Premium outlet in Japan

Most of us are aware of this term "Premium outlets". For those who are not aware of the term - premium outlets, please google this term and you would be able to get results showing the different premium outlets in USA and other countries.

It is not a common term in Singapore, but in countries like Japan and USA, there are a number of such outlets located around the countries. Normally, they are located in quite inaccessible locations away from the central of the cities. Tourists like ourselves like to travel to these outlets to shop for cheaper items.

During my last trip to Japan, my friend and I visited the Gotemba Premium outlet located in Gotemba. We had a great time visiting the stores, which consists of famous brands like, coach, prada, Gucci, YSL, Bottega Veneta, D&G, Jimmy Choo, Samantha Thavasa, etc. The prices of the items are cheaper as some of the products there are mostly "Off season" items, which the stores are selling at a discount. One of my friends bought two coach bags for his mother and friend, as for me, I bought a nike sport bra at 1,000 yen (S$13) and a Samantha Thavasa evening bag at 19,000 yen after a 30% discount.

So if you are going to Tokyo and have an afternoon to spend, you may want to consider going to the premium outlet to do some bargain shopping. For those non-shopaholic, I would not advise visiting the premium outlet as there is practically nothing to do there other than SHOPPING.

One more thing, do not take the bus there, it is going to be a very very long journy due to the traffic condition in Tokyo. Yes. do not be surprise, the traffic jam there is really terrible. Taking the rail is a much better choice.

Information:

Offical website -

http://www.premiumoutlets.co.jp/gotemba/index.php (Japan)

http://www.premiumoutlets.co.jp/en/gotemba/index.php (english)

Please help me... tell me which one to choose?

I am comtemplating buying the pink winter coat for my nov 08 Japan trip from Uniqlo Japan online website. I love the fur and the colour of the winter coat. You may have guess it by now that my favourite colour is baby pink. Yah, I know I am a bimbo. The baby blue one also looks nice with the dark grey fur.
Another design I like is this:

It is a full length coat, and would definitely look great with boots and legging.
The price tag for the pink coat is 7,990 yen, i.e. S$112. If with shipping added, it may come up to S$150 using vpost Japan. While the full length coat is 9,990 yen, i.e. S$140, and close to S$180 with shipping. I went to Winter Wear located at Jurong East Entertainment centre recently to look for similar design winter coat, and was not at all impressed by the collection there.
HOW!!!!!!!! Should I buy the pink winter, the black full length one or buy locally? 好烦

Fancl in Japan

Have been browsing fancl.co.jp website this morning and was quite surprised at the price difference between the fancl products in Singapore and the price in Japan.

I done up a breakdown for easy reference (Price quote from the website as at 20 Sep 2008)

Product Description	Qty	Price in S’pore	Price in Japan		Difference
		(in S$)	(in Yen)	(in S$)1	(in S$)
Mild Cleansing Oil	60 ml	18.00	1,029	14.50	3.50
	120 ml	31.50	1,785	25.00	6.50
		29.75*	1,680*	23.60	6.15
Facial Washing Powder	25 g	15.00	NA	NA	NA
	50 g	26.00	1,260	17.70	8.30
		24.25*	1,205* 1,153**	16.90* 16.20**	7.35 8.05
Facial Washing Powder Light	50 g	26.00	1,260	17.64	8.36
		24.25*	1,205* 1,153**	16.90* 16.20**	7.35 8.05
Facial Washing Liquid	60 ml	20.00	1,050	14.70	5.30
		19.25*	995*	14.00	5.25

*if you buy two items

** if you buy three items

1 Sgd to Yen exchange rate of 0.0140/ 71.4286

Though the price gap is quite a lot, but cost saving is not a lot if we order online from Fancl Japan online and ship to Singapore. As they only ship within Japan and we need to use vpost japan service which is costly and plus the additional 7% tax that may be incurred, it is the same as purchasing the items locally.

But if you have friends going to Japan for tour, you can always ask them to purchase for you to realise the full benefits of the price differences.

My loots from my recent Japan Trip

My recent visit to Japan in Aug really burnt a hole in my pocket. I bought the following items from Burberry Blue Label summer 2008 collection:
A black BBL wallet - it has 6 cards slots and a compartment, size 11x10x3.5CM

A matching black BBL bag - I really like the metal burberry blue label logo in the centre of the bag.

My love for Japan

Japan is my favourite country and I also love Japanese products, like fancl, burberry blue label bags, burberry black label, etc. There are also a number of Japan-exclusive items, products and brands only be available in Japan and no other country in the world.
Whenever me or any of my friends is going to visit Japan, we often received a lot of requests from relatvies, friends and colleagues to help to buy things from Japan. Most than often, it would be things like Burberry Blue Label items and fancl products. It is not difficult to understand why Singapore women like Burberry Blue Label items, as I am also one of them. Hahaha.