I belum officially blog about where we're going for our next trip but if you're observant or kaypoh (choose yourself k hahaha) you would've noticed my countdown counter and know that we're going back to.............................
.......................... JAPAN!!!!!!!!!!
Omg like finally laaaaa after talking about returning to Japan for ages! If you've read my entries about our Tokyo trip last year (here), you'd know that both of us fell in love so hard with Tokyo, Japan (the food, the people, the culture, everything) and we've been yearning and aching to return to their land ever since. We're skipping Tokyo this time round though, and heading to Kyoto and Osaka in hopes that they will awe and inspire us as much as Tokyo did.
So far, we've already booked the two main things for any holiday - flights (we decided on SQ) and accommodation in Kyoto and Osaka (we're still sticking to hotels via Agoda). We also have a rough itinerary planned out but as always, we're still on a lookout for possible things to do and places to see - tips and recommendations are welcome!
And can you guys believe it - this upcoming trip will be in celebration of our 4th wedding anniversary! FOURTH! It still feels so surreal, you know, Saliheen and I always feel like we've only just gotten married recently but at the same time it feels like we've been together forever??? Like, we struggle to remember that we've been in relationships with other people before but at the same time it's difficult to comprehend the idea that we've been together long enough that if our relationship was a person, he/she would be halfway through primary school education already haha. Does that even make sense??? I'm sure there are other couples who feel the same as us and understand what I mean.
We were together for 5 years before we got hitched which means we've been hitting it up with each other (hehe) for NINE YEARS. 9!!! For someone umm experimental like me whose longest relationship before this was 1 year and 3 months (hahaha), happily and willingly spending 9 years with the same person sounds like a pretty cool thing.
Tapi tau apa lagi cool tak?
The weather in Japan when we head there this coming November. HEHEHEHE.
As always, my lovely talented little sister will edit our holiday video beautifully after each trip and give me something to share after I am done with all of my blogging!!! Hahahahaha. We love our Tokyo video very much ok, I think Saliheen and I have watched it 10 million times since my sister posted it last month hahahaha.
And as always, I'll do an overview post on the whole trip so here goes:
Our Travel Dates
7 January 2016 to 15 January 2016
Flight Itinerary & Journey Duration
Singapore to Tokyo via SQ638: 6 hours 35 minutes
Tokyo to Singapore via SQ11: 7 hours 40 minutes
Time Difference
Tokyo is 1 hour ahead of Singapore (If it's 12.00pm in Singapore, that means it's 1.00pm in Tokyo)
Weather During Our Stay
Between 3 to 6 degrees (Winter time, yo)
Why We Chose to Travel to Tokyo
I think I've mentioned this before - I never really considered Japan as a dream destination because I have never been interested in Japanese culture like anime, J-pop, etc; but I think it is mainly BECAUSE I AM A BIG FAT IDIOT. Haha! But Saliheen entah kenapa tiba tiba dapat seruan and mentioned Japan, then repeated it enough for us to seriously consider it. Before we knew it, we were booking our flight to Tokyo!
We considered travelling to Kyoto and/or Osaka as well but decided to stick to a full holiday in Tokyo so we can truly immerse ourselves into the workings of the city. Japan is a country that we don't mind returning to, so insya Allah we will have time, money and energy to explore Kyoto and/or Osaka in the next few years.
Where did We Stay at in Tokyo
First we narrowed down the area where we wanted to stay - it was either Shibuya or Shinjuku, since these two areas were the ones most mentioned by our friends and colleagues who have been in Tokyo. A hotel in Shinjuku came highly recommended by two of Saliheen's colleagues so we decided to focus on Shinjuku.
The hotel in Shinjuku they recommended was Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku; unfortunately they no longer had rooms available on Agoda on the dates of our stay. While tinkering around with the map on Agoda, we saw a hotel next to Hotel Sunroute Plaza, and it was JR Hotel Blossom Shinjuku! And as we all know by now, that was the hotel we chose to stay in. You can read on what I love about this hotel here.
The only minor downside about staying in JR Hotel Blossom is that it opened in August 2014 and is relatively new (you can see this as an upside, like we did, hehe) so all of the cab drivers didn't know where it was. But this is a minor issue because all we had to do was show them our hotel keycard cover (there is a map, address and directions in Japanese on the back) and we kept repeating that it was beside Hotel Sunroute (which the cab drivers knew since it is more established). Tip: Say "Hotel Sunrou-TOU!" to the cab drivers, they won't understand you if you say Hotel Sunroute HAHAHA)
Which Attractions did We Visit in Tokyo
We went to a number of places in Tokyo, all of which you can read about by clicking the links below:
We didn't get to visit Yasukuni Shrine (Yushukan War Museum) because we wanted to spare some time to return to Tsukiji Market, and we skipped Disneyland and DisneySea because wedidn't want to wait hours to take theme park rides. Maybe another time, since we've visited most of the tourist attractions during this trip and can have an even more lax itinerary next time. Other things we hope to try next time: Visit a samurai house, tea sessions with geishas, queue up for Sushi Dai!
Availability of Halal Food
I mean..................... do you really have to ask this if you've read all my blog entries on Tokyo HAHAHAHAHA. Don't worry ok, there are many halal options in Tokyo so you will be spoiled for choice!
Some of the restaurants in Tokyo yang ada halal menu that we went to: Gyumon, Sumiyakiya, Hanasakiji-san, Ippin @ Shibuya, Naritaya and Ippin @ Asakusa. If you only have time to try only one or two of these makan places, then I highly recommend Gyumon and Ippin @ Asakusa. Jiwa raga boleh bergetar dari dalam, beb.
I must say majority of the food establishments which are halal certified or serves halal menu are located in terperuk locations, though (difficult to find and/or away from main streets) so you'll need to put in time and effort to pergi cari ok.
Oh, take note that not all of the restaurants are fully halal certified too, because some of them do serve alcohol and/or non-halal food. So if you are squirmy about eating at an establishment that serves alcohol/non-halal food even though the preparation is in accordance to the religion's standards, the utensils used are strictly for halal food/are disposables, the meats are certified halal, then... you kena pack maggi dari Singapore yang MUIS dah certify halal dalam luggage you, ok.
Transportation Around Tokyo
We would have preferred to take a cab but read/heard that airport transfers are ridiculously expensive (can masuk hundreds!) so we chose to ride the Narita Express (NEX) from Narita Internation Airport to Shinjuku. There are also buses available (which we didn't choose because we prefer trains over buses.) I also wrote about taking the NEX here.
As for travelling around Tokyo, we mostly took their public trains which were clean, efficient and always on time. Can get pretty crowded during peak hours though, so take that into consideration when planning your travelling time ok.
We opted not to get a Suica card because we were unsure whether we'd get the most out of it since we will be taking trains managed by different companies throughout our trip. I think our worries were unfounded though, so we'll probably consider getting it for our next trip. For this trip, what we did was: We consulted the fare board for prices, bought tickets from the ticket machines at the train stations (You can change language settings to English) and inserted the tickets into the entrance/exit slots. We watched videos here, here and here to familiarize ourselves with the process.
Where to Buy Souveniers
I've mentioned this in an earlier entry but will repeat it here for funsies:
1. Nakamise Dori - it is the stretch of shops leading into Sensoji Temple;
2. Don Quijote - feels and looks like Mustafa Centre and has outlets across Japan (We went to the Kabukicho outlet); and
3. AKKY II - it is a tax-free shop in Akihabara.
These places sell various things for cheap, ranging from facial masks, chopsticks, tea sets, green tea packs, t-shirts, fans, terompah, chocolates, novelty gifts, etc. If you are looking for Tokyo Banana, you can get them from souvenier shops in the airport, kat situ belambak lambak (I know there is doubt as to whether Tokyo Banana is halal, this is just general information ok. You nak beli for yourself ke, for your non-Muslim friends ke, nak buat jeruk ke, apa ke, that is up to you)
Availability of Wifi
Wifi is available in the hotel room and some cafes in Tokyo, but Saliheen and I wanted to have Wifi on-the-go for various reasons: directions on Google Maps (paling penting), looking up information and of course, social media. Heh heh.
I don't really like using local SIM cards (because leceh) so it was a blessing we met up with another couple for dinner a few weeks after we booked our flight tickets in July... because they were the ones who told us pasal the Wifi router rental from Changi Recommends! Thank you Syaf and Najib!!! One of the best tips we got for this Tokyo trip. Hehe.
That barang is a godsend, you guys, especially bagus for group trips because you can split the costs since the Wifi router can connect up to 6 to 10 devices (depending on your destination country). And I love that I already have Wifi the minute we touched down in Tokyo, no need to waste time and walk around the airport to cari local SIM card retailers.
Connection was fantastic, we could even use it up in Mount Fuji, amacam cakap. Just walk in to any of the Changi Recommends counters in the airport terminals to rent the Wifi router but it's subject to availability, so kalau takut kehabisan, you can make reservations via their online form ok. Payment is upon return of device after your trip.
Shopping in Tokyo
Saliheen and I didn't shop much - Saliheen bought a few t-shirts and caps from Harajuku and I only bought two pairs of shoes (both of which I LOVE!) and a couple of bath products from LUSH. I guess it doesn't help that 1) the fashion styles available in Tokyo isn't what Saliheen and I would normally wear 2) we were there during winter so a lot of the baju baju and stuff were meant for winter wear, which will be of no use to us when we return to all day everyday hot and sunny Singapore, and 3) Tokyo fashion stores (unsurprisingly) don't really carry a lot of designs in our sizes lol.
One good shopping tip I got from my friend Azrul (because he is the auntie of good deals and discounts): You qualify for tax refund if you spend more than ¥10,000 (approximately S$123.00) in a participating retailer. You can read more here.
Saliheen was planning our return trip to Tokyo while we were still IN Tokyo ok hahahahaha!
This is a 100% YES YES YES ok! We love the people, we love the culture, we love their taste and their aesthetics, and we love love love all the glorious and delicious Japanese food!!! Saliheen daripada tak pernah cari matcha/green tea, sekarang he keeps two giant packets of matcha AND green tea leaves in our kitchen and religiously drinks them everyday ok.
It also helps that Japan is near to Singapore (Less than 7 hours away via flight), which makes it more manageable to fly to than if we were to return to NYC, for example. Also, Japan is relatively more affordable!
The Total Expenditure
I usually share my travel expenditure details so I don't have to dig for scraps of information here and there every time someone asks me how much he/she will need for a similar trip so here is the rough cost breakdown for our Tokyo trip:
1.Flight from Singapore to Tokyo (round-trip via Singapore Airlines): S$1107.40 (S$553.70 x 2 pax)
2. 8D/7N Stay at JR Blossom Shinjuku Hotel: S$1645.20 (S$822.60 x 2 pax)
3.Narita Express Train (round-trip from Airport to Hotel): S$96.00 (S$48.00 x 2 pax)
4.Meals (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner): S$20.00 per meal per pax but increased to S$50.00 - $100.00 per meal per pax if it's for something special like BBQ meat at Gyumon or omakase meal at Kyubey.
5. Taxi Fares: Approximately S$20.00 per trip (from Shibuya to Shinjuku kind of distance)
6.Train Fares: S$2.00 to S$3.00 per pax per trip
7.Mount Fuji Tour Package via Viator: S$402.78 (S$201.39 per pax)
8. Souveniers for Family & Friends: S$150.00 to S$200.00 per pax
9.Entrance Fees: S$20.00 to S$30.00 per pax on average, but most shrines and parks are free of charge.
10.Sumo Tournament Tickets: S$226.00 (SGD113.00 x 2 pax) but you can get cheaper/more expensive seats, depending on your seating preference.
11.Wifi Router Rental: S$82.00 for 1 device (up to 10 connections)
12.Travel Insurance: S$90.00 (with discount)
Some of these are estimations because it really depends on what you want to eat, what you want to see and where you want to go! This breakdown also does not include shopping, since shopping is subjective and dependent on individuals.
Ah well. I guess this is it then?! I've come to the end of my Tokyo 2016 blog series so.....
I'll try to make this entry as short as possible because I really want to wrap up all of my Tokyo entries by next month! Kawan kawan aku semua dah pergi Tokyo and dah balek pun, aku masih ah, belum habis blogging pasal Tokyo hahaha.
So. After almost a full day in Asakusa duringthe first part of Day 6, we took a train to Akihabara pulak! We didn't do much here since we're not really into otaku culture, we just wanted to jalan jalan, play a game or two in the arcades and tangkap feel je. Tried to look for neoprint machines here too (since I couldn't find them in Harajuku) but no luck :(
See that (closed) store beside Club Sega? That's the AKKYII tax-free shop that I mentioned in a previous entry. We bought half of the souveniers for our family and friends here! Cheap cheap good good.
I also asked Saliheen whether we can visit an owl cafe since we didn't have any specific plans for Akihabara... and he said YES!!!!! I saw the owl cafe concept in an episode of Roommate (Korean TV show) where they travelled to Japan, and ever since then I told myself I'll have to go to one if I ever jejak Tokyo. So this was my niat fulfilled hehe yayyyyy~~~
Did a Google search and the closest one to where we were was Forest of Owls! It's located on the 5th floor of a building and costs ¥700 (S$8.70) for the first hour per person + one drink. Totally worth it because look at these cuties!!!!!!!
THESE BUGGERS ARE SO CUTE, I CANNOT. EVEN WHEN THEY STARE AND GROWL AT YOU LIKE THEY WANT TO BITE YOU (Which they totally would, there is a reason why there are signs warning people against touching certain owls)
Cuma part tak cute sangat was when I held one of them (the white one with sepet eyes) AND IT BERAK ON ME!!!!! Nang bo tinang. Panas and besar ok dia punya najis!!!!! Dahlah aku pakai seluar hitam! Nak bersihkan, punya la busy beb, dah macam liquid paper tumpah kat seluar. Siak betul hahaha.
Took a taxi to Kabuchiko after that to jalan jalan ambik angin, we resorted to showing the kind and apologetic taxi driver (who couldn't understand English) a picture of this red neon sign so he knew where to drop us off.
And this is the red neon sign we showed him! Very apt for a well-known red light district haha.
Even made time to visit Godzilla yang menetap di Hotel Gracery hahahahahaha
We then walked down from Kabuchiko to Shinjuku (walking in Tokyo is so therapeutic, unlike Singapore!) and dropped by Lumine - we bought doughnuts from Doughnut Plant and cheese tarts from BAKE by Kinotoya!!!!!!!
Right off the bat, I will tell you first that doughnuts from Doughnut Plant were disappointing ok. To us, at least la. We didn't get to try them when we were in NYC because their store was nowhere near our destinations in NYC so quite lucky kita tak take the effort and go out of the way to get them ke apa. Dough is dry and dense, and icing is terlalu manis potong kaki kasi diabetics. I have a sweet tooth and even I balked at all that sugar. Took two bites then terus buang the rest.
But the baked cheese tarts are a different thing altogether - they were sooooo sedap seh!!! The crust is perfect, the texture of the cheese is perfect, 10 out of 10 I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!!! One piece of tart costs ¥200 (S$2.50), which is so muai.
So..... amacam geng? Not bad right this entry, not as long as usual??? Hehehehehe
Ok la bye korang, I want to start cracking on my entries for my second last day in Tokyo pulak.
Time for Day 5! Halfway through the holiday already guys, don't give up on my entries yet hahaha.
(Although I can feel my blogging mojo starting to fade away..........................................)
In case you haven't even read my other posts on Tokyo and wish to do so first, they can be read here and here for Day 1, here, here and here for Day 2, here and here for Day 3, and here for Day 4.
So. We were supposed to start the day by visiting Yushukan War Memorial Museum (a controversial museum in Japan because it celebrates the generals, soldiers who fought and died in World War 2 and glorifies Japan's aggressive militaristic past) but we were tired from the journey to and fro Mount Fuji the day before, and the museum/shrine location is a little off (we'd need to walk quite a distance to get to the site).
So I suggested to Saliheen: Why not skip Yushukan this time round and use our free morning to go to Tsukiji Market instead? Since you've been going on and on and on about returning to Tsukiji Market?
He said oh yes please, with a huge silly grin on his face.
So we headed to Tsukiji Market for the 2nd time during this trip! When we arrived, I suggested walking down straight instead of turning right like we did the 1st time round. No particular reason la, I figured it'll be nice to masuk from another way. While walking down, I recognized a shopfront that I saw online (here) because the writer said that it has an English menu. So we walked in to have breakfast first before tawaf satu pasar.
We flipped through the menu and that was when we realized it costs between ¥800 (S$9.50) to ¥1300 (S$15.50) per bowl, which is half the price we paid for the food at the first restaurant (in Tsukiji Market) that we went to on our second day!!!!!!! MACAM NAK FLIP TABLE LA PULAK.
Hahahaha. Not really la. Kalau flip table nanti our food berterabuh seh, how to makan.
We just took it as a lesson learned la - don't pay anything more than S$15.00 for such tuna/salmon/seafood rice bowls in Tsukiji Market! There are so many options, and almost everything is of the same good quality so go find for one which doesn't rip you off. Wish I could tell you the name of this 2nd makan place that we went to because the food was delicious (obvi) and they're highly rated on TripAdvisor (I saw the sticker) but their shop name was written in Japanese so I don't know what to tell you also. Just look for the same shopfront, I guess.
(Note: I am still very interested to visit Yushukan though, so that'll be another thing we'll have to pencil in our itinerary when we return to Tokyo. Again, this is a "when" and not an "if" ok!!!!!)
After our breakfast, we jalan jalan around Tsukiji Market again (Tip: don't buy souveniers in Tsukiji Market, I will tell you why when the time comes) then left to go to the next item on our itinerary - Edo-Tokyo Museum!
I really wanted to go to this particular museum because it sounded the most interesting to me - the museum is divided into 2 sections - the period when Tokyo was known as Edo, and the period when Tokyo started to be known as Tokyo. It was really informative because you can see the development of each era, the technological advancements that Japan has made over the past decade as well as everything in between (The Great Kanto Earthquake, the second World War, 2011 Tsunami, etc)
Instrument of Surrender signed by Japan after their fall in the second World War!
A couple of electronic devices developed and promoted by Japan over the years. That's the early form of a video game arcade! So cool hor. Would definitely recommend Edo-Tokyo Museum if you want to go to a museum which provides a comprehensive timeline of how Edo/Tokyo progressed over the centuries.
Anyway, I can't remember how long we took to complete the museum visit, I think about an hour, an hour half? Then we left the museum and walked over to Ryogoku Kokugikan, which is the stadium where the sumo tournament was held! And this is also the part where I tell you kita sambung this entry on another day la hah.....
One of the things we knew we wanted to do in Tokyo was go on a guided tour up Mount Fuji!
As usual, Saliheen and I did our research and even though there are a few options available online, the one that interested us the most was the Mount Fuji, Lake Ashi and Bullet Train Day Trip by Viator - you can watch this video clip with a brief description of the package below:
We paid S$402.78 for the both of us (S$201.39 per pax), which is reasonable la, considering we got to take a coach up to Mount Fuji, take a cruise boat out on Lake Ashi, ride the Mount Komagatake Ropeway for a view of Hakone National Park and most importantly, we got to return to Tokyo area via shinkansen!!! Which is a Japanese bullet train, super fast and super sleek one.
We especially liked the return by bullet train part because kita memang nak rasa naik shinkansen but the actual price to ride one costs, like, S$300 plus??? And from Tokyo, it usually goes out to other areas like Kyoto, Osaka, etc. It didn't make sense for us to pay that much when we weren't travelling out to stay in those areas ah. Setakat nak tau apa rasa ride dalam bullet train je. (It feels macam naik train biasa ah actually hahaha. But the train does feel super stable and super quiet for something that is moving so rapidly)
Anyway. We started the day out by walking to the meet-up point, which is the Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo. You can choose from a few meet-up points but we chose Keio because our hotel is only 7 minutes walk away! Once you've walked for 30 minutes in Tokyo before, walking for 7 minutes becomes chicken mcnugget la kan #eksyen
Row of vending machines we saw on our way to Keio. Cantik!
Once we arrived at the meeting area in Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo, we were issued tour stickers (to indicate which group we were in) and ushered up an air-conditioned coach. I think there were about 15 to 20 pax in our group? Anyway, travel time to Mount Fuji took about 2 hours. Do all your toilet business in the hotel first!
OHAYOU GOZAIMASU, MOUNT FUJI! ❅❅❅❅❅
The top view was pretty! But the weather and temperature was seriously no joke seh. It was sooooo cold and we were freezing!!!!! I couldn't even feel my face wtf. Lagi tak kelakar was when Saliheen was taking pictures and suddenly felt his fingers freeze up and cannot gerak. Tu jam baru terkial kial ah nak pasang heatpack!
After 30 minutes or so on Mount Fuji, our tour coach brought us to a nearby restaurant for lunch. Lunch is optional ah - up to you whether you want to include lunch in the tour package when you're booking it online. Personally, I'd suggest the lunch option because it'll be troublesome for you to look for lunch yourself. Can choose vegetarian meal because the regular one includes chicken. If you are was-was even of the vegetarian meal then sure, don't take it up but at least bring along your own bread/chips/whatever. Kat sana tak banyak food options.
After lunch, off we went to take our cruise boat out on Lake Ashi!
Ya, I know our gambar tak justify how peaceful and lawa the lake is, so I have to top up with gambar of our busuk faces la hahahaha. The cruise boat ride was for 15 minutes only, after that our tour guide brought us to the place to ride the Mount Komagatake Ropeway pulak. No pictures from inside the cabin because we were packed in with other guests but it's really just a cable car besar yang boleh fit ramai orang, and it looks like this.
View from the top! It was really nice and peaceful. And tiba tiba ada satu temple tercampak kat atas, haha. Busy seh orang kat sini nak sembahyang kena daki bukit.
Aaaaand that was it, that was the end of the whole tour! Our tour guide brought the people who took the package with shinkansen option to a train station about 30 to 45 minutes away (by coach) and then passed us tickets to naik the shinkansen. Don't worry about not knowing how and where to naik the shinkansen, where to drop off, etc, because the tour guide's instructions will be quite clear. I only remember the part where you need to take the shinkansen from platforms 1 or 2 ah. Bukan platform 9¾ eh, tu nanti terpergi tempat lain eh.
Us inside the shinkansen! Amaciam, nampak steady tak kita naik bullet train hahahaha. Oh, and sorry, no pictures of the shinkansen itself because we were too busy taking videos of it hahaha #asiantourist
Dropped off at Shinjuku Station and walked around Lumine (Lumine 1 and 2 are at the front whereas Lumine Est is at the back) in search for dinner. Didn't see anything that suited our mata and tekak but did see this kedai called Zakuzaku Croquant Chou that sells cream puff from Hokkaido! A little unconventional because it is in stick form coated with almonds. Costs ¥220 (S$2.60) per stick.
I knew about this from a friend's Instagram post! (Of course) Also has lots of good reviews online (like the one here) so we decided we'd give it a try if we saw the shop (which we did). Quite nice! But I wouldn't travel or specifically look for it la. Japanese people seem to really like it though, the queue was looong (but fast moving).
Walked out of Lumine after that and settled down for dinner at a little sushi bar near our hotel. Food was good! Stuffed ourselves with so much sushi and green tea sampai tak larat to jalan jalan anywhere after that haha. So we headed back to our hotel and crashed for the night because besoknya nak tengok museum and orang sumo!
After visiting Meiji Shrine, Yoyogi Park and Harajuku during the first part of Day 3, Saliheen and I made our way to our next pre-dinner destination - Vaping Apein Shibuya! If you're interested, check out their Facebook first since the catalogue on their official website isn't as updated. They occasionally post on Instagramtoo.
Not as huge as Henley Vape (vape lounge we visited in NYC) but the space was super cool and super chill, the owner speaks English because he lived in LA for some years. Rested our backs and feet and had a nice long session before venturing back out for dinner at Hanasakaji-san! It's a restaurant in Shibuya with a halal menu.
There was a little confusion before we entered the restaurant because I was actually expecting the restaurant shopfront to look like this because I read about the restaurant from this blog post. But the shopfront of the restaurant we were directed to by Google maps looks like the one below instead! Which is different!
But we were too malas to figure it out and go somewhere else (since there was a halal logo at the front, after all) so we gingerly traipsed down the stairs... only to be greeted by this suspicious looking door wtf:
Tak ke terperanjat katak aku nyah?!?!?!?!
Apa lagi aku and Saliheen lintang pukang ah sak lari naik balek the tangga HAHAHA. Laki aku punya pengecut tak guna, dia lari naik dulu tinggalkan aku kat belakang eh HAHAHAHAHA
But no seriously wtf right, apakah maksud semua ini????? Ada manusia bertopengkan harimau kat belakang pintu tu ke apa sak. And the worst part, it was sooo senyap ok. How can a restaurant have no signs of life kan?!
So after about 10 minutes of contemplating and planning our escape plan in the event benda yang tak diduga dan tak diundang keluar from that door (hahaha), we finally trudged back down the stairs and pressed the "Push" button on the door while getting ready to run away again haha.
The minute the door opened, FUH. Terkejut terkangkang akak, dik.
Tiba tiba kita macam transported to another world altogether la seh; food smells started to waft out of the room and we immediately heard the chatter and rambunctious laughter coming from actual living human beings feasting with their friends inside! It was dimly lit, sure, but we really liked its festive dining and drinking vibes.
Didn't take picture of the interior because we were fascinated (haha) and just wanted to order our food, but you can see a picture from someone else here. By the way, I never did find out why the shopfront picture I saw online is different from the one I saw in person haha. Just assumed they were 2 different outlets with different decor.
We chose the halal washoku and shabu shabu set with white rice which costs ¥4500 per person (S$53.00 per person) because the basic shabu shabu set nampak macam tak cukup haha. You can see their halal menu options here. The washoku included 3 to 4 pieces of tuna sashimi, prawn tempura, grilled fish and salad (with a piece of prawn and some kind of clam or abalone, I can't remember).
Apparently there is a method to cooking shabu shabu - the staff taught us to lightly swirl the meat in the soup for a minute or so, and to quickly lift the shabu shabu just before it overcooks. Very yummy! The soup looks unassuming but is hearty and delicious. The washoku set was so-so aje, I'm not really a fan of tempura and Japanese-style grilled fish, anyway.
After dinner, we jalan jalan around Shibuya again! I went into lots of shops but didn't purchase anything (except soaps from Lush) because the barang barang there either not something I'd wear in Singapore or won't fit my plus size. Didn't really mind it though, I was in Tokyo not to shop but to immerse myself in their culture, bask in their sights and sounds and get new experiences - like going up Mount Fuji the next morning! YAY!
