafe and we bought and eclair and a croughnut. So far, those were the best I have tasted. We also got some hot chocolate and coffee from the nearby vendo, which were so perfect for the freezing weather.

Christmas illumination at Shiodome

super yummy!:)

Pam enjoying the bed

Sunset was kind of early, like around 4:30 to 5pm. When the sun set, we headed to Harajuku, supposedly to go shopping but when we got there, we're too budget conscious so we were only able to shop at Daiso. haha! From Harajuku, we walked towards Omotesando Hills where we found Heiroku, a "kaiten" (conveyor belt sushi) sushi place. We paid around 3,000 yen for dinner.

sushi dinner

We walked from Omotesando Hills to Shibuya crossing. That popular crossing is one of my favorite spots in Tokyo. I like seeing how organized it is for a bunch of people to cross the street. We went window shopping at Shibuya 109. It's the center of Japanese fashion. However, those local brands were kind of expensive.

Shibuya crossing

Day 1 OOTD without the coat

We're supposed to go out and have some drinks somewhere in Roponggi but we're too tired for it so we headed back to the hotel instead. It's so relaxing in our room at 37th floor, overlooking the city lights.

no filter!

That night I found out that another Singapore-based friend was in Tokyo as well. We got to communicate via Facebook and Viber and we agreed to spend the next day at Roponggi. The next day, I woke up early and met with my friend, Kidjie at the Roponggi Station. We went to the Suntory Museum of Art at Tokyo Midtown, which is connected to the station. We paid a discounted admission fee since we presented our student IDs. After a quick look at the museum, we walked towards Roponggi Hills. We reached Mori Tower but we didn't go up. From there, we got to see the Tokyo Tower, but I still prefer seeing it at night. We headed back to the station and passed by Almond Cafe so I bought eclairs and croughnuts again so I would have something to take home to Suwa.

Day 2 OOTD without the coat :)

not all stations here have gates like these

Tokyo Midtown

BMW i8!!!

Kidjie buying postcards at the museum

the view outside the museum

some random zen garden in Roponggi

From Roponggi Hills, we took a train to Harajuku where we had lunch at my favorite western  restaurant, Wolfgang Puck Express. We paid around 2,000 yen for our meals.

Then we headed to Meiji Shrine, which was just next to Harajuku Station. After a fun half day tour, we headed to the Shinjuku station where we parted ways. Kidjie went back to his hotel while I walked to the bus terminal where I took the highway bus back to Suwa.

entrance going to the Meiji Shrine

Meiji Shrine

drinking fountain

It's been a fun overnight trip. I got to explore Tokyo with my friends and it made me realize that Tokyo could be a fun city to live in. However, the lifestyle would really cost a lot. but who cares, I love Tokyo!:)



xoxo,

city girl