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:
- 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.
- If driving your own van- you need to pay the toll road fee of around ~$100+ (round trip) plus your gas.
- 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!! :-)
