Place: Tokyo Tower, Imperial Palace, Sumida River, Asakusa
Foods: Tea Ceremony at Happo-en, Chinzan-so & Daikokuya
Our third day followed a typical tourist itinerary - Oh, yes, a Bus Tour! We joined an english guided full-day bus tour with Hato Bus (www.hatobus.com).
With Hato Bus sticker on my chest! Classy! ;)
The first stop was Tokyo Tower, where you can see panoramic view of Tokyo. We were very lucky to have a Fuji mountain view from the tower, and the sky was ever clear.
Fuji Mountain view from Tokyo Tower.
Our next stop was Happo-en (www.happo-en.com)
, a Japanese garden where you can enjoy the Japanese Tea Ceremony. Usually, traditional way of the ceremony takes around an hour, and asks you to kneel down during the whole ceremony (yes, it must be painful). However, ours was very very simplified version taking only 20min --- you get what you pay for! ;)
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| Tea Master shows you how to make and drink the powdered green tea (matcha) in an artistic way. | Traditional sweets served with the green tea. |
Pretty Happo-en garden.
After the "simplified" tea ceremony, I didn't have much of expectation for lunch to be prepared from the bus tour. However, the lunch was much better than I thought. We were served with traditional Japanese barbecue grilled in front of us by a lady wearing Japanese dress, and the dining room even had a beautiful view of the Japanese garden at Chinzan-so (www.chinzanso.com).
A lady wearing Japanese dress grills the foods in front of you. And, yes... you are asked to wear an apron. ;)
Vegetables and meats. The sweet potatoes are stamped with Chinese characters meaning "seven luck gods (七福神)".
Beautiful Japanese garden view with waterfalls.
After a brief visit to the Imperial Palace, we took a boat on Sumida River to our last stop Asakusa, a historic district centered around the temple of Senso-ji from 7th century.
The street called "Nakamise-dori" to the temple from a big gate is filled with small shops selling everything from traditional Japanese snacks such as sembei to Edo-style crafts. Like any other old historical cities, Asakusa has many small streets and hidden interesting spots that you can feel you are travelling with a time machine.
Nakamise-dori, a shopping street to Senso-ji.
Evening sun view from Senso-ji
Japanese believes that bathing in temple smoke early in year gives you luck.
Hato Bus tour ended at Asakusa, and now it was dinner time! :)
We already knew where we were going for dinner - Daikokuya (大黒屋), a tempura place we found from Lonely Planet while riding the tour bus. The restaurant is famous for its dark tempura batter and tendon (tempura rice bowl).
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| Eggs rolled with vegetables, black soybeans and kazunoko (herring roe). | Tempura with a bowl of clear soup with egg, shrimp, mushroom and vegetable garnishes --- I really loved the soup which was much lighter than consommé! |
Yummy tendon!
The end of the third day...
Day 4
Place: Shinjuku, Roppongi
Foods: Peck @ Takashimaya & Gonpachi
The fourth day was actually our last day at Tokyo, because we were flying to Seoul the next morning. I don't know if it is common, but usually the last day of travel is a shopping day for me. Although I didn't shop much, I wanted to visit some famous department stores in Shinjuku.
If you are visiting Tokyo, please don't miss the basement of each department stores. They usually have a huge grocery store and sell lots of delicious foods --- actually this is the same in Korea (probably most of Asian countries). Do not miss the basement of department stores!!!
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| Bento boxes from Takashimaya Department Store. | Delicious pasta from Takashimaya Department Store. |
In the evening, we met with a couple in Roppongi that I have known since college. We had dinner at Gonpachi (www.gonpachi.jp) which is a kind of tapas place where you can order several different small dishes and enjoy a cold glass of beer together, and the restaurant is also known as the place that inspired the set in Tarantino's movie "Kill Bill"!
(the following three pictures are from internet...)
Do you remember this place from Kill Bill movie?
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| Yakitori - grilled skewered meats and vegetables. | Soft tofu. You season the tofu with sea salt by yourself right before tasting it. |
Ronppongi Hills is a newly developed area by real estate developers. With very attractive architectures, lots of luxury shops, and residence buildings, the area is one of the most expensive area in Tokyo. L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon is also located here... of course, I couldn't have a chance to stop by... but I will next time! :)
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| Fabulous architectures in Roppongi Hills. | The end of our last day in Tokyo... taking a picture in Roppongi Hills. |
That is the end of my short Tokyo trip!
I thought I knew Japan pretty well - I have Japanese friends, I learned Japanese language for a while in New York, and I read books about Japan. However, it was too early to say that I knew Japan without visiting and experiencing the country. Of course, the four days are not enough to experience Japan, and that's why I really want to visit the country again to learn more about it.
And... next time, I should make sure to arrange all reservations in advance to visit some of the most great restaurants in the world. :)
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