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| Melon Pan - basically a sweet bread. |
I was still combating jetlag, but 5 hours of sleep was pretty good overall. While my husband was still sleeping as I watched him with green-eyed envy, I tried some of the melon pan we bought along Nakamise-dori (at Sensoji Temple) yesterday. It was lightly sweet and still fluffy. mmmmm...
Today we didn't have any specific plans other than to explore Shinjuku and do some shopping - which was ideal on such a rainy, grey day. We took the subway from Ebisu to Shinjuku (4 quick stops) and found a tax-free store adjacent to Uniqlo. I think it was called Bicqlo or something like that - about 5 or 6 stories of fun stuff to buy - makeup, clothes, housewares, snacks, toys galore! We especially liked the anime/toy floor where they had several rows of gonchapon machines. Basically vending machines where you can get little toys - but it's always a surprise what you end up getting. Very addictive....
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| Takumian - a restaurant in Isetan Dept. Store. |
After almost 2 hours in that store, we headed over to Isetan Department Store because we heard the basement (food) floor there was amazing. While it was absolutely glorious, we discovered everything was for takeaway and there was no place to sit and eat down there. I think the Japanese have an issue with people eating on the streets or on the go - I guess one is supposed to eat only at designated areas, which definitely makes for a cleaner environment. Feeling a tad defeated and quite hungry, we headed to the upper restaurant level and ended up with a lunch set (with pork tonkatsu, fried chicken, soup, egg custard, and pickled veggies) at Takumian. Super tasty.
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| Delicious lunch set! |
Invigorated after the delicious lunch, I then proceeded to the beauty floor to stock up on my Japanese skincare - SKII and Shu Uemura. Based on the favorable exchange rate, I think I was able to get the products at 25-30% off! (Tip - and if you spend over about $100, then you can do a tax-free purchase if you bring your passport and fill out the appropriate paperwork.)
I have to admit that while I was shopping among the demure ladies in Tokyo, I felt rather barbaric and awkward. Everyone around me was dressed up and perfectly coiffed. I looked like a drowned rat and I was carrying a bulky backpack because I knew I would be buying lots of stuff. Don't get me wrong - everyone was lovely and polite to me, but I couldn't help feeling like a bull in a porcelain shop once again.
Unlike in the U.S. where you can have one sales associate assist you with purchases across brands, in Japan, you have specific sales associates for each brand. Once you select your items from a brand, they will finalize the transaction and wrap everything up for you beautifully. While the service is amazing, it is a bit inefficient if you want to buy from multiple brands, because they won't combine your items in one big purchase. On the upside, there are lots of gifts with purchases, so I ended up with a bunch of freebies after my SKII haul.
My husband was getting a bit impatient so I had to leave the amazing beauty floor (boo) so we could explore the basement (food) floor again. There was a little sake shop which offered sake tastings. Obviously we couldn't resist. We learned here that sake should be enjoyed "fresh" - so unlike wine, where aging is often a good thing - sake needs to be enjoyed while it's young apparently. Who knew?
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| Marron glace... incredibly sweet and tasty. |
The Japanese have quite a love affair with all things French and there are a ton of Paris bakeries and confection shops as proof. I saw some marron glace (candied chestnuts) at Jean Paul Hevin and could not resist. They were delicious! (not as good as the ones I had in Florence, Italy, but still pretty darn good)
They were handing out lots of tasty samples in the basement floor - cheesecake, cookies, pickled veggies, etc. - and even though we were full from lunch, we couldn't stop eating.
The rain was still going strong so we couldn't really walk around outside. We decided to head back to the hotel. At the subway station (Ebisu), there are lots of snack shops selling onigiri (rice balls) so we picked some up for later (salmon and ume).
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| Onigiri - rice balls - perfect for a light snack! |
We were so tired from the shopping and traipsing around in the rain that we decided to stay close to the hotel for dinner. There are several food courts located in the Ebisu Garden area and we roamed around until we saw a place serving lots of udon and rice bowls (based on their displays). We decided to give it a try and the food turned out to be quite good and comforting. I do have to note however that no one spoke English so luckily there were English menus with pictures. The restaurant also didn't have an English name...
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| If you don't speak Japanese, you can always point :) |
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| Dinner set with chicken & egg on rice with soba noodles on the side. |
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| A sweet mochi dessert with a bit of a smokey flavor - quite good and surprising. |
Full and happy once again, we took a leisurely stroll back to our hotel and had a little bit of sake as a nightcap. Not a particularly eventful day, but it was still fun for a shopaholic like me!
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| We bought this at the sake shop in Isetan - very refreshing! |
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