The end is near
Hello from the final day of our trip to Japan (boo hoo)!
It goes without saying, but we've had a brilliant time getting to know different parts of the country and getting reacquainted with Tokyo again. This city is so big and varied than you could spend months discovering new districts, neighbourhoods or trends, but all good things come to an end.
After a hectic first week in the Kansai region, Lucinda and I have spent the last few days exploring Tokyo at a more relaxed pace.
On Monday, we had okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake) for lunch in Asakusa at the place we'd been earlier in the week. This time we were seated upstairs. I say seated, it was actually a table on the floor, with a well underneath for your feet to go, once you'd taken your shoes off at the door.
We went for a mixed modern okonomiyaki with shrimp, squid and pork belly, which was delicious. We might go back here tonight because it's a dish that we've never managed to track down a decent rendition of back home.
Lucinda ticked off about her fifteenth taiyaki (sweet fish-shaped pancake) of the trip, I've lost count by now but she's happily wolfed down at least one every day or so.
Still in Asakusa, we took a stroll down Nakamise shopping street to see if we could find any interesting souvenirs to bring back home, before catching the metro to the affluent Ginza district. Lucinda was keen to check out some of the giant cosmetics stores they have here. It's an interesting place to walk around if you like big brands, expensive cakes and fast cars.
Our final destination on Monday was Ikebukuro. We'd planned a few other bits for later in the evening in a nearby district but they'll have to wait for now.
Ikebukuro is quite a built-up area and one of the main train hubs for Tokyo. On the lookout for a cafe called Gorilla Coffee, we met the next in a series of kindly old men, who politely informed us that it no longer existed but pointed to the Roasted Coffee Laboratory which stood in its place.
Not wanting to be rude and dismiss his advice, we walked in and had a look at the menu. Despite our caffeine cravings, our eyes were immediately drawn to their pistachio and raspberry hot chocolate. We both decided it needed to happen. It was as good as it sounds, with fresh cream, sharp raspberry and a nutty crunch.
We checked out the Sunshine City mall, stood for a few minutes to take a photo of a Japanese "idol" pop duo entertaining their adoring fans in the plaza (they were all behind the seating area, honest), and then wandered around the shops.
The one we spent the most time in was Seiyu, a supermarket so good that Lionel Ritchie wrote a song about it.
I managed to find some ingredients for the okonomiyaki I'm going to attempt when we get back to Scotland, with more to pick up today. It's one of those Japanese dishes that requires a whole bunch of stuff that you just can't get down your local Morrisons.
After what was meant to be an early night, but actually involved staying up on the laptop looking for cheap teppanyaki griddles on eBay, we woke up bright and early on Tuesday morning to make the journey to the Arashio-beya sumo stable.
The stable is known for its large viewing window, so when practice is on, you can watch from outside. Unfortunately we were either too late or they weren't practicing, as the lights were off and no sumos were home.
Instead, we travelled on to the Korean Town of Tokyo, Shin-Okubo, which is actually part of the Shinjuku district and is home to much of the city's diverse multi-national population. It's almost like stepping into a completely different country, with many of the signs written in Korean, a completely different feel and most importantly for us, a whole new cuisine to sample.
The first street food to attract our attention was the hotteok, or Korean pancake. These are big, fluffy and filled with honey and cinnamon.
As we've done with most foods on this trip, we'll buy two things and share them, so we also picked up jongno gangjeong, which is crispy sweet and sour chicken. As soon as I took my first bite of the pancake though, I knew Lucinda would love it. When I passed it over, her face filled with a joy not seen since she had that taiyaki the day before.
They seem to be big on sweet and savoury in Korea, so you'll see lots of weird and wonderful combinations, like an ice cream cone with fried chicken or mozzarella with honey.
Cheese is also a big feature in the street food on offer, so you'll get a giant plate of fried chicken with a cheese fondue to dip it into, or a potato-dipped hot dog with cheese on the inside.
Another big thing in Korean Town is their pop "idols". We saw gangs of these young lads with coloured hair, earrings and makeup, strutting through the street and encouraging young girls to come and watch their show or buy their album on iTunes. At least I'm guessing that's what they were saying. The only Korean I know is "oppa Gangnam Style".
We picked up another hotteok before we left, because why not, and then walked about ten minutes further into the station area of skyscraper-filled Shinjuku.
I always get a big city feel when I go to Shinjuku, but this time we had a look at the party areas of Kabukicho and Omoide Yokocho.
Kabukicho is Tokyo's main red light district, but doesn't have the same grotty feel that the one in Amsterdam did when we visited. The signs are there, but it's a bit more subtle, and you can walk through the neighbourhood without feeling like your eyeballs are being assaulted.
We had a look at the famous Robot Restaurant while we there. It's about 60 quid a ticket for the live show which seemed a bit steep, although from what I've seen on YouTube etc, it seems like an experience.
We had a few ideas for dinner, one of which was the back alley Omoide Yokocho, or as it's affectionately known, Piss Alley. The name comes from its reputation as a place Japanese salarymen go for a few drinks and a quick bite to eat after a long day's work. Apparently after a bottle or two of sake, a dark alley becomes an appealing place to evacuate one's bladder.
Having wandered up and down the alley to take in the ambience, and surprisingly absence of urinary aroma, we looked for a yakitori (grilled meat) stall which served foreigners, but couldn't find one which stood out.
Instead we picked up some beer and went to Uta Hiroba for an hour of karaoke, before grabbing a bite to eat at CoCoICHI, a Japanese curry chain which is ubiquitous in Tokyo. We both went for a half portion of hirekatsu (crisp panko breaded pork with katsu curry sauce), but I made the mistake of ordering a 3 out of 5 spice level. Apparently "middle of the road" spice is enough to have both of us hiccuping like drunks.
We finished Tuesday evening in Akihabara, which is home to the otaku (geek) and everything a fan of manga, anime or video games could possibly wish for.
The area is also filled with maid cafes, where a little Japanese lady pretends to be your servant, brings you tea and calls you "sir" or if you're a lady, "princess". Lucinda already gets that treatment around the house, so it wasn't something she was willing to pay for.
Luce was patient while I wandered around the second hand video game shops and remarked at what great condition the shrinkwrapped 1980s consoles and games were in for the umpteenth time.
Both in need of coffee again, we stumbled across a cafe at Akihabara Station called Sarutahiko. We were welcomed by a very friendly lad who poured us a sample of their Christmas blend, and a taste of their caramel latte.
Again, the promise of sickly-sweet drinks with a tiny drop of coffee, a massive whack of sugar and bits of dessert lumped on top proved too much to resist.
This time we went for their tiramisu latte and a pumpkin latte.
We were going to do karaoke but the prices go up after 6pm and we're stingy like that, so instead we caught the subway back to Asakusa, got some nibbles from the supermarket and shared a breaded shrimp and teriyaki pork burger from McDonalds, somehow managing not to get sticky sauce all over the hotel room.
Today (Wednesday) we're hoping to finally get that Michelin starred ramen bowl we mentioned about a week ago, before doing a bit more souvenir shopping in Asakusa and maybe one final okonomiyaki.
Lucinda will hopefully get something posted tonight while I'm packing my case, since she's a lot more organised!
王女
George
It goes without saying, but we've had a brilliant time getting to know different parts of the country and getting reacquainted with Tokyo again. This city is so big and varied than you could spend months discovering new districts, neighbourhoods or trends, but all good things come to an end.
After a hectic first week in the Kansai region, Lucinda and I have spent the last few days exploring Tokyo at a more relaxed pace.
On Monday, we had okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake) for lunch in Asakusa at the place we'd been earlier in the week. This time we were seated upstairs. I say seated, it was actually a table on the floor, with a well underneath for your feet to go, once you'd taken your shoes off at the door.
We went for a mixed modern okonomiyaki with shrimp, squid and pork belly, which was delicious. We might go back here tonight because it's a dish that we've never managed to track down a decent rendition of back home.
Lucinda ticked off about her fifteenth taiyaki (sweet fish-shaped pancake) of the trip, I've lost count by now but she's happily wolfed down at least one every day or so.
Still in Asakusa, we took a stroll down Nakamise shopping street to see if we could find any interesting souvenirs to bring back home, before catching the metro to the affluent Ginza district. Lucinda was keen to check out some of the giant cosmetics stores they have here. It's an interesting place to walk around if you like big brands, expensive cakes and fast cars.
Our final destination on Monday was Ikebukuro. We'd planned a few other bits for later in the evening in a nearby district but they'll have to wait for now.
Ikebukuro is quite a built-up area and one of the main train hubs for Tokyo. On the lookout for a cafe called Gorilla Coffee, we met the next in a series of kindly old men, who politely informed us that it no longer existed but pointed to the Roasted Coffee Laboratory which stood in its place.
Not wanting to be rude and dismiss his advice, we walked in and had a look at the menu. Despite our caffeine cravings, our eyes were immediately drawn to their pistachio and raspberry hot chocolate. We both decided it needed to happen. It was as good as it sounds, with fresh cream, sharp raspberry and a nutty crunch.
We checked out the Sunshine City mall, stood for a few minutes to take a photo of a Japanese "idol" pop duo entertaining their adoring fans in the plaza (they were all behind the seating area, honest), and then wandered around the shops.
The one we spent the most time in was Seiyu, a supermarket so good that Lionel Ritchie wrote a song about it.
I managed to find some ingredients for the okonomiyaki I'm going to attempt when we get back to Scotland, with more to pick up today. It's one of those Japanese dishes that requires a whole bunch of stuff that you just can't get down your local Morrisons.
After what was meant to be an early night, but actually involved staying up on the laptop looking for cheap teppanyaki griddles on eBay, we woke up bright and early on Tuesday morning to make the journey to the Arashio-beya sumo stable.
The stable is known for its large viewing window, so when practice is on, you can watch from outside. Unfortunately we were either too late or they weren't practicing, as the lights were off and no sumos were home.
Instead, we travelled on to the Korean Town of Tokyo, Shin-Okubo, which is actually part of the Shinjuku district and is home to much of the city's diverse multi-national population. It's almost like stepping into a completely different country, with many of the signs written in Korean, a completely different feel and most importantly for us, a whole new cuisine to sample.
The first street food to attract our attention was the hotteok, or Korean pancake. These are big, fluffy and filled with honey and cinnamon.
As we've done with most foods on this trip, we'll buy two things and share them, so we also picked up jongno gangjeong, which is crispy sweet and sour chicken. As soon as I took my first bite of the pancake though, I knew Lucinda would love it. When I passed it over, her face filled with a joy not seen since she had that taiyaki the day before.
They seem to be big on sweet and savoury in Korea, so you'll see lots of weird and wonderful combinations, like an ice cream cone with fried chicken or mozzarella with honey.
Cheese is also a big feature in the street food on offer, so you'll get a giant plate of fried chicken with a cheese fondue to dip it into, or a potato-dipped hot dog with cheese on the inside.
Another big thing in Korean Town is their pop "idols". We saw gangs of these young lads with coloured hair, earrings and makeup, strutting through the street and encouraging young girls to come and watch their show or buy their album on iTunes. At least I'm guessing that's what they were saying. The only Korean I know is "oppa Gangnam Style".
We picked up another hotteok before we left, because why not, and then walked about ten minutes further into the station area of skyscraper-filled Shinjuku.
I always get a big city feel when I go to Shinjuku, but this time we had a look at the party areas of Kabukicho and Omoide Yokocho.
Kabukicho is Tokyo's main red light district, but doesn't have the same grotty feel that the one in Amsterdam did when we visited. The signs are there, but it's a bit more subtle, and you can walk through the neighbourhood without feeling like your eyeballs are being assaulted.
We had a look at the famous Robot Restaurant while we there. It's about 60 quid a ticket for the live show which seemed a bit steep, although from what I've seen on YouTube etc, it seems like an experience.
We had a few ideas for dinner, one of which was the back alley Omoide Yokocho, or as it's affectionately known, Piss Alley. The name comes from its reputation as a place Japanese salarymen go for a few drinks and a quick bite to eat after a long day's work. Apparently after a bottle or two of sake, a dark alley becomes an appealing place to evacuate one's bladder.
Having wandered up and down the alley to take in the ambience, and surprisingly absence of urinary aroma, we looked for a yakitori (grilled meat) stall which served foreigners, but couldn't find one which stood out.
Instead we picked up some beer and went to Uta Hiroba for an hour of karaoke, before grabbing a bite to eat at CoCoICHI, a Japanese curry chain which is ubiquitous in Tokyo. We both went for a half portion of hirekatsu (crisp panko breaded pork with katsu curry sauce), but I made the mistake of ordering a 3 out of 5 spice level. Apparently "middle of the road" spice is enough to have both of us hiccuping like drunks.
We finished Tuesday evening in Akihabara, which is home to the otaku (geek) and everything a fan of manga, anime or video games could possibly wish for.
The area is also filled with maid cafes, where a little Japanese lady pretends to be your servant, brings you tea and calls you "sir" or if you're a lady, "princess". Lucinda already gets that treatment around the house, so it wasn't something she was willing to pay for.
Luce was patient while I wandered around the second hand video game shops and remarked at what great condition the shrinkwrapped 1980s consoles and games were in for the umpteenth time.
Both in need of coffee again, we stumbled across a cafe at Akihabara Station called Sarutahiko. We were welcomed by a very friendly lad who poured us a sample of their Christmas blend, and a taste of their caramel latte.
Again, the promise of sickly-sweet drinks with a tiny drop of coffee, a massive whack of sugar and bits of dessert lumped on top proved too much to resist.
This time we went for their tiramisu latte and a pumpkin latte.
We were going to do karaoke but the prices go up after 6pm and we're stingy like that, so instead we caught the subway back to Asakusa, got some nibbles from the supermarket and shared a breaded shrimp and teriyaki pork burger from McDonalds, somehow managing not to get sticky sauce all over the hotel room.
Today (Wednesday) we're hoping to finally get that Michelin starred ramen bowl we mentioned about a week ago, before doing a bit more souvenir shopping in Asakusa and maybe one final okonomiyaki.
Lucinda will hopefully get something posted tonight while I'm packing my case, since she's a lot more organised!
王女
George
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