Tokyo 2009 Day 4

The hotel has a non-cleaning discount policy. 1,000 YEN voucher if you opt for the non-cleaning service, which basically means the bedsheets and towels will not be changed that day. Trash will still be cleared. You can't opt it for two consecutive days though.

The vouchers are spent on breakfast at the hotel's cafe and the mini-mart. I can't believe it, the bread is super tasty!



Well, back to mission proper. To further the beefy theme for this trip, we made another trip back to Kichijoji. I just had to taste Matsuzaka steak.

This time we were early. We loitered around and went up to the teppanyaki joint above Sato Steak house.





I thought the Kobe beef we had the first day at Mon Cher Ton Ton was slightly more tender. Even then, each savoury beef cube here still melts in your mouth!

CP ordered the lightweight version:



Afternoon was spent at Odaiba. Basically a man-made island with an amusement parks and shopping malls. We only visited the malls.



Shibuya


I know I had to visit Gonpachi for dinner. It's the yakitori restaurant that was recreated in the movie Kill Bill.





Soba. The pot in the 2nd pic contains a bland nutritious soup that you pour into the dipping sauce after finishing the soba. You would then drink it up.



Be sure to go early because it was packed at 7 p.m. With yakitori, your wait becomes longer when there are more people. I waited almost 30+ min for my final order of a tebasaki (chicken wing)!

Tokyo 2009 Day 3

Day 3, we headed towards the Tokyo Imperial Palace East Gardens. This is opened daily to the public, except for Mondays. The closest station is Otemachi on the Mita Subway line.







The weather is still fantastic.



At one end of the gardens is a sakura tree in full bloom. The flowers looks like little cotton balls! A beautiful sight!



Next, we headed over to Chidorigafuchi Koen, which is just across the road. You just can't get tired of the cherry blossoms and I think the locals have the same feelings!



Third stop of the day is Kichijoji, which is west of Shinjuku, accessible by the JR Chuo Line. Our destination is the Sato Steak house, which offer Matsuzaka beef, considered a grade above Kobe beef!

When we reached, after some wrong turns, there was already a long queue!



Not wanting to lose out, we joined in but not knowing what we are queuing for. Finally, we know ...

Croquette-like minced beef balls. 140 YEN each if you buy 5, else it's 180 YEN.



A little time left before our appointment with a friend, so off we go to Akihabara.

From the Maid Cafe:


Girl group promoting their music CDs:


Dinner is at a Korean BBQ restaurant in Shin-Marunouchi Building Tokyo.

Tokyo 2009 Day 2

First stop is the Tsukiji Fish Market next to the Tsukijishijo Subway station (Oedo Line). Most of the sushi joints have long queues. As each outlet has very limited seating, I can expect people to queue for 2 hours for their turns.



As for us, we chose the shortest queue but even then, it took us 45 min. I chose Set A and CP took Set C (Ladies' set). I ate most of her raw sushi.



Spotted this at one of the stalls. So this is how wasabi looks like.



Leaving the fish market, we headed down towards Tsukiji Subway station on the Hibiya line. This is a few streets away. Along the way, we walked past a long row of stalls selling many different kinds of noodles! Certainly looks more interesting than Tsukiji Fish Market.

Next stop is Ueno Park.



It's packed full of people camped under the cherry blossoms. People were just having their bentos, beer, sushi and lazing about! You can definitely feel the spring atmosphere!





By the time we left for Yokohama, it's already about 2 p.m. There's a flower festival at the Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse, accessible by local bus service.



Nice flowers all around.



After that, it's a long bus ride back to the start point - Sakuragicho Station. Take the train to Shin-Yokohama station and walk about 10 min north to the Ramen Museum.

Inside are 8 of Japan's best ramen shops set in a old-styled setting.



We ordered two big bowls of ramen, after which, we realised that we can order the medium bowls. In total, we feast about 6 different kinds of ramen between the two of us. The char siew was so frangrant, although some of the ramen was quite oily.