Tokyo Travels: Day 5 (Part 2)

After the first part of Day 5, we crossed over to Ryogoku Kokugikan Stadium for a sumo wrestling tournament!

If you plan to visit Edo-Tokyo Museum and watch a sumo tournament during your stay in Tokyo, plan these two activities on the same day ok because they're located right next to each other. 

You can skip the next part if you're not interested in knowing the ticketing and seating details.

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Ticket Prices: We bought tickets from their official website here! Paid ¥19,000 (S$226.00) in total for 2 pax, which means it's about ¥9500 (S$113.00) per pax. There are cheaper tickets, of course, but we chose mid-price tickets because we wanted seats which were nearer to the ring.

Seating: There are Western-style seats and box seats (where you can sit on the floor with cushions) so it really depends on what you prefer. We chose Western-style seats, which turned out to be more comfortable than expected!!! Saliheen accidentally slept for 5 minutes because it was so cosy hahaha. We referred to this pictorial guide here (1st level) and here (2nd level) before making our decision to purchase our seats. The official website also has detailed seating plans and other information (here, here and here)

Tournament Period: Sumo tournaments are only held in certain months at certain areas so you can refer to their timetable here. We didn't plan our holiday around the sumo tournament dates so we realized we got lucky when we checked and there was one in January! And it coincided with the dates we were in Tokyo. Sui.

Tournament Timing: The tournament is from 9.00am to 6.00pm but most people usually start streaming in at around 2.00pm to 3.00pm because that's when the heavyweight matches will start. We were seated by 2.30pm because we read online that the special ceremony (when all the heavyweight sumo wrestlers saunter in to do their chants, etc) happens at around 3.00pm, which it did.

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Definitely an interesting experience! I know some people think sumo wrestlers' bodies are "gross and unhealthy" bla bla bla, but I thought they were freaking strong and their bodies seem so sturdy seh. Every time two opponents slammed against each other, you can hear their bodies berdentum and rasa macam satu stadium bergegar (also because most of the spectators will start heckling and cheering at the same time)

We didn't want to stay until the end because we didn't want to battle with the crowd so we left earlier... we were crazy hungry, anyway! We were supposed to go to Ippin (another halal establishment in Tokyo) next so we took the train down to Shibuya (after struggling at the station because it had no English text again hahaha)

Anyway. I've read enough online to assume that Ippin served hot ramen and that was exactly what I was looking forward to, when we were on the way to the registered address stated on their official website. Sekali, when I opened the menu, I was a little puzzled - hey, I thought this restaurant sells ramen??? Apa ni semua ayam ayam?!

Did a quick search on Google and Google Maps and we realized we at the wrong address?!?!?!?! Turns out we were at the Shibuya outlet whereas the outlet with ramen is in Asakusa la seh. Hahahahaha siak betul. Don't ask me why dua dua known as Ippin but serves different menus ah. Tokyo will never fail to fascinate hahahahaha

But it was okay la, dah memang nak terjadi hehe. Food was not bad, we ordered rice with edamame, gyoza and fried chicken. Ambience was great since it was just the two of us in the restaurant haha, and customer service was excellent! Their staff was friendly and came to chat with us after our meal, and he even recommended us a karaoke joint called Manekineko in Tokyo that serves halal food and sediakan Muslim prayer room! It's by the same Malaysian people who manages Ippin restaurants. 

The staff also gave us the namecard with contact details, pricelist and directions to the karaoke joint but I can't seem to find it... will post it if I do! But you can read about it here and check their website here la. We wanted to try it out on another day but masa tidak mengizinkan so we'll consider it next time we're in Tokyo. 

(I found out two weeks later that they also have an outlet in Singapore because I saw their company mascot on an escalator hahahaha. Not sure if the local one serves any food and if so, whether they're halal, though)

Aaaaand here's a picture of the shopfront for the Ippin outlet in Shibuya. It's located on the second level so keep your heads up! You can also see a clearer and bigger picture of the shopfront on Google Maps here.

It's surrounded by residential condos/terraces so don't be alarmed ok. When we first turned left after a straight walk from the train station (based on Google Maps directions), we were musykil as to whether we were headed the right way since it seemed like a residential area rather than a restaurant hub. But we saw the signboard after a minute's walk so yeah, it turned out fine. Here's a warning, though - you'll need to "hike" up a high slope to get to the restaurant (and when you leave it) so be prepared to pull flex some calf muscles ok haha.

Walked to Shibuya Crossing again after that (told you we were in Shibuya on many nights!) to jalan jalan then back to our hotel to rest for the night. More exciting things happening in Day 6! We petted some cats, got lost FOR AN HOUR at a train station, ate the most delicious halal ramen we've ever in had IN OUR LIVES, got pooped on by an owl and convulsed after having delicious cheese tarts from Hokkaido. Stay tuned, guys.