Foreigner at Yurakucho

Yurakucho (Tokyo) is unbelievably convenient. It's the next stop from major Tokyo Station and a 3-minute walk to Ginza. Yurakucho is almost the awesomest place to shop in Tokyo. Everything one needs to buy from electronics aaaaaallll the way to branded stuff like Hermes, LV (at Ginza), anything you. Hibiya Park is near by too though I haven't got a chance to visit.

It's "ALMOST the awesomest" because one of Tokyo's busiest business districts and it's only logical that Yurakucho's target customers are the salarymen and the OLs (late twenties onwards). So, don't expect "younger" fashion like those in Shibuya and Harajuku and ridiculously otaku Akihabara stuff. Theses not-so-important cons aside, if you're in a rush to catch a shinkansen (bullet train) at Tokyo or a flight from Haneda Airport and realise you haven't done enough shopping, Yurakucho is the place to go!

Tip for people using JR PASS! If you're thinking to go to Ginza but don't want to pay that extra subway fee (like me), ALIGHT AT YURAKUCHO. It IS Ginza. Get out from Yurakucho's Ginza Exit and ...magic!! 


Scramble crossing at Yurakucho/Ginza

Super Express Nozomi (bullet train)  zooming past JR Yurakucho Station.

Bag the latest at MARUI CITY or exclusively for the gentlemen - HANKYU MEN'S TOKYO (right photos), catch a movie at Toho Cinemas or stroll the branded streets of Ginza.



The underpass to nowhere on the basement of Marui City, Parisan Tengu at HERMES Ginza and the occasional flower market outside Yurakucho Station. So much to see and explore!♪

And then there's a suspicious skater-foreigner turning the underpass into her private runway. Peplum top and accessories from the always lovely Kate-Katy, GLAD NEWS' very dangerous cap, Uniqlo's torn BF jeans, Thrasher skate-pouch and Dr Marten's cutest Adrian loafers.

By the way, here's one of my favourite places for lepak lepak kopi kopi relak one korner (tea time) at Ginza. Atas (up-class) DOUTOR!!♪

 

Read more about it in my earlier post here.

 

Yurakucho/Ginza Access

From Tokyo Station:
■JR YAMANOTE LINE (towards Shinagawa/Shibuya)
■JR KEIHIN-TOHOKU LINE (towards Ofuna/Tsurumi) - PEAK hours only. Keihin-Tohoku Line operates as a rapid service and skips Yurakucho Station during OFF PEAK hours.

Via Tokyo Metro (subway)
Ginza Line and Hibiya Line

Le Café Doutor Ginza ル・カフェ・ドトール銀座

Ginza 4-chome crossing, Le Café Doutor Ginza on the right.

Pour chocolat

Le Café Doutor Ginza entrance

Dropped by Ginza for lunch and spotted a "luxurious" version of Doutor, my favourite coffee shop, just diagonally opposite Mitsukoshi at the Ginza 4-chome crossing, slightly renamed in a French-sounding manner - Le Café Doutor Ginza.

Sounds like..expensive!





Indeed it was. Their offerings do not differ much from a regular Doutor, just priced slightly more. It's one of Asia's high fashion district Ginza we're talking about here. My jaw dropped at the price of my all-time love - the Millecrepe. 500yen is still, however, pretty reasonable compared to nearby Cafes like Gucci Cafe.

Millecrepe
Le Café Doutor Ginza - 500yen vs Doutor - 350yen

Le Café Doutor Ginza has two levels of indoor seating and alfresco seating on the first. The alfresco area was briefly featured in one of the Crayon Shinchan episodes (おとしものですよぉ～だぞ).

Entrance and alfresco area by the sidewalk.
(Image from Inside Japan)

Shinchan in Ginza. 
(from "Otoshimono desuyo~ dazo/おとしものですよぉ～だぞ)

Le Café Doutor Ginza ル・カフェ・ドトール銀座
Tokyo, Chuo, Ginza, 5−7−2 San-ai Dream Center
(Ginza 4-chome Junction)
Nearest train stations: JR Yurakucho station, Tokyo Metro Ginza station
tel: +81 (0)3-5537-8959

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Official site: http://www.doutor.co.jp/lcd/index.html
Doutor Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Fun.Doutor.Fan

Häagen-Dazs' Make-Your-Own Brownie

Häagen-Dazs' Make-Your-Own Dessert was fun ♪ First there's a list of "base" items to choose from - waffle cones, waffle or brownie, and then we picked our ice cream, and topped everything in almond nibbs and drenched them in caramel sauce♪

Here, our masterpiece (￣▽￣)ノ＿彡☆ Warmed Brownie with Caramel Biscuit and Cookies and Crème Brulee Ice Cream with Caramel Sauce and Almond Nibs. Genius combination.

There were just too many ice cream flavours to choose from and Caramel Biscuit and Cookies was one of our finalists. We were told that it's their best selling flavour and indeed, it was awesome.  The Crème Brulee flavour is a limited edition. Well, nothing Crème Brulee can go wrong!! There's no mention on when it'll come back when it runs out, so if you'd like to try it, go NOW!! ε=ε=ε=ε=ε=(ｏ゜—゜)ｏ


Häagen-Dazs Wisma Atria

435 Orchard Road, Isetan, Singapore 238877

+65 6836 5418 ()‎

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AJINOMOTO BIRDY ROBUSTA 缶コーヒー

タイのお土産でこれもらったどーー!! ♪♪ BIRDY(バーディー)の缶コーヒー!!缶に見慣れたマークが付いてた。まさかあの調味料イメージが強い・・・AJINOMOTO? ！Σ(・oノ)ノ

Received an interesting souvenir from Krabi, Thailand...a can of BIRDY Coffee!! The next thing that caught the eye was a really familiar logo. Could it be? That famous flavouring and condiments maker...? AJINOMOTO!! They do coffee too?! ！Σ(・oノ)ノ

とりあえず飲んでみた。

Pulled the tab and drank it anyway.

ブラックか？カフェオーレか？よく分からないけど、中途半端にミルクが入ってる感じｗｗ甘さはハンパナイ。駅で売ってる缶コーヒーの1.5倍以上甘かった。たぶん、タイ人向きの商品だからかな？タイフードって酸っぱい、辛い、甘いのが多いね。この缶コーヒー、そんなにおいしくはなかったけど、とてもおもしろかったわ～www ヾ(●⌒∇⌒●)ﾉ AJINOMOTOの餃子が食べたくなった。

Was it black? Or was it Au Lait? I couldn't tell, but there probably were traces of milk. The coffee was also at least 1.5 times sweeter than the regular can coffees that I usually buy from the train station's vending machines. Since Thai food are often sour, spicy or sweet, I don't know, this product could be targeting the Thai audience. Haven't seen any AJINOMOTO coffee in Japan or Singapore yet. Not so suitable for me but nevertheless, an interesting souvenir to have.  ♥ ♥  Now give me some AJINOMOTO GYOZA!!

Watch the CMs and full line-up: AJINOMOTO BIRDY

Maxim Cafe Menu Caramel Macchiato (ポーションコーヒー)

AGF Maxim Cafe Menu Caramel Macchiato Base
Buy pack of  20g x 6 capsules: 7net shopping

お土産でもっらったシンガポールではまだ販売されていないキャラメルマキアートベース!! (エリシア3939!!)

Isn't this cool? Caramel Macchiato concentrate in a capsule! Not entirely sure if this has been brought to Singapore. You could however check at Meidi-ya, they probably have similar products.

コーヒーのベースがカプセルの中に入っていて、ふたを開けたら、冷たいミルクとかき混ぜたらOK!・・・なんて斬新なアイデアだね。フタを開ける瞬間、飛んできたかおりがすごく濃厚!!キャラメルや!!って感じｗ

Open the capsule in a room and it will smell like caramel. Magic. Empty its content into a cup of cold milk and you get instant Caramel Macchiato! - an idea that still novel to our island-nation.

カプセルでキャラメルマキアートは楽しいけど、やっぱりちゃんとしたExpressoマシンで作ったコーヒーが一番おいしいと思う♪

Fun to drink but!! Doesn't beat a cup that comes straight from an expresso machine.

Starbucks Grande Triple-shot Caramel Macchiato

Tea♪

Hario 1-Cup Tea Maker, Harold Wonderball Tea Infuser &
Afternoon Tea Earl Grey loose leaves

Received a lovely box of Earl Grey tea leaves from Tokyo and a tea infuser from Taipei from my dear Chikuwas♥♥♥♥♥♥ There was also a private sale at a mall so o-cha♪ and I were able to grab one of those cute Hario 1-cup tea makers for our coffee and tea. Now that I have proper equipment, maybe I could start a real tea collection!!

お土産でアフタヌーンティーのアールグレイティー(東京)とティーストレーナー(台北)もらったど!! 3939!!セールでハリオのワンカップティーメーカーも手に入れて、本格的なお茶コレを始められるかも!? wwww

The design of the tea maker is well-thought. The lid not only serves as a mere cover, it acts as a holder for the filter as well. (WOAH!) SGD$23 for two of these was too good a deal!

ハリオのカップってすごい。さすが日本のメーカー。フタはカバーだけではなく、逆さにすると茶こし置きにもなっちゃう！！よーーく考えてくれたね♪　ワンカップティーメーカー2つで$23なんてお得すぎるっ！！☆☆☆

これも買わなくちゃ!!TWGのフレンチアールグレイティー!!お茶の評論家じゃないからはっきり説明できないけど、こいつはとにかくおいしい！かおりが上品、高級感のある味。ストレートでもミルク入れてもOK!早く買いたいな♪

TWG French Earl Grey (photo from ksblooming.exblog.jp)

NEED TO GET THIS TOO!! TWG's French Earl Grey!! Can't describe its smell and taste but it's just... DIFFERENT! Maybe an appropriate word would be "classy"! You'd have to try it once to find out (although I know Earl Grey may not be everybody's cup of tea).  (≧∇≦)

KOI = 50嵐!?!?

靠！感觉自己实在是有够笨呐。KOI在这开了2年左右，才发现原来就是50嵐。但怎样还是觉得50嵐比较好喝一点。价格也不太一样，对我的口袋也温柔一点（笑）

KOI

50嵐（永康街）
photo by Erishia

Passed by KOI while running my own errants tonight. I ordered something, since there was no queue. While waiting for my drink I looked around, only to realised that KOI IS 50嵐(wushi-lan). KOI has been around for at least two years and I didn't know until today. I feel retarded. Anyway,50嵐 is still better!! v(￣∇￣)

シンガポールで行列ができるミルクティーの店「KOI」はまさか台湾のあの有名な「50嵐」だと全然知らなかった。2年間ずっと知らなかったwww でもね、なぜか、台湾のほうがおいしいよ。ちなみに、「50嵐」の読み方は「いがらし」ではなく、「ウシーラン」と読むよ～。www

ミルクティと関係なくなっちゃうけど、五十嵐は「五十（ごじゅう）」＋「嵐（あらし）」なのに、「十（じゅう）」がなくなってる。五は「い」とも言えるの分かってるけど、「じゅう」はどこにいったん？五十鈴も「じゅう」がなくなってるで！！WHY????

Drip Coffee ドリップ式コーヒー

I have no trendy NESPRESSO, NESCAFE Dolce-Gusto nor The Coffeebean and Tea Leaf expresso machines at home. This is my equally tasty alternative - KEY COFFEE DRIP ON VARIETY PACK!! The packaging is kind of cute too!

オシャレなNESPRESSOマシーンは持っていないけど、ドリップ式コーヒーで十分だと思う!!( ﾟ▽ﾟ)/
とてもおいしいだけではなく、電気は使わないから節電にもなれるかもしれない。

KEY COFFEE DRIP ON VARITEY PACK
KEY COFFEE webstore

Each pack has 2 x 6 different types, of which one type is a limited edition. The following limited editions (Yokohama 1920 CLASSIC and Yokohama 1920 CLASSIC Rich Taste) are genius. I'm no pro so I'm unable to describe the taste, but these are just too great!! Yokohama 1920 CLASSIC was the limited edition for the last round, but looks like it's here to stay. YAY! Hence the slightly different design on its blue package!?

2 x 6タイプが入っていて、その中の1タイプは期間限定品。限定の「横浜1920CLASSIC」は天才だと思う。プロじゃないのでうまく説明できないけど、「横浜」シリーズはとにかくすごい！w

Left to right: Yokohama 1920 CLASSIC (when still a limited edition),
Yokohama 1920 CLASSIC and new limited edition - Yokohama 1920 CLASSIC Rich Taste.

Around $12 at Meidi-ya and Isetan!

KOPI コーヒーっていうかコピー。

I NEEDED THIS. Everytime I only order Kopi because the rest sounds like some secret code and kopi should be the safest. Now I can finally order with confidence, KOPI-SI. I always wondered if it tastes better than my kopi.

シンガポールならではのコーヒーメニュー！！コーヒーっていうか、コピーだね（マレー語のコーヒー）。いつも一番セーフな「コピー」（2行目一番左のやつ、コーヒー＋お湯＋練乳＋砂糖）しか注文してない。コピー一つでたくさんのパターンがありすぎて、いつも注文聞かれた時、なぜかびびっちゃう。ｗｗ　でもこのチャートがあれば、コーヒーショップで飲み物注文するときはもうびびったりしないかなｗ ちなみに冷たいやつ注文したい場合はなになにPENG (ペン）を言ったらOK!!

関連記事 Related entry: Coffee コーヒー

Coffee コーヒー

Shortly after I read o-cha♪'s entry about Cafe Latte vs Cafe Au Lait, I found this page about different types of coffee drinks on Facebook. The side by side chart is pretty useful for those who tend to get lost when they open a coffee list at a non-starbucks coffee shop.

source: coffee drinks illustrated

One question however. If Cafe Latte is single shot expresso, top up milk and Cafe Au Lait is expresso or pressed coffee with milk, then, WHAT EXACTLY IS FLAT WHITE (which is also expresso with milk)?

It is said that a Flat White and a Latte could be the same thing, but only the vessels used by these two drinks are different - a ceramic cup for a Flat White and a glass for a Latte.

Mind blown, still. (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ Cafe Americano with milk for me. Problem solved.

o-cha♪の「カフェオレとカフェラテは一緒じゃない？」を読んでるとき、たまたまFBでこのページが出てきた→「コーヒードリンクの違い」渋いコーヒーショップに行くとき、このページ役に立てるかも。中のチャートはもちろん簡単で詳しく書いてくれたけど、見ても解決できない問題はまだ一つ残ってる。

もしカフェオレはエクスプレッソかドリップコーヒーかフレンチプレスコーヒー＋ミルクだったら、
カフェラテはエクスプレッソコーヒー＋ミルクだったら、フラットホワイトは一体なんなん?!

wikiで調べて見たらラテとフラットホワイトは一緒なんかじゃないかなって。

唯一の違いは、ラテ：グラスで飲む VS フラットホワイト：磁器カップで飲む。

私にはカフェアメリカーノ＋ミルクでええわ。もう。ヽ(ー_ー )ノ マイッタ