Budget and luxury shopping of Ginza @ Tokyo, Japan

Most of people would think that you can only do luxury shopping in Ginza, Tokyo. Many do not know that there are one popular budget clothing outlet in Ginza which is GU. Unlike Uniqlo, GU is a budget line of clothing from Uniqlo. Besides clothing, Ginza also have many good restaurants, dessert shops and electrical equipment stores. Ginza is a place where virtually every leading brand name in fashion and cosmetics has a presence. Here also you can find huge Japanese department stores such as Mitsukoshi and Matsuya.


High end Bose speakers in Softbank electronic store. There is high demand market in Tokyo for these high end speakers as Japanese purchasing power are high.

Drones.

Largest GU clothing store in Tokyo located in Ginza. Lets see below on what GU have in its store.

Light winter clothing.

Reasonable priced shoes. Around 1490 to 1990 Yen per pair.

Trendy backpack at 1,990 Yen.

Long sleeve clothing.

Clothing features in GU Ginza.

Ginza also have huge Uniqlo store which is 10 storey high. Unfortunately the price is not cheaper compared to Malaysia.

Huge selection in Uniqlo Ginza.

Creative spinning model display.

One whole floor dedicated for T-shirts.

Japanese message T-shirts.

Le Cafe Doutor with flower shop beside.


This shop selling so many types of mochi and dorayaki. Its sakura mochi which is wrapped by cherry leaf is delicious but the price is expensive at 280 Yen per piece.

Famous Seiko building in Ginza.

Katsumido is a popular camera shop in Ginza which already in business for generations.

A man looking at used cameras. All the cameras are in good condition.

At the top of Ricoh building in Ginza, there is wind generator and solar panels. The floor below with a screen showing the public how much green energy it generates. Green energy is the way to go. No wonder Tokyo is such a huge megalopolis but the air still clean.

GPS/Coordinate: 35.670846, 139.764480
Address: Chuo, Ginza, 6 Chome−9, Tokyo.
Public transport: Ginza or Higashiginza station via Tokyo metro.

Cheap vintage clothing from Bingo @ Shibuya, Tokyo

Bingo used clothing store located in Shibuya is one of the best store to shop for quality vintage branded clothing at reasonable price. The best thing about Japan vintage clothing is that you are able to find good condition clothing and some even new. Probably the clothes out of fashion or have some minor manufacturing defects. But who cares about that as long as the cloth is still clean and looking good when wearing it. Here you are able to shop for working shirts, jeans, pants, leather jackets, boots, shoes, watches, wallets, bags and winter jackets. Bingo cater more for men market as almost 75% of the floor are selling men's products. The rest 25% are ladies products more on clothing. Shopping for vintage item is like a treasure hunt as you need to get a right size and at a right price. Even if the price is right and if the size of the clothing don't fit you, it defeat the purpose as well. Most of the items priced between 800 to 4,000 Yen. The price depends on the brand and condition of the item.


Welcome to Bingo used clothing store.

Branded leather jacket. Most of the leather jacket are selling half pricing from the full market price. But its still depends on the condition. If the jacket is very new, you will be shocked to see the price is quite near to the full market price. Here you can see Aero leather and Schott leather jacket on display at the top.


Schott front button leather jeans jacket. From the price at 32,400 Yen, you will notice that the price is not cheap. Even if the price is right, you need to have a right size as well. The fun of shopping vintage is to get the right size and right price.

Many good looking sling bags are available as well.


Good looking shoes, sneakers and boots. Some really like new.

Here you are able to find branded boots such as Danner and Redwings.

GPS/Coordinate: 35.661047, 139.697692
Address: 150-0042 Tokyo, Shibuya, Udagawacho, 32-13 (basement).
Public transport: JR Shibuya station or Tokyo Metro Shibuya station.
Website: http://www.bookoff.co.jp/shop/shop87003.html

Haagen Dazs Opera Special Edition ice cream in Tokyo

During the recent visit to Tokyo, I noticed that there are many US brand items have their special edition in Japan. One of them is Haagen Dazs ice cream. They introduced two luxury flavours on 9th Dec 2014 which are Antoinette and Opera. Antoinette uses red wine and topped with silver. While Opera is a luxurious thick layer of chocolate sauce and consist of layer of butter and coffee ice-creams with bottom of almond cookie. However, I only have the chance to try out Opera. I notice this special edition of Haagen Dazs ice cream from an advertisement inside a train. I can taste a hint of alcohol being added to the ice cream. Opera is decorated with a fancy dash of gold leaf. In Japan, Häagen-Dazs regularly rolls out a variety of seasonal flavors. This special edition ice cream does indeed pricy and double of the price of the normal flavoured Haagen Dazs ice cream.

Taste:9/10(Delicious. Tasty ice cream with thick layer of chocolate. The gold flakes does add the exclusivity of this ice cream. Not overall sweet and taste perfectly nice).
Price:4/10(Near expensive. Opera ice cream is priced double when compared to the normal Haagen Dazs ice cream at 432 Yen).



Haagen Dazs Opera. Special Edition ice cream.

Before removing the seal.

Gold leaf on top of the ice cream.

Delicious mix of chocolate, coffee, butter and almond.

For those who can read Japanese. The list of ingredient.

Where to get it: Convenience stores in Japan. I get this from 7-Eleven in Shibuya.
Price: 432 Yen

Bongkar Vintage @ Cheras, Kuala Lumpur

Recently I learnt about vintage shop or thrift shop from an article on the Internet. From there I begin my research about it and found out that there are several good thrift shop also known as bundle shop or second hand shop around Kuala Lumpur area. Usually this kind of shops specializing in shirts, shoes, jeans, jackets, bags and watches. These vintage shops usually stock many branded vintage items which are usually sold at budget price if you compared to buying new item. But sometimes, the price shown is still expensive considering the items is used. So, its up to you to use your bargain skills to get the best price. Most of the items are negotiable. In Klang Valley, there are many thrift or bundle shops available but Bongkar Vintage are a few one which offer quality and branded used items which still in very good condition. The usual brand are Ralph Lauren, Gap, Banana Republic, Calvin Klein, Levis, Schott, Uniqlo, Jcrew, Red Wings, Nudie Jeans and Diesel. If you are lucky, you may even find new item in their shop. Happy shopping and treasure hunting!


Many used A1 flight bomber leather jacket in Bongkar Vintage. They also have many vintage Schott Perfecto leather jacket as well.

Good condition used jeans, denim jacket and shirts.

You can get good condition of jeans and shirt if you spent sometime looking for treasure in this vintage shop.

Many denim jacket are in good condition and its up to you to get a well bargain piece.

The best thing about vintage shop is each piece of clothing is unique and you never find same pattern twice. Some of the shirt/jeans are customized by previous owner.
GPS/Coordinate: 3.099869, 101.712904
Address: No.21, Jalan Dwitasik, Dataran Dwitasik, Bandar Sri Permaisuri, 56000 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.

BMW Welt @ Munich, Germany

BMW Welt or known as BMW World located in Munich with walking distance from BMW Headquarters and Olympic Park is designed to present the current products of BMW, be a distribution center for BMW cars, and offer an event forum and a conference center.


Three BMW cars displayed outside BMW Welt/Museum.

Out from Olympiazentrum station looking towards BMW Welt building.

BMW M6.

BMW Individual.

BMW X1.

Mini Cooper also part of BMW now. Mini Bayswater.

Cute and fancy Mini Cooper.

Mini John Cooper Works Coupe.

BMW Motorcycle.

Hogh powered BMW Motorcycle.

BMW car engine.

Tourist selfie before I went out of BMW Welt.

BMW Welt and BMW headquarters.

BMW Welt is accessible via U-Bahn of Munich.

GPS/Coordinate: 48.177262, 11.556317
Address: Am Olympiapark 2, 80809 München, Germany
Public transport: Olympiazentrum station on U-Bahn.