After watching so many episodes of Japanese cartoons, Japan Hour, Japanology and attending my recent Japanese anthropology elective, I am excited to announce that I finally got to visit Japan!!!
It was a sibling trip and since we have never been to Japan, nor understand Japanese, we figured that visiting the capital will be the safest bet. Japan boosts one of the safest country on Earth and has quite a convenient and reliable transportation network, making it a good choice for inexperienced travellers.
Tokyo is 7 hours and 5 minutes away from Singapore. My bro and I had ever consider taking budget airlines, but that will be much more time consuming since there will be layover(s). Prolonged suffering in a sardine can? No, thanks! We chose to travel with ANA in the end, and taking the midnight flight so that we can reach Tokyo bright and early in the morning!
I had set A while the bro had set B. Both were flavourful and it was a tough choice to make. Do try the Aromatic Kabosu drink, which is a refreshing sweetened citrus juice. I will also recommend the KAYANOYA Vegetable Broth, which is a peppery vegetable soup without any oil. Those who usually opt for tomato juice for the saltiness can try this vegetable stock instead! Click here to find out more from the ANA website.
p.s Being a overnight flight and in the economy class, the stewardesses are all very attentive and patrolled the aisle non-stop throughout the whole flight, even in the midnight darkness. I am super impressed by them!!
p.p.s Please do stay awake to collect the night bag, since the stewardesses will observe the passengers and only hand the bags to those with their eyes still open.
Day 1:
Asakusa & Shibuya
We chose to stay in an airbnb apartment this time, but due to it being occupied the previous day, we had to adhere to the usual check-in time of 3pm. We had wanted to deposit our luggage in a luggage locker, but those were super duper limited, so we resorted to dragging our luggage along the streets. With a big luggage in tow, we visited Asakusa, which is one of the last stops of the airport metro and is within the heart of Tokyo.
Nakamise Dori (big lantern temple) and the shopping streets nearby.
Kappabashi-dori (plastic food paradise/ street).
Slightly disappointed because the shops sold mostly cutlery and kitchen equipment instead of toys/ models.
Historical buildings along the streets.
It was while walking between Asakusa and Kappabashi that we found the Sometaro Okonomiyaki restaurant! The restaurant looks shabby on the outside, but it totally screams authentic. We actually enjoyed dining here as it was a traditional Japanese dining place (taking off shoes, sitting on a tatami by the low table) and we could cook our own food! ヾ(≧∇≦*)ゝ
Sometaro Okonomiyaki (click photo above for the tabelog review which is in Japanese)
Fun & Oishi!
We ordered an seafood + minced meat okonomiyaki, and a beef yakisoba.
After that we moved off to our apartment to check in, throw everything down, freshen up, and headed down to Shibuya.
Hachiko - the loyal dog statue @Shibuya
Trying to capture the famous Shibuya Crossing, but we realised that the best shots were made from Starbucks (straight ahead, second floor). If you looked closely you could see the whole row of window seats taken, and then there are 2 standing rows behind the seats. Either be early or just take a photo from the streets with a selfie stick.
We then got peckish and headed to Hanbey Izakaya (Shibuya branch) for the local pub experience.
Raw cabbage comes free for the cos of the table charge.
This magic dipping sauce is cold and thick sauce tasted sweet and salty.
Goes well with the cabbage and the skewers of yakitori.
Assortment of yakitori and other skewers + oden!
Retro Japanese themed pub.
It was not the cheapest meal, but we really enjoyed the yummy meat skewers! We were to collect a sweet each in a lucky-draw box after the meal, so that added onto the fun factor. Rumour has it that girls get free ice-cream, but I did not know enough Japanese to ask for it lol. Anyways, my basic research revealed that this is one of the cheapest skewer place in Tokyo, so do drop by one of the branches to experience Japanese Izakaya culture.
Anyways, the Japanese wait staff will always assume that you know Japanese and it is critical to ask for an English menu. Also, most Japanese restaurant charge a "table-charge" as a basic entrance fee, but they will usually offer a small appetiser in return. Of course, do order a drink since almost all restaurants on Earth rely on drinks to earn.
Shibuya at night
& we ended the night with konbini (convenience store) pick-your-own oden and ice-cream pop ＼（＾▽＾）／
Actually we ended the night by experiencing an earthquake at around 9pm, which has its epicentre in Ibaraki and is of magnitude 5.6on Richter scale. We had waited some time by the window to see if anyone ran down before running onto the quiet streets. We stood on the main street for several minutes before feeling silly because we were the only ones on the street. True Japanese experience totally! (๏д๏)