Uniqlo from head to toe - Tokyo Day 6

The previous post in this series is here..

We had a really happy dinner at the Monday Apart Hotel after coming back late from Ueno park. Then we had to pack as we had to change to the Tokyo Dome hotel on day 6.

There was a brilliant idea to do laundry, given there was a washer and dryer in the room and the nice attendant had given us detergent to use. I threw all our dirty clothes in the washer (mostly mine) and turned it on. Wash it did. Dry it did not after 4 hours. We called the attendant and they turned it on for another 2 hours.

Went to sleep. Woke up to find wet clothes. Even wetter than before. The menu was all in Japanese in the washer and there was a poorly written manual. So we called the person from the lobby. They turned it on, while we went and had breakfast.

Breakfast was great at this vegan place which had a Tarot theme. The service and food, just great! We came back in hopes of packing up and the attendant profusely apologized and said the machine was defective. They even tried to use another machine in a different room but clothes still slightly wet and damp. So I got a garbage bag full of wet clothes, put it also in the Uber and off we went to Tokyo dome.

I will still recommend this hotel to anyone. Just because I have repeatedly had bad luck with laundry in other countries, doesn’t mean you will. It is a nice hotel with good staff and great amenities.

We showed our reservation and dropped off all the luggage in the cloak room of the Tokyo dome hotel, including the bag of wet clothes. No one said anything. It was close to 9 AM and we had to be outside till at least 1 PM which was when we could check in.

We walked to the Tokyo train station , shopped there.

We then went to Ginza area. We got to go to the Uniqlo flagship store. All 12 floors of it. I have not shopped like this in a long time. Tried on lots of jackets, pants and so did everyone. We got a few things we liked and were happy to come out of the store after a good 2 hours. Then it was time to lug the bags and go have lunch.

As usual Jr. found us a Michelin star Indian restaurant right there. The food was good at Bangera’s kitchen. Then we lugged all the shopping bags and made it back to Tokyo dome hotel. The bags were heavy and I protested more walking. It was already close to 3 PM anyways. We went and got our room keys and got our luggage up to the rooms. The photos from the morning and afternoon..

Everything was slow because of the BTS concert. The seating was starting at 4:30 and there was a large crowd standing for buying concert merchandize. Even getting to the hotel was interesting. We were happy to make it to the room.

A video highlight.

We took a quick Chai break in the room and realized that some amends had to be made. In spite of eating all the packaged food, the clothing purchased was way too much. We will need another suitcase! We tabled that discussion for later and decided to leave the hotel to go sightseeing again. We were in two minds on going back to Ueno park to make up for the previous night. The group thought the photographer should not be denied and off we went..

That and the rest of the evening in another post..

Japaaaaan, love in Tokyo! Japan trip Day 5

The previous post in this series is here..

While in Kyoto we decided to move up our schedule to Tokyo. An extra day in Tokyo at this point was better.

Jr. found that we could move our Shinkansen tickets once without any fees and promptly moved it. Now we called the Tokyo dome hotel to book another day and were in for a rude shock.

BTS, a band that needs no introduction was performing two shows at the Tokyo dome and that meant every room was sold out. So the planners (not me) searched for another hotel and found a wonderful apartment style hotel called Monday Apart. Two rooms with 3 beds each with a kitchen and laundry(there is a reason for mentioning the laundry.. it will come up in a later post). This hotel was in Asakusabashi in the Akihabara suburb of Tokyo. We would stay there for one night and then go to the Tokyo dome. This way we got another full day in Tokyo. We got our luggage packed (after stuffing all the shoes in) and decided that all the packaged instant foods had to be consumed soon. Good thing the room had a kitchen!

The Shinkansen was crowded this time unlike the trip to Hiroshima from Osaka. Kyoto to Tokyo at breakneck speed with amazing views of Mt. Fuji on the way. We did have an interesting experience going to the hotel. We ended up in Tokyo station, took our luggage and made it to the Akihabara station, then switched to another train for just two stops to Asakusabashi station. The hotel was supposed to be a 7 minute walk from the station. My friend who insisted on contributing to the GPS assisted walking (to relieve Jr.) took us on a 20 minute walk and we ended up missing a road, and finally came to the Monday Apart hotel. We were like “at least we got to the hotel even if it took an extra 10 minutes”.

It was in Akasusabashi, but it was the wrong one! Apparently there are two of these, one in West area and one in center. Fortunately our hotel was only a 10 minute walk away and closer to where we had started. Walking on old Japanese streets is good as long as you are not lugging suitcases and carry ons. We did joke around and laugh all the way back to the apartment. The rooms and facilities were really good.

We checked in and decided to hit Tokyo station for Lunch at Erick South. A south Indian restaurant entirely run by Japanese folks that got rave reviews from a friend on her recent trip. So off we went searching for Erick South. We got out of the train station and kept walking on the street around the block. We could literally smell the food on the street. Then we met a south Indian family and asked them where it was and the answer was “oh, ,it is actually below us .. in the train station. Not above in the high rise”. We went down again and there was a long line of mostly Japanese folks waiting to get a south Indian thali. It is like a bar and you get seated wherever they can. San and me got seated first and the food and chai was just amazing. Just plain amazing.

Have never left a plate this clean! The entire group was happy for a long time after that fulfilling lunch! After this we walked around the block and decided to go to our next sightseeing stop by Uber. . .

A short video.

By now we had figured our where to go by train and when to use Uber XL.

The next stop in another post..

An evening to remember in Siem Reap City

The previous post in this series is here..

It had been a long day. We had woken up at 3:45AM to leave the hotel at 4AM and had made 6 stops by noon. Had eaten parts of the packed breakfast (San could eat a lot more than me given the allergies) and some energy bars and kept going. By 1PM when we came back to the hotel we were exhausted. After a 3 hour nap and some Wagh Bakri chai, we decided to go enjoy golden hour along the river.

The plan was to walk along the river, cross over to the night market restaurant area, eat dinner and walk back to the hotel. It was just a 20-25 minute walk. The river walk was beautiful. Then we walked to the same area where we had found dinner and decided to go to a different restaurant. I thought the writing was in Telugu from a distance.. turns it out was in the local language. The food was decent. We both were developing a sore throat. So we stuck to simple safe items. We were the only ones in the restaurant as it was still early.

Enjoyed the food and walked back.. Saw a cat restaurant on the way back and was missing the little one. She loves cats. I am told that one day I will be a Crampa (cat grandpa).. and that is all the pa I will get.. but given I am allergic to most cats, that privilege will be lost on me.

A video highlights reel..

We got back to the hotel by 7 and it was lights out. Our driver had promised one more sunrise, this time we would actually get to see the sun come out over the forests atop another temple on the hill. We were to leave the hotel by 4:30AM.. again. San was in two minds and said she will decide at 4AM, but I begged her to join me in the morning and we dozed off.