(｡◕‿◕｡): Day 1: Tokyo (Tsukiji Market + Ginza + Akihabara)

We touched down at Haneda Airport around 5.15am and headed off to drop our luggage off at Sunroute Plaza and then traveled to our first destination, Tsukiji Fish Market. Since it was still early and the shops weren't open yet, I figured we could go to Sushi Dai which was infamous for the long queue outside since they could only seat about 10 people in the shop. I wanted us to reach there as early as possible so we dashed off immediately after touch down, it was as if we were running in the Amazing Race or something lol.

By the time we found our way through the complicated train system to the hotel and everything, it was already 8.30am when we found ourselves outside the shop.

Funny signs outside the market.

Block 6 of Tsukiji Market, where Sushi Dai is.

The queue at 8.30am in the morning. This is just half of it. The line continued some 50m behind, so as not to block the door of the shop next door.

9am. YES! I'm finally near the front of the queue! Two people in front of me gave up here and went to Sushi Daiwa about 2 shops down. There was no queue to be seen there at that time although there were quite a number of people queuing when we arrived.

After an hour of standing in line, I'm finally sitting in the shop! The chefs were really friendly and even chatted a bit in English with us.


Fresh scallop. I think it was still alive.

Green tea while waiting for food to be served.


First sushi served: fatty tuna. There was a bit of wasabi in it. The chef would inform us if we needed to add sauce for each of the sushi he put in front of us.

Miso soup with some fish in it.


Hot tamago, perfect for the cold weather.

moar sushi

no idea what is is but the pink ones were absolutely delish, one of my faves

for the Omakase set which we ordered, there was a total of 10 sushi picked by the chef, whichever fish he felt was the best for the day and at the end we could pick an extra one from the menu. We both picked the fatty tuna cos it was easily the best one and... it was the most expensive one at ¥700!!!

After sushi breakfast, it was about 11am so we headed to Tsukiji metro station to take the subway to Ginza. It wasn't really that cold that day so I felt like I was melting in my coat when we were walking in the department stores!

After wandering around for a while we had some dessert at Quil Fait Bon.

pretty christmas decorations

I especially love the upstairs window

cute snowman, but i don't think it's on the menu. idk, it was all in japanese :T

interior of the cafe

The chairs had little web things so you don't have to worry about your bag falling of the chair, a brilliant idea!

Japanese tai tais enjoying their tea time snacks

the teapot had a little jacket!

my fave: earl grey tea

a little hour glass. i think it lets you know when u can start drinking the tea?

sweet potato pie

another shot of the best pie i've ever had. seriously, the cubes of sweet potato is the best thing ever. and the cream, mmmm. worth every cent.

the bill

After this we went to Akihabara to look around. The cameras that came with English menus did not seem to be that much cheaper than in Singapore. Especially not the Canon Ixus camera that I was looking for. We did see some girls distributing flyers for a maid cafe even though we didn't see the cafes. And there were a whole lot of anime porn posters in some of the shops. It felt a little seedy.

Soon it was night so we went to Shinjuku's Takashimaya which is just opposite our hotel. Around 8pm we went to the basement to get food cos I read that food would be cheaper near closing time. I thought they were selling the fish for ¥100 but turns out it was just a ¥100 discount (lol @ me). The cons of not understanding any Japanese. It cost about ¥500, and tasted a bit too salty. So I really felt cheated. Note to self, when something seems too good to be true, it usually is.

Lights at Shinjuku South Terrace

The lights shut down literally right after I took this picture LOL.

We retired to the hotel for the night after this. The room is quite small, as expected but the bathroom was pretty big for a Tokyo hotel. It had everything we needed, shampoo, conditioner and body soap. Which was great since we didn't bring any as we were trying to save space. They even gave us a set of PJs each. I booked the cheapest room I could find on Agoda.com, an Economy Double, meaning we would have to share a bed, but at check in, the guy upgraded us to a Economy Twin at no charge, sweet! Would definitely stay there again if I visit Tokyo again!

We got a little lost looking for Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku so here's a video showing you how to get there.

Or

Leave Shinjuku Station via the Southern Terrace Exit. Walk towards Starbucks and keep walking down till you reach Krispy Kreme, Turn right and you'll find an escalator, go down and walk across the foot bridge. About half way across the foot bridge, look right and you'll see the hotel right in front.

If you can't find the Southern Terrace Exit, just go to the South Exit. Right across the road you'll spot Starbucks. Get across using the bridge or the pedestrian crossing a few steps down if you have your luggage with you and follow the instructions above :)

Some pictures I took before going to bed:

Loot for the day. A necklace from Printemps

Earphones and socks

Some masks to use at night in the hotel and some lip balm and a spray from Ettusais. And razors for eyebrows. Lip balm is really essential for cold weather. The last time I didn't use any and ended up with extremely chapped lips and couldn't really enjoy the food that much.

mochicream from Akihabara

It looks like it melted a little. It's actually mochi shaped like a donut. The display at the shop was really nice and colorful, I wish I had taken a picture.

TOKYO BANANA! Lol I think the name is funny. Bought this at Shinjuku train station. Apparently it's supposed to be the number one souvenir from Tokyo. But it doesn't taste especially good or anything.