Breakfast @ Changi Airport Terminal 1 before flight
This is probably the most relaxing trip to Tokyo for hubby and i as we are staying 9 days in Tokyo although first and last day are mostly gone as we reached Tokyo at night and our flight back to Singapore is early in the morning. However 7 whole days is more than enough as we planned to just revisit some of our favorite places like Itoya in Ginza, Book 1st and the lovely cafe at Cocoon Tower in Shinjuku, do some shopping, dine at Muji and have fun at Disneyland and sea. We had also planned to take an hour train ride to Kamakura which is a lovely little town with lot of Buddhist Temples but dropped the plan after hubby fall sick on the third day. Luckily he recovered on the 4th day and we were able to shop around Tokyo but we decided not to ventured too far and spent more time relaxing in nice cafes eating desserts. We ate alot during our trip and spent alot of time relaxing in interesting cafes and just exploring around Odaiba where our hotel is. Hopefully we can go to Kamakura during our future trip to Japan :>
We reached Tokyo on 8 November around 9pm local time after a whole day of traveling by Cathay Pacific and transits at Hong Kong Airport. I love the meals we had on board and also bought some duty free items. I have been wanting to try out Clinque's new BB cream as i love using BB cream and bought a tube on the plane. I love L'occitane products especially their Shea hand cream after a friend gave me one for my birthday gift this year. Enriched with 20% shea butter, this super creamy balm penetrates quickly to protect, nourish and moisturize hands. I bought its hand cream travel set which comprises of 6 mini size tubes of hand cream. I also bought Clinque's travel size lip gloss which comes in 10 different colors and can't wait to start using them :>
Reaching Haneda Tokyo International Airport
Nice to have boy band Arashi welcoming us heehee...
Travelling from Haneda Airport to our hotel was a breeze by Airport Limousine bus which cost 500 Yen (S$8) and only took about 30 minutes journey. I remembered having to spend about S$25 per trip for an hour journey by Limousine bus from Narita Airport to Keio Hotel at Shinjuku last year. The opening of the Haneda Tokyo International Airport on 31 October 2010 is really great for international travelers :> and i love the design of the airport and its clean toilets and interesting shopping areas at the departure hall. I was also impressed with its Observation Deck on the 4th floor of the departure hall which is open air and visitors are able to see the planes taking off! It was a really nice touch. Haneda Airport used to only serve domestic flights and i will definitely prefer landing at Haneda Airport than Narita Airport if i go to Tokyo in the future as it is more convenient and i like the new shopping arcade at Haneda.
Limousine bus ticket
Comfortable and warm waiting room for travelers to wait for Limousine bus
Warm royal milk tea while waiting for bus to hotel
Here comes our bus, yipee! Can't wait to get to hotel as really tired after whole day flight!
We reached the Grand Pacific Le Daiba Hotel at around 11.45pm and check-in was really fast and we do not have to wait at all. Our hotel is in Odaiba which is quite near Haneda Airport and we will need to take the Yurikamome line to Shimbashi station and change to the Yamanote line if we wish to go to Ginza, Shinjuku, Harajuku etc...
One thing to note is that it is quite expensive traveling by the Yurikamome line compared to the JR Lines which includes the frequently traveled Yamanote line but luckily the hotel provides free hourly shuttle bus to Shinagawa station which is along the Yamanote line and it only takes around 20 minutes to reach which is really convenient and we can save some money on transport. We took the bus several occasions and the bus always arrive about 5 minutes early and the driver will normally start the bus on time. Do buy the one day Yurikamome open ticket if you plan to explore Odaiba as you can take unlimited rides for the day at only 800 Yen (around S$13). A single ride for example from Daiba station where our hotel is located to Shimbashi station where we transfer to the Yamanote line cost about 360 Yen (about S$5.7) if i remember correctly and it would be more worthwhile getting the one day open ticket if we plan to shop around Venus Fort (Aomi station) and Aqua City (Daiba station) when we are back at night from shopping at Ginza and Akihabara.
Yurikamome One day open ticket
We choose to stay in Odaiba even though transport is more expensive and it is further from downtown Tokyo as we love that it is near the beach with clear view of the Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo Tower and there are also lot of shopping centres nearby like Aqua City, Decks and Venus Fort. We chose this hotel after reading good reviews online from travellers who have stayed in the hotel and the whole stay was a pleasant and wonderful experience for us. Most of the hotel staff understand simple basic English and language was not a problem for us.
View from our hotel room. I can even see airplanes flying towards Haneda Airport!!
We stayed on the 19th floor and although the room was smaller than the room at Keio Hotel, it feels more cozy and relaxing :> I love the Kanebo toiletries provided by the hotel and i tried its shampoo and conditioner and my hair feels smoother and not that frizzy! The hotel also provides sleepwear for guests and i love the warm toilet seat hehe
The hotel seems popular with female Japanese travelers and young families. There were alot of young Japanese girls dressed very nicely who were walking past to go up to their hotel rooms when we were at the hotel lobby checking in. They seem to have just attended some function or D&D at the hotel and there were almost more than 50 of them. We saw alot of them while buying mineral water and snacks at the 24 hour convenience store in the hotel and ended up having to queue to pay for our purchases. The store had also ran out of big bottled mineral water and alot of snacks as those girls had bought most of the stuff!!! We also saw SIA pilots and air stewardesses staying at the hotel and the air stewardesses were also buying stuff from the convenience store which added to the queue.I have never seen so many pretty women in one night haha guess it was dream come true for hubby ;>
No more big bottled mineral water :< luckily the stocks were replenished next day
However although there were alot of them staying in the hotel that night. it was quiet in our room and we were able to have a good rest before starting to explore Tokyo the next day. I would highly recommend this hotel for those who are traveling to Tokyo and wises to get away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Tokyo. This hotel would be on the top of my list of hotel to go back to if i were to travel to Tokyo in the future :> Do look forward to my post on Ginza next :>
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