From Seattle To Tokyo | Ghibli Museum & Harajuku

Because we loved Ichiran so much the day before we decided to go back again bright and early before starting our 3rd day in Tokyo. It was a Sunday morning at 4am and you really can’t go wrong with Ichiran any time of day. We. were. and. still. are. obsessed.

When we arrived at the crack of dawn there was already a long line forming starting from inside the seating area all the way out to the front of the sliding door entrance. We got a spot standing just outside the front door and just a few minutes later it started to wrap all the way up the stairs on the streets of Shibuya.

Ichiran employee inside the area where they take orders and serve customers warm bowls of ramen

Patrons of the ramen establishment that morning were all younger people who were of drinking age. I’m pretty sure they all went out Saturday night and some were getting ramen that morning to cure some hangovers. The people behind us in line were still drunk haha. I wish there was an Ichiran in Seattle to cure hangovers or the late night munchies! One can dream….

Hubby enjoying is “extra rich” bowl of ramen

After a bomb.com ramen breakfast {again} at Ichiran (which you know I will be raving about again & again & again….) we made our way to Shibuya station to catch the train to Mitaka. I had purchased tickets for the Ghibli museum as soon as they were available in Seattle from JTB USA and we had reserved a day & time for our visit.

Ghibli museum sign

Prior to our Japan trip the #1 thing I had on my list to do was to visit the Ghibli Museum. I was so excited and probably driving Anthony crazy because every time I thought about it  or even mentioned it I would squirm from excitement. I grew up watching Hayao Miyazaki films so to see this museum dedicated to his works was unreal.

From Shibuya station we took a train to Shinjuku where we transferred to the Chuo line and got off at Mitaka station. From Mitaka we walked about 15 min through residential areas to the museum. It was a quiet & pleasant walk from the station and as we continued walking, we spotted decorated signs with famous Hayao Miyazaki characters (i.e. totoro). The excitement was continuing to build up….

Gate sign outside of the Ghibli museum

When we crossed the street and turned the corner I knew we had arrived because upon entering we were greeted by a little Totoro themed GATE. I took a billion pictures in front of the gate and because our reservation was for 10am and we had arrived half an hour early, we decided to go and meet Totoro!! He was sitting to the West of the building building behind a glass window. We got there before everyone else caught onto our idea so I had him all to myself for a gazillion more pictures before people started to line up and take turns for pics.

TOTORO looking all cute

It had started to rain on our trek to the museum and although I am a Seattleite I would typically complain about the droplets. On this day I didn’t even care and took photos posing with my umbrella, with no umbrella, with umbrella and hand on the side of the hip, and yeah..I took a ton of photos haha.

Exterior of the Ghibli museum

Once you line up to get inside the actual museum, attendants as well as many signs tell you NO photography or video. Because it was obviously not reiterated to me enough, I started taking photos with my iPhone inside the Ghibli museum…..Oops hehe. They sweet attendant manning the entrance kindly told me no photos and I put away my iPhone & go pro inside Anthony’s bag.

Ichiran employee inside the area where they take orders and serve customers warm bowls of ramen

Ichiran employee inside the area where they take orders and serve customers warm bowls of ramen

Ichiran employee inside the area where they take orders and serve customers warm bowls of ramen

The actual museum is extremely small but the quality of the exhibits is excellent. I don’t want to give away too many details and surprises but when you walk in the place is designed like a house with different corridors and rooms. You get to see all of Hayao Miyazaki’s works on the top floor with references to every movie he’s ever done. Upstairs you get to walk through what would be his work desk with artwork, books where he did research on different types of trees/plants/flowers illustrated in his movies and all the inspiration behind his works.

Next to his office and I think inside there is an old movie projector using film and when you look inside you get to see a couple of his famous works! I won’t spoil it and say which one though. 🙂

Following signs to go outside, there is a giant Laputa robot from Castle in the Sky. Here guests are allowed to take photos freely so you know I did! If you take a photo with the robot, don’t forget to turn around right under his feet and look on the ground because hidden is a tiny crab made of metal.

After exploring the museum for about an hour and a half we made our way to the Ghibli Museum Cafe where I wanted a nice cup of something hot & a dessert which I believe are all themed! When we got there, the line had already wrapped around the outside foyer and the cafe hadn’t even opened yet! Such a bummer. We didn’t want to wait in line for hours so we decided to walk back to Mitaka station.

The plan was to visit the museum for a FEW hours, have a snack or lunch at the cafe and then find another area to explore. Since we only spent a couple hours at the museum, we decided we’d make our way to Harajuku to have lunch and do some shopping.

Feeling hungry since we hadn’t had anything to eat since 4am we decided to try a pasta restaurant called Italian Tomato Cafe Jr. that was poppin with tons of local diners. Luckily for us when we got inside a couple was getting ready to leave which freed up a nice corner table for us to have lunch! We ordered at the counter and then sat down.

Ichiran employee inside the area where they take orders and serve customers warm bowls of ramen

I got the bolognese with Japanese black beef & pork & Anthony got spaghetti with german steppan cheese in a tomato cream sauce. For our beverage we shared an iced matcha green tea latte. Everything was SO good and we couldn’t believe how cheap our pasta was! Each of our pastas were about 650yen which comes out to ~5.50USD. Unbelievable! Similar dishes in Seattle would easily cost minimum $15.

Feeling energized we left and continued to walk down “Harajuku Champs-Elysées” eyeing all the designer shops along this street. It actually did remind me a lot of the actual Champs-Elysées in Paris without the Arc de Triomphe at the end of the street. Because we have designer stores at home I didn’t care too much about stopping by or window shopping at any of the fashion houses. I was more interested in local boutiques and independent stores. Walking around and around looking for what was Takeshita dori (but we didn’t do our research and know that was the name of the famous street in Harajuku) we got lost for at least an hour and a half. Maybe even longer….

Couple rings we bought in Harajuku

Feeling tired (food coma maybe?) and not wanting to look anymore we gave up and walked back towards where we came from while “taking shortcuts”. We somehow ended up along Takeshita dori so it actually worked out! Already exhausted from all the walking and by now there were crazy hordes of people shopping & snacking along Takeshita we lost patience. We agreed that maybe we will just return another day during our time in Tokyo when it’s less crowded.

Ichiran employee inside the area where they take orders and serve customers warm bowls of ramen

It was around 3:30ish when we left Harajuku and by the time we were back in Shibuya it was already a little past 4pm. Still tired and probably jet-lagged we decided to go back to the airbnb to rest our feet and take a nap. SIDE NOTE: taking a nap is never a good idea when overseas! haha It leads to what happens next….

Our “nap” turned into a real good rest because we got up about 6 or 7 hours later…. We woke up hungry and decided to just relax the rest of the hours left in the day rather than go out. We walked to the nearest convenience storeS which was a Family Mart and a 7-11 to try out the food they had available. Being the fatties that we are, we took the food back to our room to chow down and then went back to bed. 😛 Twas a fun, fun day!

From Seattle to Tokyo | Asakusa Edition

Due to jet lag, we were ready to explore Tokyo at 3am on the 2nd day we were in Japan. The night before I was looking up places open late and found a ramen shop called Ichiran that opened 24 hours. It had excellent reviews so we decided to give it a try. Luckily for us, Ichiran was only about a 7 minute walk from our airbnb so we decided to get ready for the day and have a super early breakfast of noodles!

Ramen was one of the top things on my MUST EAT list so this was the perfect opportunity to grub on noodles since the Ichiran in Shibuya technically never closes. I’ve been to a few ramen shops in Seattle (Samurai Noodle, Hokkaido Ramen Santouka in Bellevue, and Fu Lin to name just a few) but I was never a fan of any of them. I didn’t get the ramen hype so I figured we had to try it in the motherland to see why everyone was so obsessed.

We left our airbnb around 4am, headed toward the Shibuya Crossing, passed a Mcdonald’s by a couple of stores and then headed downstairs through the glass doors to the Ichiran entrance. Upon entry, we were greeted by two mechanical ordering machines. We put in our yen and then proceeded to check out the food menu. This was our 1st time ordering anything from a machine (not including a vending machine). So COOL!

We both opted for the bowl of ramen with pork and a half boiled salted egg and Anthony ordered an extra side of pork. After we received our order receipts from the machine, we were greeted by an Ichiran host and were assigned two seats to the left side of the restaurant.

artsy fartsy picture of a diner on the other side of the restaurant

Upon arrival to the seating area we looked around and realized that the seating arrangement was much different than what we’re typically use to. In-between each guest, there was a little divider making eating alone much more private. When you sit down, to the left of you is the water spout and cups and to the front of you is a little bamboo curtain that folds up and down. The server lifts the bamboo curtain to get your order receipts and to deliver your food. On the table there is a button to call for service as well.

Once we sat down, the same host lifted up the bamboo curtain and handed each of us a form to fill out. It was for us to customize our bowl of ramen. How neat! I circled the light oil broth, extra firm noodles, 1 garlic clove, light green onions and the normal portion of their house special red sauce. Anthony had a similar order except he chose the extra rich oil broth (of course 😉 ).

Our ramen arrived just a couple of minutes later and we were so ready to dig in. The noodles came piping hot with a generous amount of 2 slices of fatty pork, green onions & a dollop of red sauce. The ramen noodles and soup broth at Ichiran were SO. GOOD. SO GOOD. SO GOOOOOD!!! The soup was the perfect saltiness- so rich and creamy. The fat & flavor from the pork bones used to make it were prevalent. It was so flavorful, I couldn’t stop sipping on the broth. The homemade noodles made in house were extra chewy, which is how I like my noodles. The red sauce was just the right amount of spicy and the garlic wasn’t overpowering. Damn, I want a bowl of Ichiran ramen right NOW!

BELIEVE THE HYPE. The ramen at Ichiran was ah-mazing.

After our delicious ramen breakfast, we just sat there looking at each of our almost empty bowls (I didn’t drink all of the broth to save myself from many bathroom trips) and couldn’t believe what we just ate and HOW GOOD IT WAS. You bet we came back to Ichiran many times in the two weeks we were in Japan. I LOVE japanese ramen now. I don’t get why people love the ramen in Seattle though…Anyway…heh.

We literally left the noodle restaurant smiling and made our way to Shibuya station. We took the train to Asakusa station via the Ginza line to the famous buddhist shrine there where we would spend most of our morning.

After going through the Kaminarimon gate (1st big gate you see coming from the station), which by the way is the symbol of Tokyo, we walked along Nakamise. Nakamise is a street filled with many shops selling cute Japanese souvenirs, kimonos, rice crackers, sweet mochi desserts and miscellaneous goods like wooden kitchenware. Nakamise street led us straight through to the Hozomon gate (2nd gate) where we finally reached the main hall of the shrine.

No adventure is complete for us unless we stop for snack breaks. We tried some sweet red bean filled pastries, mochi, rice crackers made on the spot and green tea ice cream! Everything was really delicious but the green tea ice cream was on point even though it was a little chilly outside with a light drizzle. It was worth it to freeze eating the ice cream at Funawa.

Shops along Nakamise in Asakusa

Kaminarimon gate

BEST green tea soft serve ever from Funawa along Nakamise

Vendor selling sweet pastries filled with different fillings like azuki bean

We finally made it to the shrine and upon entering, we stopped by a little goblet filled with lit incense. I didn’t realize that people were trying to waft in the smell. I was taking my hand and waving it side ways to get rid of the incense smell as others were waving their hand front to back to inhale the incense. Oops…. Super tourist mistake made by me hehe.

Wafters

Asakusa Pagoda

We donated some money and decided to get some fortunes. Similar to buddhist temples we shook a little jar with #’d wooden sticks until 1 came out of the jar. Then we picked up the fortune associated with the number on the stick we got. After reading our fortunes we decided to walk around and see what else was around Asakusa. We passed by small residential areas and many local eateries packed with diners on their lunch break.

Small goods store with a special Ninja visitor on the rooftop. Haiiiyah!

It was a nice & quiet stroll around Asakusa with the majority of people and tourists at the shrine. Feeling hungry again we decided to stop by for another snack. This time we had hot green tea, orange soda (random huh?), stomach lining (tripe) stewed in a spicy soy braised sauce and traditional beef stew with tendon. Both were delicious and hearty and really the perfect small snack for two people who weren’t hungry but wanted to eat! As you can see from the picture below, this restaurant was poppin inside with many diners. Go where the locals go!

Orange soda and green tea

beef stew & stomach lining stewed in a spicy sauce

We kept walking and saw a little shop selling homemade takoyaki. Knowing we couldn’t just pass up and keep walking we stopped by for some octopus balls. We got an order of 6 balls served in a cute little boat that looked like wood. The octopus pieces inside were big & generous and the dough slightly soft, almost gooey. It definitely wasn’t the best takoyaki I’ve had since I prefer a little bit more of a bite to the dough but it was still tasty nonetheless.

Hubby with our takoyaki boat

Octopus ballz

Deciding we could snack no more and needed to really burn off all the calories we ate, we kept walking. Ok, I’ll just admit it. We did stop by for one last snack of croquettes. We each had a potato croquette….When on vacation….

so much fried goodness!

After our FINAL snack in Asakusa, we stopped by a small arcade for Anthony to play a few games before heading back toward the station.

Anthony in a state of intense concentration

Instead of taking the train back to Shibuya Anthony wanted to keep walking to see where we would end up. We have this thing where we love to just get lost for no reason. We think it’s the best way to discover hidden gems and see a city. We walked past the station, crossed the bridge and ended up in Sumida City. Still energized from all of the fats & carbs we continued walking.

Crossing the bridge to Sumida City

Famous Sumida City painting

In the distance through the fog and semi-darkness since the sun was starting to set, we saw a large skyscraper and decided to follow it. 15-20 minutes later we finally arrived and found ourselves standing under the Tokyo Skytree skyscraper! It was a beautiful sight and unexpected since I hadn’t planned on even visiting the Skytree at all. We decided since we made it all the way there that we had to pay the admission to go up to the top. Fun fact: The Tokyo Skytree tower is the tallest building in Japan!

Us being silly outside & under the Tokyo Skytree

Tokyo Skytree

Beautiful river outside the tower

Taking the escalator up to the entrance of the Tokyo Skytree

We rode the elevator all the way to the top and walked around enjoying the night view of Tokyo. It was a pretty sight with all of the lights and the fog but in all honesty, it was like visiting any other skyscraper at night. We took our time taking pictures and admiring all the twinkling lights of the city.

View of Tokyo @ night on the top deck of the Tokyo Skytree

Night shot of the Skytree

One thing we didn’t know about Japan was how big, no huge Halloween was. We didn’t even know they celebrated that holiday at all but I guess it’s a huge deal over there. The top floor of the skyscraper was decorated with halloween themed items like witches and pumpkins. On that evening, there was a special show that everyone was crowding around. Not knowing what to expect we waited around with everyone else and when the clock stuck 7pm all the lights turned out, techno music started playing and glow in the dark witches came out dancing. It was interesting to say the least but fun and festive. The crowd got really into it haha ;).

 

Pumpkins were used as decor all over the viewing deck

Glow in the dark witches dancing to techno…

We took the escalator down to the middle floor and decided to rest our feet and enjoy the night view from some leather benches. We made our way to a walkway made of all glass for us to glance down and see how far up we were.

Me sporting my  sneakers I bought in Barcelona [left] & husband wearing sneakers he bought in Roma [right]

Tired after being up since 3am and out and about until then, we decided it was time to go back to Shibuya. Too exhausted from all the walking, a little jet lagged & not wanting to walk anymore we made our way to the Skytree station to train back to our airbnb. We made a bathroom pitstop inside the mall connected to the Skytree and there it was…!

bidet! so clean for a public bathroom

Our first experience with a bidet! It was love at first sight. I didn’t use the bidet but I sat on the seat and it was so warm and made my bum feel so good since it was cold. I didn’t want to leave that bathroom stall that evening….We actually loved the bidets so much we ended up ordering and installing one for our house. 😉 Heated toilet seat 4 life! Holla!

On our way out of the loo we followed signs to the Skytree station and to my surprise we found ourselves inside the official Rilakkuma store! Let me say it again. THE OFFICIAL RILAKKUMA STORE! If you know me, I am a huge Rilakkuma fan. This was a huge deal.

I had refrained from buying anything (except for a pillow & folder…) Rilakkuma in Seattle because it is $$$ and I knew we were going to the land where Rila was created. I did some damage inside the store buying some cute stationary & accessories before finally getting on the train to go back to Shibuya.

Feeling hungry  and wanting to escape the pouring rain we decided to stop by a gyudon restaurant and each had a bowl of rice with beef slices. Anthony got the original gyudon bowl and I had curry gyudon. Barely able to stay awake we passed up on claw machines and headed back to the airbnb. That’s how tired we were!

By this time it was around 930pm and we were ready to hit the hay. It was a long day but so much fun. It truly felt like a spontaneous adventure since we had stopped by the shrine as planned and ended up at the Skytree which we never planned on visiting at all. Oh where our feet will take us :).

From Seattle to Tokyo | Arrival

Shibuya

Anthony & I spent 2 weeks in Japan during the month of October 2015. Usually near the end of our intl trips we always come at peace with the realization that it’s almost over. Everything is okay and we don’t mind going back home to the daily grind. This time around we had the hardest time coming to terms with the fact that we were leaving Japan! We had an I.N.C.R.E.D.I.B.L.E. time and are already thinking about going back soon. Perhaps this year? 😉

For the last few trips that I blogged I organized each entry according by day. Because we spent a full two weeks in Japan, we took our time exploring all the districts of Tokyo and going back and forth between them. We also made our way to Yokohama, Osaka & Kyoto. On some days we did touristy things and on others we took a laid back approach by just eating, stopping by Sega, shopping and/or wandering around. I most likely won’t have 14 blog entries since some days were more exciting than others but I’ll include all the highlights from our trip! Plus it will be a good way for me to think about what I want to do again the next time I’m there.

One of many arcades we went to. There will be plenty more mentions on arcades in the next few blog entries I write on my Japan trip!

If you know me, I love detailed itineraries. No. OBSESSED with detailed itineraries. When we went to Italy in 2012, I made this crazy itinerary for each day we were there with activities, potential restaurants to be eaten at (with names) and tourist sites to be visited all with dedicated time slots. Of course I knew we weren’t going to follow it exactly but I love having an itinerary to refer to “just in case.” I think that’s where my 20% type A personality kicks in. Plus, it’s an excellent way to research a city and get me excited for an upcoming trip.

With that said, every trip no matter big or small there is an itinerary. Even when we go to Vancouver, BC for the day (which is only a 2-2.5hr drive from Seattle), there is an itinerary. For Japan, I was so busy with work and house projects that I barely did any research. It was a big shocker, yes to you and to me. My aunt even joked that I probably already had my itinerary LAMINATED weeks before departure. Smh.

After our Japan trip, I’d say my “travel style” has changed and for the better. I now prefer a good mix of laid back with some busy days where it’s go-go-go. Sleep is important too. I don’t mind sleeping in before setting out for an hours long adventure. Working full time and then going home to work and juggling a small home remodel got really stressful so our trip couldn’t have come at a better time.

The flight from Seattle to Narita Int’l airport via ANA airlines was only 10 hours 22 min nonstop. It was our first time flying ANA air and I have to say it was a pleasant experience! The customer service is top notch and the cabin meals served were pretty tasty. I liked that we were given an option of a Japanese or Western meal choice. For snacks they handed out rice crackers instead of the typical pretzels or peanuts which was a nice “Japanese” touch and so tasty!

Aromatic Kabosu drink & rice crackers

White fish teriyaki with cold soba noodles

We arrived at Narita around 3pm. After going through customs & immigration then picking up our luggage, we were out the door and in line to buy our NEX train tickets. Conveniently the NEX offered nonstop service to Shibuya where we were headed to check into our airbnb. With so many signs in english and attendants all around, we were able to figure out where to buy tickets and where to catch the train easily. It reminded me so much of Paris since that’s where we used a train system for the first time ever. So efficient.

Chivalry at its finest ;). Hubby carrying over 100 pounds of luggage up & down the many stairs.

Already feeling the jet lag, I was slowly falling asleep on the train ride to Shibuya. Anthony had already passed out next to me and after falling in and out of sleep, I finally rested my eyes. About an hour later we finally made it into Shibuya! The power nap helped with fatigue and we were ready to explore once we got off the train. We took the West exit (South gate) out of the station, crossed the bridge and made our way to the airbnb. By the time we arrived in Shibuya it was a little past 6pm.  We are finally HERE and we couldn’t believe we were actually in Japan!! The rush & excitement of the very first time I step foot into a new city is always the most memorable for me.

View of Shibuya station from the West exit (South gate)

Just a 5 minute walk from Shibuya station we finally found our airbnb. We retrieved the key, got settled in, unpacked a bit and then set out again to find a place for dinner. Deciding on sushi we decided to walk around until we saw a place that looked appealing. We walked back toward Shibuya station to the Shibuya crossing. We couldn’t believe we were actually crossing the Shibuya crossing after seeing pictures of it all over the internet, in our guidebooks, youtube videos, and really every time you look up things on Japan.

A sea of people at the Shibuya crossing during rush hour

We had walked around for an hour amazed and in awe of all the billboards, lights, advertisements, sounds, music and all the people commuting during rush hour. It was insane but thrilling to be lost in a sea of people. I would never say I like large crowds but in that moment at that specific time there it was just something so magical and unforgettable.

We made our way through different alleys filled with shops and restaurants. Anthony spotted a fried chicken street food stand and you know we hit that up. We got in line and got a small order then made our way to the different condiments. It was a good snack before dinner since we were starving and hadn’t eaten anything since around 2pm on the plane. While we were enjoying the fried chicken, we saw a conveyer belt sushi place just across the shop and it was filled with locals. We realized it was Genki sushi and not wanting to walk around anymore since we wanted to eat we decided to have dinner there.

Fried chicken street stand

Japanese fried chicken goodness. MmmMmm

We got to experience a different kind of conveyer belt sushi that evening. We made our own green tea with hot water provided at our seat through a little spout and matcha powder. We ordered sushi using individual touch screens. When our sushi orders were ready, it was sent along a conveyer belt that shot straight down to our table vs the ones we’ve been to in Seattle that have plates going round and round on the belt. Once we retrieved our plates on the belt, we pressed a button saying we received the items and then the train shot back to the kitchen. It was pretty neat! The fish tasted fresh & delicious and we left with happy tummies. Yeah, yeah it’s Genki and it’s a chain is probably what you’re thinking. Haters gonna hate! Jk. It was a fun experience and Genki is a Japanese chain originating from there so it is a bit different than what you’d get say in Seattle.

Fried chicken stand to the left and Genki sushi to the right

Seared salmon, salmon & gooey duck sushi

Salmon with mayo & onions & a house special roll

After dinner, we continued to walk around. Still feeling a bit jet lagged and tired with droopy eyes, I was ready to go back and hit the hay early. Anthony who was somehow super energized wanted to keep walking so I just told myself let’s do it so we can burn off some calories. We made our way to Sega and played one of many no probably thousands, no more like millions of claw machines during our time in Japan. They’re so addicting and fun and the toys are way better than I’ve seen here. We won quite a few things which I’ll talk more about in my next few posts!

First experience of MANY with claw machines in Japan! So much fun, so addicting & so poor after every arcade visit. But it was worth it 😉

After arcade fun, we were finally ready to call it a night and made our way back to the airbnb. At 10ish lights went out and we were up again at 3am ready to start the day….

My next post will be about our FAVORITE ramen place, Asakusa and our outing in Sumida. 😉

 

 

 

 

Asia, I’m coming for you!

I “spontaneously” decided to go on an Asia trip this Winter 2013 for 3 weeks! Anthony’s mom kindly offered to cover for me while I’m away from the cafe and Anthony was sweet enough to give me a quick ok to go for that long. I’m so excited! 🙂

Most people dread family vacations but I’m really looking forward to this one. I haven’t vacationed with my parents overseas since 2005! Now that I’ve got a business it’s much harder to get away and figure out a schedule that works for everyone. My parents are pretty relaxed and fun to vacay with though!

I’m going to split up my time in Vietnam, either Thailand or Taiwan and S. Korea.

Hanoi

Taipei

Seoul

I’ve never actually traveled on my own before and will be spending about 2-3 days in Seoul alone. I’m looking forward to the adventure and to be independent!