Friday, November 26, 2010

Interesting Shots From Japan

Some random shots and moments that bring a smile to my face...

Sumo Wrestlers We Met At A Tokyo Subway 

Pretty Manhole in Osaka

Food Displays That Look So Real

Fan Shop in Kyoto

Outside A Restaurant in Kyoto 

Froggie Road Barrier

Tourist Stamp

You can bring a book along to stamp when you visit the different tourist attractions.

Incredible Claims for Sportsbra

Just Some of The Many Kit Kat Flavours


Sayonara!


**Read more about my Japan trip here.**


Thursday, November 25, 2010

My Foodie Tokyo Hotel Stay - Nishi Shinjuku Hotel Tokyo

I was more impressed by the eateries around my Tokyo hotel than by the shopping in Tokyo. Maybe I had raised my expectations a little too high. Oh well...


Anyway, for the 3 nights in Tokyo, we stayed in Nishi Shinjuku Tokyo Hotel. It is really value for money at 315000JPY/504SGD for 3 nights. It worked out to be only $84 per person per night only.


This is the entrance to the hotel and you can see it on the road level when approaching it. There's a lift to the reception level, so don't worry just by looking at this pic. ;)




The room is spacious, clean and neat. It's much bigger than Dotonori Hotel we stayed in in Osaka but the service staff are not as warm. At least we didn't have to squeeze when bathing and pack our luggages.

And this time round, no free toiletries samples were given but the hotel uses Kose toiletries.


To get there from the big Shinjuku Station, you'll need to exit from the West exit, passing by the departmental store, Odakyu. It takes about 10 mins to walk there rather than 5 mins as stated on its website.

Initially, I was a little apprehensive about this location as web users were recommending other hotels and not many mentioned Nishi Shinjuku Tokyo Hotel. 

But there was a foodie surprise awaiting us....


Every night, we will deliberate what to have for dinner. Little did we know that there's a lot of good eateries situated right at our hotel's door step.


Best Meal In Tokyo: Sashimi, Oyster, Potato Salad, Fish, Bi-ru

The meal above which was enough to feed 3 people cost us a mere 60SGD. We had 3 bottles of beers, 1 raw mackerel, a cooked fish dish, potato salad and 6 humongous fried oysters. It was so filling that I could only finish 1 oyster. I don't know how bf managed 5!!!

And the food was very fresh and succulent. There's even a staff that can speak English to help recommend what's fresh and good for the day.


You see, in the day time, the store looks like a usual fresh fish store supplying to customers nearby.


By noon, it'll be crowded with the office crowd. And when night falls, the place gets even more crowded and bustling throughout the night. We thought the food won't go wrong if it can draw so many customers and we were right! 

It was my best meal in Tokyo!


Just about 50m away lies another cozy hideout; A friendly Yakitori restaurant. 


It's a plus point that the lady boss can speak English and she is very warm and friendly, making sure we feel welcomed and happily recommending a nice sake for us. This restaurant has a family run cozy feel to it.


We spent our last night in Tokyo enjoying beer, warm sake, claypot and Yakitori yet again.


The lady boss was so obliging that she even made onion Yakitori when I asked for spring onion ones. She got confused and looked confused since I suppose they don't usually make that. It tasted sweet and nice though.


On our last day in Japan, we decided to head back to our hotel area and try out the Udon restaurant that seems to perpetually have customers inside.


It offers about 20 kinds of Udon. After collecting your selected Udon, you'll need to head to the Tempura counter (inside left of restaurant) and pick your Tempuras.


We were real greedy and picked a total of 5 side dishes when most people only pick 1 per person. My Udon at the bottom of the pic was supposed to be a dry one but bf assume that all Udons come with soup. 

This eating place is filled with the working crowd mid-day. Don't be deceived by the boring signboard on the outside. A wide selection of tasty food awaits if you step in.

And now you know, if you don't mind the 10 mins walk from Shinjuku station, do check out the 1st Sashimi stall I mentioned. It's worth the walk!

I have still yet to try Robotayaki in Japan. Any recommendations for good Robotayaki for my next trip?


**Read more about my Japan trip here.**



Wednesday, November 24, 2010

4 Days Trip to Tokyo Japan: Things To Do And Food Eat

 love Japan and what it has to offer. Tokyo has always been on a must visit destination for me and it does indeed has lots of interesting stuff!

The day we arrived at Tokyo from Osaka, it was chilly and wet. The rain brought by Typhoon 14 made the night temperature dropped to single digit! It would have been nice if it wasn't so wet.

So, we decided to visit Akihabara, the Electric City many has mentioned and raved about.

Wet & Cold at Akihabara Station

Sadly, we were not that impressed. Not being the most tech savvy people around, we just had a brief look. Annoyingly, many of the shops employ Chinese Nationals and Indians as sales staff. A big bulk of the tourist are from China too. It makes the area seems very un-Japanese. Not the kind of ambiance I was expecting out of Tokyo.

If you're not a techno-geek, this place is worth only a short visit.

Maybe we would have explored more if it wasn't so inconvenient shopping around with a miserable umbrella in the gloomy late afternoon that seemed like night. 

Ans so we left within half an hour. Feeling aimless, we stopped by Tokyo Station on our way back to Shinjuku.


Making use of our JR pass validity, we entered the bullet trains platform and found many duck bills trains resting and went shutter crazy!


If you're looking for Shinkansen souvenirs, you can purchase them on the small shops on these platforms. If not, they're also available in gift shops in the city.


Since we were staying in Shinjuku, we ended the night with a slow night stroll around the area. 


The pics are taken along the street and alley in Kabukicho, a major red light district in Tokyo Shinjuku.

The next day, we went to Ameyoko Market, stopping at Okachimachi Station. The rain has passed and the weather was lovely for being outdoors. This place has a lot of cheap fashion, food and gift items and is worth a visit. 


We took a leisure walk down the streets running along Ueno Station and Okachimachi Station. The gift items we found here were much cheaper than those in the other areas. Look hard and you'll be able to find nice stuff!


There's a lot of eateries along the alleys at Ameyoko Market too. We passed by a store with yummy looking food and sat down. Not being able to communicate in Japanese, we just pointed out what other were eating. Aat least we could order "bi-ru' and "shishamo". And look at the other customer enjoying life behind me!


The inerts is a popular dish with almost every table having a bowl of it. since it was a Sunday, the customers would sit there for a long time chatting, drinking, smoking and eating with plates piling up on their tables. It's nice to soak in the ambiance that lazy Sunday afternoon.


Bf couldn't resist taking a pic of the fashionably chic rather and son sitting next to us.

Our next stop for the day was Harajuku


We've planned to visit Harajuku on Halloween and even the dogs were dressed for it.


We paid a visit to the famous Meiji Shrine first and was pleasantly surprised to catch a celebration going on.


We were told it is the anniversary, hence the colourful display.


It takes about 10 mins to walk from Harajuku station exit to Meiji Shrine.


The walk in is a nice forested walk. Meiji Shrine is nested amongst many trees donated by people from all parts of Japan. It is dedicated to Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken.


It makes one feel like a green oasis amidst a bustling city.

Vegetable Boat Display

Here some pics of Meiji Shrine Anniversary Ceremony:






We were lucky to visit the shrine on the same day and experience a Japanese shrine celebration ceremony.




By the time we left, it was evening and the display outside looked even more beautiful.


Across the entrance of Meiji Shrine was one end of Takeshita-Don, the main street of Harajuku. Frankly, I didn't enjoy it much. There were many shops selling cosplay costumes and the occasional cosplayers walking around. 

The shops mainly cater to the young. Maybe this is why they didn't appeal to me, heh!

The biggest 100 yen shop, Daiso was also a disappointment. It carries about the same items as Singapore's Daiso with the exception of more things being made in Japan.

The Cute Harajuku Station

It was all shopping at Harajuku and more shopping the next day for us.

The next day was Shibuya and more Shinjuku shopping.

Hachiko Statue Outside Shibuya Hachiko Exit

Famous Shibuya Crossing

Diagonal Crossing at Shibuya

One of the shops I did enjoy shopping in Japan was Tokyu Hands. It has practically everything you need for household, beauty, health, hobby and gift items. 

Smart Ice Blended Coffee Machine in Tokyo Hands

One Tokyu Hands is so big it has at least 7-8 levels. We were so exhausted midway that we had to rest in Tokyu Hands' coffee corner.

Comparing to Osaka, I found Tokyo shopping not as interesting as there's a lot of international brands like H&M, Zara etc that can be easily found in a lot of countries. Also, people in Tokyo rush about more and are not as warm.

The departmental stores are really quite different from Singapore's and offer more unique items in my opinion.

I'll write more about Nishi Shinjuku Hotel area in my next post. It's a great place to chomp! Stay tuned!


**Read more about my Japan trip here.**