After Tsukiji Market in the morning (here) and Ginza in the afternoon (here), we quickly made our way to the observation deck at Roppongi Hills' Mori Tower for a look at Tokyo from the top ♥
We left Ginza later than scheduled so the sunset was close to over already by the time we arrived and went up to the deck :( We still got a magnificent view of Tokyo's night skyline though, everything was twinkling so prettily! Quite happy we chose Roppongi Hills' Mori Tower because the open air sky deck meant clear pictures and marveling at the view with wind in our hair...
Fuh, feeling feeling on top of the world la seh.
Actually, there are a few observation decks in Tokyo la so it's just a matter of preference. If you want it free, then Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building is the one for you. If you want to be at the tallest point in Tokyo, go to Tokyo Skytree. If you don't mind a skyline that does not include Tokyo Tower, you can go up Tokyo Tower itself. Check out the comparison guide on different observation decks in Tokyo here... very useful!
For Saliheen and I, we chose Roppongi Hills' Mori Tower (You can read more about it here) because it fits our requirements the best: (1) Must have Tokyo Tower in the skyline (2) Must not be too crowded and have long waiting times (we made calculated guesses) (3) Must not have glass panels (which may reflect light and appear in pictures). Here's a picture of Roppongi Hills' Mori Tower's open air sky-deck... hurray to no glass panels!
Best part: there weren't a lot of people when we were up there so we didn't feel suffocated and didn't feel any pressure to clear the deck. Plus we waited in line for only 10 minutes to buy tickets, I expected the wait to be longer! Got more waiting for lifts to go up the deck la but that part tak counted because the waits were short and we were always moving anyway. Maybe our timing bukan peak period ke apa.
Anyway, tickets cost us ¥2300 (S$27.00) per person, which is made up of a compulsory fee of ¥1800 (S$21.00) for admittance to the Mori Art Museum (located under the sky-deck) + another ¥500 (S$6.00) as entry fee to the open-air skydeck. Not too bad. Dapat masuk Mori Art Museum lagi. The observation decks in NYC were about S$42.00 to S$45.00, more mahal and only pays for admittance to the decks.
By the time we left the observation deck, we were absolutely starving! So we walked down to Sumiyakiya Nishiazabu, which is 5 minutes walk away from Roppongi Hills and operates as a halal establishment serving Korean style barbeque! I first knew about this restaurant from (yeah, you guessed it) a friend's Instagram, when she visited Tokyo early last year. You can see Sumiyakiya's menu here and watch a video of their company here.
They offer several courses and Saliheen and I being the budak gemok that we are (dah bukan perangai budak gemok lagi k, dah MEMANG GEMOK HAHAHA), we opted for the Mahathir Course which costs ¥6500 (SGD76.00) per person. This is the special course served to Malaysia's ex-prime minister Tun Dato Seri Mahathir Mohamad when he patronized the restaurant! But we ordered it not because of its association with him la hahaha but because this is the course that serves A5 class wagyu beef. YUM.
The course comes with homemade kimchi, bean sprouts namul (I hate beansprouts but Korean beansprouts taste better than the usual ones we have in Singapore), vegetable pancakes, croquettes, green salad, Korean lettuce (to wrap the meat and veggies together ala Korean style), boneless chicken thigh, prime rib beef, 3 types of beef plates, Korean style rice and assorted vegetables heated in a stone pot. Rasa kenyang sampai kat hidung dok.
The course comes with homemade kimchi, bean sprouts namul (I hate beansprouts but Korean beansprouts taste better than the usual ones we have in Singapore), vegetable pancakes, croquettes, green salad, Korean lettuce (to wrap the meat and veggies together ala Korean style), boneless chicken thigh, prime rib beef, 3 types of beef plates, Korean style rice and assorted vegetables heated in a stone pot. Rasa kenyang sampai kat hidung dok.
Oh, the server who attended to us was so cute and so sweet, by the way! She couldn't speak much English but tried very hard to explain the restaurant's concept and food to us and was always eager to help when the fire got too big or when we couldn't figure out how to properly roll the meat with the lettuce. The only thing she didn't (and couldn't) help us with was when we couldn't get off our asses after dinner HAHAHAHAHA.
After we left (yes, we managed to kopek our bontot off the kerusi in the end), we were supposed to figure out if the Diners Club Ice Rink in Tokyo Midtown was open (and if so, how to get there) but please eh, kau nak aku mampos ke apa, ice skate dengan perut seberat kapal? Nanti aku terbabas macam Titantic la pulak hahaha. So we scrapped the plan and decided to go jalan jalan at Shibuya again. The only problem?
There is NO direct train line from Roppongi to Shibuya at all. Jeng jeng jeng.
We didn't want the hassle of having to switch trains, we didn't want to take cab from Roppongi to Shibuya (we wanted to save our money for a cab ride from Shibuya back to our hotel instead) and we were too kental to try the bus so our only option was to walk. TO WALK. From Roppongi to Shibuya. For half an hour.
Remember my New Year resolution to always give something a chance, even if it's something I've disliked before?
Turned out to one of the best half an hour walks I've ever had, and will probably ever have.
It was a really nice and chilly night; I was walking hand in hand with my husband down the streets of Tokyo, there was warmth in our tummies (from all the good food) and warmth in our hearts (from the high we felt from the day's experiences), I was wearing comfortable sneakers (no blisters!) and thanks to the cool weather, we didn't break out a sweat, not even when the streets started getting hilly and caused a little bit of resistance while we walked. It was also peaceful and enjoyable because there weren't a lot of people walking on the streets between Roppongi and Shibuya, and the only sounds we heard were from the occasional traffic passing by, our footsteps and our chatter and laughter whenever Saliheen says something silly (like he always does).
It was really, really nice.
Saliheen and I really liked it and agree that it is a night we'll remember for a very, very long time. *happy sigh*
Guess I better wrap up this post and move to Day 4 before I start writing a romantic novella la pulak.
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