Lots of Hermes in Ginza

December 29, 2012 Saturday, Tokyo, Japan

Today is our free day and 4th day in Japan.  No 6 am wake up call, no pick-ups, no tour schedule. We’re on our own.

I woke up at 8:30 am and saw  Edmund watching tv. I asked if he already had breafast, he said no.
The next thing I knew was Edmund trying to wake me up because  it’s already 10:30 am. They were all ready and had breakfasts. I thought I woke up at 8:30, took a bath and got dressed. Yun pala I was only  dreaming.   Naalala ko tuloy ang Papa ko,  one time I was visiting them and Aileen has a party the next day.  I have been assigned some dish to cook.  The next morning,  I woke-up upon hearing my father’s voice “Aba baka nananaginip na nagluluto na sya”.

I skipped breakfast and just took my medicines and some vitamins.
We went to the Ikebukuro metro station  and took a 30 minute ride or 10 stops to Ginza itchome.  We paid ¥190 per person for one way.

30 minute train ride from Ikebukuro to Ginza

The first thing that we did when we reached the Ginza station was to look for the toilet. It was very far and creepy becuse the place was devoid of people. Hindi yata mahilig mag weewee ang mga Hapon.

What do tourists do when they find a sports car parked on the street? pekchur

Lamborghini. After we took photos, an American family followed suit.

Ginza is very different from Ikebukuro where our hotel is. It is more high-end evidenced by the dozens of big boutiques of luxury brands such as Bvlgari, Armani, Chanel,  Mikimoto, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Rolex, Patek Philippe,  Christian Louboutin, Hermes, Gucci, Salvatorre Ferragamo, Versace, Bally, Bottega Venetta, Prada, Miu-miu, Christian Dior,  etc,  and top-end department stores Matsuya, Mitsukoshi, Matsuzakaya, Printemps, etc.

Bvlgari

Chanel

We walked to Ginza Core building where we exchanged US$ to ¥ @ ¥83.58 to a dollar. We saw the Idquival family who’s also with our tour group.

We found a small round building with Ricoh on top, selling lots of Hermes bags. They also have Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and branded clothes, gowns, suits, shoes, jackets, watches and fine jewelries.
The sales lady is a very nice Taiwanese young lady named Beny who has been living in Japan for 4 years. Kaya pala she sounded more Chinese than Japanese.

Hermes boutiques do not sell Birkins, they always say “no stock”. But how come this store and that of dozen others in Hongkong, Taipei, Singapore, have all the colors and have all the stocks?

They give around 10% discount on brand-new items. They give you more if you buy what they call a package- a bag, a belt or a scarf. Parang one bag plus two smaller items.

They also sell pre-owned Hermes with prices ranging from 798,000 Yen – 1.5M + Yen Be sure to negotiate when you buy.

They say Japanese women only use their bags for a few times then sell to upgrade or to buy a new one. They live in small condominiums and do not have big cabinets to store many clothes and bags. So they just sell their old bags to give way to new ones.

We discovered the  Tempura Casual Dining restaurant  around the corner and ate a late lunch of tempura set meals that were all reasonably priced starting at 780 yen to 1,150 yen. We waited for 15 minutes to get a table because the place only sits around 20 people. There was a Filipino family eating at the other table. They were looking at us. Siguro iniisip rin “pinoy sila?”

There’s a tiny waffle shop at the corner where the line is always long.     Not surprising because they’re delicious but must be eaten while still hot.  My favorite is the almond flavor.

Uniqlo is having a big sale so Julienne and I each bought a pair of colorful pants leggings.

Edmund went to the men’s section. Yen and I waited for a while at the back entrance of Uniqlo.
That tiny building with Kingkong on it is sandwiched by taller and newer buildings.

This man walked so slow, when I overtook him, he was holding a bowl with coins. Begging with style?

It was only 4:30 pm and it looked like 7 pm already. Cold, dark and windy.

We took the train back to Ikebukuro and paid ¥190 per person again.

We reached the Metropolitan Hotel at exactly 5 pm and rested for two hours before searching out for the  best ramen in town.