Tokyo 22 Dec '14
Jan. 5th, 2015 07:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
justfeverWe left for Asakusa quite early in the morning. Another appoinment has waiting that day: a reunion with an acquintance who said she would bring a friend who also loves Arashi. Mariko is a friend we knew from our friend back in hometown. She spent a week or so in our town last year in December and we had quite few trips together, or more likely our part is the guide and Mariko is the guest. It was very exciting.
We have to change train from Yokohama at Ueno, and I somehow don't remember why we choose to stop and see Ameyoko first. The only thing I knew that we saw an interesting shop accross the station and decided to walk the place for a bit. I think it's partly my selfishness too... because I love Amachan and would regret it if I don't take a look on Ameyoko, haha. So yes, we walk to find the not-so-sacred Ameyoko gate just to find a very nice stop to eat: a doner kebab shop. It was just opened and when we told the oniisan that we'd like to grab some, he told us to wait for a bit so the kebab could be heated properly.
The shopping street at the end of the small shops section
Asakusa is a great place to find souvenirs that's so "Japanese" like fans, chopsticks, kanji t-shirts, samurai miniature, yukata, happi, pouch, and so on. Although if you're planning to go to Kyoto, I think Kyoto is slightly cheaper and there are more choices than Asakusa. At the end of the small shops you can find a shopping street and if you use you eyes you can really find rare items with low price. I myself managed to get my mum a traditional apron which usually worn by Japanese mothers (like this?), while my friend got secondhand kids and onsen yukata with friendly prices. For the apron there's a winter (thicker) and summer version. I took the summer version since my country is tropical XP. Also! If you're looking for Japanese toys like this Kiki Ippatsu, there's a good toy shop in Asakusa, just turn right of the shopping street. So while we had a good time strolling, it's already time to meet up with Mariko & co. They're waiting in front of the tourist center, across the street in front Kaminarimon gate. Since it's a good time for lunch, we're looking for a shop nearby. What did we want? Hmm... okonomiyaki, check. Sushi, check. Wait, what about Monja? Yay. Okay, nice choice.
The vague appearance... (pic by pancchi)
Despite the vague appearance, monja is definitely delicious. Moreover it was fun. I didn't try to mixed the batter and cutting it on the teppan though, my friends do that. My friend was so good that Mariko and Chi-chan praised her, haha. Okonomiyaki is great, but Monjayaki is no less. Espescially when you're in Tokyo, definitely try it. You won't find the runny food in Kansai region, just because.
After meals we took a quick walk to the shopping area once again, since Mariko and Chi-chan want to take a look. It was their off day after all, and they went a long way from Tsukuba to Asakusa just to see us. Even them said that things in Asakusa is pretty cheap, surprisingly. For Tokyo standard at least.
We need to catch a train for Ghibli Museum since it took almost one hour to reach the location from Asakusa, so we took a lot of pics in front of Kaminarimon and with the Sky Tree on the background. We have to say goodbye in the station, it was so short for a meeting... but we definitely had quality time together <3. Thank you Mariko-san! Thank you Chi-chan, hope you can see Arashi next year. Let's meet again and see them together, right? >o<
I guess I'll write my report on Ghibli and Nakano in another post. ^^b
Take a look around Ameyoko, just a note: there are many cheap goods here, you can find cheap (discount) shoes and we've managed to get nori and furikake very cheap here. However we arrived pretty early so there are many shops not opened yet.
So let's catch the train to Asakusa~
Get thru the gate and you can find many small shops... just like a festival.
The shopping street at the end of the small shops section
Asakusa is a great place to find souvenirs that's so "Japanese" like fans, chopsticks, kanji t-shirts, samurai miniature, yukata, happi, pouch, and so on. Although if you're planning to go to Kyoto, I think Kyoto is slightly cheaper and there are more choices than Asakusa. At the end of the small shops you can find a shopping street and if you use you eyes you can really find rare items with low price. I myself managed to get my mum a traditional apron which usually worn by Japanese mothers (like this?), while my friend got secondhand kids and onsen yukata with friendly prices. For the apron there's a winter (thicker) and summer version. I took the summer version since my country is tropical XP. Also! If you're looking for Japanese toys like this Kiki Ippatsu, there's a good toy shop in Asakusa, just turn right of the shopping street. So while we had a good time strolling, it's already time to meet up with Mariko & co. They're waiting in front of the tourist center, across the street in front Kaminarimon gate. Since it's a good time for lunch, we're looking for a shop nearby. What did we want? Hmm... okonomiyaki, check. Sushi, check. Wait, what about Monja? Yay. Okay, nice choice.
I didn't really remember which way we took but I think we're heading back to the station and follow the road in front of it. Then walk, walk, walk. So many restaurants and food shops in Asakusa! Finally we found the shop that specialized in okonomiyaki and monjayaki. Guess what? The shop even has English menu! We got a table on the 2nd floor and ordered two kind of monja, the first was a normal one with mochi and cheese and the other with mentaiko.
Mariko introduced her friend, an university student in Tsukuba. Her name is Chihiro... called Chi-chan. Apparently her mother is Arashi fan and happened to get the tickets for Sapporo. Initially her mom want to go with Chi-chan but at the day she got sick, so the mother went for Sapporo by herself. Ahh, so sad. I asked her whose her mom's favorite, I think it was Nino (my memory is vague). Since Mariko is on her last year of college we also talked about getting job and the hardship of being an university student. When we made appointment Mariko wants to join us to Ghibli, but since she didn't tell us earlier she couldn't get the ticket. Ghibli Museum ticket need to be purchased at least a month before the date or it would definitely sold out, that's how limited and popular it is.
Mariko introduced her friend, an university student in Tsukuba. Her name is Chihiro... called Chi-chan. Apparently her mother is Arashi fan and happened to get the tickets for Sapporo. Initially her mom want to go with Chi-chan but at the day she got sick, so the mother went for Sapporo by herself. Ahh, so sad. I asked her whose her mom's favorite, I think it was Nino (my memory is vague). Since Mariko is on her last year of college we also talked about getting job and the hardship of being an university student. When we made appointment Mariko wants to join us to Ghibli, but since she didn't tell us earlier she couldn't get the ticket. Ghibli Museum ticket need to be purchased at least a month before the date or it would definitely sold out, that's how limited and popular it is.
The vague appearance... (pic by pancchi)
Despite the vague appearance, monja is definitely delicious. Moreover it was fun. I didn't try to mixed the batter and cutting it on the teppan though, my friends do that. My friend was so good that Mariko and Chi-chan praised her, haha. Okonomiyaki is great, but Monjayaki is no less. Espescially when you're in Tokyo, definitely try it. You won't find the runny food in Kansai region, just because.
After meals we took a quick walk to the shopping area once again, since Mariko and Chi-chan want to take a look. It was their off day after all, and they went a long way from Tsukuba to Asakusa just to see us. Even them said that things in Asakusa is pretty cheap, surprisingly. For Tokyo standard at least.
We need to catch a train for Ghibli Museum since it took almost one hour to reach the location from Asakusa, so we took a lot of pics in front of Kaminarimon and with the Sky Tree on the background. We have to say goodbye in the station, it was so short for a meeting... but we definitely had quality time together <3. Thank you Mariko-san! Thank you Chi-chan, hope you can see Arashi next year. Let's meet again and see them together, right? >o<
I guess I'll write my report on Ghibli and Nakano in another post. ^^b
