Tokyo (thread 2)

[scents01]

^
1. murang bilhin vs. pinas
- makeups esp shiseido and kanebo
- facemasks (20pesos each i bought in ginza)
- 2nd hand branded bags
- uniqlo and muji items
- chocolates esp royce

2. usual na nakikita ko is 1000yen per meal.. pero meron ding mga meals na 500yen. sa yoshinoya mura lang, may mga less than 400yen meal..

[m_lim]

ano pang sikat kainin sa Japan? yung kalat sa japan sana kasi kasali kami sa tour so hindi pwede gumala kahit saan. kung saan lang pupunta ang tour group.

may onsen bath pala kami. nahihiya ako maghubad!

[yapeegurl]

^We also wanted to try onsen pero naked nga daw. Onsen na privately rented namin ni husband pwede May ganon ba? RE: food, actually sis kahit saan masarap ang food ng japan. Hindi kami nag fine dine kasi anywhere masarap siya. Kahit sa foodcourt sa mga malls masarap. Kakaiba ang ramen nila. Malinamnam pero ako kasi madali maumay (masuya). Si husband ang nag enjoy sa ramen. Happy na ako sa takoyaki and sushi! And sobrang nag enjoy kami sa Matsusaka beef. Too bad hindi namin natry ang Kobe beef nila.

[m_lim]

^thanks sis. nakakahiya maghubad! kasi ilang days pa namin makakasama yung mga ka tour namin. waaaaah!!!!

[viewfrommyveranda]

Hello mga Sis. Just arrived from our 6-day Tokyo trip.

Just a few points to share --

Hotel - we stayed at Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku. Location is fantastic. Rooms are tiny!!!!! It's a 5-min walk to the Shinjuku station. The station is a major JR Train stop, plus 2 other train lines. Along the area are convenience stores (Lawson's, 7-11, and Family Mart), local restos, post office, 2 Citibank branches, etc. Best part is this is an airport limousine stop which is a MUST take transpo.

Restos - the area has good local restos (eg. udon noodle place, local fast food chains like Yoshinoya and some izakayas) and I suggest go for these restos rather than the likes of McDonald's and KFCs. Average meal in the local restos cost anywhere from 550-900 Yen. It's not bad considering the quality of the food and the serving sizes. Masarap lahat!

Shopping - nearby are Takashimaya, Odakyu, Keio Mall, etc. Personally I didn't bother checking out the brands that are here in Manila. I liked the selection of Japanese brands. Some are expensive but for the most, feeling ko appropriately priced naman. Like what out sisters shared, okay ang price ng Kanebo and Shiseido. But correct me if I'm wrong -- I think those that are priced less are like the drugstore line of these brands, and not the same as what we see in Rustan's or the shops here in Manila? Tama ba? Nevertheless, super okay silang lahat. There is even a shop along Shinjuku-dori that's all MAKE-UP. Ang saya saya!

Rest of our iti:

1) Shrine of 47 Ronin -- did you guys see that movie of Keanu Reeves shown late last year? Well it's based on a true story and the shrine is located at Takanawa. It's called Sengakuji temple. It's really calm and beautiful there, almost Zen like! Read this blog if you are interested:

http://aroundtokyo.net/blog/2014/01/05/sengakuji-home-47-ronin/

2) Imperial Palace

3) Meiji Shrine

4) Harajuku district

5) Disneyland

6) Sanrio Puroland

7) Shibuya district

Pasalubongs -- I'm super tyaga when it comes to bringing home pasalubong. I actually bought yakitori from the Odakyu depachika, put them in in containers and brought them home! Oh strawberries seem to be in season now - yes, nag uwi din ako! Pocky, Royce chocolates, Yoku Moku cookies, and various mochis. :-)

Bitin! Given all the walking, our days 3-6 was reduced to going to 2 areas per day. Kakapagod!!

Happy to answer your questions!

[princess lorraine]

^hi sis! Where did you buy the chocolates, cookies and mochi? How long is the travel time from your hotel to disneyland? Thanks 

[viewfrommyveranda]

^Hi Sis. Yung cookies from Odakyu, the Pocky sticks and Royce from Duty Free. Super daming options ng cookies. We got that brand kasi it's one of 2 that we preferred kasi na try na namin. Pero ang dami pa palang iba!

For Disneyland, coming from Shinjuku, we needed to change trains at the Tokyo station. There are several JR trains that can take you from Shinjuku to Tokyo station. Depending on the time of day, may mga "rapid trips" that will skip some usual stops, or regular trips. For our trip, we took a rapid train from Shinjuku to Tokyo station and a regular trip from Tokyo station to Maihama (Disneyland stop) station. Took us about 45 mins.

My go to is Google Maps. Just input the station, or even just the location and it will tell you which lines to take, the time of arrival of train and the fare cost. And for the trains that only do the regular trips, it even tells you the platform to take. Double check mo rin sa signs to be sure. :-)

[princess lorraine]

^thanks so much sis. Naku diyan nga ako kinakabahan sa train system nila looks complicated kasi. Is the room at hotel sunroute shinjuku comfortable enough for a family of 3? Does the hotel provide free wifi? Is the hotel near shops like h&m, uniqlo, shisheido and don quixote? Thanks sis. 

[viewfrommyveranda]

^Nako I swear nakakaloka ang train!! We finally mastered it on our 4th day, LOL.

For a family of 3, I suggest get the twin economy room, at the very least. We got the double economy room - 1 double bed and I think the room is about 18sqm. As in the biggest part of the room is probably about 10 ft!! The rooms are tiny pero the best yung location. Wifi is free sa room and other parts of the hotel. No room service though. Vendo machines are in every floor. Another hotel you can check out is the Century Southern Tower. It's also an ariport limousine stop and close to the South Entrance of the Shinjuku station. There are also other hotels in the area that are close to the station and are airport limousine stops kaso konti lang yung restos and establishments near them.

We didn't go to Don Quixote kasi we tried walking towards it and di namin makita! I think it's near enough to cab it na di masyado mahal. There's a big H&M near it, parang 2 blocks away. A block is like think Makati Avenue to Rufino St. Parang 2 streets in Ayala is equal to 1 block in Shunjuku. Nearest Uniqlo is next to Odakyu which is about 1 block away. Yung shiseido na drugstore variety, there is a store near it along Shinjuku-dori that sells it -- from haircare, face care, make-up, etc.. There's a shiseido counter in every department store though.

[princess lorraine]

^sism if you won't mind, how much your room rate per night? Did you book directly with the hotel? Yung Odakyu sis place ba yun or name ng shop? I still can't decide which area to stay at. Shinjuku, shibuya or ginza. My aunt recommends ginza but i'm worried that the restos there are expensive since it's a high end place. The most impt thing for me is the proximity of the hotel to restos, shops and train station because our daughter will be coming with us. Thanks so much sis. 

[viewfrommyveranda]

^I think 5 nights is about Php37k. It can be lower if you book earlier or go for the no-cancellation rate. We booked super late na kasi we only applied for our visa 1st week of March and didn't want to book anything ahead of time.

We booked through booking.com. What I did, I searched for the lowest rate among the booking sites using wego and skyscanner. That's how we ended up with booking.com. Our original plan was to go with Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza because the rooms seemed nicer and my friend who used to be with the Philippine consulate in Japan recommends that area kasi less hectic daw. But we decided in the end that we want to stay closer to a hub train station where major trains connect to or make a stop. Odakyu is a department store -- parang mga Takashimaya and Issetan.

If you end up in Sunroute, I'll give you detailed instructions on the area. I have a friend traveling with a 10 mo baby in 1 month. I actually took down the route for them for easy navigation when traveling with a child. :-)

[princess lorraine]

^thank you so much for all the info sis. Will pm you once in a while ha. 

[greyzie07]

naku sis baka matigas na yung snow..masaktan lang hehe
yep may snow pa nga siguro sa mga time na yan..pero yan yung mga naiwan pa at hindi pa natutunaw kasi sobrang kapal..
pero try nyo pa din sis..baka naman pwede pa talaga..

ah talaga sis? i'll check, if ever ano pa kaya pwede substitute na place na may snow pa that time? Hokkaido? May JR pass naman kami, gusto talaga husband ko makakita snow heheh

[simplykristine08]

Pia, never din ako nagtry ng onsen kasi nga hubad. meron naman na for ladies lang, meron din na halo. hehe.

try nyo ang Mo's Burger, super fave ko ang teriyaki burger nila!
may masasarap din na pizza ang pizza la.
Miyoshi yakiniku
Dennys'
Skylark Gusto
Fracasso
Jonathan's
Mamma Pasta Grande (sarap mga pasta)

mga affordable na mga kainan yan

[glamorous_aisha]

ngayon lang ako nakapag online sisses sorry. okay naman na suggestions sa taas.

hotels -kung accessibility and convenience shinjuku and ikebukuro is a good place to stay, japanese hotels are reallys mall especially in tokyo.

trains - just pay attention to the signs lalo sa mga exits isang maling labas mo malamang malayo lalakarin mo. (always happens to me kahit dito na ko nakatira haha)

pasalubong - buy bulks in donnki or supermarkets.

food - cheap (beef bowls) - 350- 600 yen
          restaurants - 750 - 2500 yen
          try local fast foods like mos burger and freshness burgers and local restos kahit saan ramen shops yakitori and the likes

sis greyzie -  i went to nagano for the long weekend nagsnow pa ng bongga. i think kaysa pumunta pa kayo hokkaido go to nagano instead ang skiing season naman until may 6 pa ata.

[yapeegurl]

viewfrommyveranda, for some reason hindi din namin mahanap ang Don Quixote. Not sure kung bakit pero we didn't have enough time na din kasi.

Tiny nga ang rooms nila! Pero kami ni husband didn't mind kasi talaga literal tulog lang kami sa hotel. We only had about 5hours of sleep each night when we were there.

We always book our hotel thru Agoda.

Tin, next Japan trip susubukan na namin (ewan lang kailan ang next hahaha). Hindi pa kami nakapag Osaka, Mt. Fuji, and Kyoto. At least meron pa reasons to come back

If I'll come back sa Japan, mga items na babalikan ko ay:
- Hada Labo
- Shiseido
- Tsubaki
- Uniqlo
- Burberry Blue and Black label
- Kanebo
- and ang food nila talaga!

[simplykristine08]

^ mars, ano tong si hada labo?

[yapeegurl]

^skin care product siya mars. Sa mga tabi tabi sa train stations nagkalat ito. Ang price niya dito sa SG ay twice as much sa Japan. And maganda sa japan meron refill packs kaya hindi space consuming sa luggage and magaan lang. Meron hada labo thread din sa GT.

[viewfrommyveranda]

^skin care product siya mars. Sa mga tabi tabi sa train stations nagkalat ito. Ang price niya dito sa SG ay twice as much sa Japan. And maganda sa japan meron refill packs kaya hindi space consuming sa luggage and magaan lang. Meron hada labo thread din sa GT.

Diba nasan ba yang Donki na yan? Haha.

I bought the Shiseido Tsubaki shampoo and conditioner. Okay sha for me. The Shiseido Ascience line is also good. For Kanebo, ang wala sa Philippines is the Coffret D'or line. Ganda nung spring colors nya. I got them from this shop in Harajuku - it's one of those make-up shops that you see everywhere.

[glamorous_aisha]

search for donnki's website i think i posted it here na before. the one in shinjuku - get out of JR east exit you'll see alta building diretso kayo dun then you'll see the main road tawid lang kayo andun na malaking donnki you will never miss it.

in shibuya katapat ng h&m, if you get out of the station you will shibuya 109 may 2 roads, go to the right  one then go straight makikita niyo na donnki