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 1 (Part 2)

So after we arrived in Shinjuku via Narita Express on the morning of Day 1, we had 4 hours to kill because check-in was strictly at 3.00pm! If there's one thing I don't like about our hotel in Tokyo, it was the fact that they were crazy strict about their check-in and check-out times. Meh.

We dropped off our luggage at the hotel first then walked around the Shinjuku area to familiarize ourselves and ended up at Takashimaya (behind our hotel) because we wanted to tapao food back to the hotel. Pergi jauh jauh, end up kat Takashimaya jugak kita dua ni hahahaha. Padahal Takashimaya kat Singapore nak jejak pun jarang.

Bought our drinks from the vending machine near our hotel (sebab jakun) and picked up pastries from Gontran Cherrier Tokyo! I read online recommendations on the bakery before our trip but didn't expect to come across an outlet so easily - it's conveniently located beside Shinjuku Station (Southern Terrace exit).

Their bread and other pastries sedap gila, please. I highly recommend the humble but delicious plain croissant! We had their pastries again on days when we didn't have time to sit down for breakfast. Also, if you see a stack of chocolate cookies packaged in a cylindrical plastic container near the cashiers, I recommend those too - they crumble and melt perfectly in your mouth and you won't stop at 1 (I had 3 containers to myself. Because #pbg)

Checked in to the hotel at 3.00pm, had late lunch and agreed on a 20-minute power nap. Of course I woke up at 6.00pm la kan lol power nap habis. Quickly washed up and took a train out to Shibuya Crossing! It was frustrating to navigate the train lines and figure out the prices for the tickets to buy at first, because: 

(1) We realized there was no English text on the board at Shibuya Station (Southern Terrace exit). Ya, I know, wtf. Eventually, we saw a crumbly A4 print-out of the map with English text next to one of the ticketing machines, tried to match the two maps, paid the correct fare and figured out which stop to hop off at.

Ada evidence eh from my Snapchat!!! This screenshot is grainy but you can see that the board is in Japanese.

[Note: I should probably mention that most train stations in Tokyo have English text on their boards, especially the newer ones. But for a few that don't, you can either ask the staff or locals, or look around the ticketing machines for a print-out with English text. Alternatively, pick up the train station map which has both Japanese and English text if you see it at any of the stations and play match the character with the text on the board. Saliheen and I had to do this twice hahahahaha pastu member eksyen ah "Fuhhh, I dah boleh jadi local ah gini" cisbedebah, setakat match match characters nenek aku pun boleh buat sak. // EDIT // A friend just told me it'd be easier to just buy a Suica card and tap tap tap your way around Tokyo! Will explain in a later post why we opted not to get one]

(2) We were lost in Shibuya Station for a good 20 minutes because we didn't know which one was the Hachiko exit lol. In the end, we chose a random exit and walked over to Hachiko/Shibuya Crossing.

HAHAHAHAHAHA LAWA TAK GAMBAR KITA?!?!?!?! MORE LIKE LOUSY RIGHT HAHAHAHA! Mintak ampun mintak maaf ok, kami budak baru belajar. My husband tried his absolute best, okay. But we couldn't get any decent stylo milo shot like this one here, no matter how hard we tried! Which only means one thing ah. Means we must return to Tokyo once we have the right photography skills ah #alasan

After failing miserably (understatement hahaha) to take stylo milo photos kat Shibuya Crossing, we got really hungry and started walking towards Gyumon for dinner. But as you know, kita sesat seh while looking for the shop because it is quite a distance away and the route ada construction hoarding segala. Which is why I decided to post directions to Gyumon here for those who intend to head there too!

We persevered through walaupun perut dah royal rumble and we eventually found the kedai after taking a few wrong turns and walking a very looooong route. Food was freaking worth it, though.

1 set is for 1 person so we went with 2 sets of the ¥4000 (SGD48) package because why barbecue chicken chunks when you can barbecue different types of beef seh?!?!?! #beefsnob The bbq and chilli sauces given with the meal were so-so but the salad was sedap... I really like its dressing! (As in the sauce, not its fashion choice) 

The beef jangan cakap la, so luscious and so lemak and will melt in your mouth while the angels sing in the background HAHAHAHA. Comes with rice and choice of drink too, I recommend the hot green tea because it goes so freaking well with the barbecued meat. 

Anyway, we almost rolled out of Gyumon because we sat on the 2nd level (where you had to sit on the floor, not on chairs like at the 1st level) and perut berat sangat sampai kita tak boleh bangun and get on our feet hahahahaha. But we made it back to our hotel room in the end and needless to say, we slept in bliss! 

Time to rest and charge up energy for Day 2 pulak :D