Saliheen & Farhana Goes To Tokyo 2016 from fazmals on Vimeo.

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:

• Tokyo Travels: Day 1 (Part 1)
• Tokyo Travels: Day 1 (Part 2)
• Tokyo Travels: Day 2 (Part 1)
• Tokyo Travels: Day 2 (Part 2)
• Tokyo Travels: Day 2 (Part 3)
• Tokyo Travels: Day 3 (Part 1)
• Tokyo Travels: Day 3 (Part 2)
• Tokyo Travels: Day 4
• Tokyo Travels: Day 5 (Part 1)
• Tokyo Travels: Day 5 (Part 2)
• Tokyo Travels: Day 6 (Part 1)
• Tokyo Travels: Day 6 (Part 2)
• Tokyo Travels: Day 7 (Part 1)
• Tokyo Travels: Day 7 (Part 2)
• Tokyo Travels: Day 8

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 we didn'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.

Research Resources

I depended heavily on friends who have travelled to Tokyo, stalked related hashtags on Instagram and did my research by reading Japan Guide (this is my favourite website out of the lot, it is very informative and user-family), Time Out Tokyo, Lonely Planet, Go Tokyo, Tokyo Cheapo and Have Halal, Will Travel.

Would We Return to Tokyo for Vacation

Ummm, are you kidding me? 

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.....

Sayonaraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, everybaaaaadddyyy!!!

Tokyo Travels: Day 8 (LAST DAY!)

Actually there is nothing much to blog about our last day in Tokyo ah, but I still want to create a post sebab nak cakap pasal beef udon noodles kat Narita International Airport HAHAHAHAHA #PBG TERSERLAH!

We spent the early part of the day just walking around Shinjuku (Lumine malls and Takashimaya belakang hotel) before hopping on the Narita Express train to the airport at around 3.30pm. Our flight back to Singapore was only at 8.50pm so we had lots of free time... which we used up by eating three different meals in the airport before our flight HAHAHAHA ROSAK

Our first stop was Kineya Mugimaru Restaurant, which is located at Terminal 1, Central Building, Level 5. It's a self-service restaurant that specializes in thick handmade udon noodles and serves sides of tempura and onigiri.

I had the udon noodles with beef which was SO SEDAP OK. I love the flavourful clear broth, I love the springy udon noodles, I love the perfect soft boiled egg, and I love the tender beef slices. Makan sampai terhantuk benjol beb. Tapi kan, because this meal was so delicious and comforting, it made the reality of us already leaving Tokyo even more unbearable seh :,(

Andddddddddddddd that is all for my entry on our last day in Tokyo 2016 HAHAHAHA ANTI-CLIMATIC TAK

Now I'm left to wrap up my tales in Tokyo in an overview post (as I always do, after every trip) so you guys can stop sighing and wondering whether my Tokyo posts will ever end hahahaha so lama right, if this blog could tumbuh uban, it would!

Tokyo Travels: Day 6 (Part 1)

On our sixth day in Tokyo, we spent the first part of the day in Asakusa and the last part of the day in Akihabara! It was an eventful day, which started with us terpusing pusing around Shinjuku Station macam headless chickens hahahaha. Sebab termasuk salah entrance lepas tu tak tau which part nak masuk balek haha

Somehow we just couldn't figure out the correct entrance, even though we went to every entry/exit and walked all round! FOR AN HOUR!!!!! I mean, we knew how it felt like to be overwhelmed by the train lines in Tokyo (we experienced it during the first 2 days) but travelling by public trains in Tokyo had been relatively easy after we familiarized ourselves with the system. So for us to get perplexed by the train lines on our sixth day in Tokyo, it just added to the confusion la :/

In the end, a very frustrated Saliheen sighed and said "Naik taxi sudah la". Haha. 

Terus run out to the road and flagged one! Also took a picture of the taxi fare breakdown, in case anyone's interested:

When we planned to go to Tokyo, we kept hearing that taxis in Tokyo are super expensive bla bla bla, so we tried as much as possible not to take one. But kita tak boleh angkat our exhaustion on one of the nights so we flagged one down from Shibuya back to our hotel and it cost us about S$20.00? Which was reasonable to us??? Kita ingatkan mahal sampai S$50 per cab ride ke apa. We went on to take 3 more taxi rides in Tokyo after that because we thought the costs was worth the comfort and time spent, lagi lagi bila dah penat at end of the day.

Okay, now back to blogging pasal our sixth day in Tokyo! We were lapar gila by the time we arrived in Asakusa because we wasted so much time trying to figure out the train!!! So our first priority was to cari Naritaya, which is a tempat makan in Asakusa serving halal ramen, amongst other things like fried chicken.

It took us another 20 minutes to look for the kedai makan, even though we had pictures to its shopfront to refer to (we saved pictures from the Internet) - probably because it was lorong after lorong of kedai kedai with the same blue curtain exterior haha. Turns out to be the unit located at almost the end of one of the lorong! Friendly staff who greeted us at the front was a Japanese who just embraced Islam a month back, Alhamdullilah.

Naritaya differs from other makan establishments in Tokyo, due to the fact that it does not serve alcohol at its premises at all. The people behind this restaurant are Malaysians too (macam Ippin)! You do you, Malaysians, particularly when it comes to bringing halal food to Japan!

We quickly discovered that the person behind the counter was a abang melayu from Malaysia! Saliheen became sooooo chatty (more than usual) that I teased him about missing being able to speak in Malay to another person other than me haha. He said it was true ok, and that it was refreshing to ask questions and receive answers in fluent Malay after days of interacting with others in broken English campur Japanese. He became so kamchengho with the abang sampai keluar hisap rokok sama sama belakang kedai, amboi amboi sedara.....

Anyway, something else that was refreshing in the kedai was the ramen! It tasted nice, and I felt so puas eating a hot meal after days of eating cold sushi and sashimi (which I still love, but sometimes you just want your perut dalam to terbakar a little bit, you know). 

The only thing that could be better was the eggs? They served the ramen with telur with yolk yang masak habis. Dah macam telur dalam mee rebus la pulak haha, kan eggs in ramen selalu half cooked and still wobbly! But that's ok la, I tak discriminate telur ok, I still like all of them in whatever forms, even in Gudetama form hehe.

This was when we walked from Naritaya to Senso-ji Temple (it's nearby, walking distance of one to two minutes)... we saw Tokyo Skytree in the distance! We didn't go up the tower because we read that there will be lots of tour groups causing long waiting lines *shudders* Maybe we'll check it out next time we're in Tokyo, and at a timing when there wouldn't be such an insane crowd.

Senso-ji Temple was pretty crowded too, but it was nice to walk amongst the locals, tourists and worshippers from all over Asia who came to gawk and/or pray at the temple.

By the way, if you want to take pictures at the Kaminarimon entrance, please do it quick because nanti ada je orang yang tak sabar tunggu you to finish your photo-taking and will stand in your frame. Macam dekni:

Ah tu la dia, mata orang yang tak sabar sabar suruh kau cepat sikit HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Should probably mention that this was also where we bought some of the souveniers for our families and friends! There are rows of shops that sell souveniers and snacks leading to Sensoji Temple, which was where we got some souveniers for family and friends. Oh, remember I said jangan beli souveniers kat Tsukiji Market?! We really should've known better! Saliheen got chopsticks for his colleagues at S$12.00 per 5-set pack at Tsukiji Market when it only costs S$6.00 here!!! 50% lesser seh. Luckily we only got a few packs from Tsukiji Market.

[Note: There are three places which I recommend getting souveniers from: Either from Nakamise Dori (which is the stretch of shops leading into Sensoji Temple), from any Don Quijote outlet (we went to the one in Kabukicho, it's right beside the main road and has a Mustafa Centre feel and layout) or from the AKKY II 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.]

Anyway, after we visited Sensoji Temple, we had some free time so we did a quick Google search for a cat cafe in Asakusa and the first hit result was Cat Cafe Asakusa Nekoen. It's the unit on the sixth floor and costs ¥800 (S$10.00) for one hour per person.

This is a picture of me after I bribe belanja the cats with treats hehehehe

The owner was a polite but firm lady, and I don't know whether I was just uncomfortable with her gaze but I didn't really play much with the cats or enjoy my time there. Might also be because we went at the wrong timing because most of the cats were sleeping, hiding and refusing to budge from their positions (typical stubborn cat behaviour hah). And I guess I expected a traditional cafe setting but it felt more like a house with many rescued cats...? (Which it probably is) Saliheen and I had a pleasant time la, but I don't think I'll return nor recommend this place if you're looking for something with a traditionally known cat cafe setting.

After our one hour was up, we walked to Ippin for our dinner. This is the one in Asakusa that serves ramen!!! (Remember our confusion from the day before?) You can find directions on Google maps, it's pretty accurate.

THIS WAS WHERE WE HAD THE BEST, MOST DELICIOUS CHICKEN RAMEN EVER!!!!! 

I don't think the noises of pleasure, satisfaction and gratitude that came out of Saliheen and I while we slurped the noodles and soup sounded very appropriate HAHAHAHA. 

Very hot, very hearty and they weren't kidding when they said we'll get to savour the "deep rich taste of the chicken" hahahaha. We've never tasted ramen soup that rich before ok! And the best part, the egg yolk is the wet and wobbly kind that you expect from Japanese dishes hehehe. I think this is my next favourite meal after our first night dinner at Gyumon, honestly - Saliheen and I couldn't stop talking about it for days after that... ♥

Each ramen bowl cost about ¥750 (S$9.30) and the kedai has two levels - the 2nd level is the usual restaurant seating format whereas the first level (where we sat) was a bar seating format (smoking allowed). They also serve other stuff like fried chicken and curry sets (which we didn't really like).

Anyway, if you really, really, really can only afford time to eat at only one place in Asakusa that serves halal food, I highly recommend Ippin! Naritaya wins with their warm and friendly service whereas Ippin wins with the taste of their ramen. But if you can go for both joints like (gelojoh) us then that will be the best, of course! 

Okay, that'll be all for Asakusa! It was off to Akihabara pulak, known as an otaku culture hub!

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.

Tokyo Travels: Part 3 (Part 2)

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 Ape in 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 Instagram too. 

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!

Tokyo Travels: Day 3 (Part 1)

Happy to wake up to another day in Tokyo! In case you haven't noticed, I've been blogging about my trip to Tokyo, which you can read about here and here for Day 1 and here, here and here for Day 2.

Before starting the day, I unwrapped the wagashi that I bought from Higashiya the day before and ahhhhh, the Japanese people are so good and so meticulous with their presentation and aesthetics! So pretty laaaaa.

Even their construction barriers are pretty, ok. HAHA (These were everywhere near our hotel)

After a quick breakfast of wagashi and pastries from a nearby bakery, Saliheen and I made our way to Meiji Shrine! Saliheen and I weren't familiar with the history of the shrine but it's on every Top 10 places to go to in Tokyo list so we dropped by for a visit. It's nice and serene in the morning (crowd started to swell when we were about to leave at 11am) but probably not a place we'll return to if we travel to Tokyo again. 

We didn't write messages on the wooden planks but I paid particular attention to this one because I love how the message is so simple yet so beautiful and can be applicable to anyone :)

We left Meiji Shrine shortly after and walked to the nearby Yoyogi Park to lepak lepak. Shiok to lepak there because the weather was very cooling! And so nice to people-watch - we saw volunteers jogging with disabled and mentally challenged individuals as part of an initiative to keep them active and healthy. So baik hati kan.

As you can see, half of our time in Yoyogi Park was also spent trying to take couple shots hahaha

Actually kan I was hoping to see cosplayers and the popular rockabilly dancers in Yoyogi Park but we were too lazy to walk around the whole park (we weren't even sure if they'd be around during wintertime) so we settled for lazy people-watching and chatting somewhere near the entrance. 

Left Yoyogi Park after an hour or so and went to an area that some people say is Tokyo's version of Bugis Market but a little bit crazier - Harajuku! Of course we had to masuk the popular Takeshita Street.

I like the chips from Calbee Plus and my chocolate brownie crepe from Marion Crepes! I wasn't expecting much but the crepe was quite nice, I can see why it has good reviews. By the way, if you're planning to do like the locals do and eat crepes in Harajuku, make sure you either purchase from Marion Crepes or Angel Heart ok, because they are the originals. There will be imitation shops along the way (with variations of their names e.g. Angel, Angel Sweetheart, etc) so make sure you get the right one. Don't depend on the length of the queues because a lot of people confuse the shops so every crepe shop will have long queue one haha. Of course if you don't care original ke imitation ke then doesn't matter la.

Also, can I just say that we went to Harajuku on the "wrong" day?! I read that Harajuku is the most interesting and liveliest on Sundays which is why I scheduled Harajuku on our only Sunday in Tokyo... turns out "interesting and liveliest" also means the area was crazy jam-packed with youths and tourists! It got too much sampai we felt suffocated (the crowd became as bad as this as the day went on) and I couldn't even bring myself to stop and masuk any of the stores to do some shopping :( Luckily Saliheen flagged out a few of the shops he wanted to check beforehand so after he bought a few tee-shirts and caps, we bolted out of Harajuku!

We didn't even get to take neoprints tau :( Read online that Harajuku is the land of neoprint shops but we didn't spot any while we were there, wahlau. I think we were too frazzled by the crowd la :( I really wanted to take neoprints seh, I used to take sooooo many neoprints with my friends and ex-boyfriends in school, it'll be so fun to take and decorate some with Saliheen kan. Ah well... yet another reason to return to Japan, I guess #ohtakeh

Oh, we also passed by Chanel, Magnolia Bakery and Kiddyland before we left for our next destination - I tried asking for the black Chanel espadrilles that I wanted but they were totally sold out (obvi), borong-ed banana pudding from Magnolia Bakery and bought myself a fluffy Gudetama pillow at Kiddyland hehe.

In case you don't know who or what Gudetama is, it is a Sanrio cartoon character in the form of a super lazy egg who uses pieces of bacon as its blanket and is always unmotivated to move or do anything. Sounds like me on any given day except I don't have a blanket made of bacon la HAHAHAHA


You can watch more Gudetama episodes on this playlist here. It's a little cute, a little weird and can get a little morbid; which is how I like my cartoons to be, really, hehe.

Talking about my Gudetama purchase, can you believe how irritating my husband can be? (Yes, you can) I picked up and hugged a Gudetama pillow when I saw a Gudetama section in Kiddyland and started squealing that it was mine mine mine, and the first thing he said was "Boleh beli ni ke bb?" When I asked him kenapa tak boleh beli pulak, his reply was "Selimut dia kan bacon" EH KAU DIAM LA SEH!!!!!!!!!!