Suitengumae Station - Located next to Tokyo City Air Terminal, T-CAT.

Suitengumae is not listed as one of the recommended places to stay. Many had suggested to book hotels located in Roppongi, Shibuya, Ginza and more, but Suitengumae. I first found out about Suitengumae when I was searching for transports connecting between the city and Haneda Airport. From there, I found out about Villa Fontaine Hakozaki, the hotel we stayed. 


Suitengumae Station is just a block away from our hotel, cross the street, the station just next to 7-11. Suitengumae Station undeniably has convenient access to all places, it took about 25 minutes away from Tokyo Station. I would suggest you to consider Suitengumae if you're going to Tokyo. Just FYI, Tokyo train system is technically operated by 3 different companies, every station has its station number and lines, count on your common sense to understand the routes.

Checking out the train station.

It was our second day in Tokyo. Have you heard about Hachiko Statue?

Hachikō (ハチ公, November 10, 1923 – March 8, 1935), known in Japanese as chūken Hachikō (忠犬ハチ公 "faithful dog Hachikō" ['hachi' meaning 'eight', a number referring to the dog's birth order in the litter, and 'kō', meaning prince or duke]), was an Akita dog born on a farm near the city of Ōdate, Akita Prefecture, remembered for his remarkable loyalty to his owner, even many years after his owner's death. - wikipedia.com

It was a long way from the platform to the 8th Exit. There are few turns but it's unlikely to get lost as they have paw-prints on the floor directing you to the Hachiko Exit.


Got distracted by a department store that easily accessed from the underground train station.


Bought a 150grams seafood salads. Mouth-watery salads, to be exact.

A Taiko (太鼓) performance on-going outside the train station!



The Japanese are so supportive, they applauded whenever the emcee finished a sentence, they applauded when the performance ended, they applauded when the performers bow down. Not sorry for being such an idiot mentioning about these, I went to a violin-classical show before (my boyfriend was the guest performer as a drummer), the audience didn't show any appreciation after performances by a group of violinists. My boyfriend only played few songs and the crowd gave response by giving a big applause, it's presumably because the drum beats are catchy, despite all that, they are still awkwardly rude for not giving face to the violinists.



After waiting for its owner's return for several years, Hachiko was found lying motionlessly on the street of Shibuya on March, 8. Hachiko was suffered from cancer and worm infection (Reminder: Dog owners please take your dogs for de-worm treatment). The staff of train station and Hachiko's caretaker mourned for its death, what an honor to a dog, I feel extremely pleased with it. Its body was mounted and displayed at National Science Museum of Tokyo, Ueno. Oh my god, I was actually crying typing these down. Every 8th April, dog lovers will gather around Hachiko Statue to honor his loyalty towards its owner.

*wipe off tears* Well, pictures below are to show you how busy and occupied Shibuya is.









There are plenty of boutiques in Shibuya 109. I did not managed to buy more as I don't know what not to buy! I eventually decided not to buy anything, but an animal-print shorts and a sleeveless hoodie.

Another story behind my shopping spree. The boyfriend disagreed on most of the items I intended to buy. I frantically moved my limbs in anger when he pulled me out from shops. Think about it, I was lucky to have somebody stop me because of Tokyo Disneyland, will blog about it after this. 

DJ KITTY, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?





At night, another view of this famous shopping district.







I've spent 3 days in Shibuya. Spent a fortune a thousand in Topshop, H&M and Forever 21. Everything was so tempting and I can't stop myself from visiting the same shop repeatedly!

If it wasn't because of my boyfriend, I think I will skip my dinner. After the first udon we had in Akihabara, we tried Soba. Surprisingly, it taste heavenly smooth and refreshing! Highly recommended for hot weather.



We had our dinners (except Disneyland Days) all in the same noodle shop located opposite of a Pachinko store. Our dinner was 800 grams of Soba and two bowls of tempura rice. On top of that, side dishes we bought from department stores and roadside stalls. This shop provides refillable ice-cold water too!



Previous post on Tokyo, click this and this. 

Disclaimer: I don't fancy about action figures at all. I never planned to spend a cent in Akihabara.


Peeps, here's my humble opinion. You MUST HAVE some brief ideas of where you're going and what to do when you're there. As I mentioned in my previous post, I planned my itinerary. By having a proper planning, you will be able to avoid some of the troublesome situations, such as asking for directions. I did ask for directions, and that was to double confirm the direction I'm heading to. Japanese might understand your English but it's unlikely you'll feel the same way too. I faced some conversation breakdown when I was in Tokyo, Japanese tend to turn to my boyfriend and speak Japanese, hoping he can translate it to me. We both puzzled and we just nod our head, as if we understand them.

Eye-catching hair color!

After having our complimentary breakfast in the hotel, we off to Akihabara, the second attraction in my itinerary.

The first building we saw after walking out from Akihabara Station.

Akihabara, Tokyo - thought half day in Akihabara was more than enough, considering we both didn't have anything to buy there. But Club Sega prove me wrong!

Akihabara is love!

Club Sega is a  red-colored building with 6-floors of gaming arcade and crane machines/lifting machines/claw machines! Don't be surprise to see at least 3-floors of crane machines because Japanese DO spend time and money to win the prizes. Unlike in our country.

One of the prizes of crane machines.

One Piece.

The first claw machine I played.

Technically, you don't claw nor lift the prize. These prizes are string-attached to a round shaped adapter which connected to a rectangular platform. Lift the adapter from the rectangular platform seems easy, but it's freaking hard for a first timer like me! You need to control the throttle carefully, because you only get to adjust it twice, one for side-to-side and another one is for front-to-back.

I remembered it was 500YEN = 6 times for the claw machine in the photo above. It was indeed a bad investment, I've inserted 1000YEN, the prize never moved from its initial place! I decided to give up because the machine is cheating!

Initial D, anyone?

Rows and rows of capsule machines. From 200YEN to 500YEN, pick one! Seriously, if my siblings came with me, all of us will went crazy! Craziness is infectious among siblings, trust me.

Childhood memory.

One Piece for my sister and Gundam for my brother.

Got a super cute one!

Super excited with the capsule I won bought! The capsule was so tight and I intended to bite it off, the boyfriend opened it for me with just one turn. He's my super hero.

Before we went to the higher floor, I passed by the claw machine which I've invested 1000 YEN, I decided to give it another try. Put in 500 YEN. I've already used up 2 of the 6 times, started to get frustrated because the adapter won't move an inch for god's sake! It tipped me off and one second before I flipped over the machine, a guy approached and started to speak in Japanese with some hand gestures, pointing at the claw. I didn't catch him at first based on my limited understanding of Japanese, the boyfriend asked me to move from the throttle. I asked the Japanese guy to show it to me

AND HE'S SUPER GENIUS WON A SET FOR ME!

I was super happy don't even bother to pose better to cover my fat arm.

1500YEN for an action figures? Seriously?! Thanks him for a million times! The drumset was meant for the boyfriend, I was jealous and I want a set too! Obviously I couldn't win one for myself so I shamelessly asked this One-Piece guy if he could help and win another one for me. And he said yes! Why is he so friendly and nice! I showed him the prize, it's a Mermaid character in One Piece. Don't be surprise, he won it! Just cost me 500 YEN for the beautiful-sexy-mermaid!

Although I knew he was going to win it, I can't help myself and screamed excitedly the moment my prize dropped off from the adapter. One of the Club Sega staff approached me and knelt down! I was shocked and in a split second thought it was a royal treatment for every winner. I laughed at my own thought when she congrats me gracefully and packed my prizes with a big plastic bag. The crowd gave me a big applause. Ok, I'm sold. I will be back, Club Sega.

It's not just that. Akihabara has more than that to offer! We walked out from Club Sega and wandered around, until we saw another multi-floor building. It's a jaw dropping action figures paradise, don't doubt about it. I bought my Darth Vader iPhone power bank, iPhone accessory SAW puppet head (glow in the dark), Star Wars chopsticks, Transformers figures, robot figures and Warcraft figures here!

OH MY GODDESS!

Skuld, Belldandy and Urd!

Belldandy! The second sister of the Trio Goddess, my favorite.

Oh My Goddess is my childhood memory. I remembered when my elder sister played the anime for the very first time and since then I can't stop watching the anime, until my sister enrolled into a half-boarding school.

After all the vulnerable time of deciding what to buy and what not, it's time for nom-nom-nom! Order-via-vending machine is one of my must-do list in Tokyo. Before flying, I spent some time on the internet trying to locate some of the noddle shops with vending machine. Apparently, almost all the noodle shops we went, they have it! Frankly speaking, I think we should have this kind of order system here. It's so annoying to see some diners take their own sweet time flipping through the menu, while there is a long queue outside the restaurant. Freaking inconsiderate.

Took us 2 minutes to decide.

Self service.

His first udon and rice in Tokyo.

First udon in Tokyo.

Beef.

We ordered based on pictures shown on the buttons. Not sure if it was because of the freaking hot weather (Summer), all the noodle shops we dine-in, they offered ice cold water without extra charges. I drank a lot. Every morning before I walk out from the hotel cafeteria, I will refill my water bottles with the ice-cold orange juice. YES, water bottles, 6 of them to be exact. And one with ice-cold water.

That was the main reason why the bag that I borrowed from my younger sister teared up. Will buy a new one for her in Hong Kong as compensate to her generosity of letting me bring her bag to Tokyo without asking for her permission, lol.

Happy jump!

Previous post on Tsukiji Fish Market.