10 April 2015
I have learnt not to be surprised by things I see in Japan, but spotting Godzilla rising above some houses in Shinjuku was amazing! More about our encounter with this monstrous Japanese celebrity later.
This was our last day in Tokyo and we had some time to wander around Shinjuku before heading off to Narita for our 8.50 PM flight. One advantage of staying in the Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku is that there are airport limousine bus service to Narita and Haneda Airport right outside this hotel. Cost ¥ 3100 per passenger to Narita and the journey takes about 70 minutes. I think this is a good way to travel for those who do not wish to drag suitcases into the crowded Shinjuku train station to take the Narita Express train. We made a reservation for our limousine bus with the hotel reception, left our luggage with them and than headed out to explore Shinjuku.
This was the last day of our visit to Tokyo, we decided not to do any more sightseeing and just wander around Shinjuku and do some shopping and eating. To round off our Japanese food tour in Tokyo, we decided on having Unagi brunch at the restaurant within the Shinjuku Station itself.
The grilled eel seasoned with sweet sauce went well with the sticky Japanese rice. Like all the Japanese food we had on this trip, this was excellent.
After our brunch we went to check out the Kabukicho area, north-eastern part of the Shinjuku. This is the red light district area and there is not much activities during the day. There are shops and eating places.
We decided to stop by an izakaya for some grilled meat on skewers and beer and to rest our feet. This place would be crowded and noisy in the evenings, but it was pretty cool and relaxed at 1.30 PM. Small and narrow area with counter seats for less than 10 people I think. Menu in Japanese were on the wall. We don’t speak Japanese, so we just pointed and hand signalled to the owner which skewers we wanted. There was a small cover charge per head and we were served a plate of boiled, green broad beans as appetisers while our orders were being cooked.
After lunch, we continued exploring Shinjuku and as we turned a street corner, we saw …..
Godzilla!
We spotted the head of the famous monster lurking above some shophouses. After taking some photos, and sending it to some friends at home we headed towards Godzilla.
Our friends from home then replied to us that this was in the local news at home. There was a new Godzilla themed hotel (Hotel Gracery) that has just opened for business in Shinjuku. Given more time, we would have gone into the hotel to take a closer look but we have an Airport bus to catch back at our Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku hotel.
We collected our luggage from the hotel and took a relaxing bus ride to Narita. At Narita Airport, we did some more shopping. Best to buy the stuff after passing through immigration as it will be tax free in the air side.
Based on recommendations we found in the internet, we bought Japanese mochi, Tokyo Bananas and Royce chocolates. The chocolates are recommended! These high quality chocolates comes in Champagne (Pierre Mignon), Green Tea Matcha and Au Lait flavors . They were much cheaper compared to prices at home. Tokyo Bananas were just banana shaped sponge cakes with banana puree inside. Looks interesting but tasted average and I would not bother with this the next time.
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