Originally published on 2019/08/09
Nishi-shinjuku is a pretty cool neighborhood, but I miss the colorful streets of Shinjuku near Keio Plaza Hotel during the post-arrival orientation.
Nevertheless, I wanted to see the neighborhood and grab some stuff to stick in my fridge.
So, using my trusty Google Maps (which gave me weird directions), I walked all the way to Daiso Biz.
According to the app, it was a 13-minute walk, but I think it was longer. It also advised me to cross the street when it was absolutely unnecessary. In fact, it was pretty easy to get to, but it was really tiring, and I went out at 1 p.m., so you can imagine I was all but ready to spontaneously combust.
Anyway, on my way to Daiso Biz, I happened upon a 7–11 where I bought a pickled plum onigiri and a bottle of water. I ate them outside the store, where I botched eating onigiri because the nori kept sticking to my lips. Not fun.
After getting my fill, I walked to Daiso Biz, which is actually housed in the Shinjuku Nomura Building. It — as well as several shops like Family Mart, Showa print shop, drug store Ryuseido, and more — are housed on B2, which you can find when you take the escalator one floor down. Or, you know, you could just walk down the stairs.
So, I went inside Daiso Biz. I bought a microfiber bath towel, a 500ml water bottle, a chain and plastic wallet for my Suica card, a small sewing kit, chopsticks, colored sticky notes, and a pair of earphones. Each one cost 108 yen.
I was pretty stoked since they were cheaper than the ones sold in the Daiso back home. I also wandered around the drug store and bought a box of disposable masks since I caught a cold. It cost around 200 yen, which I regretted when I later saw that Can Do had them for only 100 yen.
Speaking of which, after I bought stuff from Daiso and the drug store, I bought a 300+ yen bento from Family Mart. Then, when I resurfaced to meet the sun, I saw that there was a Can Do shop just a few minutes away!
Can Do is a popular 100 yen shop with branches all over Japan. There, I was able to buy a nailcutter (nailclippers) and two 500ml bottles of water. The nailclippers cost a hundred yen, but so did the two bottles of water! I was really happy about that.
Now I know I can buy two bottles of water for the cost of one at Can Do. I was also surprised that there was another 7-Eleven store beside Can Do. (At this point, I really should stop being surprised that there are 7-Eleven stores just five minutes from each other.)
I bought a 98 yen carton of roobios tea. Since it’s pretty big, I plan on using my Daiso-bought water bottle as a cup. I also have an electric kettle, so I’m practically set.
After lugging so many plastic bags around (I know, I should’ve bought an eco-bag with me, but I wasn’t able to pack one before I went to Japan), I finally decided to walk home.
Of course, I took some photos while walking home. I was too tired to look for somewhere to eat, and I wanted to save money so I just bought something at Family Mart.
This was the only one of its kind there, so I grabbed it quickly. It was really tasty.
So, after a long day walking around and buying stuff, I ate this and watched Crazy Rich Asians on Netflix.
