Day 7 – Singapore to Tokyo
Work up early, finished packing and headed down to have a quick bite at Rise (one of the buffet breakfast spots at MBS). Check out was a breeze and then it was off to the ^^^ airport (Singapore’s main airport) to catch our ANA flight back to Haneda airport in Tokyo. The flight was uneventful, but pleasant. Good food, plenty of movie selections and a very friendly staff.
Back in Tokyo we collected our luggage then caught a cab to our last hotel of the trip, and one of the ones that’s been on our bucket list since we started traveling together: The Park Hyatt Tokyo. The bar was set pretty high by our stay at the Prince Gallery, just 5 short days ago, but we were excited to see everything that this super-premium hotel had to offer.
Unfortunately, we were a little underwhelmed. Although the rooms are large and views spectacular, the hotel seems dated and living a bit off of their reputation and their fame from the movie “Lost in Translation”. Wait staff is extremely nice and friendly, but consistently forgot to bring up things like water; room service did not set up our breakfast (left it in the warmer); cleaning staff did not fold clothes or organize bathroom products. These are all minor issues to be sure, but when the hotel room is retailing for close to $1,000 (not our price) per night, you’d expect the best of the best.
One highlight is the New York Bar, located on the top of the hotel, on the 52nd floor. It’s a classic bar and jazz club, with live performances overnight in the (unfortunately) smokey room, overlooking downtown Tokyo. If you can brave the cigarette and cigar smoke (which is being banned starting April 2020), it’s worth a visit. If you are staying at the hotel, you can just pop by. If you are not, a reservation is required. Be sure to specific the main room with a view of the band.
After a quick pre-dinner cocktail in the lounge, we headed out to the Shinjuku neighborhood, where we are staying, for some sushi. The restaurant we found was one were you can order everything on an iPad (English translation included) and the waiter will bring out your order. Minimal interaction required and a great way to serve the tourist community without having to hire multi-lingual staff. Our next stop was supposed to be Bar Fiddich, which had earned accolades in the recent list of “Best Bars in the World”. Unfortunately, they were closing early and not open until after next weekend. One lesson we learned from this trip (and a carryover from our London NYE a year ago), is that a lot of “cold weather” cities (London, Vienna, Tokyo) shut down a bit for the holidays. Many of these cities are in countries where a good amount of time off is given to employees, so they take this week off and businesses shut down. We ran into this issue throughout our trip, even in Singapore to a certain extent.
Our back up plan was a nightcap at New York Bar, which we were able to walk right into (since we are guests). The ambiance is great, the energy is perfect and the drinks are delicious. Only downside is that smoking is still allowed. Glad that’ll change in the coming months.