Visit my previous blog: Hokkaido Travel Blog (Overview) I mentioned in my previous post that this hotel was one of the reason why I wanted to stay at least a night in Tokyo. Ever since my trip to Japan in 2011, I have been longing for the Japanese and continental buffet breakfast served at Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku Hotel. The spread was pretty decent but most importantly it is delicious :).
Daily Breaksfast will be served at Vilazza Cafe Source: Google Maps
Breakfast @ Vilazza
Grilled mackarel, seaweed, japanese omelette, pickled mushroom, sausage and bacon served with rice :).
Counter service was good and prompt. Since it is an international business hotel, the service staff speaks good English too.
Lobby @ Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku Source: Google Maps
I had originally reserved a standard double room for JPY19,600/Rm600 per night including breakfast. The room comes with a queen bed which is cosy enough for Wifey and I although we still considered the room to be a little small. This time around we were pleasantly surprised to know that we were upgraded to a larger Universal Standard Room instead of the normal standard room. Everything was still the same except that the room is bigger and can fit a sofa.
Universal Standard Room @ Sunroute Shinjuku
Each floor in the hotel has a vending machine where you can buy canned drinks including your favorite Japanese alcoholic beverage. Mine is Asahi Beer!!
The location of the hotel is considered quite good about 10 minutes walk from Shinjuku station. The fact that the airport bus makes scheduled stops right in front of the hotel is an added advantage.
Finding food around the area is pretty easy as well. There is a convenience shop right across the street and a Mcdonald's just less than 100m away.
Last weekend decided to watch Jurassic World with Wifey at KLCC. Since we had some time to kill, we decided to have high tea at Mandarin Oriental Hotel which is just nearby. The dining place is actually called Lounge In The Park. I guess it's much more a cosier place as compared to the cafes in KLCC or Avenue K. Furthermore, the pianist playing to some relaxing tunes makes this place a much classier one as well.
The table has been properly set up for the high tea. I decided to take the set for one person only and share it with Wifey after I realised that the table was pretty small and may be difficult to fit two tea sets. It turned to be a good idea as I am able to try out other items in the menu as well. As in the menu below, the high tea is available 2.30pm to 6 pm. During dinner time, the lounge area will be combined with Mosaic Restaurant for the buffet. I will suggest to place reservation earlier to avoid disappointment or to get a bigger table or a table with a better view. The price is Rm91 and inclusive of service tax and GST.
The Hi Tea was pretty satisfactory although not considered extraordinary. I think it tasted better than the one served in YTL's Camerons Highland Resort (CHR) where I had my last high tea. One criteria that is most important is the freshness of the bread or pastry served. Otherwise it would have tasted hard or dry. One thing for sure Mandarin Oriental is definitely more generous when it comes the types of spreads for the scones. In fact, they provided portions for two person although we ordered the set for one person only. Thumbs up for the quality service which exceeded my expectations. Once we are done with the high tea set, we decided to order a pizza to fill our tummy since we will be skipping dinner to watch the movie. We ordered the Salmon Pizza (circa Rm60) which was fantastic. The base was soft and crispy and the smoked salmon and mayo topping brings out a wonderful flavour. Great!!
The overall ambiance of the lounge area is quite good as well. There is a resident pianist playing and the lighting used adds up to the relaxing feel.
Ratings
Pricing a bit on the high side but if you are looking for a classy and decent place for high tea, this is a good option available.
As there is no direct flight from Kuala Lumpur to Hokkaido, Wifey and I decided to stay one night in Tokyo. We have been there in 2011, so it is like a refresher trip for me. As in the trip in 2011, our Malaysian Airlines (MH88) flight arrived at Terminal 2, Narita Airport early morning at around 6.30am. It is indeed a good timing as there will be one full day to explore the city. For info, Japan is one hour ahead of Malaysia.
MH88 at Narita Airport
Internet Connection
As soon as I arrived, I headed to the postal office located at departure level of Terminal 2 to collect my Portable Wifi that I reserved earlier from Global Advanced Communication (http://www.globaladvancedcomm.com). The rental cost me about 731 yen/day for the speed of 75 mbps. The speed was superb with no issues watching videos on youtube and was also usable throughout my trip in Hokkaido.
I strongly believe internet access is a must for travelling in Japan as I use it for directions, subway routing, Japanese translation and other tourist info. I feel much safer with it around. So important that I ensure there is a battery pack to recharge when required. Reservation is also really convenient which can be done online prior to the trip and upon arrival just collect it from the postal office. I don't even need to que for more than 5 minutes to collect the Portable Wifi.
Portable Wifi rented from Global Communications
Terminal 2, Departure Hall
Transport to the City
Once I completed running some tests on the portable wifi, Wifey and I proceeded to buy the ticket for the next available Narita Express Train to Shinjuku station. The cost is about 3,200 yen per person. Remember I mentioned that Japan being one hour ahead of Malaysia? I actually forgot to change the time on my watch and after purchasing my train ticket, I thought that I have another 80 minutes to spare (instead of 20 minutes only) so we went for a cup of coffee nearby. We only noticed our mistake when we were seated down and by that time, we only had another 7 minutes before the train arrives. It is fortunate that Wifey spotted the mistake in the nick of time.
Inside Narita Express...not many passengers in the morning.
You can buy hot beverage / simple breakfast from push carts.
Our hotel: Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku
Before able to go anywhere we need to drop off our luggage first so the first thing we did was to check into our hotel. Our hotel is located at the quiet side of Shinjuku which is just about 10 minutes walking distance from Shinjuku Station. It takes about an hour journey from Narita Airport to Shinjuku station which by the way is the busiest railway station in the world. Shinjuku is a major commercial and administrative centreknown for its department store, entertainment centre as well as the notoriously known Kabukicho which is Tokyo's own red light district.
Another reason why I wanted to stay at least a night here in Tokyo was partly due to this hotel. I will write a review about this hotel in my next blog :)
Entrance view of Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku
Source: Google Maps
Our Tokyo 1 Day Itenerary (Shinjuku →Harajuku → Shibuya)
After checking into the hotel, we proceeded with our plan for the day without wasting much time. We headed back to Shinjuku station and took the subway to Harajuku station which is just2 stations away. Harajuku is the place to experience the japanese youth culture and people watching. Every now and then you will come across cosplayers or anime fans dressed up as their favorite cartoon characters.
Without Google Maps...Think I will get totally lost...
Front view of Harajuku Station
(Pic Taken in 2011 Trip)
It is common to sight cosplayers in Harajuku on weekends although of late, the culture is getting less popular..
Once outside of Harajuku station, go left and follow the crowd and you will eventually arrive at Takeshita Street, a shopping street. You can find a lots of fashion boutique shops, cafes and restaurants there. If fashion is not of your interest, there is also a big Daiso 100 yen shop there where you can find interesting Japanese household items as your souvenir.
Takeshita Street
Daiso @ Harajuku
Source: Google Maps
At Takeshita Street you will also find two to three shops selling the famous Harajuku crepes with probably 20 choices to choose from. We decided to just have that for lunch since we expect to have more munchies along the way.
It tasted as good as it looks :)
As in the last trip, we decided to take a slow walk to Shibuya since the walk is less than 2km away and took us about 20 minutes to reach there. You know you are near Shibuya when you see this type of trucks with blaring music circling the area. It is used as advertisement usually targeting the youths.
Advertisement Trucks @ Shibuya
The place has not changed much since 2011. Probably just the weather since the last time we were here it was autumn while the second time around it was summer. The surprising thing was the night temperature was not as warm as expected since it was summer. In fact, it was actually pretty cool like 24-25 Celsius. Since the real reason being here is not for the fashion, which by the way is what Shibuya is much famous for. So what is the next most popular thing here?
Shibuya Crossing
It's called Shibuya Crossing which is considered as the world’s busiest intersection located in front of Shibuya Station. Seeing so many people crossing (or to be exact "crisscrossing") the intersection at one time is set to amaze anyone who is seeing it for the first time. One of the better place to view Shibuya Crossing is at the Starbucks in Tsutaya Building located at one corner of the intersection. Wifey and I decided to have afternoon coffee there as well. Be warned though... this place is always packed with people so you would expect long queues especially on weekends and difficulty in getting seats especially those with windows that have view over the intersection. When we were there in 2011, we weren't so lucky so we decided to give another try this time and bingo....
Starbucks @ Shibuya
Source: Google Maps
After afternoon coffee, we continued to stroll around Shibuya area and as usual Wifey will be very interested on those pharmacies which also sell skin care products like the one below.
Soon it was already about 7pm and we decided to call it a day as we wanted to rest early and be prepared for our trip to Hokkaido on the following day. Before heading back to the hotel, we had dinner first (our first proper meal since our arrival this morning) at Shinjuku Station.
Dinner was at a random Katsudon Restaurant. Katsudon is basically a bowl of rice topped with a deep fried pork (or sometimes chicken) cutlet and egg. It tasted quite good. I have always felt that having fried food in Japan (including Tempura) tasted better than those outside of Japan. I find that the variant here is usually less soggy / oily hence it felt to me like its healthier here. Maybe it's just a perception :)... For more info of food you can find in Tokyo:
