Day 15 (28 Dec 2017) : Melbourne

This is our last day in Melbourne before we fly back tomorrow. We start our morning with a complimentary breakfast at Treasury on Collins. They served simple continental breakfast which pretty decent considering that it was complimentary. Our favourite is the self service make-your-own pancake. It was fun watching the machine make your pancake!

Shopping @ Queen Victoria Market

After breakfast, we took the free tram to the Queen Victoria Market. I had heard so much about this market and was really looking forward to doing some souvenir shopping.

The market had different sections for food, meat, fruits and souvenirs. We headed first to the souvenirs section. The souvenirs were relatively cheap and so DS2 picked up some stuff for his friends. We also bought some retro posters that were printed on metal plates. DD bought a T-shirt. The stuff were ok but really not very extensive or exceptional. it was just like a cheap goods market. I was somewhat disappointed. I was hoping to find local handicrafts. There were only one or two stalls with that. Salamanca Market in Hobart beats this hands down.

We did not linger long. Before we left, we bought some cherries to bring home. I paid A$35 for 2kgs which I thought was reasonable as these were pretty big.

Lunch @ Cafe Segovia, Block Arcade, Melbourne

We got off at the tram stop right in front of the Block Arcade. We looked around the shops along the street and went in in search of a place for lunch. There were many small cafes around and we ended up at Cafe Segovia. Only my parents were with us as DSis had split up with us at QVM.

We weren’t very hungry and so decided to order some food to share. Among us we had the Chorizo Linguini, Seafood Linguini, mussels and the Korean Fried Chicken. We liked the fried chicken so much that we ordered a second serving. The fried chicken came with a sweet chili sauce and was yummy. We were all missing chili by now.

Together with our drinks of ice coffee, ice chocolate, ice latte, a cocktail, 2 coke and a juice, the total cane came up to A$146.

Shopping @ Block Arcade & Meyers

After lunch we did more shopping around Block Arcade and Myers.

Block Arcade is an interesting Arcade with interesting little shops. We bought some artisan chocolates there.

Then we went over to Myers where the men and boys bought some Calvin Klein T-shirts which were on sale.

DMum and DDad were quite tired after this and decided to go back to the hotel to rest. The 5 of us drop our stuff back at the hotel and took the tram to the Docklands. DSis and family had already went ahead of us.

Afternoon of 3D Fun @ ArtVo, Docklands

At the Docklands, we headed to ArtVo, the 3D art gallery. This is a really good 3D art gallery. The larger than life murals creates the illusion that you have come face to face with wild animals, scale rocky crevasses and surf the ultimate pipelines.

The gallery is split into many different zones, eg underwater, jungle, Egyptian, famous sights (eg Sydney Opera House, Taj Mahal, Venice etc) and much more.

We spend several hours here taking many many fun photos. We have been to many of such galleries and find that this one is really good. There are many unique murals here which were very realistic compared to some others.

It can get quite crowded so patience is needed. Definitely well worth a visit for families. Posing for those photos was fun. We left around 5plus and there was little time to shop as the shops around there close at 6pm. The boys only had time to pick up some discounted PlayStation games. We then took the tram back to the hotel to meet our parents.

Dinner @ Grill Steak Seafood

That evening we headed to Grill Steak Seafood, at Hardware Lane, which was just a short walk from our hotel, for dinner. Our family of 5 decided to share some oysters and 2 platters. We had half a dozen of the Oyster Kilpatrick (A$18), another half dozen of raw oysters (A$15), the Surf & Turf platter for 2 (A$99.50) and the Mixed Grill Platter for 2 (A$99).

The mixed grill platter came with a Potterhouse steak, pork ribs, lamb cutlets, chicken, chorizo, chips and mixed salad. The Surf & Turf platter came with King prawns, barramundi fillet, Sicilian style mussels, calamari, porterhouse steak, lamb cutlets, marinated chicken, chips and mixed salad. Both platters were huge and could definitely feed more than 2 persons each. My sis and parents all didn’t think we could finish the platters, but the hungry meat monsters among us proved them wrong and cleared out those plates easily. It was a very enjoyable meal and was a great finale for our 15 days trip.

The next day, we had a lazy start before heading to the airport to catch our mid day flight home, ending our 15 days Tasmania & Melbourne road trip!

Overall, it was an enjoyable and pleasant trip with lots of quality family time. But frankly, the scenery while nice did not “wow” us. The 5 of us agreed that in terms of scenery, South Island NZ was more impressive compared to Tasmania. I know I may be receiving daggers for saying this, but that’s our honest opinion. But it was still a nice trip and we definitely enjoyed Port Arthur, the Penguin tour and the minor activities, eg Tasmazia, Jetboating. And the Tasmanian Devils were cute!

Next up: Siem Reap Photographic Journey, 2018

The post 15 Days Tasmania & Melbourne Self Drive, 2017 – Day 14 (Melbourne) (Last Day) appeared first on Mums Travels.

Cradle Mountain

We had originally planned to spend the morning exploring Sheffield town which is well known for its murals, then visit Tasmazia to explore its mazes before driving up Cradle Mountain that afternoon. However, the weatherman was forecasting light showers this morning and early afternoon today and whole day of rain tomorrow. So we decided to switch our itinerary around and drive up to Cradle Mountain today. If the weatherman was to be believed, we will at least have a relatively clearer afternoon today compared to full day of rain tomorrow, and a visit to Cradle Mountain definitely is better with less rain.

The drive from Sheffield Motor Inn to Cradle Mountain Visitor Center was about 1 hour. We headed to the visitor center first to get our National Park Pass. There were various types of tickets available. The service staff at the Visitor Center was very helpful and advised us that for 8 adults and 2 children, the cheapest option was for us to get a National Park Car Pass for A$60. That covers up to 8 pax. Then we can buy 2 one day child ticket at S$8.50 each for the 2 children. These passes will cover the shuttle to Dove Lake. So we got that and headed to Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge where we will be spending the night.

But as it was still early, we were not able to check in, as expected. They advised that since we had our own cars, we should leave our luggages in our cars as we will be able to drive directly to our cabins later on.

I had originally made reservations for dinner at Highland Restaurant for 10 of us at 7pm. But as we were expecting the rain to clear only in the late afternoon, we expected that we will be late coming back from Dove Lake. Unfortunately, the restaurant was full and if we wanted to push our reservation back, they could only accommodate us at 8.30pm. We decided to just take it and have a late dinner that night.

Enchanted Nature Walk

All logistics settled, we put on light raincoats and windbreakers and headed out to do the Enchanted Nature Walk which starts just outside Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge. This was an easy 20min walk along proper foot path. We had a brief break from the drizzle that had been going on for the whole morning. That left rain drops an the plants and spiderwebs, creating interesting photographic opportunity.

Pencil Pine Falls Walk

After we completed the Enchanted Nature Walk, we took a second trail nearby, the Pencil Pine Falls Walk. A fully constructed board walk guides you to the waterfall.

It was a pretty waterfall, but was not big. We continued along the path which took us to Kynvet Falls just a further 10 mins up the track. Here we got a different waterfall view – a view from the top.

These two waterfalls were nice but did not have the wow factor. DSis said that it was because we had seen the majestic waterfalls in Iceland, so all others pale in comparison. Maybe she is right.

Shopping @ Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge Shop

We doubled back and exit the Pencil Pines Falls Walk near the Lodge Shop. We couldn’t resist a little shopping so went into the shop.

I bought DD a T-shirt. When making payment, I was told that not only do they charge service fee for use of credit card for the room payment, they charge it for all payments including at restaurants and at the shop. The service fee was 1.1% for MasterCard, 1.25% for visa and 3% for Amex. The only credit card that you can use and not have to pay a service charge is China Union Pay! I can really kick myself for not bringing my Union Pay Card. I should have learned from my Sept Tokyo Trip that the Chinese dollar is really powerful and the Union Pay Card has its privileges!

Lunch @ Tavern Bar & Bistro, Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge

It was lunch time by now and we went back to the Lodge to get some food. We went to Tavern Bar & Bistro, the casual restaurant at Peppers. Here, we placed our orders and paid at the counter, then the food was served to us at our table.

DS1 and I both decided to have the Schnitzel (A$29). DS2 and DH both had the Fish & Chips (A$29). DD decides to have the beef pasta (A$25). I like my Schnitzel, DS2 was happy with his fish and chips, by DD said the beef pasta was ok only. Soft drinks were at A$4 each. Mother and children all decided to have the Sarsaparilla. DH went for Ginger beer (A$5.50). Yes not real beer but ginger beer. So rare for him.

After lunch, we sat at the lounge area to wait for our rooms to be ready. Official check in was at 2pm. But when we checked with them around 1.45pm, our rooms were ready. The lounge area was very cozy and comfortable and had free WiFi. It was the only place in the whole resort that you could have WiFi. Mobile data around the resort and in our rooms was only available on the Telstra network. So again, only DS1 had mobile data. The rest of us were on Optus network and so had no data connection.

Spa Family Cabin, Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge

We booked our accommodation at Peppers 9 mths in advance in March 2017 as we wanted the family cabins and there weren’t many of those. I thought it should be early enough but was I wrong! When I called, they had only 2 Spa Family Cabins left! I would have preferred the Pencil Pine Family Cabins which were cheaper and seemed more cosy based on the photos, but those were fully booked. We paid A$779 for one traditional spa cabin for 4 adults and 1 child. This came with breakfast. Yes, it was very expensive. But then you have little other choice in Cradle Mountain.

We drove right up to our cabin. After you enter the cabin at the foyer, this was a separate small “kitchenette” area where you can find the fridge, sink, cups, saucers, kettle and coffee and tea sachets.

You enter a second door before coming to the main lounge. The main lounge area had a queen bed and an additional rollaway bed. There was a wood fire place in the lounge which was cool for us Singaporeans coming from a tropical climate. There were 2 lounge chairs by the fire place and a dining table. There was also a balcony which looked into the forested area. The 2 other single beds were in a separate bedroom. Overall deco was pretty plain. May even be described as drab.

Since this was a spa cabin, as expected, there was a jacuzzi bath in the bathroom. Bathroom was in fact very big.

For A$779, it was a real rip off if you base it on cabin quality. In my opinion, the cabin was really in desperate need for a refurb. So I suppose one was paying for location as it was located right inside the National Park. When you are a monopoly you dictate the price.

Devil’s @ Cradle

We settled our stuff in the cabin and headed out to Devil’s @ Cradle which was just located a few mins drive from the Lodge. Devil’s @ Cradle is a sanctuary for Tasmanian Devils and carries out a captive breeding program for Tasmania Devils and Quolls. One can wonder through the sanctuary at leisure or join one of the tours. Their keepers tour takes place 3 times a day at 10.30am, 1pm and 3pm. Each tour takes about 45mins. We went for the 3pm tour. Entrance fee was $18 for adults and $10 for children (5-15). There are family tickets available. There is no extra charge for taking part in the Keepers tour.

We arrived about 15mins before 3pm, so we wondered around the sanctuary on our own while waiting for the tour to start. The Devils here were must more active and healthy looking than the ones who saw at Bonorong. Those at Bonorong were mostly sleeping or hiding. Here we see the devils running around, scavenging and interacting. We saw 2 Devils “quarreling”, but the keeper said that they were just interacting. And boy, was their interaction loud! Now I understand Disney had some element of accuracy in their portrayal of the interaction style of the Tasmanian Devil! Hahaha!

The Keepers tour starts with a brief video about the Devils followed by a walk around the sanctuary with the keeper who provided a wealth of information on the Devils as well as the quolls which they had onsite. The sanctuary was not big and the 45mins tour was pretty detailed.

I am so glad that we decide to visit Devils @ Cradle. We definitely had a must better experience here with the Devils compared to Bonorong. It helps that there were much much less visitors here. Also coming here means that DS1 who had not arrived when we visited Bonorong gets to see the Devils too. Bonorong was good for those who want to interact with kangaroos and see the koalas too. If it is just to see Tasmanian Devils, you are better off coming here.

Dove Lake, Cradle Mountain

We left Devils @ Cradle and drove back to the Visitors Center. By now the sky was clearing. The visitor center staff had advised that we were better off taking the shuttle bus to Dove Lake from the visitor center instead of from The Lodge as the bus may not have enough seats left for all 10 of us by the time it gets to the Lodge.

Cradle mountain itself is a jagged, dolerite peak. Its name, supposedly, is derived from the mountain’s resemblance to a miner’s cradle. This most dramatic vista of Cradle Mountain can be seen at Dove Lake. In fact, one can already see this view from the carpark of the Dove Lake.

There were several walks that one can take along the shore of the Lake. But as we came to Dove Lake in the late afternoon (we arrived close to 5pm) and the last shuttle bus leaving Dove Lake was at 7.30pm, we only walked to the boat house, a famous site for taking the iconic photos of Cradle Mountain and did not take the longer walks.

Dove Lake was beautiful and we were lucky to catch a break in the clouds for a short while. The wild weather of the Tasmanian highlands often shrouds the mountain in cloud and the day we went it was raining earlier in the day, so we were so glad that the weatherman’s prediction that day was fairly accurate.

All of us left Dove Lake around 6.30pm, except DBIL who stayed on to take more photos.

Dinner @ Highland Restaurant, Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge

By the time we went to the Highland Restaurant at 8.30pm for our dinner, the restaurant was no longer very busy. The advantage of eating late was that food was served relatively fast as everyone wants to go home! There was no long wait for our food.

We were served a complimentary appetizer of tuna tartare. DH and I decided to have the trout (A$38). It was fresh and good. DS1 and DS2 has the ribeye steak (A$46). My boys love steak and will always go for it, especially DS1. They were satisfied with their steak. DD had the lamb (A$45). Since coming on this trip, DD had fallen in love with lamb. We also order some greens (A$9).

Overall meal was quite good but it was very expensive. They had a captive market here, so it was expected.

Next up: Day 9 – Cradle Mountain to Sheffield to Launceston

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Our flight home was at around 5.50pm.  Our plan was to sleep in, get brunch (Hyatt was advertising a Sunday buffet brunch), go to the spa, before heading to the airport.

At Sasanti, we ordered the wagyu beef rending (spicy stew), ayam bali (fried chicken),corn fritters, jackfruit spicy vegetable, and they were definitely better than the sets.  Food was tasty and came out piping hot.  This was definitely a better lunch than if we were to have brunch at the hotel if the brunch was going to be anything like dinner the night before.

Delicious lunch @ Sasanti

After lunch, we took a short rest in the room before checking out and requesting that our bags be sent to the main lobby.  Then we headed off for our Spa. We did a different treatment package which consisted of massage, mask and bath. We enjoyed it too.  When we were done, it was just about time for us to head to the airport.We had a departure transfer arranged with the hotel.  The driver actually dropped us at the wrong terminal. The 2 terminals are not connected! I called the hotel immediately on knowing that we were at the wrong terminal and the hotel got the driver to come back for us. We were taking silkair which is in the new Terminal B. The driver, sheepishly said he wasn’t familiar with the new terminal when he came back for us. So pls be careful to have your driver drop you at the correct terminal. I’m actually surprise that the hotel transport can make such a mistake. Overall, it was a great 4 days getaway.  We had a good relaxing break and I really like Borobudur, so peaceful and serene.

• Yogyakarta Getaway, Day 3 (Ullen Sentalu)
• Cheap Eats in Tokyo

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Day 15 (28 Dec 2017) : Melbourne

This is our last day in Melbourne before we fly back tomorrow. We start our morning with a complimentary breakfast at Treasury on Collins. They served simple continental breakfast which pretty decent considering that it was complimentary. Our favourite is the self service make-your-own pancake. It was fun watching the machine make your pancake!

Shopping @ Queen Victoria Market

After breakfast, we took the free tram to the Queen Victoria Market. I had heard so much about this market and was really looking forward to doing some souvenir shopping.

The market had different sections for food, meat, fruits and souvenirs. We headed first to the souvenirs section. The souvenirs were relatively cheap and so DS2 picked up some stuff for his friends. We also bought some retro posters that were printed on metal plates. DD bought a T-shirt. The stuff were ok but really not very extensive or exceptional. it was just like a cheap goods market. I was somewhat disappointed. I was hoping to find local handicrafts. There were only one or two stalls with that. Salamanca Market in Hobart beats this hands down.

We did not linger long. Before we left, we bought some cherries to bring home. I paid A$35 for 2kgs which I thought was reasonable as these were pretty big.

Lunch @ Cafe Segovia, Block Arcade, Melbourne

We got off at the tram stop right in front of the Block Arcade. We looked around the shops along the street and went in in search of a place for lunch. There were many small cafes around and we ended up at Cafe Segovia. Only my parents were with us as DSis had split up with us at QVM.

We weren’t very hungry and so decided to order some food to share. Among us we had the Chorizo Linguini, Seafood Linguini, mussels and the Korean Fried Chicken. We liked the fried chicken so much that we ordered a second serving. The fried chicken came with a sweet chili sauce and was yummy. We were all missing chili by now.

Together with our drinks of ice coffee, ice chocolate, ice latte, a cocktail, 2 coke and a juice, the total cane came up to A$146.

Shopping @ Block Arcade & Meyers

After lunch we did more shopping around Block Arcade and Myers.

Block Arcade is an interesting Arcade with interesting little shops. We bought some artisan chocolates there.

Then we went over to Myers where the men and boys bought some Calvin Klein T-shirts which were on sale.

DMum and DDad were quite tired after this and decided to go back to the hotel to rest. The 5 of us drop our stuff back at the hotel and took the tram to the Docklands. DSis and family had already went ahead of us.

Afternoon of 3D Fun @ ArtVo, Docklands

At the Docklands, we headed to ArtVo, the 3D art gallery. This is a really good 3D art gallery. The larger than life murals creates the illusion that you have come face to face with wild animals, scale rocky crevasses and surf the ultimate pipelines.

The gallery is split into many different zones, eg underwater, jungle, Egyptian, famous sights (eg Sydney Opera House, Taj Mahal, Venice etc) and much more.

We spend several hours here taking many many fun photos. We have been to many of such galleries and find that this one is really good. There are many unique murals here which were very realistic compared to some others.

It can get quite crowded so patience is needed. Definitely well worth a visit for families. Posing for those photos was fun. We left around 5plus and there was little time to shop as the shops around there close at 6pm. The boys only had time to pick up some discounted PlayStation games. We then took the tram back to the hotel to meet our parents.

Dinner @ Grill Steak Seafood

That evening we headed to Grill Steak Seafood, at Hardware Lane, which was just a short walk from our hotel, for dinner. Our family of 5 decided to share some oysters and 2 platters. We had half a dozen of the Oyster Kilpatrick (A$18), another half dozen of raw oysters (A$15), the Surf & Turf platter for 2 (A$99.50) and the Mixed Grill Platter for 2 (A$99).

The mixed grill platter came with a Potterhouse steak, pork ribs, lamb cutlets, chicken, chorizo, chips and mixed salad. The Surf & Turf platter came with King prawns, barramundi fillet, Sicilian style mussels, calamari, porterhouse steak, lamb cutlets, marinated chicken, chips and mixed salad. Both platters were huge and could definitely feed more than 2 persons each. My sis and parents all didn’t think we could finish the platters, but the hungry meat monsters among us proved them wrong and cleared out those plates easily. It was a very enjoyable meal and was a great finale for our 15 days trip.

The next day, we had a lazy start before heading to the airport to catch our mid day flight home, ending our 15 days Tasmania & Melbourne road trip!

Overall, it was an enjoyable and pleasant trip with lots of quality family time. But frankly, the scenery while nice did not “wow” us. The 5 of us agreed that in terms of scenery, South Island NZ was more impressive compared to Tasmania. I know I may be receiving daggers for saying this, but that’s our honest opinion. But it was still a nice trip and we definitely enjoyed Port Arthur, the Penguin tour and the minor activities, eg Tasmazia, Jetboating. And the Tasmanian Devils were cute!

Next up: Siem Reap Photographic Journey, 2018

The post 15 Days Tasmania & Melbourne Self Drive, 2017 – Day 14 (Melbourne) (Last Day) appeared first on Mums Travels.

Tokyo Metropolitan Marunouchi @ Tokyo Station

We had a 5plus flight to catch on this last day. So the plan was to have a lazy sleep in, do some last minute shopping, have lunch, then head for the airport. We ate a box of the Pokémon donuts we bought the day before for breakfast. The second box we were bringing home for DS1 the biggest Pokémon fan in our family but who unfortunately cannot join us on this trip. The donuts were quite nice.

We were back to the Hotel Metropolitan Marunouchi in this trip. We have not stayed here for our last 2 trips to Tokyo. We figured it’s location at Tokyo Station is more convenient for the places we were visiting on this trip.

This time, we booked 2 double rooms for the first 3 nights of our stay since there were 4 of us. Then we switched to a triple room when DS went back yesterday.

As mentioned in my earlier post, the luggage we sent from the airport when we arrived was already waiting for us when we checked in. The Ghibli Museum tickets which our agent sent us was also here already. All these were brought out for us even before we asked for them. They were all well recorded in their system. We did have a little hiccup with processing my credit card initially but it worked when I changed to a different card.

The double rooms we had for the first 3 nights had a queen bed which was placed right by one wall as it was a relatively small room. But the room still had everything that we needed. Previously we had stayed in the king room and twin room which were bigger. But for this trip we figured the Queen was good enough. The deco was still what I remember from a few years ago. Simple modern.

The triple room on our last day was a twin room with an extra rollaway bed. It was a bigger room than the queen but with a third rollaway bed, there was little walking space. It is ok for a night or 2 but may get uncomfortable on a longer stay.

When we switched rooms, all we needed was pack our bags and leave them in our original rooms. Then we just returned the keys to the front desk around 10am and arranged to pick up the keys to our new room at 2pm. When we came back, all we needed was get the keys to our new room from the front desk. Our bags had already been moved to our new room. DH forgot to pack his hair cream and had left it in the original bathroom. We were pleasantly surprised that they brought the bottle of hair cream over to the new room for him too and it was placed in a similar position on the new bathroom vanity. Amazing service and attention to details!

The best thing about this hotel is its location. It is right at Tokyo Station which is so convenient to food and transport. I will never hesitate to stay here again. Experience here on every of our stay has been always good.

Shopping @ Tokyo Hands, Tokyo Station

It is always a joy to browse around Tokyu Hands. They have such an array of goods from kitchen to lifestyle to novelty items and cards and gifts. You name it they have it is how I describe Tokyo Hands. I bought some small all-occasion gift cards. Tokyo Hands have lots of variety of those and they are all pretty and come in so handy and useful with presents.

I also came across a series of greeting cards that open up to a 3D decorative item. Eg a Christmas card that open to a Christmas tree that you can display. A card with the chinese zodiac caught my eye, and I decided to buy it as a decoration for the table at home on Chinese New Year. This is such a great idea for a greeting card. Normally you will throw a greeting card away. But in this instance, you can use it as a decorative item …how practical!

I was at Tokyu Hands when I received a message from my sister to get her a Kyocera ceramic knife. She says that it is so useful but expensive in Singapore. It is cheaper in Japan. I found it in Tokyu Hands and since I was at it, decided to buy one for myself too…haha. It may be cheaper in shops like Don Don Donki, but since she did not tell me earlier, there was not enough time to go search for a cheaper options elsewhere. ‍

Sukiyaki @ Moritaya, Marunouchi

DH and I have been wanting to have sukiyaki in Japan after having it in Kyoto on one of our previous trips. We don’t get good sukiyaki in Singapore. There are 2 styles of Sukiyaki, Kansai style (which we had in Kyoto) and Kanto style (what they serve in Tokyo). Kansai style sukiyaki is where the beef is seared in the hot plate before a thick gravy is added. Kanto style is more soupy as the beef is cooked in a slight broth.

We decided to have our sukiyaki at Moritaya because it is on the top floor of Marunouchi Building, 5mins walk from Tokyo Station and most importantly, because they serve Kansai style sukiyaki here. We were considering whether to have dinner or lunch and decided on lunch because lunch was cheaper , and also because the restaurant has a good view of the Imperial Palace, and we won’t be able to see at night. We had reserved a table with view of the Imperial Palace. That cost an extra cover charge of ¥2000 per table. We thought it was worth paying for, so we just went for it.

We went for the ¥6000 per pax sukiyaki set which comes with both fatty and lean wagyu. We were first served with an appetizer.

The waitress started preparing our sukiyaki. First she broke an egg into each bowl and beat the egg. The beaten egg was to be used as a dip for our beef.

Then the cooking begins. She started by scattering some sugar in the pan. Next she rubbed a piece of beef fat all over the pan to grease it before searing the wagyu. Then she poured a thick sukiyaki sauce all over the beef and let it simmer.

Each sliced of perfectly cooked wagyu was then placed in each bowl of beaten egg and passed to us. The beef was so tender it melted in our mouth. We were served rice, miso soup and pickles to go with our sukiyaki.

Next the waitress proceeded to cook the tofu and vegetables. The tofu and vegetables were arranged neatly in the pan, some sugar was scattered all over, and sukiyaki sauce was added to the dish for it to simmer. When the vegetables were almost cooked, the vegetables were pushed to a side of the pan and she added the beef. She then served us the wagyu, tofu and vegetables in our egg bowl.

Then came our last round. It was again, vegetables and wagyu, but had additional noodle and a chewy dango like dumpling. Again after they were cooked, she served it in our egg bowl.

We came to the end of our sukiyaki meal. The final course was dessert which was a slice of musk melon, 2 Kyoto grapes and 2 slices of kiwi per person. The fruits were all very sweet. I just don’t understand why we can’t get such sweet fruits in Singapore.

With the ice oolong tea that I had (hot tea was complimentary) and the additional ¥2000 cover charge for the window table, our total bill was ¥24,354. An expensive lunch but was so good. It satisfied my craving for Kansai style sukiyaki. Dinner would have been much more expensive. This was DD’s first time eating sukiyaki and she loved it. I doubt she will ever eat sukiyaki in Singapore after this fantastic meal.

Back at Tokyo Station

Walking back to Tokyo Station, we come to the front of the Tokyo Station Building. The last time we stayed around here, the Tokyo Station building was under refurbishment. Today, all refurbishment work had already been completed. It was a beautiful building.

Entering Tokyo Station through Marunouchi entrance brought us to Kajitsuen, a speciality dessert and fruit store. As we still had time, we decided to give ourselves a last dessert treat.

I had the ice cream sundae with musk melon. Comparing what I had last year at Takano, I must say I prefer what I had eaten at Takano during last year’s trip better. Kajitsuen serve this musk melon sundae with vanilla ice cream but Takano serves it with a musk melon sorbet which was so much better. DD had a different dessert. I can’t remember what it is now.

DH as usual just had coffee and shared my sundae. Our total bill came up to ¥3358.

Honestly, I would have preferred to have dessert at Kiyobashi Sembikiya which is also at Tokyo Station. But we did not have much time and Kajitsuen was on the way back to our hotel. Moreover, there is always a queue at Sembikiya, and we did not have time for that.

After dessert, it was back to our hotel to get our stuff before we headed out to the airport.

To Haneda Airport

We decided to take the train to Haneda Airport since it was the fastest option , and DH having taken it with DS the day before said that it was easy. We had previously always take taxi if our flight depart from Haneda Airport.

There are 2 train lines that you can take from Tokyo Station- Keihin-Tohoku line or Yamanote line. My impression is that Yamanote line is always very crowded and Keihin-Tohohu line seems newer. So we took the Keihin-Tohoku line to Hamamatsucho (¥160) which is only one station away from Tokyo Station on the rapid train. At Hamamatsucho, we had to change to the Tokyo Monorail Rapid for the Haneda International Building. We had to top-up our train ticket with another ¥490 at the ticket machine here. We just slotted our old ticket into the ticket machine, top up, and a new ticket was dispensed. It was easy. Our whole journey to the airport took only about half an hour. Much faster than if we were to to take taxi (~45mins) or Airport Limousine Bus (~60mins). We have decided that we will take train to Haneda Airport henceforth! Cheap, fast and good!

Return Flight on SQ Premium Economy

On our return flight, we were on SQ Premium Economy. This was the first time we were trying Premium Economy so I did not know what to expect. To my pleasant surprise, our check in bags got the same priority tag as Biz class so they will come out earlier. There was also priority boarding.

Premium Economy had leather seats and there was more legroom. The TV screen was bigger and the headphones provided were same as biz class.

The seat recline slightly more than Economy and they provided an amenity pack which consisted of a pair of socks and toothbrush and toothpaste.

We had the option to elect Book-A-Cook and we did. My understanding was that if you don’t you get the same options as Economy when onboard. But don’t expect proper plate and service like in Biz class. It was a prepackaged tray like economy. Just remember that premium economy is economy plus and not business minus.

Overall it was a pleasant experience. More comfortable than Economy because the extra legroom and additional slight recline did make a difference. If we do not wish to pay for Business in future and still want some additional comfort, Premium Economy will be an option.

This concludes our 10 Days Autumn trip to Japan. If you ask my kids what was the best thing on this trip, their answer will be “Food!”

We will be leaving for our family trip to North Island, New Zealand, tomorrow. This time all 3 kids will be with us.

But before I get to that, I have a few posts on hotels and eating in Hong Kong to share as I had made several one night trips to Hong in 2018. Stay tuned!

The post Autumn in Hokkaido & Tokyo 2018 – Day 10 (Around Tokyo Station)(Last Day) appeared first on Mums Travels.