Tokyo - Ikebukuro, Ueno Park, Ginza, and a Cute Parfait
Sunday, August 25, 2013
The next day we went to Tokyo which is only about two hours (by slow local trains) from Atami. We arrived around lunch time so we first went to Namja Town because I wanted to eat gyoza there.
Namja Town is a really cute and neat place, but there wasn't really much there that we could do. I either didn't know what the attractions were or they were aimed at really little kids. They were too expensive to just do without knowing what they were. I had seen something on a blog a while back about a cat themed haunted house that sounded neat, but I didn't see one. Namja Town was recently remodeled so I think maybe it's not there anymore.
The gyoza there was really good, but the portions were small for the price, especially when you consider that we payed 500 yen just to enter. I also didn't know enough Japanese to know the differences between some of the types of gyoza, but I got three random kinds and they were all good. I especially liked one that was ball-shaped and had a thicker outside layer. It was also more filling than the others I had and didn't seem as expensive.
I would have had fun walking around taking random pictures, but Jonathan didn't like Namja Town so we didn't stay much longer.
I read online about a place there that has random flavors of ice cream like squid and other gross stuff. I didn't see it while I was there (I guess it got lost among all the other dessert places) but I saw it in the brochure I picked up later.
Namja Town is in a mall called Sunshine City. Jonathan was still hungry so he got a wrap and coffee from Tully's while I looked around in some of the stores. I saw Nutella in an import shop and wanted to buy it but didn't want to carry it around with me. I meant to go back there at some point during our trip but I forgot! :(
Next we spent some time in Tokyu Hands and I bought some cute stickers. That store has so much stuff. I could spend hours in there!
After a while we went to Ueno Park. Part of the lake was filled with lotus. Only a few were blooming, but it was still very pretty.
That turtle had a cute mossy shell! :)
Next we rented a swan paddle boat to go around the pond. It was fun even though it was pretty hot
After the park we went to Yamashiroya. Jonathan looked around a bit and then went back to the hotel because he was hot and tired. I looked at the puzzles for a while and saw so many that I wanted but ended up buying nothing. Sometimes there are just so many cute things that I can't decide on anything! If I ever see the Disney Rapunzel puzzle that I saw there again I think I'll buy it.
Next I headed to Ginza, one of my favorite areas, especially at night. There aren't that many stores that I go in there, but the atmosphere is always nice.
First I ate dinner at Subway (roasted chicken sub with balsamic sauce... yum!) and then headed towards Forever 21. There are several locations in Tokyo, but that one was always my favorite. I soon realized though that it wasn't there anymore! :(
So next I went to Uniqlo. I buy a lot of work clothes there and basic things like socks and plain shirts and stuff there. At the one in Ginza I often found some cuter things that I didn't see in other locations though. They have a newer store in Ginza now and it's bigger and fancier, but I think 11 floors was a bit excessive. The way stuff was displayed was more spacious so I don't really know if it had that much merchandise than the older store or not. I was a little unimpressed, but I did like the 11th floor which had a lot of t-shirts. I saw a Marie (the cat from Aristocats) t-shirt on sale that I had seen in Iwata, but they only had it in large. Iwata had only had it in medium.
So finally before heading back to Ikebukuro I went to Itoya. Except as I approached the area where the store was the entire building was gone! There was a big gap between a couple of tall buildings where it had been. I was sad but luckily I decided to go closer and saw a sign that said it was being rebuilt. There were two temporary locations on nearby streets. I went to one of them and luckily it had the traditional Japanese washi paper that I was interested in.
I ended up buying a large sheet with a light blue and gold glittery mountain and flower pattern. It unfortunately got a bit bent up on my way home so I think I'll cut it into sakura shaped pieces and hang them up in my apartment.
I took the subway back to Ikebukuro where Jonathan and I met back up. We went to Milky Way cafe which I've admired pretty much every time I went to Ikebukuro. The plastic displays in the window are so cute and yummy looking! I never made it there though (I didn't want to eat there by myself) so I was happy to finally go!
Milky Way cafe did not disappoint at all! It's really cute in there and has a nice view of the street below.
This parfait was crazy and super good. It had vanilla ice cream, chocolate ice cream, mixed fruit, a piece of cake, a couple of cookies, and a piece of chocolate, whipped cream, chocolate mousse, and chocolate syrup.
As if it wasn't amazing enough already, mine came inside a bigger glass filled with dry ice. My phone couldn't capture the awesomeness of the dry ice coming out of it though.
I don't remember everything that Jonathan's had, but I know that it did have like a churro and cream puffs.
Afterwards we went to Book Off for a while and eventually ended up at an arcade. Not a surprise at all, haha.
Even the money exchange machines were cute there! :)
I'm obsessed with purikura now and we had to do it again! We totally messed up the background picture though. :P The machines take the photos so quickly! It's sometimes hard to get in position in time.
