July 29-August 5
After a few quick trips, we were looking forward to having a week in Tokyo. Originally we allocated this much time to Tokyo just in case we were having issues obtaining our China visas. However, I found a way to expedite the visa process, so we had a lighter “to-do” list than expected. The list included just a few items: obtain Vietnam visas, explore the city, and eat all of the food.
We started with a Michelin starred ramen restaurant. Boom! More super cheap Michelin food! We ate at Tsuta – Japanese Soba Noodles.
Now despite all the rage that ramen has become in the states, neither Michael nor I had ever had ramen before. There is definitely a chance that we were ruined by this place. We were really lucky to get tickets same day. Apparently some people show up at five or six in the morning to line up and get tickets. We just wandered up at 11am and got lucky. We came back around 2 for our time slot and had to wait in line for about 20 or 30 more minutes. Then they took us to a vending machine that had a button for each dish that we could order. Knowing almost zero Japanese, we went with what was recommended to us. “The favorites”. We think there was pork in both and maybe some chicken or tofu… no way of knowing really. What we know, though, is that they were delicious.
After this it was off to check out the Asakusa district which is famous for the Senso-ji temple.
As we approached, we saw a bunch of stores that rented traditional Japanese clothing. Asakusa is Tokyo’s oldest geisha district. Apparently, it is common practice for Japanese to come and rent clothing before going to the temple. I snuck a few pictures, obviously.
This is Kaminarimon. It is the first of the ornate gates that lead to the Senso-Ji temple.
The word Kaminarimon means “thunder gate” and was constructed during the Samurai period in 942. It was relocated to the current location in 1635 but then almost immediately burned down in 1639. It was reconstructed. There are four statues in the gate (you can see two in our picture). I’m pretty sure the two you’re seeing here are Fujian, the Shinto God of the wind, on the left and Riajin, the God of thunder, on the right. But… not really sure on that. The giant red paper lantern, called a Chochin, in the center was donated by the founder of Panasonic.
Nakamise-dori is the shopping street that leads to the Kaminarimon Gate. Here you can buy your samurai swords, fans, kimonos, masks, and dolls.
This is Hozomon. It is the inner gate that houses the treasures of the Senso-Ji.
Built in 942, but destroyed by fire in 1631, it was rebuilt and stood for 300 years before it was destroyed in WWII bombings. It has now been rebuilt as a steel reinforced structure with fire resistant materials.
The below is the Gojunoto which is a five storied pagoda.
It is the second highest pagoda in Japan. It has a central pillar made of Japanese cypress wood which is the standard form of architecture in almost all Japanese pagodas. The five floors are loosely packed around the central pillar in an architectural style called the new Toinzukuri style which makes the structure resistant to earthquakes. The relics of the Buddha are stored in the top floor.
Senso-Ji – the main event – is also known as the the Asakusa Kannon Temple.
It is the oldest and most popular Buddhist temple in Tokyo. According to legend, two fishermen found a golden statue of the Bodhisattva Kannon, the Goddess of mercy, in the River Sumida. They tried putting it back in the river but it kept resurfacing. The leader of the village of Asakusa heard their story and understood the significance of the idol. He became a Buddhist monk and converted his home into a temple which is now known as the Senso-Ji temple. This building missed the 1600’s fires, but was burned down during WWII and has been rebuilt since. That original statue of Bodhisattva Kannon is still housed in the temple but is never shown to the public.
One of the traditions in a Buddhist temple is to pay a small amount to receive your fortune. You shake this metal tube and out comes a piece of wood with a Japanese character on it. You match your character to the corresponding character on the hutch and open that drawer. There lies your fortune.
Super fun, right? It is… if you get a good fortune or a regular fortune. Neither Michael nor I got a good fortune. I got a “regular” fortune:
Great!! Perfectly pleased with my fortune, I check in on Michael. He got a bad fortune. The gist? Death, suffering, bad marriage, bad employment, and coming up with bad ideas while drinking. Not looking so good for Michael.
Apparently when you get a bad fortune, you are to tie it on this rack. So he did.
And then he got another fortune – a regular one this time like me. Sometimes you have to take your future into your own hands.
That night we went to piss alley for dinner. The name comes from a long time ago when there were no bathrooms available, so people would just go on the street. That is no longer the case, but the name has stuck.
We started by eating the biggest oysters we’ve ever seen along with a seaweed side dish that we were offered. It was good… but gooey.
Then we got a couple of broiled oysters with miso butter sauce. mmmmmm
Next up we had yakitori which is what the area is known for. It’s basically meats and veggies on skewers cooked over charcoal. Very delicious.
Walking back we saw these two women and just had to take their pictures. Women in kimonos holding Smirnoff ice and Zima? Amazing.
The next day, we woke up and wanted to find another style of cooking for lunch: tempura! Michael popped it into google maps and found a place just a few blocks from our hotel room. The beautiful thing about Tokyo? You can “happen upon” a two Michelin starred restaurant by accident. We ate at Tempura Kondo. Tell me, which floor is Kondo on?
Ninth floor, obviously. Thankfully google translate is magic.
The woman in charge sent us away and told us to come back in two hours for the next seating. No problem! The place looked amazing, but also a bit fancier than we were expecting, so we were off for coffee and to find a nicer shirt for Michael.
Then tempura!! We for the most part, once again, had no clue what we were doing. But since they sat us at the same time as everyone else, we faked it for the most part. The set menu was clutch. The only thing we missed? The jar on the far right of my tray had Japanese radish in it. You’re supposed to mix it with the sauce. But someone came up and told us.
Like most of the places we’ve eaten in Japan, we sat at a bar overlooking the chefs. Definitely makes the experience more fun.
We had fish and peppers and lotus root and onions.
Everything was delicious. Plus I had this shrimp and rice and tea dish.Then it ended with really the best mango I’ve ever had.
Might not look like much but it was incredible.
Afterwards we wandered around a bit and checked out some gardens.
That night we were still pretty full from our lunch, so we just popped into a place that promised New Zealand wines for a small bite and a glass of wine. The wine list was incredible. We ended up having a bottle Achival Ferrer, which is the winery that we loved in Mendoza! We also tried some kangaroo because when in Rome…
Plus we had some Japanese cheeses and dessert. Because if you’re not going to eat a full meal, you need to at least pick up a proper dessert.
Another day, another style of Japanese cuisine. We started our day with a visit to a Japanese steak house. Delicious Kobe beef plus the stews were really good too!
Everything went smoothly despite language barriers until the end of the meal when we tried to leave before tea was served. Rookie mistake.
Have you ever seen such “green” green tea?
After lunch, we popped over to the hello kitty shop to knock out some purchases. At first we thought this was the line to get into the store:
It wasn’t. It turns out that adults stand in line for hours to get hello kitty lottery tickets, whatever those are.
The store, once we entered, was something else.
The main point I’d like to communicate here is that hello kitty in Japan is not for children. It is for adults. As such, all of the items had adult prices associated. Clothing, luggage, designer purses, jewelry, etc.
Here is a Swarovski crystal hello kitty tiny piano, because of course there is.
This hello kitty barbi doll which cost about $160. Crazy!
Then we took a walk to the gardens of the Imperial Palace. They were really beautiful, but there was almost no shade which made it a bit tough to enjoy since it was boiling hot outside.
That night it was early to bed because we had a 4am wake up to head over to the fish market for BREAKFAST SUSHI!
Every morning, there is a auction at the fish market for the best fish. Right outside the market, sushi stalls open to sell super fresh fish to anyone willing to get up at the crack of dawn to consume it. We had heard about a place called Sushi Dai, which is supposedly “the best”, so we got in line.
Once you turn the corner, there is the second part of the line right out front with people sitting down. We were lucky that it was still dark when we got in line because by the time we left, it was crazy hot to be standing in line. We got in line around 4:45 and we sat down to sushi at 6:30am. We actually got lucky because the people ahead of us were a party of four and they didn’t fit at the counter. If we would have had to wait for the next round, we would have had another 45 minutes in line because they sit the entire counter at one time. I read online that some people wait in excess of four hours.
In case you were wondering, yes, we are continuing our goal of eating at all of the super cheap Michelin restaurants in Asia.
Here’s what we ate: semi fatty tuna, flounder with lime, snapper, horse mackerel with lemongrass, sea urchin, lean tuna, scallop, cutlassfish from Tokyo bay, sea eel, and then at the end, Michael had fatty tuna and I had makeral as our last piece.
We also got some miso soup in there, a piece of egg casserole (it is breakfast after all), and a sushi roll, although we don’t know what was in the roll. The fish was out of this world fresh and delicious. Plus how cute is this chef? He was just so happy to be doing what he was doing.
4am wake up for breakfast sushi really ruins the middle of your day. We grabbed naps and relaxed before heading out to the Shibuya district. Right when you get off the metro, you are facing what is considered the busiest street in the world.
We also grabbed a photo of the Hachiko statue.
Hachiko was an Akita dog that lived in the area. During his owner’s life, Hachiko would great him at the end of each day at the Shibuya metro station. Shortly after, Hachiko’s owner died, but Hachiko continued to go to the station at exactly the same time every day for another 9 years, 9 months and 15 days. His faithfulness to his master’s memory impressed the people of Japan as a spirit of family loyalty all should strive to achieve.
The next day, we had a day of shopping and dumplings. But first… coffee! Since we move around a lot, it has been a long time since we’ve considered something “our place”, but we hit the same corner coffee shops every days in a row, so I figured that was worth the picture.
Then we did some major shopping at Uniqlo. We were staying in Ginza, the super ritzy shopping district, but I knew we could trust Uniqlo to have a few reasonably priced pieces. We are traveling a little heavier for the next week or two, but it’s worth it to have a few fresh items to wear.
Then, dumplings! Not much to say. They were delicious and we ate a ton of them.
That night we grabbed some more yakitori. How awesome is this chick? All of the other yakitori chefs we saw were men.
We also saw a billiken on our walk. Here was the conversation:
Jane: take a picture of that billiken for me, please
Mike: that’s a Buddha
Jane: no, it’s a billiken
Mike: it’s a Budd… it says it’s a billiken. What’s a billiken?
I still don’t know what on earth a billiken is, but I know it when I see it. Then we went to the rooftop bar for an expensive cocktail but a great view.
So during our time in Tokyo, we’ve had yakitori, ramen, tempura, steak, sushi, and dumplings. On our last day in the city, it seemed only natural that we head in a new direction.
Pancakes. I don’t know the last time we’ve had pancakes. Since Michael’s not a big breakfast guy, we rarely even have breakfast. But I wanted them, big time. I have been fighting a cold for a long time and just haven’t been able to shake it. So this seemed like just the ticket.
They were not that good and the bananas weren’t cooked into the pancakes like the picture showed (and like every normal human being knows they should be prepared). But they were glorious. It was really just what I needed after so much Asian food lately and only more to come! We took the rest of the day to work on some travel plans for the next few months. And of course hit up one last cooking style before getting out of town: Shabu-shabu at a place called Tajimaya Ginza.
Shabu-shabu is a Japanese hot pot dish of thinly sliced meat and vegetables boiled in water.
It’s a social meal where you cook together on your table. That pot was boiling water and in the above picture we were cooking our veggies.
Yes, that is a new skirt! Thank you for noticing! I picked it up at Uniqlo during our shopping escapade. We had a lot of fun during this meal. And per our super cute waitress, the important thing about cooking in this style is saying shabu-shabu as you cook the Kobe beef.
The next day we were off to Manila. But not before having a few more Japanese moments. Like these older women dancing in the airport with some stick things:
And a woman forcing Michael to take a survey about his experience with the bathrooms in Japan. They are high tech. Let me know offline if you want more info. But she did give Michael this bag of candy as a thank you gift.
This candy was just how I picture Japanese candy to be. I tried a bit of each, just for good measure, but most were icky and got thrown away.
Not this though. I don’t know what umai jelly is and there was no way I was drinking it.
So that was it! Japan was a really neat city, with amazing food, but much more foreign than I was expecting. Not many people spoke English which made it more of a challenge. But we had a wonderful time.
We were planning on spending our long layover in Manila similar to Kuala Lumpur. We wanted to get out, have some food in the city and maybe see a sight during our 14 hours there, but we were tired and I was feeling crappy still, so instead we ate in the hotel and called it a night. Off to China tomorrow!