tokyo-dury-chris-2019

[tokyo-dury-chris-2019]

Day 1 - Arrival (Ginza)

Haneda International Airport

Bought Passmo travel card

Braved the metro during rush hour around 5pm

Arrive to APA Hotel Ginza at Takaracho Station

Ginza walk

Bars and yakitori dinner under the train tracks

Cute restaurant under the train tracks.

As soon as we got our luggage, we looked for an information center where we can purchase our Passmo cards (it’s like a Presto card). These cards are key to getting around the city with ease. It costed about 500 jpy. We added money and we’re good to get around the city. This card can be used to purchase items and food as well. To refill our Passmo’s, we simply have to go to a ticketing machine to refill. Tip: There is a simple selection for English everywhere so it makes things much simpler. Off to central Tokyo and we arrived quickly and safe to our hotel. There was one direct line from the airport to the station right by our hotel.

Our home base for the week. Small but very clean and modern.

Smokey yakitori alley.

Pig snout, liver, chicken cartilage, hearts. Smokey and tasty. Too bad my appetite was messed up the time I was here. Tip: you have to order a beer with your food or you shouldn’t even be here ^.^

[tokyo-dury-chris-2019]

teamLab Borderless

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teamLab Borderless

#teamlab #borderless #teamlabborderless

[tokyo-dury-chris-2019]

Day 2 - Odaiba

Tsukiji market

Head to Odaiba

Venus fort shopping mall

Megaweb Toyota showcase

Exploring and shopping

Giant Unicorn Gundam and Gundam Cafe

Hello Kitty Cafe and store in mall

TeamLab Borderless - MORI Building

Early morning Tsukiji market.

Hearty bowl of braised beef.

Hearty braised beef bowl with rice. 

A tasty and popular egg omelette place. This was not to be missed. The egg was fluffy and slightly sweet. Best of all, it was made fresh right in front of you!

Egg lover~

Indoor building filled with fresh food at Tsukiji market.

Strawberries are in season. These were the best tasting strawberries we ever had!

Bought some regional strawberries. They were perfect and so sweet. The kind lady gave us instructions on how to eat them properly.

Snacking on fresh octopus sashimi. It was so fresh and yummy!

Finally, a fresh chirashi bowl from Tsukiji market.

Tastiest miso soup.

Huge crab and tuna fish kissing!

Headed to Odaiba. A man-made island just a 25mins metro ride away.

A Hello Kitty Cafe in Odaiba!

The kawaii menu items from the cafe!

The biggest Gudetama greet.

Again. I controlled the urge to buy kawaii things. So I just took a cute picture!

Massive unicorn gundam!

Sheer madness. That gundam is set to move every hour.

Car museum! (free)

That’s a Subaru, circa 1960s

OooO race car. Lexus LFA.

Japanese cars. Megaweb building.

Venus fort. Shopping mall.

Checking out a cool digital art exhibition from TeamLab. A place where we wander, explore and discover. There are rooms filled with many interactive elements. Rooms change as you enter and go. So cool! Check out their website: teamLab Borderless.

Beautiful display of lights moving to the sounds. There are different themes and the colors/lights change according to theme.

Interactive waterfall. Butterflies move around you.

Giant glowing eggs. They change color if you slightly wiggle them.

Highly interactive and immersive space :)

Floating lily pads with light projection. Hard to see with my camera.

We weren’t sure which way to go as you can see.

So beautiful. All the projections are alive and moving.

This is something... Fortunate to have gotten tickets upon opening. TeamLab Borderless is fairly new to the public and people are coming to see this exhibit that is not to be missed!  I would say it is similar to the Yayoi Kusama rooms but on a larger scale. You feel you have entered into a another world.  After a very long day, we headed back to our hotel and rested for the evening. Day well spent!

[tokyo-dury-chris-2019]

Kobe beef grilling

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Day 3 - Roppongi, Shibuya, Omotesando, Harajuku, Shinjuku

Japanese breakfast nearby

Head to Roppongi

Blue Bottle Coffee and walk to nearby Hinokicho Park

The National Art Center

McDonald’s

Walk to to Harajuku area

La Foret (shopping spot for trendy and cheap finds)

Takeshita Dori (main shopping street in Harajuku)

Santa Monica Crepes

Shopping and walking around Harajuku

Walk to Shibuya

Genki Sushi

Walked through Piss Alley (walkway with small bars and eatery)

Yakiniku + Ikuta (Kobe beef for dinner)

Nearby Japanese breakfast joint where you order from a machine and get a ticket for your food. Pork tonkatsu set!

I ordered a traditional set with fish and natto (fermented beans). Healthy!

Blue bottle coffee. 

Having our early morning coffees and maple flavoured loaf.

Next stop. The National Art Center. It was unfortunate that the Mori Art Museum was closed until Mid February but we had a chance to wander around this free museum. A few exhibits from local artists were showcased entirely free.

Next stop, check out a McDonald’s! We tried the caramel cream pie (limited time only) and shrimp burger!

Crispy shrimp burger that Chris ordered. MmMmm. IT was so good!

McDelivery? This is so cute! While we were munching away on the food. We spotted the McDelivery transport. 

Early morning walk to Roppongi to Harajuku area. The neighbourhoods were so nice and peaceful early in the day.

La foret shopping building. It was full of locals on a Sunday looking for discounted goods and clothing!

Main shopping street (Takeshita Street) in Harajuku on a Sunday! It’s busy like crazy since the locals come here also on a Sunday. 

Obligatory crepe shot in Harajuku. To be honest, it was just full of cream.

In Kiddy Land store. Many floors of cute stuff!

These cut out Ghibli dioramas were so detailed. They costed about $35 CAD

I controlled my shopping...

Genki Sushi. This place is popular for their flying sushi. Once you have placed your order, the sushi comes flying out on the belt and stops at your spot. This place was really delicious and worth trying out!

Yes, obligatory plate stack shot.

The popular “Piss Alley.” A place filled with small restaurants/bars.

Great to be here in the evening. So many little bars were bustling with hungry patrons. We were saving our tummies for what’s next...

Special dinner at Yakiniku + Ikuta Kobe Beef! First ever experience. It was so personable and relaxed. The entire experience was great since we were given explanations on where the meat came from and how to cook and eat.

Our special grilling meats for the evening. Special regional Kobe beef cuts. The best piece was on the right. The taste was very rich and the fat melts in your mouth.

After dinner treat on the way back to our hotel to end the evening. Ice cream vending machine in the metro station. These were tasty.

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Day 4 - Asakusa, Ueno, Akihabara

Traditional fast food breakfast near Asakusa Station

Kaminarimon Lantern and Sensoji Temple

100 yen fortune

Nakamise Dori street shopping

Owl cafe

Famous Matcha gelato

Close view of Asahi Tower

Random ramen shop near Asakusa Station

Walk to Ueno Station and Ameyoko Market shopping

Walk to Akihabara electric town

Sega building, gatchapon store, Super Potato store and shopping

Tokyo metro station random pork katsu restaurant

Near Asakusa station there was a quick breakfast joint the locals go to. We ordered from a ticketing booth and sat down at one of the seats at the main table in the middle of the restaurant where all the guests eat. I got the sausage, egg, salad, soup, rice, beef bulgogi and pickled veggies.

Chris got the bowl of beef bulgogi and rice with some pickled vegetable and a hearty miso soup.

It was enormous! The famous Kaminarimon lantern nearby Sensoji temple.

Spot Chris, where can he be? This is just how massive this place looks.

Cleansing away evil.

Nakamise dori shopping street was delightful, where you can find great gifts for loved ones.

Getting my 100 yen fortune :) There were English-friendly instructions!

Tried some deep fried mochi! These were so delicious! One is made of green tea matcha, and the other was sweet sakura. They were filled with bean paste.

Tried a yellow bean taiyaki! It was steaming hot and sweet!

More streets to explore near Sensoji temple!

While exploring the streets. We wandered into a wonderful Owl Cafe. It was our first experience and it is something not to be missed!

Can you tell that small owl is a real owl? This one was super tiny and cute!

The owls were all over the cafe. Very mysterious creatures!

Our entry fee included one drink. Which we both got :) We ordered it from the self-serve machines. Tasty~

Getting my 100 yen owl fortune reading. You put in your donations and take a fortune scroll. Teeny tiny owl watching you while you get your fortune.

Headed over to the popular matcha gelato place.

There were 7 levels of matcha gelato plus other flavors, like houjicha, red bean and black sesame. We tried the level 5 matcha since level 7 would probably be too bitter. Loved this experience. It was the best tasting matcha gelato ever. 

Afrer all these sweets. We were ready to eat something more savory and filling, so we headed over to a random ramen place nearby. It did not disappoint. MmmMmm

That Golden Blob, is the Asahi Tower. We didn’t exactly go into this building but we did explore around the area and took in the view of Tokyo Skytree and the water surrounding this area.

Walked all the way to Ueno, the stroll was nice since we can see what the city really is like for the locals. This place is the popular Ameyoko market at Ueno Station. This place is so lively and there is a lot to see and eat!

We stumpled upon a Capsule toy building. There were 3 floors filled with Capsule Toy Machines. It was heaven!

English-friendly instructions!

We got to Akihabara Electric Town and went to Super Potato. It is a store filled with retro games!

I’ve heard about this Virtual Boy. It was the first ever 3D gaming system. It was so cool to get to try it out at this day and age.

Yes!! Look at these old-school cartridges!

Stepping back in time~ What is this game?

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Day 5 - Toyosu Market, Ikebekuro and Ginza

Toyosu market for Sushi Dai omakase meal

Ikebekuro area

Pokemon Center

Sunshine City Center

Kiddyland Rilakuma

Otome Road street shopping

Ichiran Ramen in Ikebekuro

Random Belt Sushi Restaurant

Animate store in Ikebekuro

Rest back at hotel

Pokemon Cafe

Shake Shack

We woke up early to head to Toyosu Fish Market. Which is the new area where you can watch the early morning fish auctions. We did not make it to watch the auction, but on the other hand we did make it early for the wait to eat at this very popular omakase restaurant! Just waiting patiently and looking tired. :D I would say, we waited for about 30mins! Sushi Dai is well known for their excellent omakase meal!  And it did not disappoint! Omakase means the chef picks the ingredients for you based on seasons and by what they think you will like.

Here are the list of dishes we had in this order:

The best fatty tuna ever. Lightly seasoned.

Delectable tamago

Tasty seafood soup

Flounder fish has a bit more bite to it

Alfonso fish, never had this before! Ooooo

Mackerel fish. Topped with lightly shredded ginger and scallions

Our classic favorite, Uni!

Lean tuna seasoned in soy sauce!

Surf clam.

Cutlass fish. It was slightly sweet.

Last hurrah platter with unagi and tuna rolls. We made it to the end. For our last dish we can pick any item from the menu. We went for fatty tuna again since we loved it that much!

Chris is one satisfied customer!

I tend to get intimidated by sitting at the main table. Lucky for us, we got a back table seat with an excellent view of all and more space to eat. :)

Onwards to our next stop: Ikebekuro station. Where we will go to the Pokemon Center!

I grew up playing pokemon! So going to this place was nostalgic for me! There were awesome model displays around the store as well as lots of Pokemon merchandise to discover.

Pokemon heaven. So kawaii!

Ichiran ramen experience. We were seated in individual pods. I ordered the basic ramen with noodles and pork. It was nice to sit in a quiet and peaceful spot. But it wasn’t too great. Maybe I should’ve ordered more toppings! But the experience is great. The space is meant to enhance your eating experience. You will be able to focus on flavor and eating peacefully.

These are how the booths look like! Cosy! Interesting experience to try once.

Walked around to check out anime stores. There were popups for a popular but unknown (to me) anime the locals know.

After the ramen experience, Chris felt it wasn’t as filling as he had hoped. So we went to a random sushi belt restaurant and had more sushi! Always tasty and fresh! 

Resting up back to hotel after a long morning. We grabbed some goodies at the nearby Family Mart. Beers, yummy peach beer, mint chocolate ice cream, stuffed fried potato, and shrimp chips. Back up later for a night of fun eats.

Finally made it to the Pokemon Cafe. Reservations were highly recommended, but lucky for us we had a spot opened for us late in the evening. (8pm slot) This cafe is so adorable! 

Look at that cute main table! There are pokemon dolls adorned as main centerpeices. Everyone orders from an ipad touch screen menu.

We ordered two lattes and a plate lunch platter. So Kawaii! To my surprise, it wasn’t so bad. 

Ordering was made easy with an English menu option. 

So every hour a secret pokemon comes out to greet you. Seems it was an Evee night for us! How adorable! He goes around greeting us one by one and does a dance for us. What a fun evening!

Shake Shack in Ginza! This location was so cool! We wanted to try it out. So here it is!

It did not disappoint! The burgers were crafted beautifully and everything was just so tasty and fresh! 

[tokyo-dury-chris-2019]

Day 6 - Tsukiji Market & Tokyo DisneySea

Tsukiji market first thing in the morning for breakfast

Sushizamnai belt sushi

Street corner fatty tuna 

Grabbed egg sandwich take out

Walked and wandered around Tsukiji Market

Take train to Tokyo DisneySea

Spend all day exploring Tokyo DisneySea. We went on 2 rides unfortunately the lineups are way too long! :(

Journey to the center of the Earth (140 min wait!! Grrr)

20,000 leagues under the sea (15min)

Mermaid show (all in Japanese)

Popular Curry Lunch at the Flying Carpet (Aladdin theme)

Aladdin show (also in Japanese)

For breakfast we tried a sushi chain but it is located in Tsukiji Market, Sushizanmai. I absolutely loved it all. The fish was so fresh and all of them were made fresh to order or you can take some plates off the belt as you wish. That torched one was my favorite. 

Around the street, there was a stall that sold fatty tuna to go. We bought this high end grade for around $36 CAD. The first few pieces were so soft, but the other pieces were a bit chewy?? Overall, it was super tasty and mostly super soft. 

These egg omelet sandwiches were tasty. The eggs are fluffy and tastes a bit sweeter. The egg omelet is accompanied by a fluffy white bread that also has a sweet taste to it. Who doesn’t love eggs???

Tokyo DisneySea! Interesting fact: This project was initially set for Long Beach California , but due to lack of funds, this was a project that Tokyo has taken over and is now in Tokyo. The 20,000 leagues under the sea ride is one of a kind. Disneyland and DisneySea are two separate theme parks and you need to take a monorail to get around. Overall, the theme of it is nautical/water and you will find areas like the ‘mediterranean harbor, mermaid lagoon, mysterious island, arabian coast, lost river delta, port discovery, american waterfront.’ It is truly unique and one of a kind to explore.

Mermaid lagoon is full of awesome stuff to see! But it is too kiddy for us. It is great for kiddos though.

Arabian themed restaurant for Aladdin! So fun!

Agrabah from Aladdin. This is so detailed and enjoyed every corner of this area.

Had some popular tasty curry at the ‘Flying Carpet Curry’. We did have better curry, but since we are in Arabia at DisneySea, we still had to try it out! It was nice sitting down for lunch and fueling up anyways.

Nautical theme happening here. I think they’re water bumper boats.

There are different Mickey Mouse statues all over the theme park for you to find. I found a few during the day. 

These bags were seen worn by girls around the theme park. They are so kawaii! These products are a line called ‘Duffy’s Heartwarming Days’ in which these characters play a role as Minnie’s friends.

Mysterious island is so neat! So much detail has been put into this theme park.

Beautiful near sunset :)

This ride literally will take a 120 min wait. Checked on their website. Nope will not wait again in line that long. I really admire the matching outfits the locals wear when they go to Disneyland/Sea. The locals love to dress up in matching outfits when they go here for fun. We headed back to our hotel at nightfall and slept well! It was super tiring wandering DisneySea all day. Just another end to a perfect day in Tokyo.

#toystorymania #tokyodisneysea #tokyodisney #duffysheartwarmingdays #mermaidlagoon #tsukijimarket #tokyotravel #sushi

[tokyo-dury-chris-2019]

Day 7 Last day

Breakfast at nearby 24h Japanese diner

Head to Shimbashi station (did some shopping and explored metro food area

Bought sweet bread filled with fresh blueberry whipped cream and strawberries

Arrived to Harajuku Station

Shopping at main street (Takeshita Dori) for shopping and cafes

Calbee store to try ‘tasty, hot and fresh’ seasoned fries 

Pompompurin cafe ate cute sundae and tapioca drink

Shopped around Harajuku

Head to Ginza to find Ginza-sa (famous ramen) but can’t make it in time to hotel and grab luggage to go to airport.

Ate at yummy ramen restaurant at 2nd level in Haneda Airport before before security checkout

Cute traditional breakfast set that has all the necessary goodies to start my day bright and early. Miso soup, rice, seasoned beef with noodle, grilled fish, potato, marinated veggies, macaroni salad, and tofu topped with bonito flakes.

Who would’ve thought? Dessert toast with fresh blueberry cream and strawberries are absolutely delicious! They have so many flavors to choose from. Something we see often is the use of fresh whipped cream in Japanese desserts.

Finally get to try fresh Calbee fries! They’re surprisingly tasty, hot, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and super fresh. Especially great when they are made in-store right before your eyes!

My dreams came true~ I finally get to go to Pompompurin cafe! My favorite Sanrio character of all time, jam-packed into one cafe! The decor and all the food is super Kawaii and tasty! We ordered a dessert sundae and tapioca matcha drink.

After our visit one last time to Harajuku and Ginza area, we headed back to our hotel to pick up our luggage and leave for the Haneda International Airport using the train.  Since we missed out on our chance for dinner, we opted for the restaurants at the Haneda Airport. And good thing we did! There were so many options on the 2nd level! Worth a check!

Chris ordered a spicy ramen at this ramen joint at the airport.

This was so tasty! The dipping ramen was done perfectly.  This ends our trip!! 

#pompompurincafe #harajuku #ginza #calbee