Japan 2016 Day 10: Chilling in Tokyo

At this snail pace, I wonder when I will finish blogging about my 2016 Japan trip. Here's my weak attempt on Day 10/18 in the 18 Days Graduation Trip to Japan series!

Day 10 - 29 May 2016, Sunday

Overall itinerary of our tenth day

0642 - 0719 : Takaoka (Toyama) Station (Ainokaze Toyama Railway for Toyama)>> Toyama Station

0719 - 0932 : Toyama Station (SHINKANSEN KAGAYAKI 502)>>Tokyo Station

0955 - 0959 : Tokyo Station (JR Sobu Line Rapid Service)>>Bakurocho Station

0959 - 1030 : Leave luggages at APA Hotel Higashi-Nihonbashi-Ekimae, Tokyo

1035 - 1047 : Bakurocho Station >> Tokyo Station >> Ginza Station

1100 - 1300 : Hightea at Cafe de Ginza Miyuki-Kan

1300 - 1700 : Shopping at Uniqlo spanning 12 floors, Gu & more at Ginza

1709 - 1711 : Ginza Station >> Tokyo Station

1715 - 1815 : Meal shopping at Daimaru & Takashimaya

1815 onwards : Tokyo Station >> Bakurocho Station >> APA Hotel Higashi-Nihonbashi-Ekimae, Tokyo

On the tenth day of the trip, I remembered us being slightly worn out by all the walking and early mornings we had in the earlier part of the trip. Since Tokyo was also our 1-day stopover before we travelled to Hakodate (Hokkaido region), we decided to chill out for the day. What I meant by 'chill out' is simply... eat and shop.

Again, we took an early Shinkansen from Toyama to Tokyo in the morning which took approximately 2 hours. I bought a can of coffee from the vending machine at the train platform and some packaged donuts from 7-11 for my breakfast on the train. Oh, and I spotted a double decker train too... Would be awesome if we had taken one haha.

First thing on our list when we were in Tokyo was to drop off our luggages at our hotel for the night at APA Hotel Higashi-Nihonbashi-Ekimae, Tokyo. Then, it was time to enjoy our 'tai-tai' life by going for a short high tea at Cafe de Ginza Miyuki-Kan, located at Ginza.

Ginza is somewhat similar to Orchard in Singapore but on a much larger scale with luxury shops everywhere. It took us a while to figure out our directions before we found Cafe de Ginza Miyuki-Kan. We entered the cafe through a tiny storefront or maybe, it was not the storefront but a side entrance. The cafe was pretty empty when we got there, probably too early for others to have high tea or desserts. Good for us, then.

Cafe de Ginza Miyuki-Kan is famous for their Japanese Chestnut Mont Blanc cake. Seeing that they do offer a cake set at 1,404yen, we went for that and we had 2 cakes - 1 Japanese Chestnut Mont Blanc and 1 Strawberry shortcake. Been such a long time that I forgot what tea we ordered... all I remembered was it was good.

Personally, I preferred the Strawberry shortcake since I am not much of a chestnut lover and I love flaky pastries. Biased much, I enjoyed both though. The cream on the Japanese Chestnut Mont Blanc cake was a little powdery but I guessed that is how it should be, right?

Look at this... no wonder, why I love the strawberry one so much!

After we took care of our sweet tooth, it was time to shop. Known for the 12 floors Uniqlo, we joined the crowds and wow, there were many tourists like us. We visited each and every floor, picking up clothes for our family and relatives. When it came to time for us to pay, we had to queue for quite a while in the tax free queue with other foreigners. While waiting in line, I can say... they probably earn the most from the tourists seeing how everyone had baskets of clothes in hand. There was this one lady who bought undergarments of the same design but of all the colours available - red, pink, nude, black, white... you name it, she has it.

When we exited Uniqlo, the main roads were closed. I wondered if it was because it was Sunday or there was some special event. Well, I just got to stand in the middle of the road to take a photo. How often do you get to stand in the middle of the entire junction/road without vehicle right?

We did some more shopping before we headed back to Tokyo station to buy our dinner bento at Daimara and Takashimaya's food section. There were a wide variety of bento and I was just spoilt for choice. Made a few rounds before we finally decided what to get for dinner. I think we got fried pork cutlet with egg. Not exactly sure what meat that was but it tasted good. I bought my favourite soy drink again!

We rested early for the day since we had a super early Shinkansen ride to catch the next morning to Hakodate. The room which we had was quite okay although it was one of those typical small Japan hotel rooms.