I realized after having spent time outside the hotel on the second night, I still had not fully recovered from my fever. So, for Day 2, I had to rest at the hotel again for the entire morning while my family went out to check out another souk/market. I felt a bit down that I had not been able to visit a souk throughout the first few days of the trip, but I knew it was more important to focus on my recovery.
dubai travel
Dubai, UAE (Dec/Jan, 2015/2016) – Day One + Day Two: Welcome the New Year!
February 20, 2016It’s a first for me to be traveling out of the country during a special holiday. While Christmas is a day that I feel is a must to spend with the family, traveling out of the country during New Year’s felt more lenient.
Dubai has always been a country that fascinated me from the documentaries and powerpoint presentations that my professors would share with our class back in college days. It’s pretty much a given that it would be used as an example for great feats in architecture, such as the famous Burj Al Arab, known for its iconic sailboat silhouette and luxurious interiors, and the Burj Khalifa, currently the tallest skyscraper in the entire world. Being someone with an architecture background, it is without a doubt that being blessed with the opportunity to visit this country excited me to such great extents.
Early mornings will forever be an essential at the Tsukiji, Fish Market. If you miss their early schedule, you’ll miss out on the best seafood as well! So, that was the very first thing we had on our list of missions to accomplish that day: wake up and come early to have a richly authentic seafood meal at the famous Tsukiji!
Tokyo DisneySea is such a dream of a place to visit. ♥ I know that only a few DisneySeas actually exist in the entire world, so getting the chance to actually be there felt like a very special kind of surreal.
[Warning: This blog entry will be very photo heavy! Please be patient to let all the photos load! ♥ P.S. This tackles days four and five, since we also went to Akihabara on day five, but I, unfortunately, was not able to take snaps of the experience, since we mostly went shopping at Don Quijote!]
japan TOKYO travel
Tokyo, Japan (June, 2015) – Day Three: Shinjuku + Harajuku/Omotesando + Shibuya
October 17, 2015We spent most of the third day shopping in Shinjuku’s Takashimaya Mall. My mom was really looking forward to revisiting this place after several years, and it’s still as great a spot to shop in. You can find several popular stores in Japan here, such as Uniqlo, Tokyu Hands, and much more. Generally, it felt like we went duty free shopping–most probably because of the choice of brands, and the layout of the entire mall.
Walking along the overpass, you could also easily spot the famous Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower at a distance.
Upon entering from the overpass entrance, you will easily spot Tokyu Hands. It’s a store known to house a wide array of arts, crafts, and other hobbyist materials. Usually, their stores consist of several floors with each floor serving a specific category of materials, such as cooking wares, crafting materials, hair and beauty products, and much more. There are other branches of this within Tokyo as well.
We knew that shopping in Tokyu Hands would be a bit overwhelming, and would require for us to be emotionally and mentally prepared to browse through all floors (lol!). So, before actually throwing in our time to shop (and hoard) at Tokyu Hands, we decided to go clothes shopping first. And, the first store that comes to mind when you’re in a mall in Japan is ..Uniqlo!
We spent about two hours shopping and hoarding in Uniqlo, since prices are cheaper in Japan, as compared to the prices in Manila. Apart from that, they also sell several clothing designs (that are very much Japanese in style) that you cannot find in the Philippines at all. That goes without saying, that is because Uniqlo is a brand that was “born” in Japan.
We spent a good amount of time there, since we not only wanted to shop for ourselves, but we also wanted to buy tons of clothing under a good deal for our other family members, friends, etc. back in Manila as well. Why waste the opportunity when you’re already there, right? 😀
After having our fill with Uniqlo, it was finally time to immerse ourselves in Tokyu Hands! I was probably the most excited about this, since I would probably consider myself the most “artsy and craftsy” in my family! haha!
I sifted through a few floors of Tokyu Hands, but eventually found myself speeding towards and searching for the art materials floor. When I finally found it and landed on the floor (it was on the 7th floor, if I recall correctly?), my jaw literally dropped! If you could see me at that time, my eyes were probably sparkling in awe!
As if it wasn’t obvious enough, with my love for the arts, I just sped through and went straight for the art materials! It’s as if my body already knew where it had to go! (lol) Since several brands and products in Japan cannot be found in Manila’s art stores, it was the perfect time to stock up on them. So, I really took this opportunity to just splurge and buy all the materials I knew I just needed to get, i.e. watercolor, ink, paper, and whatnot. I probably spent nearly half of my shopping budget here! I don’t regret it, though, since art materials were one of the main things I really planned to spend my money on once I arrived in Japan!
Art material heaven! <3 I was able to score myself a new Holbein watercolor set, a couple of new brushes, paper, and new inking materials! 😀
Spotted a bunch of totoros here too!
Sushi cat gachapon! <3
For lunch, we had a “picnic” kind of feel by eating our bentos at the outdoor garden of Takashimaya Mall. We bought our take-out bentos at the department store at the basement level, and for travelers who are more keen on budget expenses, I suggest for you to buy your meals in department store basement level instead. The deals are cheaper, and the quality of the food is worth the price, as compared to spending more by eating in restaurants all the time. (Well, you could always treat yourself to eating in a restaurant or two every now and then, but generally, I’d suggest this method instead.) There aren’t usually places for people to dine in outdoors (this is also probably one of the reasons why Japan is so clean–a good design strategy to minimizing litter) so we settled onto benches along the outdoor garden.
The strawberry milk I bought from the depa-to.
Purikura with the family in Harajuku! <3 We went back to the same booth Kaila and I used the other day. lol
We dropped by Harajuku’s Takeshita Dori afterwards to do some sight-seeing and quick shopping (also, since my other sister hasn’t seen Harajuku yet). After a short stroll, we decided to take a break at a nearby cafe called NOA Cafe.
We still had some time to go shopping that day, so we decided to separate within the Shibuya area for a while, so that we could shop where we wanted. I chose to stay in Harajuku, while my mom and older sister went to go shopping around Shibuya. As for my younger sister, if I recall correctly, she went to visit another cafe, since she’s very much the coffee enthusiast herself. 😀
Waffles and iced coffee at NOA Cafe!
And at last, we arrived at Blue Bottle Coffee, home to one of the most notable specialty coffee blends in the world!
Lovely raw interior motif!
One of the things that surprised me in a positive way about Japan was the consideration of customers to commercial establishments’ schedules. People are extremely punctual–start work on time, and end on time. Customers follow with the same respect to the employees. If store hours end at a certain time, they will all clean up after their mess, and exit the store at the specified time.
Since we arrived at Blue Bottle really late, we just quickly had our coffee then prepared to leave. Before leaving, my sister, who was previously a barista at a local cafe, took the opportunity to talk to Blue Bottle’s baristas and ask for their business card/shop card, as well as for their signatures to be signed on a paper coffee cup! It was nice having some small talk with them for a bit, and getting to know Japan in their perspective.
Afterwards, we headed home to rest up and prepare for what the next day had to bring!
Tokyo, Japan (June, 2015) Day One: http://www.armaineyapyuco.com/2015/07/tokyo-japan-june-2015-day-one-narita-airport-ueno-odaiba/
Tokyo, Japan (June, 2015) Day Two: http://www.armaineyapyuco.com/2015/07/tokyo-japan-june-2015-day-two-meiji-jingu-harajukuomotesando-ebisu-ginza/
Tokyo, Japan (June, 2015) Day Three: http://www.armaineyapyuco.com/2015/10/tokyo-japan-june-2015-day-three-shinjuku-harajukuomotesando-shibuya/
Tokyo, Japan (June, 2015) Day Four and Five: http://www.armaineyapyuco.com/2015/12/tokyo-japan-june-2015-day-fourfive-tokyo-disneysea/
Tokyo, Japan (June, 2015) Day Six: http://www.armaineyapyuco.com/2016/01/tokyo-japan-june-2015-day-six-tsukiji-asakusa-shibuya/
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Tokyo, Japan (June, 2015) – Day Two: Meiji Jingu + Harajuku/Omotesando + Ebisu + Ginza
July 10, 2015A day can never start out right without some good coffee. And being the coffee lover I am (and having a sister who is a barista in a specialty coffee shop in Manila, to boot!), we spontaneously entered any quaint-looking coffee shop that seemed to pique our interest while walking on the way to our first tourist spot that day, i.e. Meiji Jingu!
We actually started a bit late that day, since we were extra tired the day before, having just arrived from a tiring flight that day, plus immediately starting with our scheduled itinerary upon arrival. So, we kind of fueled ourselves up to start the day right by having some good specialty coffee in Tonga Coffee, Harajuku. It’s a fairly small coffee shop near the JR train tracks. It might be easy to miss, since it’s located in a slightly inconspicuous location.
It has long been a dream for me to be able to visit the country that has strongly influenced my lifestyle since childhood till present; but now, I can happily say that that dream has finally been fulfilled! Words cannot even express how happy and blessed I felt to finally have been able to visit Japan. And, I feel like if I had a past life, Japan would have probably been my mother country in that lifetime. I don’t know why–I just really feel some really strong sentimental connection with that country.
For a bit of a back story on how this trip happened: originally, the trip to Japan was just supposed to be a solo adventure trip for me alone, but I think my mom, aside from also wanting to take a trip to Japan again, also got a bit worried about me going alone and decided to book herself and my two sisters for the trip as well! haha! I’m happy either way, though! I know that both of my sisters have never been to Japan too, so I’m glad that I got the chance to share a first time experience in Japan with them as well.
Our flight back home was scheduled in the evening, and we decided to do some last-minute shopping during our last few hours in Korea. Instead of going back to shop in Dongdaemun, we decided to check out Edae.
Although, the day before, we set out to go shopping at Dongdaemun, which is known as Seoul’s main shopping district, we found that the shopping experience there wasn’t quite what we were expecting. With further research the night of the day we went to Dongdaemun, we found out that Edae was actually a better place to visit. The shopping streets along Edae are known to sell products similar to the ones in Dongdaemun, but for a cheaper price. This is mainly because their target market is the students from the nearby women’s university; thus, setting the prices cheaper for a younger market. If you will are looking to go shopping for cheap(er) women’s clothing, I highly suggest you also visit Edae (apart from Myeong-dong).
korea seoul travel
Seoul, Korea (June, 2014) – Day Four: Dongdaemun + Insa-dong + Hongdae
July 3, 2015We wanted our second to the last day to be a more laid-back day, since we didn’t want to stress out the night before our flight. Well, in the case of half of my family, their flight was scheduled earlier, i.e. the night of the fourth day, so the more we wanted to give them the freedom to what they wanted to do on their last day in Korea. However, we decided to have Dongdaemun as a fixed schedule during the morning, then it was up to us how we wanted to spend the rest of the day.
We got to visit Zaha Hadid’s famous Dongdaemun Plaza design!
Towards the afternoon, we accompanied those who missed out Insa-dong on the previous day/s to the aforementioned location once again. We wanted them to get at least a feel of what the traditional souvenir area had to offer!
Towards the evening, half of my family had already left for their earlier flight. As for the rest of us, we decided to head to Hongdae for dinner, while my sister separated to meet up with her friend in Gangnam.
Originally, we scheduled to meet up with Korean locals to tour us around Hongdae, but had problems with reaching them once we’ve arrived in the area, so ended up being late due to lack of means of communication. And because of that, we decided to spontaneously change our plans and just have dinner and try out the famous chicken and beer combo in Korea for our dinner that night!
Dinner, dessert, and street performers you can commonly find in Hongdae during the evening.
I didn’t get to take much photos during the third day since we spent the entire day in Everland. And because of that, I didn’t want to be bringing my bulky DSLR around, so I stuck to taking photos with my mobile phone. I apologize in advance that the photos I took aren’t of high quality since I spent a lot of time moving around and trying to enjoy the theme park. It was a day that went by pretty fast and in a blur, so the photos I took of that day were pretty much in a random mix-up as well.