Japan Day 7

Japan Day 7- Tokyo

Our bus reached Shinjuku at 5am plus in the morning, ahead of schedule. Sleepy-eyed, we dragged our luggage on the streets in the cold morning air (2 degrees!) to Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku hotel.

After a wash-up and leaving our luggage with the reception, we went to the one place which is opened in the early morning- Tsukiji market- for a decadent breakfast. 

Having tried Sushi Dai on the previous trip, we decided to try its rival Sushi Daiwa this time. Plus, we were not too keen on queuing for three hours even though the food at Sushi Dai was fantastic. How often can one say that one has eaten from the two most famous sushi shops in the world's most famous fish market?!

So off to Sushi Daiwa we went. 

We ordered a sushi set each.

The chefs behind the counter who were not too friendly. 

 

More sushi from our sets

We felt the food was not very good, considering the price we were paying. The seaweed on the sushi maki seemed unevenly cut and some of the seafood just tasted blah. 

We left the Tsukiji market with a heavy heart. Ya that sounds so melodramatic but we really felt sian. Go to Sushi Dai if you want sushi!

After the unsatisfactory breakfast, we went to Ikebukuro to visit Sunshine City. This is a new area that we didn't explore in our previous trip. Apparently this is the Akihabara for women and teenagers. 

I was pleasantly surprised to see the yellow foliage.

In Sunshine City where there is a cute anime town for teenagers to play and eat.

Soon it was eating time again. We had a cheap and nice meal at the fast food restaurant Tenya which specializes in tempura. I love how the tempura in Japan are crispy while retaining the natural favours inside. 

We headed back to the hotel for check in and rest before going to Yokohama to watch the Club World Cup competition. That is the main reason why we are in Tokyo for the second time in the year- to watch Chelsea lol. 

Our room in Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku. I took a shower while Dear went to the convenience store round the corner on the street to collect the tickets for tonight's quarter final match. 

The drama started.

The email confirmation of the tickets was in Jap. The machine to retrieve the tickets by yourself was programmed in Jap. The shop attendants could not understand enough Eng to communicate with us how to get the tickets printed out. 

Dear came back to inform me that we couldn't get the tickets and we started to panic. This was only three hours before the match starts. 

And there was this weird line on the confirmation that stated a time that we have to collect the tickets by. Which left us half wondering if the tickets are still booked for us.

I told Dear to take a quick shower while i went down to the reception to seek help. After consulting the receptionist who was equally blur at the vade instructions on the email confirmation, we went to another convenience store to try our luck. Somehow the machine just couldn't find our booking.

My rational side took over and I concluded that how can the ticket process be so difficult. There must also be a way to collect the tickets on the spot. Since time was running out, I told Dear we should make our way to Yokohama and approach the ticket booth at the stadium for help.

To cut the long story short, we got our tickets at the ticketing booth without any fuss. :)

The tickets after the drama.

The stadium

 

Quite a few merchandise stores that were packed with people 

 

Comfortably at our seats, the match is starting 

 

Celebrating after a goal

The game was won 1-0 by Chelsea and we went happily home amongst the orderly crowd.

We had supper at the fast food joint at the junction near our hotel. It was an excuse to try their flavored fries, haha. I love how vibrant the city is until late. 

Time for bed after filling our stomachs!