Life in the pink box: Day 1- Ginza & Shibuya

Now that we are back from our honeymoon, its a bit hard adjusting back to reality.
Haiz, how I wish I can still be on holiday! :S Think I miss Kyoto most! (and maybe Hong Kong too, the shopping bits)

But i shall relish all those fond memories by looking at the daily collection of pictures we have and giving detailed accounts of our days there, maybe it'll offer those going there a tip or two! :)

We covered Tokyo, Nikko, Hakone, Kyoto & Hong Kong on our trip. (Which meant lotsa trips to and fro on shinkansens and planes.)

DAY 1- Tokyo (Ginza & Shibuya)

Day 1 in Tokyo was a wet one for us. Wet was one thing, cold was another! The rain drops here are icy compared to those that fell in Singapore, Bbbrrrrr...
We spent most of the day hiding in the malls and shops in Ginza. Stepping out on to the streets meant coming face to face with the cold blast of rain and wind. I think days are short here nearing winter, with the sun setting at about 4.30pm.

LION at Ginza, Tokyo's oldest beer hall. We chanced upon this outlet in one of the many underground malls in Ginza. That's where we had our first meal in Tokyo. A nice cozy restaurant serving from yakitori to spaghetti. And the best crab cream croquettes D said he has ever had. *slurp* =P~ (seen below hiding behind the breaded prawn)

Appetizing plastic food display outside the outlet.

After filling our tummies, it was time to do some shopping! Yes, even in rainy conditions, the shopping has to go on! This nice spanking building caught our eyes from across the street (even in the rain) and D just had to go in to have a look at the Apples in Tokyo!

And next stop was Itoya, some way down the street. With a large paper clip beckoning this is a must go if you love and I mean LOVE stationary, like me! 8 or maybe 9 stories of stationary heaven! From pens, organisers, paints, character stationary and calanders, they got them all under 1 roof!

All well over dosed on stationary, next stop was Hakuhinkan Toy Park. Now this one is Character Heaven. Home of all characters and toys you can think of, all 8 floors of it. Breathe hard and resist the urge to cart everything off the shelves! :P
With a bit more stash, we stepped out onto wet and windy Tokyo,

hmmm, time to start looking for dinner.

We stop by at an eatery located on the 2nd floor of a mall near Toy Park, attracted by its plastic food display. Hah.. we're such suckers for these plastic food displays! :P But there's nothing better on a cold evening then Oden and Yakitori!

Yummy! :)

Oh and I forgot to mention one thing. The Japanese, always taking pride in their packaging and presentation, would never let their paper carriers bearing their brands get all crummy in wet weather. So they have devised 'rain-bags' for their carriers! Wow! nothing like a 'raincoat' to keep my buys nice n dry!

And I can get to keep the carrier bag too! Double wow! hahahha....

It was still raining after dinner but we ended the day dropping by Shibuya.

I wanted to visit Loft which had a branch there. 7 floors of anything and everything. From toiletries, cosmetics, stationary, (yes, more of it) home ware and furniture!
With enough excitement for the day, we headed back to our hotel tired and frazzled by the wet weather and hoped that tomorrow would be sunny.

Tired but happy me holding on to the day's shopping and our trusty Tokyo City Atlas, which guided us around confusing Tokyo. I'd recommend this to anyone going there!