Monday, March 30, 2009

Sendai Shopping Tour

Sendai- is the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture, and it's the largest city in Tohoku (Northeast) Region, Japan.


Sendai JR Station



Our tour bus


Our rest stop after 2 hours


Louis Vuitton and Gap Stores at Sun mall Ichibancho



Sendai Downtown, look at those cute cars


Walking along Higashi-Nibancho Dori



Gucci and Bottega Veneta Stores


Harajuku girls...they're here!!!


Japanese people really love louis vuitton bags :-)


Along Covered Clis Road Mall



Shrine inside the mall


Disney Store

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sendai Shopping Tour


Last Saturday, March 28 I went to Sendai with my daughter and friends. It's a 4 1/2 hour drive from Misawa Air Base by bus. We took the tour package from Misawa ITT (Information Tickets and Travel) on base, I paid $100, $50 per person. The nicest thing about the tour there was even a seating arrangement, you can pick your seat number if you're early to reserve your tickets. Unfortunately, I was the last person to buy the tickets for that tour and got the last seats available (my seat was way apart from my daughter). Fortunately 2 people did not show up that day and got their 2 seats, behind my friends' seats. We're still lucky!


Misawa to Sendai: (one rest stop)
Meeting Place: Behind the Library's parking lot
Boarding Time: 6:30am
Departure time: 7:00am
Actual Arrival Time: 11:20am
Actual Travel Time: 4 hours and 20 minutes

Shopping Time including lunch: from 11:20am to 4:20pm ( 5 hours)

Sendai to Misawa: (one rest stop)
Meeting Place: In front of Sendai Station
Boarding Time: 4:30pm
Departure Time: 4:45pm
Actual Arrival Time: 8:25pm
Actual travel time: 3 hours and 40 minutes

Was it worth to shop for 5 hours or less with total travel time of 8 hours or more???
Well it depends....on your budget :-) and if you really enjoy shopping.
For me it's not worth it to shop, I rather shop online but at least I got to see Sendai for the first time and share my photos here in my blog. But it's probably the first and last one :-)

Tips:
  1. It's better to rent a van from outdoor rec on base for ~$75/day with your friends and share the expenses and has a friend who loves to drive that far. Toll fee tickets are free.
  2. If driving your own van- you need to pay the toll road fee of around ~$100+ (round trip) plus your gas.
  3. Better stay overnight (get the overnight tour package) to have plenty of time to stroll around Sendai downtown and not to feel exhausted driving back home with another 4 hours, but you need to consider your budget :-)

Overall, I guess it's up to you!! :-)

15 comments:

aurbie said...

Missy, You did a super job on all the photos. My favorite: the Harajuku girls. The guy standing behind them with the t-shirt pole really makes it. And the girls behind them looking at them...just a great photo.

I want a pair of those red shoes. Can't you see me in Crisfield running around taking photos in those shoes?

If I could get Butler and Bagman's red car, I would be just "swell."

aurbie said...

PS: Butler and Bagman are going on vacation. Don't let Bagman see those red shoes or he will drag Butler to Japan.

HalfCrazy said...

Oh I love the Snowy view! Really seems like it's cold there!

Lol it is surprising how they can even afford the LV bags while Filipinos here in the Philippines just buy fake LV merchandise.

Missy said...

Patty- The guy who was standing with the t-shirt pole was actually advertising the quarter pounder from McDonald's hehehe. They were yelling something but I didn't understand LOL

Do you really wear red shoes while taking photos??? Are you for real?? hahaha. If it's true I wanna see you :-) Do B&B both like red color?

Halfcrazy- I know I notice here, mostly are carrying LV and gucci bags hahaha; the only Filipinos that can afford LV bags are rich people unlike in US or Japan, "anyone" can afford LV if they want to.

HalfCrazy said...

Yeah, only the celebrities, politicians and the other totally rich people could afford those. Seems like the prices are different, then, if anyone can just buy those LV bags in Japan, US and other countries. Or maybe Economy sucks in here.

Signature brands are totally overrated lol!

Loida of the 2L3B's said...

Dearest Missy,

Been missing commenting on your blogs lately. You sure has an interesting life in Japan. And thanks that while you're enjoying your stay, you're also letting us enjoy the site.. The photo of the cars are really cute and the Harajuku Girls, I wonder what they are doing. I am anticipating your wildlife photo shoots and rest of the participants too.. see you soon and ahve a great week ahead.

Reena said...

wow, ganda jan ah. pero looks like the stores you went to are very expensive. so did you buy anything? i never shop whenever i'm out of the country. i spend on souvenirs lang. hehe.. mahal eh!

so what are Harajuku girls?

alam mo, naninibago ako when i read this blog. parang serious eh. hindi ako sanay. hehe... more photos!!!

Missy said...

halfcrazy- even the prices for bags are different for each country the thing is...still expensive :-) but when it comes to ratio and proportion of the price vs the salary....Philippines is way too far and that makes it more expensive then than other countries

Ate Loida- I'm enjoying Japan now (I have to hehehe)and I can't wait for the cherry blossom festival here. I can not join the wildlife photo shootout this coming Friday, there's no wild animals here LOL.


reena- I posted a few days ago about Harajuku, you better read it hehehe and check more photos of them, here's the link or check for "Harajuku, Tokyo Japan" title from my blogs list.

http://misawa-travelog.blogspot.com/2009/03/harajuku-tokyo-japan.html

Am I serious here??? english kasi hahaha

I bought some from gap and eddie bauer (only sale items hahaha) but not from other branded stores (no budget) but I was controlling my ....hmmmp hahaha....I was drooling to see the items inside and ended up posing outside the LV store LOL

HalfCrazy said...

That is an interesting fact! My cousin once worked in LV and she said the company burns bags na may mga damage! Kahit konti lang!

Reena said...

nagresearch na ko! :) parang cool pala sa harajuku. hindi ka pagtatawanan kung weird suot mo. hehehe...

Missy said...

halfcrazy- really? they burn bags? whoo what a waste, they should just sell it on discounted price :-)

Reena- good thing you checked harajuku, did you watch american idol? Allison's outfit is really a harajuku style hehehe

Garando said...

So true about the Louis Vitton's in Japan. Told Garandee not to even bother bringing her bags to Manila because around here LV's are always perceived as knock offs anyway. :D

Missy said...

Garando- Fashionistas in Pnas know if the LV bags are fake or not; one time I was in Gateway Mall, the lady was staring at my LV bag, she's checking if it's fake or not hahaha coz I was just wearing simple shirt, jeans and flip flops hmmm feeling niya sya lang can afford that LV bag hello??...hahaha

Joy said...

That is a lovely shot of the mountain!

Thanks for visiting Norwich Daily Photo and leaving your comment. Come back tomorrow!


joy
A Pinay In England
Your Love Coach
I, Woman

Anonymous said...

The Sun Mall at Ichibancho was just an ordinary street when I was in Sendai 1953-1956. It really is different now.