Cherry Blossoms
Japan Travelogue: Tokyo Day 2 (Ueno Park, Tokyo National Museum, Meiji Shrine and Shibuya)
On our second day in Tokyo, we visited Ueno Park to see the Cherry Blossoms. We visited the temple, witnessed Hanami and ate a lot of food while we were there.
Took some pictures of the streets and, again, of the vending machines on our way to the train station.
This has been a long time coming and I'm so glad that I'm finally able to share with you some snaps from our trip to Japan. We went to Tokyo last March 2016, so it's close to a year now. I wasn't able to upload this travelogue because of some technical problems haha! Anyway, I still hope you'd enjoy this post!
My family and I went to Tokyo around the last week of March until around the first week of April, which is Spring in Japan. As you can probably tell by now, we really wanted to go during the Spring season to see, yes, the Cherry Blossoms! We were in time for the peak or mankai, when the Cherry Blossoms are in full bloom, and the Hanami. I actually didn't know that we would be there in time for these so it was really amazing to witness people celebrating under the Cherry Blossom trees, eating and drinking with their family and friends!
On our first day, we stayed at a hotel near the airport first since we were waiting for my sister until noon the next day. We only started exploring Tokyo on our second day so technically this post is all about our Day 2 in Tokyo. During this day, we just explored the streets near where we were staying and we also went to the Tokyo Skytree.
Gloomy day in Tokyo.
If you're looking for souvenir items, food, anime outfits, Japanese skincare, makeup brands, or just anything under the sun, then Don Quijote is the place to be. Aside from variety, the products and brands here are cheaper compared to most stores that you'll visit in Japan. Plus, they offer a tax free purchase if you're a tourist! If you're wondering, the Don Quijote branch we visited is the one located in Shinjuku. 😊
This second part of my haul is mostly skincare items because it was already late in the evening when we got there so I didn't have enough time to browse the makeup section. 😢 The only makeup item that I bought was a Lady Oscar or La Rose de Versailles Black Eyeliner for my friend. Good thing I wasn't really looking for more makeup products since I still need to finish the ones that I currently have in my stash. I didn't include the food products that I bought here but there were a lot of common brands of food and chocolates like the ones from Meiji, Pocky, Kitkat (with different kinds) and a whole lot more. There were also some new and seasonal ones like the Cherry Blossoms Chocolate cookies and candies (these were yummy, btw) which I included in this post.
I totally forgot the prices of these items because I had to drop the receipt before proceeding to Immigration and leaving Japan (tax free purchases regulation). But I'll be leaving a rough estimate of how much I think these products were for reference. 😊
I've been meaning to try this Bioré BB cream even before this trip. I'm not exactly sure if this product that I picked up is the right one but I bought it anyway. I've already tested it a few times and I'm still not sure whether I like it or not. But I think this is a great staple product for the summer season since it has SPF and if you're not really looking for much coverage. I'm not entirely sure how much this Bioré UV Aqua Rich BB Essence costs but I remember converting its price and I think it was around P300-400.
I also purchased these other Bioré products because I love this brand! The one with the pump is the Bioré Marshmallow Whip Facial Wash (the name alone sounds yummy already) cleansing foam while the one on the right is the Lemon and Peach cleansing wipes. Haven't tried these yet but I'm excited to because I bet these will be really good! I think the cleanser was around 500-600 yen while the wipes was around 200 yen.
These hand creams were really the first two items that I picked up at Don Quijote. I badly needed a hand cream because my hands already had these burn-like, dry marks due to the cold weather in Tokyo. I was also very lazy to even bother applying lotion on my hands so that too explains the marks too haha! I've tried both hand creams and I'm really enjoying them. The Mentholatum has a cooling feel once you apply it and has a thinner, watery consistency while the DHC has a heavier and balmy texture although it isn't greasy at all. Both hand creams were around 180-200+ yen each.
As soon as I saw these other Bioré products stacked on the shelf, I immediately grabbed them even though I couldn't understand a single word written on each haha! These items were only 100 to 200+ yen so I didn't even think twice if I should get them or not even though I didn't really know what they're exactly meant for at first. I just researched it after and I think my assumptions are somehow correct haha.
The first one, from the left, is the Bioré cleansing oil while the one next to it is a makeup remover/cleansing gel. The third one is also a cleansing product as well and it's the Bioré Facial Foam Mild/Pure Perfect. The last one on the right is a Bioré body wash. This body wash smells so nice and it reminds me of a specific brand of shampoo/body wash that I used to use when I was a kid. I couldn't put my finger on it but I'm thinking that it could be any of these three: the "Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific" shampoo, the Lander's body wash or the Zwitsal baby shampoo.
I also picked up this Shiseido Senka Perfect Whip Cleanser that I've already been eyeing even before our Japan trip. It's the one that I am currently using now and I must say that it's quite good. It lathers up really well and a little of this product goes a very long way. I love that it leaves my skin smooth, fresh and clean (this seems like an ad, I know, haha). This was the most "expensive" item that I got from Don Quijote and it was around 600+ yen. Although this is still very affordable in my opinion.
Lastly, these are some of the foods that we got at Don Quijote. These are the seasonal Cherry Blossoms Chocolate cookies and candies that I was talking about. I wasn't expecting much but they were really good! I can't exactly remember how much these were but I'm sure they were affordable too.
