Last month, I got a chance to visit Tokyo again. It was with my high school friends. When I travel with this group of friends, the agenda is usually to catch up, dine and shop. So definitely no cultural activities on this trip. Haha….
It was still winter during our visit and we experienced snow on our first 2 days. Though I’ve been to snow-covered areas before like Mt Fuji (just at the foot not at the peak! Wahaha…) and glaciers in Iceland, this is the first time I experienced falling snow. :)
I easily get cold so Tokyo's weather was torture for me. If we were to stay outdoors all the time in that kind of weather, I think the only way I could survive was to wear all the clothes I brought all at the same time and look like a Michelin mascot. Wahaha… But because our agenda was shopping and dining, it meant minimal time outdoors. Whew!
Anyway, sharing with you some of the restaurants we tried and shopping places we went to:
Ichiran - Best Ramen place. If you google it, top results would mention that it's (probably) the best ramen place in Tokyo. The downside of it being very popular is there is usually a long queue. We had to wait for about 45 minutes to get accommodated.
For extra privacy, Ichiran has dividers so your dining space looks like a booth but if you’re eating with friends, you can slightly open the dividers.
When you reach your designated booth, there's a small window where a personnel would collect your order stubs and taste preference sheet.
Matsumoto Kiyoshi - where to buy personal care and beauty products. The Japanese have such beautiful skin which is the most powerful testimonial to try Japanese-made beauty products. :)
Matsumoto Kiyoshi is a drugstore chain that is a popular shopping place to get your fix of Japanese beauty products. They have branches all over Tokyo and there's one right across Ichiran.
My friends had a ready list of their favorite, tried and tested Japanese beauty products. In just a few minutes, their shopping baskets were loaded while mine had only 4 items - 2 facial wash, sunblock and a lip balm. Wahaha....
For those who know me, I don't wear make-up. But while at Matsumoto Kiyoshi I tried to be open to the idea and asked my friends what they had in their basket - maybe they are worth trying. They patiently explained to me what each one was for. Apply this on the face, mix this color with this, wash off with this, cleanse with this, moisturize with this everyday, scrub with this every week - it was too complicated for me!!! One day, if I post a status that says "It's complicated", think no further. Maybe I am just talking about make-up. Wahaha...
BTW, what I discovered while at Matsumoto Kiyoshi is that Shisheido has various brand extensions which are way more affordable than the Shiseido products we see in Duty Free or Shiseido stores in our country. My favorite Shiseido product is the Multi-Defense UV protector SPF50 (the sunblock in white bottle) but I was so happy to know that they have more affordable product lines in Japan like the Shiseido Anessa line which has sunblock that costs half the price of the Multi-Defense UV protector. :)
BIQLO - Bic and Uniqlo combined in one mall. Bic Camera is a popular store in Japan but it doesn't just sell cameras but also home appliances, accessories, personal computers, bags, liquor, toys, etc.
So what's with combining Bic and Uniqlo? From what I heard, the idea of BiQlo came about so that while women are shopping in Uniqlo, men can hang out in Bic. How cool is that? :)
There's one floor occupied by Uniqlo's sub-brand called GU and it has automated counters that look like ATMs like the ones in the photo below.
BTW, if you're going to Japan and you don't have thermal clothing, I suggest you just get 1 set from the local Uniqlo store in your country, then buy everything you need when you reach Japan coz it's way cheaper there.
Numazuko - Conveyor belt sushi resturant. How can you not eat sushi when in Japan? :)
One of my friends love to check Yelp for highly-rated restaurant recommendations nearby so that's how we discovered Numazuko after our BIQLO trip.
Fresh and yummy sushi. :)
Tokyu Hands - where to get all kinds of Japanese stuff. Tokyu Hands has arts & crafts, travel accessories, home accessories, bags, stationery, tools, beauty products, etc. Lots of beautifully-designed, functional and unique items. :) I got a handful of travel accessories like vacuum seal storage bags and compact umbrellas with beautiful Japanese prints.
Odakyu - another Japanese department store where you can do your shopping. If it were near Christmas season, I would have done some Christmas shopping already. There are just so many high quality and reasonably-priced items.
And while at Shibuya Crossing, don't forget to visit Hachiko -
Hachiko |
Within close proximity of Hachiko's statue, spotted this Hachiko manhole nearby. :)
Toritake - yummy yakitori. Most of us in the group love yakitori so we unanimously agreed that we just had to enjoy a yakitori meal while in Tokyo. :)
Super yum!
What I realized though while checking the menu is that their yakitori are just the basics - chicken, pork, beef, chicken skin, mushrooms, chicken liver, etc. I was looking for combinations like bacon-wrapped aoki mushrooms or bacon-wrapped asparagus like what they serve in yakitori restaurants in Manila but they don't have anything like that so not sure if those were just created for our local palate.
Godzilla. We were walking towards Don Quijote and guess whom we spotted? Godzilla! Can you spot him in the photo below?
There you go ----
I heard that there was a time when Godzilla was used for a promotion - they made him clutch a cup of mouthwash. Haha...
Getting around Tokyo. Spotted these beautiful Japanese women in their kimonos when we boarded a train. But nope, we didn't take the train most of the time coz the rail system in Japan is a bit confusing since there are several lines owned by different operators. To get around, we took a cab or uber but it could really be expensive like. Cab fare is way cheaper than uber though. Uber fare for a 3km ride or 15-min ride for example is about 2,184 yen or about Php1,000. Yikes, right?!
We gave feedback to the owner the next day but there was no action. Fortunately, one of my friends who was staying at the Grand Hyatt Regency kindly offered to adopt us. How could you say no to that?:)
So here's the beautiful view from my friend's room at the Grand Hyatt Regency where we bunked in. Haha....
That's Mt Fuji right there -
Spotted a drone circling the area -
And there's a view of a beautiful park below -
With such beautiful view, we didn't have to leave the room anymore. Haha....
But wait, there's more. Other than the yummy daily breakfast, there was also cocktails everyday (which I think is one of the perks of my friend's hotel club membership). But since I don't really drink, it's the food that I looked forward to. Haha...
But wait, there's more. Other than the yummy daily breakfast, there was also cocktails everyday (which I think is one of the perks of my friend's hotel club membership). But since I don't really drink, it's the food that I looked forward to. Haha...
Anyway, here's the last shot I took before we checked out of the hotel. :) I just thought the shadows of the trees at the park were so beautiful.
BTW, sorry, I didn't indicate the exact locations of the places we went to because I couldn't remember. That's the downside of taking cabs and uber, you just depend on them to bring you to your destination without really thinking. Haha.... Plus when I'm traveling with a group of people who know the place better than me or who have done research, I just tag along. It's so refreshing to tag along for a change when you're usually the navigator in most trips. :)