(4D3N) Short trip to Tokyo

Baby went to Tokyo, Japan for a business trip, and I decided to join him there. Once we touched down Tokyo at around 6-ish in the morning. Once we touched down at Tokyo at around 6-ish in the morning at Narita Airport, we purchased our NEX Rapid Train tickets from the ticketing booth. This special express train takes about an hour or so to reach Ginza from the airport!

Apart from buying our train tickets from the airport, we also topped up our Suica Cards which we purchased during our first trip in Japan way back in 2014. The cards allow us to travel around Tokyo and Yokohama via all the local train services as well as the Japan Rail (JR).

As Baby's business meeting was in the heart of Ginza, and not at Shinjuku where we usually stay, we checked into the Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza Premier!

I love the location very much, as it was just 5mins walk to the Shimbashi Station and Donki is just located opposite the hotel.

The room was pleasant, as you can tell from the view of the room! I was very surprised to discover that all refreshments in the room, inclusive of the minibar were complimentary! There were various drinks which included beer too!

My first lunch in Tokyo is at our favorite place for Japanese ramen - Ichiran Ramen, which is located at Nakano! The selling point for this eatery place is that they only sell one type of ramen at a starting price of ¥980.

The soup broth tasted awesome, and the noodles were firm and chewy too. This eatery place is highly recommended to people who are looking for a fast and tasty, yet affordable ramen meal.

Kyomachi Koishigure is one of the rare restaurants in Japan where you can experience the real traditional scene of the old town of Kyoto. It is located at Shinjuku, Tokyo. We were greeted by fantastic Japanese lanterns and green bamboo trees at the entrance. It was absolutely beautiful to take photos of!

 The food served at Kyomachi Koishigure were mostly very healthy and lightly flavored Kyoto styled fare, and was delicious!

The restaurant creates an astonishing ambience of traditional Kyoto along with splendid Japanese food. We sat at a Tatami area which allowed for great and wonderful photo-taking opportunities!

After our meal, we went to 'Omoide Yokocho', to experience something unique. According to Baby, this place is nicknamed 'Pissing Street' by the local Japanese. It's actually a long food alley that opens up at night and is frequented by many local salarymen who get drunk, hence the name of the street, haha! I reckon it has become rather touristy now though as there were mostly foreigners when we visited the area.

 

Japan renowned UFO catcher machines are also very popular too! They use cool toys and anime figures as prizes to lure you to try a game, and it costs ¥100 per try! Thanks Cinnamon Roll for coming home with me!

Meiji Jingu Shrine is one of Japan's most popular tourists’ attractions in Tokyo. It is located at the heart of Tokyo, as it is only a few minutes’ walk from Harajuku Station and the popular Yoyogi Park. We were greeted by a huge wooden torii gate.

 

We were pretty lucky to witness not 1 but 3 traditional wedding ceremonies. The newly married couple were dressed in traditional Japanese wedding Kimonos!

We made our way to Harajuku - one of the famous fashion shopping areas in Tokyo, and nobody will fail to visit here when visiting Tokyo as it is a well known street for trendy and fashionable shops, cafes and restaurants.

Takeshita-Dori is the main street of Harajuku which has a large Daiso! It used to be the biggest Daiso Store in Tokyo in my opinion, as it consisted of 4 floors of products that ranged from foodstuffs, stationery, household and personal grooming products.

There have been many changes in Tokyo due to the pandemic. Many of my favorite ships in Harajuku are now gone, and have been replaced by new interesting shops. One of the stores that I usually visit, 'Paris Kid's' is still there, but they have increased their prices massively. It used to be an affordable price of ¥300 per item, but now prices are not fixed and some of the items cost more. However, despite the price increase, I would say it is still a place worth visiting!

We made our way to Shibuya by foot for lunch at Sushi Zanmai for a sushi fix. 

After our meal, we then met up Baby’s friend, A to visit Shibuya Sky which is located at Shibuya Scramble Square.

The Shibuya Sky is an open-air rooftop observation deck observation deck at the new Shibuya Scramble Square commercial district. It provides a 360-degree view of Tokyo. Shibuya Sky observatory is out in the open on the roof, so there are certain restrictions as compared to other observation decks. We were not allowed to carry any purses or backpacks with us, and these had to be stored in a locker. This rule is mandatory. Visitors are also not allowed to bring a tripod or any other external camera equipment. The only thing I brought with me was my iPhone!

Unfortunately, we didn't manage to secure the tickets to golden hour to catch the sunset! As per weather forecast, sunset was scheduled to be at 5pm, but our timed tickets were 230pm. We were lucky to be able to enter the deck even though we were late by 30mins.

The corner is the hot favorite to take photos especially during sunset!

As we are food lovers, we will never end our day without filling up our stomachs! We went to Akafuda - an izakaya located at Roppongi!

We were the only non-Japanese at the eatery place, and we ordered many items to share among the three of us! We enjoyed the fried oysters very much. 

It's a lively place where you can experience local Japanese atmosphere. It is a typical Japanese izakaya that serves fresh sashimi, tempura, yakitori, and also big dishes of fish and meat. Everything we ordered was very good, and this was washed down with delicious Japanese beer! Dining at a local Izakaya in Japan allows you to experience comforting and tasty Japanese food and drinks that will not break the bank!

As everybody knows good times always flies faster than we realize, and we had come to the last full day in Tokyo. We had a simple lunch at Tokyo Station, and did some shopping within the station itself.

At night, we met up with Baby's friend again for a Motsunabe dinner. We settled at Hakata Motsunabe Oyama which is located at Ginza.

 

Mentaiko (spicy cod roe) is very popular in Fukuoka. Therefore, it was served in Hakata Motsunabe Oyama as part of our meal. In general, I am a big lover of Mentaiko, and it tasted good with a gentle spicy taste.

We loved the Japanese Beef Tongue Steak as it is the specialty of the house. Each piece of meat tasted splendid!

Next, the Motsunabe hot pot was served, and the whole pot was full of was full of cabbage, beef offal and smooth tofu with a top layer of leeks. We chose the Shoyu (soy sauce) flavor instead of the popular ‘Miso flavor’ mainly because the soup becomes very salty and thick after all the ingredients are added. It was beautifully seasoned with soy sauce, garlic and chili pepper. It looks so tempting and delicious doesn't it? The staff suggested us to wait for the Motsunabe to heat up for about 2 minutes before eating.

We added Champon noodles were added to the pot towards the end, and the staff topped up our soup for us to enjoy the noodles with. It was definitely a satisfying dinner at Hakata Motsunabe Oyama, Ginza!

Next morning, we had our breakfast at the hotel before leaving for the airport. Yes, we took a morning flight back to Singapore.

It has been a few months since I came back from Tokyo, and I can't help finding myself missing Japan while writing this blog post. Well I guess, I will plan another holiday to Japan maybe next year. Till we meet again, JAPAN!