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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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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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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