[JAPAN] Dining with ‘Psychos’

If you’re young and hip, you can’t Not know of Shibuya! Been looking forward to checking out this popular landmark, the big neon lights, giant lcd screens, big crossing etc.etc. However, the day has been slightly delayed for me since my sister came up with travel sickness ;( so I was stuck in the ryokan with her until midday. Thought I’d miss out on the whole day, but luckily not. All I missed is another trip to Ichiran ramen, which is like ‘everything to me’, literally. (You don’t know how badly I crave ramen right now).

Either way, got to Shibuya in time to meet with the girls and had a late lunch – Katsu don with egg ( i think), i love set menus in Japan haha, quite good value.

After shopping around for several hours, we set off to find Alcatraz bar, where we had made reservations for dinner at. It’s a themed cafe, with a Psychiatric hospital theme to be specific. Themed cafes in Japan are biigg, and this is the original themed cafe. Had heard some good reviews so we gave it a shot.

It was hard to find, we thought it’d be down some small alleyway, (guessing from other people’s photos/videos), instead it was actually on lvl 2 of a buiilding.

The decor was interesting, freakish and all. I was creeped out just waiting in the waiting room actually, cos this creepy japanese voice started singing Happy Birthday songs ;(

All cocktails for Y500! Yes can you tell they have quite interesting drinks? We ordered them all :P Even if some of them look a little extreme… like the one below…

Yes that is what you think it is, (don’t worry nothing dirty happens beyond this point). We thought it was just a dildo (hopefully clean!!) for decor with the drink. Instead it turned out to have multiple uses, it was a vibrator, dildo, and surprisingly works well as a drink blender…. haha.

Overall review of the place: The place is certainly interesting, but wasn’t as fun as I’d expect it to be. MAYBE it was because we were quite early… got there around 6pm and the entertainment hasn’t started. But foodwise, it was just average.. we ordered a dish called something Hormones, and it turned out to be pieces of fat stir fried with cabbage. That’s enough of a freak out for girls.

But anyway, you’d only go there for the atmosphere/environment really cos other than that, nothing special. We were able to do a la carte instead of doing their Y3600 all you can eat/drink buffet special. So we ended up just paying around Y1700 each.

This was our final look at the big Shibuya crossing! with the big screens in the bg, and the crowd! (It was a saturday night btw, so it was rather hectic)

[JAPAN] City of the Future – Tokyo

Tokyo, was the part of the trip which my friend and I planned. So, it was our turn to be tour guides! Our first ride on the bullet train, which wasn’t so ‘fast’ as we had expected. I later found out that bullet trains, included in the JR pass (Hikari), are the slowest bullet trains. :( sad, no wonder… but we did see the faster ones zoom by… just a pity that we weren’t in them!

‘Please do it at home’.

The bentos we got to last the 2ish hour trip Osaka -> Kyoto, they looked too good to eat!

We stayed near Ueno in Tokyo, which was where one of the best ramen was found- Ichiran! I knew people who love it to bits, and I was certainly looking forward to it. We entered the cosy little shop to find vending machines – ah yes its a big thing in Japan – vending machines. I was expecting a few choices of Ramen,  but they only had one for Y750 and you can add on extras such as egg etc.

So we sat down, and found a multiple choice like question sheet on the table with a free packet of Ramen (woohoo).

We were able to customize the ramen to our taste – which is awesome! Hardness of the noodle, to the heavyness of the soup base.

I got it with Red pepper, and egg as a dish. It was truly D-I-V-I-N-E. I could probably do with another bowl, if I didn’t choose to leave my tummy for later street snacks. And I’m sad that, this whole trip I only got to go there once ;( Which leaves me craving for it so much now…

After our pig-out session on Ramen, we took the subway to Asakusa, which is more of a touristy town – main street lined with shops that date back 100 or so years?

It is also the place where you find this iconic big red lantern at the gates of Sensoji Temple. We spent a good few hours there enjoying sampling street food and souvenir shopping.

Later that night, we set off to Roppongi – Roppongi Hills tower, its observation deck to get a good look of Tokyo city. It’s s beautiful. Just love how the Tokyo Tower (Eiffel tower rip off) stands out amongst all the city lights.

It was difficult to find a decent place to eat that wouldn’t blow our budget (since Roppongi hills itself is like one of those high class suburbs). So we went back to Minowa (where we stayed), and settled for Mc D’s since it was getting late. First bite of Teriyaki Chicken burger, and to be honest – I don’t like it, haha. Teriyaki and burgers just don’t work for my taste buds.

After a long day, finally got to go back to the ryokan (japanese inn). We stayed at Andon Ryokan, modern japanese inn can you tell? It had interesting interior. This was just the corridor, didn’t take a photo of the room itself (which was really cosy and just enough for 3 people sleeping on 3 mats).

Oyasumi!

[JAPAN] Princess’ Castle – Himeji.

After checking into our next hotel in town, Hotel Kinki (which I absolutely recommend, for its price and facilities), we made our way for Himeji castle, one of the more popular ‘historical’ tourist attractions in Osaka.

But before we started on the trek, a good meal is a must! There were alot of little shops leading up to Himeji Castle, and this was the more popular one. (Can’t remember what its called but it was linked with a Souvenir food shop). Ordered some handmade soba noodles, and it was d-i-v-i-n-e. Was a little more pricey than what you would find in Osaka (Around Y900), but I guess its understandable since its located at a hot tourist spot.

Just across the road was, Himeji Castle, standing tall above the castle walls.

It’s winter in Japan, and its different/weird how trees are green, but the grass becomes a dry, dull, yellow colour.

I absolutely love how it is built on top of those stones-rocks (whatever its called), adds character to its architecture.

It was quite a walk up there, followed by the 5 levels of steep stairs just to get to the top of the castle.

Lower levels of the castle was used to store weaponry. I love the colour/texture of the wooden walls.

At the highest level of the castle, was a shrine,and of course a good view of the city.

about 2hours later, we made our way next door, to the gardens (which I forgot the name of :( ). It was quite nice, and I imagine it would be nicer if the cherry blossoms or maple trees were in bloom. Nevertheless, we still managed to get a few sightings of cherry blossoms.

I loveeee how light plays on the leaves of these trees. You have to look from a lower angle to see this.

Plum blossoms in bloom.

On our stroll back to the station, we got distracted by the sight of yummy mochi desserts! we couldn’t resist not having any – we are in Japan afterall!. Mochi and red bean in green tea soup, ice cream and tea. Y600 for the set.

There were many nice little handmade souvenir shops that we came across.

Recognize this big fella?, Yep, its the giant crab in Dotomburri, a popular meeting point for food in Osaka.

We had some grilled spider grab claws (sold just under the giant grab), Y500 for 2.

Then we went for some takoyaki, okinomyaki and yaki soba :)

Posing with the icon of Osaka, till this day, I’m not even sure why this guy is so popular, anyone care to tell?

That was our last night in Osaka before Tokyo, we absolutely loved Dotomburri, and can’t wait to go again before we depart.