Tokyo 2017 Day 1 & 2: Asakusa, Ueno & Shibuya

DAY 1: 11 JUN 2017

Shibuya Crossing

Finally, time to fly again!

I have been wanting to visit Japan and I was so excited for this trip!

It has been two months since the trip, so hopefully I could still include every detail here (:

We booked our tickets last September at S$670 per person which was a really good deal.

It was our first time flying with Japan Airlines (JAL) and we had awesome flight experience 

with them.

We arrived in Narita International Airport at around 4.30pm and upon immigration clearance,

we headed to the train station to book our Narita Express tickets to Ikebukuro.

A one-way ticket costs us 3,190 yen which is expensive, but it's one of the most
convenient options to get to central Tokyo.
We bought the tickets via the self kiosk but a ticketing counter was available should
you require assistance.
The train timetable can be found here!

We arrived in Ikebukuro at around 8pm.
We stayed at House of Ikebukuro, a ryokan, for our entire stay in Japan.
We paid S$150 per night for three persons which was reasonable for Tokyo.
That night, we settled for Ichiran Ramen as it was pretty late.

Ichiran Ramen Ikebukuro

This was the best ramen I had in my entire life.

It was so good that we decided to return one last time before flying back.

Ordering was easy:

1.  Select and pay for the food items through a vending machine and get a coupon

2. Fill in the preference form e.g. thickness of soup, noodle texture

There will be a staff managing the queue and seating and the seat numbers will be assigned

to you when available.

Individual seats at Ichiran Ramen

The seats are individual compartments, which was interesting.

To get your order processed, simply place your coupon and preference form on the table 

and a staff will collect it from you through the window in front of you.

If you have ordered an egg to go with your ramen,

it will come separately so remember to wait for your ramen!

 

The soup broth was really amazing and the meat instantly melts in your mouth.

You definitely have to try this once when you are in Tokyo!

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DAY 2: 12 JUN 2017

Another exciting and fun day ahead!

We took a train to Asakusa this morning to visit Sensoji temple.

Once you exit the train station, you will see many men in traditional attire

and some will approach you for a rickshaw ride.

Entrance to Sensoji Temple

We were greeted by a huge crowd at the entrance of the shopping street.

There were a few dressed in kimono, and they probably rented the outfit for a few hours
at one of the stores nearby.

Nakamise Shopping Street

The shopping street was filled with lots of stores, ranging from the usual traditional

gift shops to awesome snack shops.

The first snack store we tried was none other than Kibi Dango store!

I was attracted to the store because of their rabbit logo.

Kibi Dango is actually a japanese dumpling which is similar to mochi in my opinion.

The dango coated with soybean powder had a chewy texture.

The soybean powder was something new for me as peanuts are often used instead.

Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of the dango as I lost most of my trip photos

through a failed backup :/

Fried mochi

The next snack we tried was fried mochi!

The fried mochi is actually quite small but the size is good for me as we wanted to

try out a variety of snacks along the street!

We chose the matcha flavour and it was so good!

Sensoji Temple

It was my first time visiting a Japanese temple and the way the Japanese

pray is different from the Chinese.

Lots interpretation

After visiting the temple, we decided to have some ice cream to chase the heat away!

I chanced upon a matcha ice cream shop which researching for must-eats in Tokyo.

Suzukien Asakusa is an ice cream shop that offers matcha ice cream in 7 different intensity levels.

How awesome is that!

Level 2 and Level 5 matcha ice cream

I absolutely love matcha but since I was sharing with my mum,

we decided on a single scoop of level 2 and level 5.

The level 5 one was more bitter and it was in a darker green.

It was really rich and the taste of the matcha was just right for me,

even though I think I could possibly handle the level 7.

If you are in the vicinity, please give this a try!

It is located across the road at the back of the temple.

Entrance of Ameyayoyocho shopping street

After exploring Asakusa, we took a train to Ueno.

There were a lot of shops here and we spent a few hours just walking around.

The things here are cheap too!

Chirashi Don

As it was lunchtime, we settled for some chirashi don at one of the stalls.

The serving was generous despite the fact that I ordered the half size.

But nothing beats the sashimi at Tsukiji market.

Next to us was a takoyaki stall.

There was quite a queue and we decided to join the queue.

We ordered 6 pieces to share and piled as much condiments as possible: 

fish flakes, sauce and mayo

The takoyaki was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

The octopus was really tender and fresh.

Takoyaki

After filling our bellies, we headed towards the right for some tidbits shopping!

This place is heavenly.

They have all sorts of tidbits and many you have never encountered before.

Assorted flavoured Rice cracker

Chocolate section

This shop allows you to do tax free shopping but you will need to hit the minimum spending first.

I have never bought so much tidbits before, and majority were the assorted flavoured kitkats:

Japanese sake, Rum & Raisin, Mint, Strawberry cheesecake and many more...

When in Japan, please buy their awesome alcoholic kitkats!

We bought 3 humongous bags worth of tidbits and we decided to put them back at our 

accommodation before meeting my brother for dinner at Shibuya.

We were supposed to meet him at Starbucks which is located next to Shibuya crossing.

Upon exiting the station, we walked towards the nearest traffic light

and I was wondering where the crossing was.

Once the lights turned red, I immediately knew where I was.

It was so chaotic but exciting!

Everything ended within a minute.

We headed to the Starbucks to watch the crossing for a while and took as many photos

as possible.

It was definitely one of the best viewpoints of the crossing.

Thereafter, we headed to a standing sushi bar for a quick dinner!

Like most sushi places in Tokyo, their ala carte menu indicates the sushi available for each pricing.

We decided to stick to the cheapest range as we will be visiting Tsukiji market in a few days' time.

Assorted sushi made on the spot

After taking our orders, the chef immediately starts to make the sushi right in front of us.

Once done, they are nicely laid out for us to try.

The sushi was fresh and the amount of rice was just right!

Streets of Shibuya

After dinner, we decided to walk around Shibuya.

There were many international retail stores available here such as Zara, Mango & Bershka.

We managed to score some great deals at Bershka and Zara!

The sports shoes are cheaper in Tokyo and you can easily get a pair from ABC mart (:

That's it for our second day in Tokyo!

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Click here for our Day 3 adventures (:
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