AEON Mart in Tokyo: Insanely Cheap Liquor
Warning: I wrote this during a business trip to a company on the outskirts of Tokyo. Like most posts on this blog, it's completely useless for Tokyo tourists and is just a personal memory dump that might, at best, be slightly helpful to my coworkers.
I came to Tokyo for a business trip. It was only my second time visiting Japan in my life, so I was humming happily on the way to the work site, fascinated by all the Japanese signs outside the taxi window heading to the hotel.
Day one, arriving full of excitement!!
I had to go straight to work, so I left my suitcase at the hotel and headed to the site with a light, happy step. Then I worked all night, couldn't figure out how to open the door of this office building I'd never been to before, and ended up sleeping in the office for two hours. An idiot who booked a hotel but couldn't even go...
Day two!!
For some reason, things went smoothly today, so I got off work at 3 AM and actually slept at the hotel... ㅠㅠ A business trip that brings tears to my eyes. It's even sadder because I can't blame anyone else for being too dumb to get to my room the night before. Thanks to that, I don't have a single photo of the hotel room. Of course, I also don't have the food photos I usually take wherever I go. I just ate whatever they bought me and only thought about how I could get back home.
If I had to talk about the room I stayed in for that one night, the rate was quite expensive, but the room was so small it felt a bit suffocating. People say that's just how it is in Japan, and seeing it for myself made me giggle alone in amusement. (I think this is when I started losing my mind a little.)
I didn't even get to see the breakfast buffet because I was sleeping...
The long-awaited Day 3
Just 4 hours before boarding my flight back home. Because I had exchanged a massive amount of Yen, I absolutely had to keep my promise to bring back souvenirs this time. I'll save the "Yen idiot" story for the next post, but anyway, I ran to a supermarket called AEON right in front of the office to buy a bunch of gifts.
The items I needed to buy were:
I had a lot of people who asked for favors and people I needed to give gifts to, so I bought enough to fill both hands. The prices are as you see them. The higher price in parentheses over there is the purchase price.
But there was exactly one thing Korea can't match, and that's the price of alcohol!!! Liquor prices, especially for Western spirits, are insanely, unbelievably cheap!!!
Can you see it!? A 4-liter bottle of whiskey is 35,000 KRW!!!!!!!! That's less than 100 KRW per 100ml!!!!
Even if you think that's just cheap liquor and not worth it, this place performs miracles where popular brands among Koreans like Ballantine's, Glenfiddich, and others are actually cheaper than at the duty-free shop.
I have no idea why Japanese liquor is more expensive than imported liquor in Japan, but if anyone knows, please enlighten me.