Tokyo travel guides cheap buys

Okay, Tokyo Cheap buys series #2!

I will be recommending the takeya store at Okachimachi station (one station away from Ueno station on the Yamanote line)

Takeya is actually made up of various buildings located beside each other (talk about wow shopping huh) & you can get tax rebates (for tourists too). Get more information from their website (well it definitely is a tourist attraction considering the fact that they have like the web up in English & Chinese too. Think they have Chinese speaking staff as well, not sure about English tho)

okay, takeya actually sell a wide variety of goods, ranging from women’s fashion, men’s fashion, electronics, food, home furniture, home accessories and so on (they have like 8 buildings or more)

web flyer here (only in Japanese)

& oh, they sell, marked down branded goods (gucci, coach, ferragamo at discounted prices too)

they only accept cash if I am not wrong, so do bring lots of cash if you are planning to splurge there ^^

download map here

this will be more of a place for grown ups than gyaru fashion tho (pls note!)

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tokyo travel guides : cheap buys

Okay, I am sure many people have said shopping in Tokyo is expensive (so is eating and whatever, no thanks to the exchange rate) 

But, i have something to say : if you want to shop for cheap(er) things, don’t go to the tourist/ high-end areas, since the things there are definitely more expensive. Shibuya109 is definitely an expensive place for you if your budget is like 30 bucks and under for a one piece (dress).

I will introduce you some of the cheaper shops in Tokyo where you can buy things for cheap (or rather at a cheaper price compared to other areas and at a reasonable quality)

First up : Shimamura (will talk about other shops in other posts)

If you have been reading popteen / is a fan of Shiina Hikari aka Pikarin/ reading some other Japanese magazines, you would  have probably heard about this shop, well while it is branded-branded (if you get what I mean), the clothes are still cute & suitable for people of all ages (they even have kids’ clothes & toys, interior goods, shoes, stationary, towels etc) and also for people in their 50s and so on, so you can go check it out, since they carry Masuwaka Tsubasa s-leg line (leggings, tights, socks etc as well)

get more information about shimamura here

& the good thing about shimamura is that they have sales items which change like every 3-5 days and they will inform customers on their website through digital flyer. for eg 22/08 -25/08

something like this (see it on the web - bigger picture)

download the map here

okay since the map is in japanese, let me tell you (shimamura is the one that have like a bubble thing popping up and it is sandwiched between Kentucky Fried Chicken KFC & sukiya and it is on the 2nd floor)

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Travel guides : Osaka, Japan

If you are visiting Osaka and is considering purchasing the enjoy eco card (800 yen/ 600 yen on PH and weekends) mentioned in previous post, you might want to consider topping up some money and get the Osaka Amazing Pass instead.

1D pass cost 2,300 yen while a 2D pass cost 3000 yen. If you were to get a 2 days enjoy eco card (1600 yen), you might as well top up 1400 yen for this 2 Days pass, which grant you free admission to 28 tourist attractions including Osaka Castle, Tsutenkaku, Tennoji Zoo and so on. It also includes discounts such as free gifts/ discounts at selected souvenirs shops or restaurants. Quite worth it I guess, considering the fact that Osaka Castle admission is probably about 500 yen, Tsutenkaku 700 yen, Floating Garden Observatory and Hep 5 Ferris Wheel 700 yen each? Plus unlimited train rides is always welcomed in Japan, seriously.

For full list of participating outlets/ benefits, click here.

However, if you are not into some attractions and want to visit only a few places a day and no pressure about wanting or feeling that you have to visit as many attractions as possible that are included in the pass, then you might want to get the enjoy eco card instead for just the unlimited train rides. If you want to visit as many places as possible in a tight schedule, then I will recommend you to get this pass. It even includes free admission to a onsen (hot springs) too.

For more info, click here

Considering the fact that one trip cost about 180yen in Osaka , if you are visiting a few places a day, it is definitely worth to get get a pass, especially since this comes with so many discounts and free admissions too.

Travelling to Japan? Use this easy and convenient website to help plan your train routes (includes timing and price too).

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Tokyo travel guide : cheap eats

Alright, bet many people are saying that food in Japan are expensive (well they are, if you are not looking at the right places or are always dining at expensive/ posh places)

I am gonna introduce a shop, or rather, an outlet shop for desserts. yup, desserts (all the girls say yay now!) While I have not been to this shop myself, I have heard that this shop sell snacks/ desserts that are sold in any other konbini (convenience stores like 7-11, family mart, lawson, sunkus, lawson 100, circle k etc) & btw, I think desserts sold at Japan konbini taste awesome. (and they are cheaper than other patisseries, bakery etc)

Okay the shop that I am recommending is Domremy Outlet which sell dessert at a discounted price (mostly due to the damaged packaging - well you know how Japanese are with their packaging…) so while there is no difference to the taste or quality of the desserts. the slightly damaged packaging or maybe shape of the cake etc might be different or considered unsuitable to be sold in shops. so they are sold here at a discounted price (yay for us!).

The branch that I am talking about is located at Ueno (on the JR yamanote line), near shinobazu pond (1F of coco grand hotel pictured below)

well, the sweets/ desserts change periodically so you might want to go to their web and find more information about their offerings.

download the map here

(simply alight from ueno station and walk towards the direction of okachimachi station) ^^ you can use the map and ask passerby for directions as well

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Tokyo travel guide : Tsukiji Daiwa Sushi

Okay, so you guys have probably heard about Tsukiji & its sushi and tuna auction etc. So, we ate at sushi dai last time, which we actually queued 3hrs + for. This time, the queue was even longer and so we went to Daiwa sushi instead which was faster because unlike sushi dai which has lesser seats and serve sushi to you after you are done, Daiwa serves sushi all at one go and well, you just have to leave after that cos there’s way too many people queuing outside. 

More info here

We waited for about 1hr+ to get into Daiwa sushi and it was worth it (btw we think it’s worth it to queue 3hrs+ for sushi dai as well)

You can look into the shop while you are queuing hehe. 

& yay, we are finally in. & have to say, sushi Dai chefs are friendlier.

Set meal comes with miso soup with fish in it

The cuts are fresh and super duper thick. we are both ootoro (tuna belly) fans and the set doesn’t come with ootoro and so we ordered one ala carte ootoro each and it is so thick and heavy when we tried to lift it up with our chopsticks, the sushi topple over ^c^v

Thick yum. 

compare the size of the fish to the rice seriously.

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Tokyo Travel Guide : Best Breakfast in the world

So I went Japan with my friend last year to spend xmas and new year there and we ate at Bills, which is dubbed the world’s best breakfast. 

Info here

Btw, they have like two branches in Tokyo; one is in Harajuku/ Omotesando while the other is on a man-made island Odaiba (we went this branch).

We arrived quite early at Tokyo Decks Odaiba and found out there was a queue already. We were told waiting time is about 1hr+ but we ended up entering the restaurant within 30 mins, which was great.

We were able to see them at work while we waited. ooh thick fluffy pancakes~~~

We ordered the full Aussie breakfast and the Ricotta hotcakes to share. Both of them were really good. I intro-ed another friend to try this in his trip in May this year. He said he liked the Aussie breakfast, but other girls that I intro-ed this shop to, said they like both. Guess girls like pancakes more eh? 

The hotcake is thick but light and fluffy and I thought I would get sick of the thick hotcake like I usually do with thick hotcake, but I didn’t. Finished it all up and wished I could get another portion but was full already T^T 

Tbh, I thought we wouldn’t feel full when the food was served cos we are both big eaters despite being girls XD. However, the food was really filling and well, I can only conclude that it is indeed the best breakfast I have eaten so far. Singapore has no pancakes that can top this (imo), which kind of make me sad cos I can’t find this in Singapore T^T. 

The full Aussie breakfast - Seriously, we don’t even like tomato that much but we were all trying to get the last piece of it. The way they cook the dishes are… ahh fluffy eggs *salivates*. 

Ah well, do try it if you are in the area, they have a branch at Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse as well! :)

Price for your reference (btw this was on 30 dec 2014) and Japan has raised the tax this year, so I am not sure if there is any changes in the price now. I personally think the price is reasonable though ^^

& shops at Odaiba don’t open so early. so you might want to reach there at around 10-ish, have a breakfast and go shop after you are done eating? The weather was good (well below 10 degrees or smthg) when we were there in end Dec so we went around taking photos at the Deck. 

We walked around and saw some stalls selling yakisoba and ended up eating it lol and it wasn’t even 30 mins after we had our breakfast. 

Will post about more food in Odaiba next time!

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Japan food guide : Pancakes in Tokyo

Hi all,  I am going to do some write-up on food in Japan, or rather, pancakes in Tokyo.

While I know pancake is not a Japanese dish, but you can’t deny that there has been a pancake craze going on in Japan, especially in Tokyo. Hence, I am going to list some popular pancake shops with long queues and waiting time, that you might be interested in if you happen to visit Tokyo (pancakes still make good breakfast after all and they are yummy too!). Well, I am still going to make this list so it can serve as a reminder for me to eat them when I visit Japan in the future.

1.Bills

First on this list will definitely be Bills by Bills Granger (Australia), since it is the only one among the pancake shops that I have actually visited. Bills is known to serve the ‘best breakfast in the world’ and I couldn’t agree more. The pancakes are fluffy and I love the full Aussie breakfast.  Introduced this to my friends who went to Japan after me and most of them love it (well, girls love the pancakes, guys love the full Aussie breakfast more), but if you have companions, you can always order both to share. While there is a long queue, we didn’t wait as long as I expected to and you can actually make reservations online, so yay! There are currently 4 branches in Japan (2 in Tokyo) - Omotesando (which is of walking distance from Harajuku actually), Odaiba, Shichirigahama in Kamakura and red brick warehouse in Yokohama.

Check out my review on Bills.

2. Eggs’nThings

Now, this is one that I would love to visit someday (am I the only one who absolutely love whipped cream?)

Touted as the best pancakes in Hawaii, eggs n’ things pancakes are served with a mountain of whipped cream which, according to people who have been there before, is not overly cloying and instead is light and fluffy. Now, this is something that I definitely would want to try.

Also, other than having branches in Tokyo Harajuku and ODaiba, they have branches in Osaka Shinsaibashi, Kyoto, Yokohama, Kobe, Fukuoka and Enoshima too.

3. Cafe Kaila

Also located in the Omotesando/ Harajuku area in Tokyo, Cafe Kaila, also from Hawaii. The draw-point about this will most probably be the amount of fruits on it (2,000 yen for all the toppings if I am not mistaken) and the fact that their pancakes are made without butter or oil, which makes them healthier than other pancakes shops. Guess this appeals to girls who want to eat pancakes but do not want to feel guilty about it?

But seriously, I am tempted to eat this too, the fruits on it are… *drools*

4. Pancake days

Pancake days actually have branches in Osaka and Tokyo too. Tokyo - Harajuku (again, well, Harajuku/ Omotesando area is like the pancakes war zone), Kichijoji, Nagoya, Osaka Universal city walk and Abeno.

I am not gonna lie, this pancakes look so cute and good and what is better than one pancake?

A stack of pancakes! I might be biased cos I love pancakes and anything sweet, but I definitely would be thrilled if someone brings me to eat this.

5. Slappycakes

From Portland, slappycakes is a DIY shop, where you can make your own pancakes. I guess this will be fun, since you get to choose the flavors and toppings yourself and get to cook the pancakes yourself. YAY if you have artistic skills and can make cute pancakes but even if you can’t, I am sure it will still be a fun experience.

Well, I know there are more pancake shops in Japan but well, I am going to stop here and if I ever visit them in the future, I will definitely do a write-up on them.

tada~~

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Japan travel guide : Getting around Tokyo

Here is a simple guide on one of (various) discount tickets that you can use while visiting Tokyo. 

I have heard people complaining about transport fees in Japan. Train fares start from about 120 yen or 150 yen depending on the railway company that you use and if you are visiting various places in one day, you might actually be spending a considerable amount on transport. There are various one-day or various discount passes offered by the different companies and in this post I will 

The JR Yamanote line might be the most commonly used line for tourists to get around Tokyo and hence, I suggest that if you are visiting various places (perhaps more than 4 places in a day or places that are further away from each other or from your hotel), you can get one of the pass.

The following pass JR Tokunai (Tokyo district - 23 wards) pass, provide you with unlimited rides for a day within the areas located in the map below. The simplified map doesn’t show all the stations on the JR lines, but it is valid for all stations within that area.

The pass cost 750yen a day and is valid for popular tourist spots - Harajuku and Shibuya as well.

Of course, it might take a considerable amount of travelling to make your money worth and hence you might want to find out the total transportation fares to the places you are going to visit before purchasing the pass. I personally like the pass as it saved me the trouble of purchasing individual tickets at the stations each time and allow me to alight at every station just for the sake of getting something. I actually used this pass and went to different stations just to eat, practically stopped at 3-4 stations just to get food and went off.  I stopped at a station just to get cream puffs heh. 

More info here (JR web)

Check train timings/ routes and fares here 
















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Kuromon ichiba - kuromon sanpei

Tokyo has Tsukiji market and Osaka has Kuromon Ichiba (Kuromon Market) for your seafood fix. Kuromon ichiba is the place for affordable, fresh and cheap seafood in Osaka.

Located at Nipponbashi (one station away from Namba and Nagahoribashi (where I stayed at last year). Kuromon Ichiba is easily accessible and the market is so near the train station (totally love it, btw I went back again another day cos we can't get enough of the seafood there). Kuromon market link 

Kuromon sanpei is perhaps the most popular shop at kuromon ichiba. It specializes in seafood and they are sold in very affordable prices (at least compared to restaurants and Tokyo tsukiji market). A set of ootoro - fatty tuna belly (4 pieces is probably only about 1600 yen; it's about 700-800 yen per piece in tsukiji fish market and other sushi restaurants, so yup totally worth it. Kuromon Sanpei link 

What's worth mentioning is probably the gigantic boiled chilled crab which is like less than 3000 yen and yet so satisfying. My mum loves this a lot and she couldn't stop eating it. We even got like 2 of it the 2nd time we went.

The miso soup with lobsters is about 1600 yen but it is worth every yen cos it has like clams and lobsters in it.


You can also get oysters, sea urchins and so on and even kaisen don from the shop. Although the prices are cheaper than those of a restaurants, I still spent like 10k yen there or more cos we ate like a lot. Hence be mindful and don't over eat while you are there alright?

Of course, there's more to kuromon ichiba than just kuromon sanpei, I had oysters at some stall, soymilk as well (another post in future).

Kuromon market link 
Kuromon Sanpei link 

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Japan travel guide : Okonomiyaki in osaka

Well, I know okonomiyaki comes from Osaka and well, during my trip I ate a lot of food, so much that I nearly don’t have stomach to chow down an okonomiyaki.

Okay, during this trip I only went to one okonomiyaki shop as my mum isn’t a fan of it and on other times, we were to full to eat them anyway.

download the map here

So let’s go:

The restaurant that I went to isn’t the mizuno that’s famous and popular among tourist, it was Ajinoya which has a long queue during dinner or lunch hour, so we went for an early dinner, about 5-ish?

Well, most of the patrons are locals which means I can safely assume that this shop serves authentic yummy okonomiyaki?

You can get to ajinoya through exit 14 of namba station. you will pass by a convenience store (family mart) and then kinryu ramen (you can spot the dragon). Turn in when you see the dragon (kinryu ramen) and ajinoya is along that stretch. very near.

Okay, first we ordered doteyaki which is beef sinew cooked in miso (?) I don’t really know the translation for it, but this is really good and even my mum who doesn’t really eat beef says it is good and even finished it. This came with bits and pieces of konnyaku and I really wished I ordered seconds for this.

Then we ordered tonpeiyaki (bottom right in the picture below) which is probably not very popular in other parts of Japan and across the world but apparently is a staple dish in osaka and they hail it as the appetizer to eat before okonomiyaki? I didn’t see restaurants serving it in tokyo though. Cultural difference? To put it simply, tonpeiyaki is just meat rolled in egg which I thought was normal.

For our okos, we ordered a special and a Mochi cheese. Both were really good. You can add bonito flakes and seaweed according to your liking. ^^

Saw people ordering the yakisoba though. Thought that might be good too.

the shopfront

download the map here

the shop website here

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Japan travel guide : Kobe beef

Cos what’s a trip to Kobe without having their famed Kobe beef right?

This trip was kinda satisfying for me in terms of food I guess, despite some hiccups and arguments with my mum.

Anyway, we went to eat Kobe beef cos I really wanted to try it and it would have cost an arm and leg to eat it in Singapore if it’s even available here in the first place.

I went to google and while there’s the cheaper option Kobe steak land with set from 2900 yen or something? The cuts don’t look that good in terms of marbling and all but others were either too expensive (10,000 yen or more for lunch?) and so we decided to head over to Steak Aoyama which is featured in the Kobe tourism website and provide lunch set at about 5900 yen (excluding tax).

This meal might be one of the most expensive meals of the trip but we totally don’t regret it at all.

Firstly, the restaurant is actually kind of far from sannomiya station, probably about 15-20 mins walk if you don’t get lost. I would suggest getting a pocket (portable) wifi and saving the places you wna go in google maps and use it to navigate around Japan especially if you don’t know the language or is going to Japan for the first time. This is really useful and it really helped me especially since this is my first time going to the kansai areas. I will talk about the pocket wifi in a separate post.

The restaurant is kind of small, similar to many stand-alone restaurants in Japan (normally chain restaurants will be bigger) so it will be good to make reservations in advance if you are going in a big group.

The meal started with an appetizer and a soup and then you get to choose between the sirloin and the fillet. We ordered one sirloin and one fillet and the chef helped us to split them equally so we get half sirloin and half fillet each. I personally feel the sirloin is better as it has more fats and hence will melt in your mouth more but the fillet is good enough as it is soft and tender but I guess I just prefer unhealthy stuffs? We got about 8 small cubes of beef each together with vegetables and mushrooms. They gave us pink salt for dipping and it’s really good (& it’s healthier than normal salt as well right?). You can choose either rice or toast to go along with your meal. We chose rice but the toast look so good too. The chef will cook the toast with butter on the teppenyaki grill if you ordered toast. The butter melting on the toast and all is just… I really wished I ordered and ala carte toast just cos it looks good lol but I don’t think I could finished it and I didn’t know if they sell it ala carte too.

Ah well, after a satisfying meal which my mum said took damn long cos the chef cook the food slowly and with dedication infront of you, we were moved to another table to have our after meal coffee or tea which you can choose. I think Kobe is famous for coffee or something but I had tea though cos I’m not a coffee person lol. The meal was really good and I love the meat.

Now that’s the thing about meat in Japan, I don’t know if it’s only a Singapore thing but sometimes when eating beef and lamb, especially lamb in Singapore, there’s this smell of the meat that they can’t handle well enough which then turns people off. My mum doesn’t like to eat beef, at least in Singapore but after eating beef in Japan she kept asking me if we are going to go back to eat the Kobe beef again cos it’s just that good.

If you are not in a hurry, I will recommend you to go for a Kobe beef lunch (tips: lunch sets in Japan are definitely cheaper than dinner set even if they are the same thing. Don’t ask me why.) and enjoy the experience. I don’t know about steak land but I read online reviews and it has positive reviews as well and so if you are on a budget you might want to check that out but there’s always a long queue for steak land though and I guess the queue will be quite fast though cos it is bigger?

Anyway here’s the link for
Steak aoyama
Kobe steak land

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Japan travel guide: Pablo

There are two famous/ popular cheesecake/ cheesetart shops in Osaka and one of them is Pablo.

Pablo cheesecake primarily come in two kinds - rare and medium and only offered in one size (about 15cm in diameter?) and is 800 yen each. The medium is slightly more cooked while the rare one is less cooked and meaning when the cake is freshly baked, the insides of the tart will flow out when you cut into it.

They also sell pudding and seasonal cheese tarts with fruits etc on it, together with cheese snacks and so on. They also have the limited quantity premium cheesetart which sold out very quickly. The premium cheesetart and seasonal cheesetarts/ all other with toppings or fillings will obviously cost more but they are really worth it.

I got one rare cheesetart to share with my mum. At first glance, it seems very big and filling and my mum was harping on how we will never finish it as she doesn’t really like cheesecake/ cheese stuffs. However, we finished it really easily and my mum who doesn’t even like cheese that much find it nice too as the cheesetart is really light and the texture is something I have never eaten before. I was regretting that I only got one but ah well.

They have various outlets at dotonbori (namba area) alone so getting it is easy although there might be queues but I went just before closing hours and so I didn’t have to queue for long.

More info here

P.S. Pablo has opened in Tokyo (Shibuya & Shinjuku)


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Japan travel guide: Eggs n Things

So this time round, I finally went to eggs n things for pancakes!

There are various branches in osaka, tokyo, Yokohama and so on but I went to the one in Tokyo which is near Harajuku. More info here

It was raining when I went there so we couldn’t dine alfresco but there’s wasn’t a long queue probably cos we went early too and so we were directed to the 2nd level which was already packed when we went in.

You can check out their menu here 

When we went they were still having the Halloween special menu but I didn’t order that as I wanted to try the original pancakes with strawberry. We ordered one steak with egg and one pancakes with strawberry and whipped cream.

We were given options to pair our steak and eggs with toast or pancakes (think we have to add a couple hundred yen) or potatoes. I opted for the toast. Surprisingly, despite being a pancake restaurant, the steak still tasted quite decent and the eggs and cooked well to your liking (you can choose if you want sunny sides up, runny yolks and so on, which I thought is pretty good and considerate of them). I enjoyed the meat and eggs.

The pancakes, well the pancakes are awesome. The whipped cream is fluffy and light although they give you loads of it, like seriously a mountain of it, I managed to finish all of the whipped cream (yes I know it is fattening but it just tastes so good). This is totally worth the calories and money.

They have various sauces on the table incase you get sick of your pancakes. Think there’s the maple, guava

and coconut or something (i can’t exactly remember all the syrups) but I think it is fine without the syrups as there’s ample whipped cream to pair the pancakes with and thurs the pancakes don’t seem dry. However, when you are halfway through the pancakes (I think there’s like 4-5 pieces if I am not wrong), you might get sick of the same rate and that’s when the syrups come in handy.

A satisfying breakfast and it’s about 20 sgd each. Don’t regret it at all seriously and if I happen to visit Japan again, I will definitely go there again early to avoid the queues.


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