Day 6 - Ueno上野

茶の君野園 matcha green tea soft ice-cream

Leaving Asakusa (浅草), we took the subway to Ueno (上野) station.  Our destination is a snack store called 二木の菓子 located on Ameyoko (アメ横) where many other tourists recommend it for its variety and low prices.  Today we actually bought a carry-on size luggage case with us in case we were to buy lots of snacks.  After heading to the station, one of the exits from the subway station connects to a department store, 01 City where it also has a Muji in the same building.  We went there to shop some more before going to Ameyoko.  This decision has made our luggage case full before heading to Ameyoko. Ah!!!!!

Later, we finally went to Ameyoko.  It is a local market place with more than 500 small shops which sells seafood, vegetables, fruits, clothing, cosmetics, bags, shoes, and lots more.  We went into a drug store and noticed their prices are somewhat cheaper than the other drug stores in other areas of Tokyo.  We also passed by a shop called 茶の君野園 which sells tea leaves produced from their farm.  This shop has very good soft ice-cream made from Japan’s famous matcha green tea (宇治の抹茶).  We ordered the matcha soft ice-creams and sat down on a bench inside the shop for a short break.  The staff in the shop don’t speak much English but they were all very nice and helpful when I attempted to ask for information on certain tea leaves.  We ended up getting a few packs of tea leaves from the store.  Surprisingly, the store gave us a cute Hello Kitty handkerchief as a gift with all my purchases. 

We finally got to the snack store (二木の菓子) and I actually missed its location the first time around, as it is not directly located on Ameyoko, but on one of the side streets.  It in fact has 2 stores opposite to each other and is like a mid-sized snack supermarket.  There are so many varieties of snacks there and prices are all pretty good.  While we were filling our basket with all the goodies, we heard someone ringing a bell from the outside.  My sister and I headed out to see what is going on.  Woo! The store is doing so special sale, they put out cases of snacks and you can just grab a pack for just 100 yen. Each person is limited to 5 packs.  Initially we did not know what was going on because we couldn’t understand what they said.  However, by observing all the people around and how they grabbed the snacks in the box, we know it must be a good sale.  So I jumped into the crowd and got a few packs as well.  One of the staff tried to tell us these packs are originally selling for 300 yen (with 3 fingers) and was now only 100 yen (1 finger).  In the end, we got way more than what we could carry. With all the purchases at hand, we were forced to head back to the hotel and skipped our trip to Ikebukuro (池袋). My sister was very sad.

As for dinner, we decided to return to Takashimaya Shinjuku (高島屋) for some fancy take out.  Therefore, we ended up dinning in our hotel room for our last night in Tokyo.

Our dinner for the last night at Tokyo

Reference Link:

Ameyoko (アメ横)
Snack Shop 二木の菓子 

Tea Leave Shop 茶の君野園

Day 6: Asakusa 浅草

This was our last full day in Tokyo and we decided to go to some traditional Japanese tourist areas such as Kaminarimon (雷門) in Asakusa.  When tourists go to Asakusa, one common destination is Senso-ji (金龍山浅草寺), an ancient Buddhist temple.  We first took the JR train and transferred to the Tokyo Metro subway to get to Asakusa station.  When walking out to the exit, we saw a display of the mikoshi which is used during the Sanja Festival (三社祭). 

Mikoshi display in side the Asakusa Station

Kaminarimon, Nakamise-dōri and Senso-ji.

The entrance to Senso-ji is through Kaminarimon, a gate entrance with a gigantic red and black paper lantern.  Between Kaminarimon and Senso-ji is a street called Nakamise-dōri (仲見世通り) which is a pedestrian street leading up to the Senso-ji.  This street is full of small shops that sell various toys, accessories, souvenirs and traditional snacks.  Japanese people are very considerate and generally suggest people to follow a rule when buying snacks in this street.  When you buy snacks which you need to finish eating on the spot, you basically stand beside the shop you bought it from and finish it before continuing your way.  We visited quite a few shops and watched how some of the traditional snacks were made.  It's almost impossible to make your way down this street without getting something to eat and of course we had several.

Kibi-dango

One of the snacks we tried was called Kibi-dango (できたて きびだんご). These were traditional snacks that were available on this street since the Edo period of Japan. Kibi is millet powder. This snack is like a millet dumpling which made from kibi and sweet rice into several small balls, which are then coated in kinako, or soybean flour.

Age-manju & Ningyo-yaki

We also tried another snack called age-manju (deep-fried bean buns) which we saw lots of people were lining up for. The outside is made from rice flour so it was sort of chewy and mochi-like, on the inside is a puree of different flavours such as red bean, black sesame and more. It also comes with a cup of iced Matcha. It is almost like a 2 for 1 deal and no wonder so many people were lining up there. 

We also found a shop with more than 20 flavours of soft ice-creams and of course we had to have one in this hot weather.  I got the chestnut flavor which tasted great but my sister got the grape flavor which was awful. We also got a pack of Ningyo-yaki (人形焼).  These are freshly made doll-shaped cakes made from a batter of flour, eggs and sugar in an iron mold.  They looks pretty interesting but tasted so-so.

Reference Link:

Asakusa Nakamise (仲見世について)

Day 5: Roppongi 六本木

Photo of Tokyo Tower taken at Roppongi Hills

Roppongi (六本木) is very popular among foreigners as it has a large number of restaurants and shops which are English friendly.  There are 2 most famous complexes are Roppongi Hills and Tokyo Midtown where you can find lots of shops and restaurants.  Around the area there are also several museums and the National Art Center. 

We took the Toei Oedo Subway Line (都営大江戸線) from Shinjuku station to Roppongi Station.  After we arrived at Roppongi Station, we got out at Exit 7 which took us to street level beside the entrance to Tokyo Midtown.  It was around 2:00 p.m. and we first had lunch at a famous Ramen restaurant,  Ichiran (一蘭拉麵).  It was only about 1 minute walk from the exit to this restaurant located on the 2nd Floor.  Ichiran is a restaurant specialized in Tonkotsu Ramen (豬骨濃湯拉麵) originated from Kyūshū (九州).  There is only 1 type of ramen in the menu but you can customize the ramen as you place your order by purchasing a ticket from the vending machine outside.

My No.1 Ramen ... Ichiran

The setting of the restaurant is also very unique.  There are 3 aisles in the restaurant and a display board outside shows seats which are empty or taken in each aisle.  Each seat in the aisle is partitioned with dividing board to create a private environment.  As you sit down, the server will provide you with an order sheet to customize the taste of your ramen with the level of spicy, garlic, oil, green onion and the firmness of your noodle......etc.  If you cannot read Japanese, you can ask for an English or Chinese order sheet as well.

  

The combination of its pork bone soup and secret sauce tasted extraordinary.  The first thing you will notice is the aroma with the first sip of the soup.  The soup is very rich but not too salty and it was so good to a point that I actually finished the whole bowl to the last drop.  I can also confirm that I didn’t felt thirsty afterwards. This means the soup probably did not contain any MSGs or too much soy sauce as I am pretty sensitive to MSG.  If I can only try 1 ramen restaurant in Tokyo, I will definitely pick Ichiran.  This is a MUST TRY ramen restaurant in Japan.

After lunch, we went to Tokyo Midtown.  There are 3 major areas in Tokyo Midtown which are the Garden, Plaza and Galleria.  The famous 21_21 Design Sight is in the Garden area, but it was too hot for us to walk outside, so we stayed mostly in the indoor area. We went in to the Plaza and made our way to the Galleria area.  There are lots of restaurants and shops in Tokyo Midtown; you probably can spend few hours there if you plan to shop.  Some shops are very nice and have products with interesting concepts.  After couple hours, we decided to leave Tokyo Midtown and moved on to the other large complex, Roppongi Hills.  

Roppongi Hills is a neighborhood area consisting of residences, recreational areas, offices and hotels.  It also has a museum, a cinema and various shops and restaurants within this whole complex. We first headed to TV Asahi, one of Japan's private, nationwide TV stations. The spacious atrium is open to the public and features displays of current programs and a shop selling TV Asahi related goods. My favorite Japan anime character, Doraemon, is also featured there as well.  Originally I was planning to walk around Roppongi Hills as there are many large artistic sculptures located on Roppongi Keyakizaka Dori, but my mom was getting tired so we had to cut it short. (Okay, it wasn’t just mom, we were all tired, the pain we felt on our feet was just too much…we didn’t even want to walk another step.)

 

As for dinner, we went to a restaurant that specialized in curry udon called Sugamo Konaya (巣鴨古奈屋) located in the North Tower of Roppongi Hills.  This is a small chain of restaurants with a few locations in Tokyo.  I wasn’t sure how good this restaurant is as it seems to be pretty heavy to have curry in such a hot weather.  However, I saw their signature curry soup base takes 3 days to prepare and composed of 22 ingredients including apples, onions, caramel, sake, and garlic, and milk is added towards to end to mitigate spiciness.  This seems to be a very good quality curry and there was also lots good feedback on the web so I decided to give it a try.  

  

 

We had to wait a little bit as the restaurant was just filled when we arrived.  However, the waitress provided us with great service.  She gave us the menu and took our order while we are waiting so she can serve us with the food almost immediately after we were seated.  We ordered the recommendations list in front page of their menu.  Tempura prawn + Udon dipped with Curry and a cold curry udon noodle mixed with summer vegetables.  For the dipped style udon, the spicy level of the curry is medium and both the taste and aroma of the curry itself is very flavorful.  The udon itself is slightly softer than the ones I used to have but still very chewy, indeed a better quality udon.  The waitress explained to us in English that the Tempura prawn which comes with our meal can be eaten from head to toe.  It was being deep fried in such a way that the whole shell (including the head) of the prawn are so crunchy.    The cold udon noodle was also very good.  The spicy level of the soup is mild and has a hint of sweet and sour with many vegetables.  My mom found it very appetizing and refreshing.  I never though you can make this type of cold dish with curry.  In generally, I was pretty satisfied with this restaurant. 

Reference Link:

Ichiran (一蘭拉麵)
Tokyo Midtown
Roppongi Hills
Sugamo Konaya (巣鴨古奈屋)

Day 5: Mitaka Ghibli Museum 三鷹の森ジブリ美術館

Ghibli Museum

Ghibli Museum is located inside Inokashira Park (井の頭恩賜公園) in the city of Mitaka. (三鷹市) It features Japanese animation works of Studio Ghibli led by Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿).  It takes about 15 minutes riding the JR Chūō Line (Rapid) (中央線快速) from Shinjuku station to Mitaka station (三鷹駅).  After arriving at Mitaka station, we went to the south exit and found the stair case going down to the bus stop where the city bus (The Yellow Bus) departs from.  This yellow city bus runs in a loop around Mitaka city and it can also take us to the museum.  We purchased the discounted 2-way tickets beside the bus stop so we can take the same bus back to the station later.  It took only about 5 minutes to ride this bus to the museum.  We went in during the first session (10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.) on a Sunday morning; there was already a long line-up around the museum about 15 minutes before the entrance time.  We had to wait outside in the sun and slowly move our way up to the entrance.

Mitaka City Bus (Yellow Bus)

Starting from the 90’s, I have watched many animated films directed by this famous artist, Hayao Miyazaki.  Some of his popular master pieces includes Nausicaä: The Valley Of The Wind (風の谷のナウシカ), Castle in the Sky (天空の城ラピュタ), My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ / 龍貓), Kiki's Delivery Service (魔女の宅急便), Porco Rosso  (紅の豚), Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫),  Spirited Away(千と千尋の神隠し), Howl's Moving Castle (ハウルの動く城 / 哈爾移動城堡) and Ponyo (崖の上のポニョ / 崖上的波妞).  My favorite film among them is My Neighbor Totoro.  I was attracted not only by the adorable characters and images, but also by the imaginary and mysterious world created inside the story.  Also not to be missed is its heart-warming and touching music.

Decorations around Ghibli Museum

Ghibli Museum has 3 floors and decorated precisely with details from various films. The 1st floor has an exhibit on the history and techniques of animation as well as a small theater which shows Studio Ghibli’s short films that are exclusive to the museum. The title of the films changes from time to time.  During the time of our visit, it was featuring a film called “ちゅうずもう”.  It has a story about an elderly couple who live in the mountains trying to help their house mice win a wrestling battle with the rats. There was no dialog during this entire film, but you would still be able to completely understand what is going on. The 2nd floor houses special exhibits that change yearly.  This time we saw the first phase of “Welcome to the Saturn Theater - The Ghibli Forest Film Exhibition”.  In this exhibit, there are three-dimensional displays of the animated short films that are featured in the Special Exhibit Room.  There are also rooms which mimic the working stations of the artist and filled with illustrations and actual sketches of the films.  The 3rd floor has a gift shop where you can find lots of pretty souvenirs (of course, we kept them for ourselves rather than giving them away).  Also, there is the “Cat Bus” playroom where only kids under 12 can go in.  If you are a fan of the film, My Neighbor Totoro, you would wish you were five and throw yourself into this Cat Bus amongst the many other toddlers.  Near this room, you can find an exit to the Terrace area and continue through a spiral stairway to go up to the top of the roof.  The roof is actually a gardened area where a 5 meter tall Robot Soldier (from “Laputa Castle in the Sky”) can be found.

Spiral stairway leading to the roof with the Robot Soldier

Scenery from Kiki's Delivery Service (魔女の宅急便,)

Stamps bought from the gift shop

Coin Storage bought from the gift shop

Inside the coin storage

There is one very important thing to notice if you are interested to visit the Ghibli Museum.  The entrance ticket must be purchased ahead of time.  This museum does not accept immediate entrance by cash.  If you lived oversea like us, you can go through the museum’s proper ticketing agents in your country (listed on the website) to get the ticket ahead of your trip.  However, you must specify the date you are visiting.  Upon entrance of the museum, you can then get the entrance tickets by providing the staff with your purchase receipt.  If you wish to buy ticket after you have arrived Japan, you can purchase them through ticket machines in any Lawson convenience stores.  However, I think these machines only have Japanese display and there is no guarantee if the tickets are still available for the date you wish to visit. 

Various flavoured Inari-zush

Inari-zushi & soft drinks

We spent about 2 hours to tour the whole museum.  After that, we took the same yellow city bus back to Mitaka station.  There is some food available in the station and we have picked up a pack of various flavoured Inari-zushi (fried bean-curd stuffed with rice) from a specialty shop.  This pack of Inari-zushi is the best I have tasted so far.  The tofu skin and the rice are all flavoured differently.  Although I am not sure what each of the flavours were, they were all so good.  We had this along with some seasonal soft drinks as snacks before heading to Roppongi later in the afternoon.

Reference Link:

Ghibli Museum

Day 4: Shinjuku 新宿 – Hanamaru Udon and Samukawa Toriyoshi

Hanamaru Udon (はなまるうどん 贊岐烏冬)

On our 4th day, we stayed in the Shinjuku area.  The plan of the day was mostly shopping and eating. In the morning, we went to a local Hanamaru Udon (はなまるうどん 贊岐烏冬) restaurant for breakfast.  This is a very economic chain-operated udon restaurant located all over Japan.  The average price for a small bowl of soup udon with a semi-cooked boiled egg is around 300 Yen and the largest size is only around 500 Yen.  You can choose to have a hot or cold udon. We went to the one closest to our hotel located near Shinjuku Station Southern Entrance on Koshu-Kaido (甲州街道).  The restaurant is operated like a cafeteria.  When entering the food counters section, you pick up a tray and a plate to select your choice of tempura items which are around 100 yen each.  There are also Inari-zushi (fried bean-curd stuffed with rice) and other side dishes.  Then, you order and pick up the udon from the staff and pay at the register.  On another counter near the seating area, you can then add additional toppings like sesame seeds, grated ginger and chunky bits of tempura batter on top of your udon.  These toppings are all free of charge and add a good taste to your udon.  When finished eating, you should return your tray to a collection area.  To judge on the taste alone, it is decent, but considering its price, it becomes a pretty good choice for an economic meal.  The udon itself tasted very much like the very chewy type of frozen udon I purchase in our local supermarkets and lots of our local Japanese restaurants use it for their udon dishes. 

Udon (small), Inari-zushi and various tempura items

After breakfast, we walked toward the west entrance of Shinjuku station. On our way, we saw the Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower, a 50-story educational facility with special architectural design.  It is home  to three educational institutions: Tokyo Mode Gakuen (fashion vocational school), HAL Tokyo (special technology and design college), and Shuto Ikō (medical college). 

Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower

Most department stores open around 10:00 a.m. and some open at 11:00 a.m.  We went to the Odakyu (小田急百貨店) department store right at 10:00 a.m.  Since we were the very first customers of the day, all the staffs in each counter greeted and bowed to us as we walked by.  It was quite an interesting culture to be experienced in Japan.  After visiting Odakyu, we went to the Uniqlo Mega store located next to it and of course we dropped a chunk of money there again.  Later, we walked to the Shinjuku Prince Hotel where there is a shopping complex with Muji (無印良品), Uniqlo and a 100 Yen store called Cando.  Unbelievably, we spent again in this Uniqlo store.  How come there are multiple Uniqlo stores within 10 minute walking distances?!! Not to mention, there was another one near my hotel as well.  Later, we walked along Yasukkuni Dori (靖国通り), where you can see the entrance to the Kabukicho (歌舞伎町) district. From there, we went to Shinjuku Dori (新宿通り) where lots of the department stores, such as 0101 Curren, Mitsukoshi (三越), Isetan (伊勢丹), Muji (無印良品) are located.  We love shopping at Muji, Japan's famously understated no-name brand retail stores which sells a wide variety of household and consumer goods. Another reason we loved it there is because it was one of the few places that seemed to have enough air-conditioning, and a great variety of curtains. (Can you believe it? We went there to get curtains, YES CURTAINS. Please don’t judge us.) There are also many drug stores like Matsumotokiyoshi (松本清), OS Drug and Sun Drug along the way.  You probably need at least 1 day to just get through this little street if you planned to have some heavy shopping around.    Since we skipped lunch, we decided to go for a early dinner around 4:30 p.m. at the Samukawa Toriyoshi (鳥良) which is also located along this street.

Samukawa Toriyoshi's chicken wings (手羽先唐揚)

The Sliky Tofu

Samukawa Toriyoshi (鳥良) is a chain of restaurants specializing in food from the Nagoya  (名古屋) area. Most of the dishes served are based on chicken, tofu or miso.  This is a type of restaurant where many local Japanese go for gatherings.  The most famous dish from this restaurant is their chicken wings (手羽先唐揚).  These are premium selected chicken wings dipped in aged sauce then fried to perfection. You can choose from mild, medium hot and very hot seasoning. The wings are so good that you probably will need 2 orders (5 wings in each order) for each person.  There is a good variety of food based on tofu as well.  We ordered one of their other specialties, a Tofu dish which is a rounded shaped piece of white tofu about 8 to 10 inches in diameter dipped in some soy milk. This tofu is so silky and when mixed with the provided sauces and green onions, it tastes very refreshing.  Another recommended dish is Dotekayi (どて焼き) which is a bowl of braised goodies with miso and sweet rice wine. The miso sauce is very flavorful and matches very well with the braised tender beef tendon, egg and white reddish.  The only slight disappointment was the various chicken kebabs and the additional sesame tofu we ordered, they were not bad but was not as tasty as the rest of the food.

Dotekayi

Chicken Kebabs (Chicken's Soft Bones & Chicken Thigh)

Chicken Skin Kebabs

Sesame Tofu

With regret, I missed so many planned visit points in Shinjuku again due to the hot temperature.  I skipped one of my target restaurants わかさや (若狭家) at lunch time due to the lost of appetite and I by-passed the basement floor of Isetan (伊勢丹) where all the food counters are located.  May be this is a good excuse to have another trip back here soon.

Reference Links:

Hanamaur Undo (はなまるうどん 贊岐烏冬)
Samukawa Toriyoshi (鳥良)
Odakyu Shinjuku (小田急百貨 - 新宿店)
Uniqlo
Muji (無印良品)
Isetan Shinjuku (伊勢丹 - 新宿店)