My first official day in Tokyo; and after a hearty breakfast at Anniversaire Café, which is just beside Louis Vuitton’s Japanese HQ in One Omotesando, we set off towards Aoyama to seek out the famous Prada flagship. Soon enough we spotted it in the distance, its giant glass blocks standing out amongst all the buildings beside it.

But before we reached Prada, we headed first into the Comme des Garçons flagship which didn’t disappoint. From Comme des Garçons Play to the much coveted small leather goods collection, it was also the first place I dropped money at, picking up a pair of identical CDG zip pouches in embossed leather.

Prada wasn’t bad either, and I spotted a bag from the F/W10 collection that I’ve never seen anywhere else before. The lovely SA told me they only had 1 of each colour in Japan, but I didn’t want to commit just yet. If I can’t get it out of my mind in the next few days, I’ll definitely be back.

Beside Prada stood this building, which was another visually stunning site. Housing both Cartier and Chloé, Aoyama certainly has her fair share of designer boutiques, which also includes 3.1 Phillip Lim, Neil Barrett, Corso Como, D&G, Reed Krakoff (I literally zipped across the road and ran right in to check out the Boxer II), Miu Miu, Kate Spade and Yohji Yamamoto.

But Aoyoma is more than designer boutiques and expensive apartments. It is also quaint with oodles of charm, women pushing their babies to and fro in their frilly prams, toy dogs out for walks with their owners and if you look hard enough, nooks and crannies filled with foilage and lovely blooms.

It ain’t exactly Spring, but all the flowers are still in full bloom.

Another common sight in Aoyama, pretty flower shops like this one called Country Harvest. Gorgeous, isn’t it?

Quick tip if you’re planning to have lunch in Aoyama, head to Dragonfly Cafe (located above Cabane de Zucca) where set meals are around SGD16 a person. Decent, delicious food at affordable prices. I like.

I also love taking snapshots of manhole covers (don’t ask me why though), and a reader on Facebook told me this motif is the symbol of the Bureau of Sewerage (Tokyo Metropolitan Government). The picture on the surface is comprised of leaves from the gingko tree and the flower petals of the Japanese cherry blossom, both also known as the official tree and flower of Tokyo.

The city is beautiful, the weather is just right, and the people are gracious. My haul wasn’t bad either; I picked up a pair of Uniqlo jeans, a MMM Aids tee, 2 CDG zip pouches and a Porter Yoshida iPad case.

And it’s only my first day.

Images: Bagaholicboy