Tokyo (19-23 Apr 2023)

After so many years, at least 7 years, we went for our couple trip leaving the 2 boys behind with nainai... I thought I will struggle leaving them behind but I didn't really cry only teary when missing them... I am sure they will be in good hands.

Day 1 - flying day

We took the afternoon flight. By the time we reach Tokyo is already 9plus... there is no more limo bus to Ginza so we took the train. Buying the train ticket was a abit of a challenge. We don't know how to use the machine. But figured out quite quickly too. Pushing 2 luggages getting up and down the train, we finally reach hotel at 11plus. Checked in and hunt for some supper. Ended up with snacks from the convenience store. 

Day 2 - shopping alone in the afternoon 

Today is the day he has to go office in the afternoon. We took bf in the hotel, and realised we don't have to go early for the bf because is not buffet style. We chose from 3 options, the only one we didn't try is the rice for today. 

We quickly explore our surroundings before he heads to the office. Went to Mitsukoshi (which is just like our Takashimaya) then Ginza Six (more like Paragon or Ion) then finally to Uniqlo. The uniqlo is 9 stories tall. We had to rush to find lunch before he leave. Ended up at a Ramen place. The soup is very flavourful but too thick for us. 

After he left, I went back to Ginza Six to grab coffee beans for friend then head to Uniqlo for shopping spree. How shiok to buy 11 items at 13K yen (~130 sgd) and enjoy tax free. 

Food at the dinner place with his colleagues was good. Is like fine dining and they drank so much. And my shoes gave way on our way back, all the shops are closed. Mood so dampened. I dont think the sumo practice visit tomorrow is happening already. 16k steps on day 2.

Day 3 - shopping at Tsukiji Market and Shibuya

As expected we didn't manage to catch the sumo practice. I was quite upset but quickly got it over. We overslept so missed the bf too. We went Starbucks for bf then roam around Ginza to find a shoe shop but all not opened yet. Finally after almost an hour we found the abc mart in Lumine to get my puma shoes. 

With a comfortable shoes now, we made our way to Tsukiji Market. It was quite crowded. We queued for the grilled seafood, the smell was unresistable. King crab is the best. Juicy and fresh. My first try of chicken heart too and I don't like it. At the market, there is a lot of big seafood, beautiful fruits and sashimi...

After lunch and ice cream, we went to Shibuya scramble Square. It is like departmental stores, we didn't go to the observatory deck. Nothing much to shop too. Then we went to Shibuya 109. So many youngsters there. All women clothing, more like our bugis streets. Nothing for us to buy. We ended up at GU along the streets. Spent 15k yen (~150Sgd) on clothing at GU. And it getting more and more crowded when we making our way back. The amount of people on the streets were quite scary. Packed sardine in the train too. 

One interesting thing about Shibuya was the road crossing. My first time ever to see all the cars stop and people just cross the road in all directions. It was quite fascinating and many tourist are taking pictures and videos while crossing or in the middle of the cross junctions. 

We had to rush back to Ginza for dinner with his boss and col. Dinner not so nice, they have a traditional cilture thing happening in the restaurant itself. Is like the demon chasing away bad spirit with some loud noise around the tables.  

We even went for 2nd round at a duct club Bagus. Quite nice place but I was really tired. They played ducts and drank shots. 17k steps for day 3. 

Day 4 - my bday!

It's my birthday, a birthday without the kids... but luckily I have my hubby with me and we spent the entire day together. Is shopping day again. There are just too many to shop.. had bf at hotel then to pokemon shop. We went to the one at Tokyo station, there is a level called the cartoon character Street. The pokemon shop there is small and crowded so we thought we should go to the pokemon mega centre... so we travel all the way to Sunshine City. This is really big and crowded. We spent the whole morning searching and navigating. The queue to enter was super long so we decided to take our lunch first.. our first sushi this trip, we weren't hungry just eating for the sake of not feeling hungry while quing for the pokemon shop. 

this shop was crazy. Queue to go in queue to pay... tons of pikachu with different expressions. Alot of plushies. As we promised, we bought plushies for the kids..  

After pokemon, we rushed to Tokyo station again to grab some goodies to bring back as gift. The queue was crazy at some shops... but luckily we managed to grab some nice biscuits for our family. Thereafter, rushed to Ginza to buy the chocolate and strawberry puffy snack before it closes at 8pm... we were so tired and finally at 8plus we had my bday proper dinner. Yakiniku Sansui - super highly recommended. As always, hubby likes to choose the most exp. So we chose a set menu with premium beef... it was 8800yen per pax for the set meal with 4 or 5 types of beef. And I must say, all the beef taste super tender and yummy. The total bill was about $250 sgd. 

we wanted to go Cake&Tea cafe to have some desserts but it says closed but there are still people inside the cafe so we tried our luck to see if we can grab some cakes before heading back to the hotel. And we bought a strawberry cake and a baked cheese cake.. both were yummy. Sang birthday song with my kids virtually. 

Day 5 - home sweet home

We left the hotel as early as 6.30am. His boss booked a mini bus for us to go airport. We tried to queue for somemore goodies for the family but time was really limited and the queue at the duty free shop was crazy long. We didn't manage to get anything. We had to put back the basket of snacks before running off to our boarding gate.

I actually had 2 things in mind to accomplish but both didn't happen. 1 was the sumo practice the other was river cruise dinner. There are too many things to shop in Tokyo and obviously we don't have enough time.. the river cruise was also full when we tried to book. And the shops closes earlier than we expected. About 8pm, most shops are closing already. 

I must say we had a peaceful but tiring shopping trip. It can never happen if we bring the kids along, I am sure they can't shop like us. And squeeze the train and walk an average of 15k a day. It was nice to have a short getaway but all thanks to in laws who helped us with the kids..