Japan (Oct2013): Day 8 Yokohama + Tokyo. Overnight train Tokyo to Yonago.

Day 8 (2/11/13): Yokohama + Tokyo. Overnight train Tokyo to Yonago.

Day breakdown:

0950 Check out of hotel

1012-1035 Minami-Senju to Tokyo station.

1035-1120 Walked around Tokyo station looking for an available locker for luggage

1145-1225 Tokyo to Yokohama via Narita Express, then transferred train to Minato Mirai.

1235-1400 Visited Nissin Cup Noodle museum at Yokohama

1410-1445 Took train from Minato Mirai in Yokohama to Jiyugaoka station in Tokyo.

1445-1600 Explored Jiyugaoka

1600-1615 Took train from Jiyugaoka to Shibuya station.

1620-1735 Dinner at Kani Doraku branch, located near Shibuka station.

1740-1755 Visited Disney shop at Shibuya

1810-1830 Took train from Shibuya to Tokyo station.

1830-2200 Shopped at Character street at Tokyo station and waited for overnight train departure.

2200 Boarded Overnight train Sunrise Izumo at Tokyo station

Expenditures:

500yen Coin locker for luggage at Tokyo station

100yen Bottle of water

180yen Train ride from Yokohama station to Minato Mirai station (non-JR)

500yen Admission to Nissin Cup Noodle museum

300yen DIY Cup noodle at Nissin Cup Noodle museum

300yen Lunch of Mee Goreng at Nissin Cup Noodle museum food hall

420yen Train ride from Minato Mirai to Jiyugaoka (non-JR)

210yen 1 pair of socks + 1 pack wet tissue from a 100yen store.

138yen 1 pack of One Piece potato snack

150yen Train ride from Jiyugaoka to Shibuya (non-JR)

2100yen Dinner at Kani Doraku

893yen Naruto souvenir from Character Street

420yen K-On! souvenir from Character Street

525yen Miffy souvenir from Character Street

240yen 2 Castella cakes

210yen 2 packs of Choc panda biscuits

105yen 1 bottle of water

Overslept, so ended up leaving the hotel just before 10am. Originally planned to leave hotel before 6am to go catch Shinkansen to go Hikone (not Hakone). But since it was already so late (plus it was a gloomy and rainy day) so I decided to just take it easy on this day and just roam about Yokohama and Tokyo at a leisurely pace since my previous few days were pretty hectic. 

Since it was a weekend, so Tokyo station was extremely crowded. It took me nearly 1hr just to find an available locker for my luggage. My overnight train will depart from Tokyo station at 10pm at night, so I still have most parts of the day to spend before having to return back to Tokyo station to catch the overnight train.  

Asked a few station staff about available lockers after I've walked around but failed to find an available one, and they said that all the lockers at Tokyo station were already in used. But I didn't give up. I ended up at the luggage storage office and the very nice lady there informed me that she just saw a few large lockers still available just down the stairs near the office. She then led me to the lockers she was just telling me about and there it was...one available locker which I was able to use. Thank you. :)

Ok, after finally being able to settle my luggage issues, I can continue with my plans for the day. 

Since I've enjoyed my previous visits to Nissin Cup Noodle museum for DIY cup noodle experience, so I decided to go Yokohama first for a return visit. 

Since I have the JR pass coverage for this day as well, so I chose to take a short Narita Express train ride from Tokyo to Yokohama since this train will be more comfortable and had reserved seating, instead of taking the regular trains. 

On board Narita Express...to Yokohama

Luggage racks

 After arriving at Yokohama station, it was just a short train transfer to reach Minato Mirai station. Since the train that goes to Minato Mirai station is a non-JR train line, so I had to pay 180yen for the journey from Yokohama to Minato Mirai even though I have a JR Pass.

Nissin Cup Noodle museum.

My cup

Choosing toppings. This time, I'll be trying the Spicy Tomato soup base flavour.

Tadah! This cup will eventually be consumed the following night as my supper at Tottori. :)

Had lunch at this Noodles Bazaar area at Nissin Cup Noodle museum.

Laksa?

Mi Goreng?

What I had. Mi Goreng, 300yen. Small portion though.

Gift shop at Nissin Cup Noodle museum

After lunch, I returned back to Tokyo. This time, I'm headed for Jiyugaoka in Tokyo. There are many shops here as well as cafes. Too bad it was raining.

For those wondering how to get to Jiyugaoka from Tokyo station, here is how you can reach Jiyugaoka:

From Tokyo station, take the JR Keihin-Tohoku line to Oimachi (14mins, 170yen)

Then from Oimachi station, take the Tokyu Oimachi line train to Jiyugaoka station. (13mins, 160yen).

Jiyugaoka

Jiyugaoka

Dessert shop

 Originally planned to have some desserts at Sweets Forest shop near Jiyugaoka, but realised that many items had fruits (which I have a phobia of) so I left soon after.

Inside Sweets Forest.

 Was pleasantly surprised to see that the 7-11 convenience store at Jiyugaoka had quite a number of One Piece products.

Bought this potato snack. Quite nice.

Technically, it's 105yen, because 5yen is the tax.

Resumed walking around Jiyugaoka.

No. These are not my Venice trip's pics. This place is actually in Jiyugaoka at Tokyo. Saw a Taiwanese friend posted a pic of this place during her trip to Tokyo and that's how I got to know about this place and Jiyugaoka. Not many shops here, many people just come here and take photos. This place is about 7mins walk away from Jiyugaoka staiton.

The exterior.

Since I've had people who emailed me to know the location of this "venice-like" place, there you go...


After leaving Jiyugaoka, I headed to Shibuya for my early dinner to avoid the dinner crowds. Had crabs at Kani Doraku for dinner.

2100yen.

Disney shop at Shibuya

One Piece ad at Shibuya station

I then headed back to Tokyo station for some shopping at Character Street, as well as looking for some snacks to buy for my overnight train journey.

Shinkansen shaped bottles.

 Character street is located at the basement of Tokyo station. I've been to this place on my previous trip and it's 1 of my favourite place in Tokyo since I like cute stuffs as well as anime products.

Slam Dunk

Slam Dunk

Naruto

K-On!

K-On!

K-On!

K-On!

K-On!

K-On!

Rilakkuma and Yamanote train line collaboration.

Rilakkuma coffee 

 10pm. Time to board the overnight train Sunrise Izumo from Tokyo station. 

Sunrise Izumo and Sunrise Seto are 2 similar overnight trains which travels as 1 train between Tokyo and Okayama. Then from Okayama onwards, they will split up into 2 different trains to go 2 different directions. Sunrise Seto will head for Takamatsu in Shikoku, whereas Sunrise Izumo will head for Izumo-shi in Matsue. 

Why I like this train is because for JR pass (the nationwide version) users, you can take this train's "nobi-nobi" bunks for free and you can save 1 night's accommodation by taking this train. But since there's only 1 "nobi-nobi" carriage on each train, so these bunks gets fully booked real fast since they are popular. If you intend to use your JR pass to take this train, please have a backup plan for just in case this train is fully booked for your trip.

Of course there are private cabins onboard Sunrise Seto/Izumo too, but you will have to pay for those even if you have the JR pass.

Train arrives

The "nobi-nobi" public bunks, which are free for JR pass holders. 

My bunk. The platform is hard, and there's no mattress. Only a sheet is provided which most people use as a blanket. I used my jacket as a pillow.

More info for this train. No, there's no charging socket at each bunk. Yes, there's toilet and shower on the train, although you will have to buy the shower cards from the train conductor if you want to use the shower stalls. Yes there is a vending machine onboard the train which sells water and coke. No, there's no dining car on this train. 

My space.

I would arrive at Yonago station at 0903am the next day, where I will then transfer to another train to go to Tottori.

Go to previous entry Day 7 Karuizawa, Shibukawa, Tokyo (Part 2)

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