Day 3 was another tiring day for us. Our initial plan was to visit 2 places with lots of walking and sightseeing but ended up with 3 places. Thank goodness we had a good breakfast to give us all the energy we needed.
Lily's breakfast
Stephen's breakfastOur first stop was Ginza. Reached there around half past 10, when there were less crowd. Most of the shops only open at 11am on weekends so we thought we were well covered to explore Ginza without knocking on each others shoulders.
Ginza Street signboard
Ginza Street signboard
Looking down at Ginza Street - 1
Looking down at Ginza Street - 2We were walking like any other tourists, checking out all the designer shops along the Ginza Street, taking a couple of photos in between and then across the road, we saw a huge queue by the roadside. We were asking each other "why's there a long queue when it's not 11am yet? Must be something good!". Crossed the road to check it out. It was in fact a cake shop, a famous one according to the passers-by.
A long queue before it opened and a famous one as well. You guessed it right what was our next move. Joined in the queue! :D The shop was surrounded by glass walls, so anyone can peak into the kitchen and see how the cake is being made. It kept us entertained, for sure!
After 15 minutes of queuing up, we were getting closer!
A long queue before it opened and a famous one as well. You guessed it right what was our next move. Joined in the queue! :D The shop was surrounded by glass walls, so anyone can peak into the kitchen and see how the cake is being made. It kept us entertained, for sure!
After 15 minutes of queuing up, we were getting closer!
Pastry chef at work - 1
Pastry chef at work - 2
Vanilla and chocolate flavored cakes
Name of the shop - 1 (in case we go back again for another visit)
Name of the shop (English)
The cakes in the oven - 1 (rotisserie style)
The cakes in the oven - 2Approximately 30 minutes of queuing up, we finally bought a piece to try it out. The service was very good, all cakes were airtight sealed and wrapped upon order. Tried the cake during lunch and it was ok. A little bit sweet to my liking but Lily loved it. It was very soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside because of the icing sugar.
Our much anticipated cake - 1
Our much anticipated cake - 2
Our much anticipated cake - 3Approximately 15 minutes past 11am, Ginza Street came to life, with streets filled with people, tourist buses started to arrive as well coupled with the local traffic. We were finding it hard to just walk straight, not to mention to take a good photo.
Ginza street with crowd - 1
Ginza street with crowd - 2
Ginza street with crowd - 3Not far from the main Ginza street, there's the much publicized Sony building. It would not be complete having gone to Tokyo without paying a visit to Japan's leading electronic manufacturer. As expected, it has A-Z of everything under Sony's brandname.
In there, you can view cutting edge products that are not available in the market, there's a Play Station room to try out not released games and the high-vision theatre shows free movie every Saturday. We only managed to catch a glimpse of it. All these are for free. Too good!
In there, you can view cutting edge products that are not available in the market, there's a Play Station room to try out not released games and the high-vision theatre shows free movie every Saturday. We only managed to catch a glimpse of it. All these are for free. Too good!
Sony building - 1
Sony building - 2While walking back from the Sony building to the main Ginza street, we saw another long queue outside a shop. Same drill, went over to check it all what's the fuss all about. It was a whole chestnut wrapped in a mini-bun. This is the first time we seen such combination. We didn't try it this time, not because of the queue but we were really full after our lunch and the vanilla cake.
Japanese love their chetnuts. It's selling everywhere, from roadside, to train stations to having a shop just for it in roasted, steamed, baked and in all sort of combination. :D
Japanese love their chetnuts. It's selling everywhere, from roadside, to train stations to having a shop just for it in roasted, steamed, baked and in all sort of combination. :D
Minibun chestnuts - 1
Mini-bun chestnuts - 2Close to 1pm, the policemans started to close the street from the local traffic. It's a weekend routine according to the locals. Its a logical move, the pathway was overflowing with people, it's too dangerous to have cars and motorbikes coming in and out of this stretch.
Ginza street with no local traffic - 1
Ginza street with no local traffic - 2
Ginza street with no local traffic - 3
Us in the middle of Ginza streetOne of the many things we like about Japan is that it's all connected underground, similar to Singapore. Comes in really handy when its raining. Since its all well connected, most of the time, we had to check the distance we had to walk to reach our destination. If you look straight ahead, there's no end in sight!
Our next stop was to visit Roppongi. Went to the nearest train station along Ginza street and catched the next train on Hibiya line, which is 130metres away.
Our next stop was to visit Roppongi. Went to the nearest train station along Ginza street and catched the next train on Hibiya line, which is 130metres away.
Train station signboardWhen we reached Roppongi, it was almost 2pm. It was getting cloudy as well and we prayed hard not to rain! We played it safe to stay indoor. We heard that Roppongi has a great observation deck, called Roppongi Hills, to check out the 360 degrees view of Tokyo, thats where we went. Luckily it didn't rain. Lucky for us and the prince and princess of the day. :)
"Proof" we were at Roppongi :D
Us at the Roppongi Hills
Sceneries of Tokyo - Tokyo Tower
Sceneries of Tokyo - East
Sceneries of Tokyo - East South
Sceneries of Tokyo - South
Sceneries of Tokyo - South West
Sceneries of Tokyo - South
Sceneries of Tokyo - South West
Sceneries of Tokyo - WestWe then went up to the sky deck to get a better shots of Tokyo. We went up there, there were quite a number of security guards on duty and we thought, "hmph... the security are tight up here". For all we know, there was a wedding that was about to commence. :D
It was not a very small scale wedding, probably because of the space limitation. Each bridesmaid were holding a pigeon shaped balloon, soft music was playing at the back, didn't rain and it was not too warm. Very nice!
It was not a very small scale wedding, probably because of the space limitation. Each bridesmaid were holding a pigeon shaped balloon, soft music was playing at the back, didn't rain and it was not too warm. Very nice!
Wedding about to commence
Bride and Groom arrived
Bride and Groom exchanging vows
The Prince and Princess of the day
Us with another shot of Tokyo Tower
Sceneries of Tokyo - East
Sceneries of Tokyo - 1
Sceneries of Tokyo - 2
One of the pigeon balloon flew off
Sceneries of Tokyo - 3
Us with yet another shot with Tokyo TowerWith a couple of hours left to spare, we decided to head on to Shibuya for the famous Shibuya crossing. It featured in a number of HK movies before and from there it looked pretty messy. So we went there to check it out ourselves and truly enough, the crossing was very "messy". Its located just outside the Shibuya Station, so its very easy to locate. The Starbucks store overlooking the crossing is one of the busiest Starbucks in the world.
I took many shot of the crossing, with my "superior" skills in photography, the photos below are the ones that are nice. :)
I took many shot of the crossing, with my "superior" skills in photography, the photos below are the ones that are nice. :)
Shibuya Crossing - 1
Shibuya Crossing - 2
Shibuya Crossing - 3
Shibuya Crossing - 4
Shibuya Crossing - 5Shibuya city is very similar to Akihabara at night, packed with people, city brightly lit with signboards, advertisements, etc. I was looking around for whale meat since the day we arrived and didn't know there's a restaurant here that only sells just that. My cousin told us about it when we are back in Melbourne. Lily must be really happy I could not find it.
Shibuya at night - 1
Shibuya at night - 2 (the city so bright that this jap dude had to wear sunglasses)
Shibuya at night - 3
Us at Shibuya at night
Shibuya at night - 4
Shibuya at night - 5Another interesting snack we found in Japan is this banana flavoured cake. Similar to the chestnuts, its everywhere. Took this in a train station on our way back from Shibuya. Again, a long queue during rush hours. For me, it looks too nice to eat.
Front of the stall
Banana flavoured cakeA very productive day 3 we reckon. We managed to cover 3 areas with good memories to take with us, especially at Roppongi Hills. Day 4 has more to come!
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