A blog on how we travel Japan
During my recent long summer vacation in Tokyo, I visited the Rilakkuma (Kiiroitori Diary) themed cafe hosted by Tower Records Cafe at Omotesando. This pop-up cafe was a little unique as it revolved around Rilakkuma’s friend – Kiiroitori (the yellow chick)! Some fun facts about Rilakkuma and Kiiroitori: Rilakkuma is produced by San-X, a Japanese …
One of the distinctive characteristics of Japanese culture is their impeccable grooming standards, especially their perfectly groomed salon hair. In fact, there are aplenty hair salons in Tokyo but language barrier pose a huge hurdle for tourists like us. Unfortunately, Japanese hair salons in Singapore are extremely pricey. Finally 4 years ago, I found a …
First-time visitors to Tokyo who have just finished dinner are often surprised and disappointed to find shops and malls closing as early as 8pm to 8.30pm. Now feeling re-energized after dinner and you are ready for 1 more activity/place to visit before calling it a day. If you are a late owl yet a non-clubber, …
After a yummy crepe, let’s continue our walkabout down Takeshita Street… Opposite the crepes stores is Matsumoto KiYoshi, one of the leading drugstore/pharmacy chainstore in Japan, which sells a huge range of toiletries, cosmetics, counter medication and titbits etc. They are like a combination of our Watsons + Guardian Pharmacy + SASA, a 3-in-1 beauty/pharmacy/drugstore. …
Believe me, shopping in Tokyo can be cheap and affordable too if you visit Harajuku Takeshita Street, the trademark shopping street in Harajuku! Similarly to other Asia’s famous shopping districts such as Xi-Meng-Ding in Taipei and Myeong Dong in Seoul, Harajuku Takeshita Street is the hang-out place in Tokyo for price-conscious Japanese teens. It is …
JR Vacation If I only have time for 1 shopping mall in Tokyo, my all-time favourite Lumine Est Shinjuku would definitely be THE ONE due to the following reasons: The only major shopping mall in Tokyo which closes at 10pm. Most shopping malls in Tokyo close between 8pm-8.30pm. So an extended closing time is a MAJOR …
Japanese are well-known for their innovation and creativity, and I’m excited to share on some very interesting finds that formed part of the stationery collection available at Bunbougu Cafe – a Stationery Cafe (Bunbougu means 文房具, stationery in Japanese) owned by Toukou Bros, a well-known stationery wholesaler in Japan. Check out these amazing stationery! An “anti-discard” …
The Flower Cafe Kazahana (Flower＆cafe風花) was a hidden gem in Minami Aoyama that I chanced upon by accident on the internet and it remains as one of my very best finds in Tokyo! Unsurprisingly, the cafe is also located in one of those small quiet streets. I walked past a few shops and was attracted …
Being a true-blue Singaporean, tree-house restaurants/cafes are uncommon and typically remain as an image/a scene from hollywood movies. I can’t imagine myself staying in a tree-house though as I’m scared of crawlies but would love the fun and cheap thrill of being able to climb up to it and wave from the top. I first …
My love for beautiful theme cafes brings me on a search journey for another flower-themed cafe, and I found my answer in the gorgeous Nicolai Bergmann Nomu Cafe. If Aoyama Flower Market is the leader and an important player of the Japanese floralculture industry, then Nicolai Bergmann would be deemed as “the new kid on the …