Japan Trip: Food Escapades

One of the best parts of travelling is trying out all sorts of food. For me a trip to anywhere (especially out of the country) is never complete without sampling local dishes and snacks. As much as possible, I would prefer to avoid eating at the usual fast food places, although they're always a good go-to place when all else fails.

When in Japan, having Japanese food is a must. Although Japanese restaurants are fairly common here in the Philippines, nothing still beats having authentic Japanese food in Japan. Food is taken very seriously in this country, and the number of Michelin-starred restaurants in Tokyo alone can attest to that. You can also see it in the way the Japanese prepare their food. A lot of measures are taken to ensure that the dishes are made with the finest and freshest ingredients.

Let me take you on a virtual food adventure during our trip to Japan:

Philippine Airlines

We left Manila shortly before 7 o'clock in the morning. We were served breakfast--beef curry with rice, along with a fruit cup and cake from Perfect Endings for dessert. It was decent, but not exactly too memorable. 

On the other hand, lunch on the way back to Manila was INCREDIBLE! I chose the Beef Yakiniku with rice, a bread roll, and salad made with tofu, meatballs and some vegetables (not sure which ones). The beef was very tasty and the rice was drizzled with nori (Japanese seaweed) on top which made it very flavorful.

The salad up close--I actually had two of these since my brother (who's not into veggies at all) didn't touch his. It goes really well with the main dish!

After the meal, the flight attendants began distributing these small tubs of Japanese vanilla ice cream for dessert. What a great way to end the meal--this was definitely the best in-flight meal I've ever had! Good job, Philippine Airlines!

Around Tokyo

Walking around Tokyo Disneyland surely made us hungry! We bought these smoked turkey legs for our mid-afternoon snack at Y520 each (around P200)--much cheaper compared to the turkey legs they sell at Universal Studios Singapore which cost $13, or around P400,

On the day of our city tour around Tokyo, we stopped for lunch at this Parisian-inspired food court called Marche de Metro, located at a train station (underground) at Omotesando. I bought this Ratatouille Curry dish at one of the food stalls called Bistro Lyon. It was a bit (but not too uncomfortably) warm at the time, so eating this spicy dish did make me sweat a bit more. The food was still quite good, though.

Too cool off, I got this chocolate milk tea drink from this nearby stall called Vietnamese Cyclo.

On our third day in Tokyo, we had dinner at this place called Tonkatsu Wako, located at the Sunshine City Alpa, one of the two major shopping malls connected to our hotel. 

My mom's Ebi-Furai Gohan (around Y1188 or P510). Each tray comes with a bowl of rice, pickles, miso soup, and cabbage. They also serve complimentary green tea.

My dad, brother and I each had an order of Rosukatsu Gohan (also priced at Y1188). By the way, the rice, cabbage and miso soup at this restaurant are unlimited so you can keep asking for refills! The staff here are very friendly and helpful (but then again, who isn't in Japan, really?), and the waitress, despite her slight struggle with English, patiently explained to us the different types of dressing for the cabbage that we could choose from.

Other Food Photos

KitKats are extremely popular in Japan, and they come in all sorts of flavors--from the tame ones like Strawberry or Green Tea to the more quirky ones like Wasabi or Soy Sauce (you read that right). We also got to buy a small box of Baked KitKat (yep, that's right) which are ideally eaten only after being put inside the oven toaster for a few minutes which is supposed to turn into something like a crispy cookie. We tried to do that and it turned out to be a failure--I guess we were really just not doing it right.

In case you're wondering why KitKats are so popular in Japan, it's because it sounds very similar to the Japanese phrase "kittu katsu", which is synonymous to "good luck". Students usually eat KitKat just before an important exam for good luck.

Aside from doing some extra shopping, we finished off our remaining Yen at the Narita Airport in Tokyo (before flying back to Manila) with a quick meal at this place called Asian Cafe Bowl Bowl. I got these fried octopus dumpling balls and also got some of the ramen (on the left) which my mom and dad ordered for themselves. These dumpling balls were served piping hot.

Check out the rest of my Japan blog posts here:

Japan Trip: Random Photos Around Tokyo Disneyland

Around Tokyo: Ikebukuro and Shibuya

Around Tokyo: City Tour

Around Tokyo: At the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace

Japan Trip: Mt. Fuji and Hakone

Around Tokyo: At the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace

My favorite stop of our city tour around Tokyo would have to be the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace, which we visited after lunch.

The Imperial Palace serves as the official residence of the Emperor of Japan and his family. It occupies a large piece of land in central Tokyo, and the area around it is a popular jogging path for both locals and expats. For security reasons though, visitors are only allowed to enter the East Gardens, while the western side, where the royal family lives, is closed to the public, except on very rare occasions. 

The palace is also surrounded by large walls and a moat. Unlike the British royal family who are a bit more "exposed" to the public, the Japanese royals prefer to have their privacy.

This is actually an enclosed area--it was designed in such a way that in case of an invasion, the two gates (the one you see in the photo and the one behind me) would be shut, trapping the invaders. To kill the invaders, gunshots may be fired through the holes you see just below the white part of the walls. Arrows could easily pass through the holes as well.

Admission is free--you just need to have this ticket with you at all times while inside the Palace grounds since visitors are supposed to surrender these tickets upon exit.

One of the many old security outposts around the Palace that are no longer actually in use.

What used to be large pillars for gates are now just holes on the ground.

According to our tour guide Sho, these walls have been blackened by fire (from previous invasions?)

Meet Sho, our tour guide. For a man in his 60s (or 70s?), he sure has a lot of stamina! He had no problem walking around all day--my family and I even struggled a bit to catch up to him at times. 

The Fujimi-yagura, or the Mt. Fuji View Keep, serves as one of the many watchtowers surrounding the Palace. Also, a photobombing Spanish tourist in the foreground decides to pose for dramatic effect. Er...

Tea is grown and harvested right within the palace grounds. Royal Tea for the Royalty. *badum-tss*

The East Garden is a place where families can just sit on the grass and enjoy the weekend. I took this photo from the ruins of a structure that served as a meeting place for members of the Parliament. Unfortunately, it was destroyed by a fire just 19 years after it was completed.

I'm not sure if the artists who made these were actually selling their artworks or just displaying them for people to see--I couldn't understand what they were saying.

As in a lot of places we visited during our trip, the landscaping throughout the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace is very impressive. We were also still lucky enough to see some Cherry Blossom (Sakura) trees in full bloom even if we were there during the second half of April. According to Sho, it's best to see the Cherry Blossoms in late March or early April.

(Disclaimer: I am not a skilled photographer)

Up Next: The sights (or rather, the lack of it) at Mt. Fuji and Hakone!

Around Tokyo: City Tour

Our third day in Tokyo was spent touring different parts of the city. Our tour guide, Shonikai, or Sho for short, was happy to show us around some of Tokyo's tourist traps best attractions.

Contrary to what we were expecting, we traveled from one stop to another on foot, by cab, and by train. We were supposed to be shuttled around Tokyo in a van--unfortunately, there wasn't one available that day (weren't they supposed to reserve one for us in advance?). This whole day of walking and stair-climbing and train-hopping left us feeling exhausted, but it was worth it--what better way to "see" Tokyo than by doing all this (rather than sitting comfortably in a van), right?

Around Tokyo: Ikebukuro and Shibuya

Among the cities I have been to so far, Tokyo definitely ranks up there along with my two other favorite cities, Singapore and New York. This city is incredible! For a city of over 13 million, I am so amazed at how clean it is, with a very efficient public transportation system, friendly and courteous people, and a never-ending feast for the senses for both tourists and locals alike. You will never run out of things to do here, and there are always seems to be something new for you to see!

This blog post is the second of a series of Japan-related posts (see the first one here), and there will be more coming up. Please do watch out for them!

Ikebukuro

The hotel we stayed in, the Sunshine City Prince Hotel, is located at the northwestern side of Tokyo, in a busy district called Ikebukuro. Our hotel is located in a part of the district called Sunshine City, a massive complex with office buildings, a hotel, and large shopping centers (think Eastwood City in Libis). The hotel is extremely popular with Chinese tour groups, and there were quite a number of Russian tourists staying there as well. The lobby is always so busy (and noisy)!

Our two rooms (both with two single beds each) were located at the 24th floor, and we were treated to this great view of the city each time we looked out the window. The view looks amazing at night, too.

Even if our hotel is a bit further away from the more tourist-y districts of Tokyo like Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ginza and Harajuku, there's still lots of things to do within Ikebukuro itself. This pedestrian-only street (called the Sunshine 60 Dori Strip) is just a 5-10 minute walk from our hotel, and is full of large shops and restaurants.

See how bustling this place is even during the late hours?

For all you Uniqlo fans, there is a massive, multi-level store along the Sunshine 60 Dori Strip. This particular store is one of the largest in Tokyo, and boasts of one underground level and six levels above ground, so that's a total of seven levels. Seven!

The Ikebukuro Station of the JR Yamanote Line was the starting point for our train journey for where we were headed: Shibuya!

Shibuya

Shibuya is one of the more popular districts of Tokyo. The most popular attraction here would definitely have to be the extremely busy pedestrian crossing just outside Shibuya Station. This place is also a popular shopping district with large department stores and flagship stores of several well-known brands, and it is also a popular nightspot with numerous bars and restaurants. You shouldn't dare miss out on this place!

First order of business: Check out the famous pedestrian crossing. This photo was taken just as the traffic lights turned red and the people were just beginning to cross.

And...go!

This pedestrian crossing gets even crazier when it gets dark! See it as recorded by my dad below:

The Starbucks branch just above the Tsutaya sign you see on the photos and video is one of the busiest Starbucks stores in the world. You can always try your luck if you can score some seats overlooking the streets so you can get a better view of the madness below! 

Some more scenes while walking around Shibuya:

I also took this one last photo before we decided to call it a day and took the train back to Ikebukuro:

It looks and feels just like Times Square in New York!

Stay tuned for the next part of our trip!

Japan Trip: Random Photos Around Tokyo Disneyland

I just got back from a trip to Japan over the Easter holidays. For those of you who have never been there, Japan is definitely one place you should go to at least once in your life. Tokyo alone (where we went to) has a lot to offer! My next several posts will be about this trip, which I'm so excited to share about, so please bear with me.

One of our stops for this trip was Tokyo Disneyland, one of two theme parks at the Tokyo Disney Resort (the other being Tokyo DisneySea) at the Chiba Prefecture just outside Tokyo. 

Tokyo Disneyland is easily accessible by train from pretty much anywhere in Tokyo. Tokyo (heck, even Japan in general) boasts of having one of the world's most reliable and efficient train systems, and I can certainly attest to that! We made it from our hotel in Ikebukuro in the northwestern part of Tokyo to the resort in a little over an hour, but only because we got confused at some point.

Tickets to enter the theme park are at Y6400 (roughly around P2800) for a one-day pass for adults aged 18 and above, and Y5,500 (around P2400) for those between 12-17 years old.

My mom was extremely happy to see the famous cherry blossoms up close for the first time! She was almost running just so she could pose for a quick picture under the tree. The landscaping at Tokyo Disneyland is amazing! There was never a shortage of flowers that allowed the guests to take really great Facebook and Instagram-worthy photos...

On the day we were there, temperatures were in the single digits to lower teens--it was really chilly! It was drizzling at times, too. Luckily, we did come prepared and we brought umbrellas. We certainly don't want a repeat of what happened to us at Central Park in New York last year when we were caught in the middle of an intense thunderstorm and we got completely drenched!

A marching band plays lively music to start the day right.

This one is a replica of a Native American community seen from the Western River Railroad ride, which takes you around certain areas of the park. I suggest you take this ride early on just so you could familiarize yourself with the park.

Of course, a trip to any Disneyland theme park is never complete without seeing a parade. Since it was close to Easter, they had an Easter Bunny-themed parade, featuring several Disney characters and performers dressed in bunny-inspired costumes:

The Mark Twain Riverboat is also a great way for you to get a general overview of the resort:

You can drive around these cars along a racetrack with a center guardrail, to keep the cars along a specific path to avoid collisions. We saw some really amazing Cherry Blossom trees along the racetrack--too bad I was too busy driving *coughs* setting a good example here *coughs* so I did not take a photo...or did I? *nudge nudge wink wink*

These creepy robot-dolls at the It's a Small World ride have been the subject of many kids' (and adults') nightmares across generations. Do NOT look them in the eye--they might just wink back at you. They are just so creepy! *shudders*

Just like in other Disneyland theme parks, there are numerous restaurants found throughout the different sections of the resort. After going around different restaurants we decided to settle for a rice meal at the Plaza Restaurant at Tomorrowland:

I decided on this Chicken and Scrambled Eggs over Rice dish, with a side of veggies and potato salad, served on a Mickey Mouse-shaped plate. The boiled egg that came with the dish that my dad ordered (I don;t recall exactly what it was) had a Mickey Mouse-shaped yolk! Disney can get a little too overboard with this branding thing, don't you think?

Later on in the day, we bought some Smoked Turkey Legs at one of the food carts:

 At 550 yen, (around P240), it is much cheaper than the ones they sell at the Universal Studios theme park in Singapore, which I visited back in 2012. The turkey legs there cost SG$13, which is more than P400.

The obligatory photo with the giant castle. I love the gothic-inspired architecture!

Tokyo Disneyland

Tokyo Disney Resorts, Chiba Prefecture, Japan

Website: www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/en/