Alright, so today sure was eventful.  It was funny that Ayaka, a friend that I met at UNC and who lives in Tokyo, was actually attempting to visit most of the things on “the list” as we could on the first day.  The List (as thunder booms when this word is uttered), is a set of places that, during our email conversations, were put together and included many different sites, attractions, foods, and cultural events that we wanted to check out and sample.  The plan of hers to see most of those bullet points in one day failed miserably.  By about 12-noon we realized it would be impossible to do so.  First of all, the destinations that are on the list are separated by a good bit of distance.  Even though there is a great metro system within Tokyo, it doesn’t hide the fact that it can take time to switch trains, and ride about 15 or 20 minutes to arrive at another location.  Even though our game plan upon meeting up in the lobby of my hotel, was to go to places that were relatively close to one another, to cut down on this intermediary travel time, we still didn’t see as much because we didn’t consider how long we would be staying at each location.

For example, from Ikebukuro, we headed to Sunshine City, not to far from my hotel.  Sunshine City is a large corporate looking building filled with a lot of shops.  But on the 2F, there is something called Namjatown (owned and operated by Namco).  It is a two floor theme park with a variety of different set of decorations, foods, and rides depending on which are you are in.  There are areas representing, ancient Japan, New York in the 1950s, ghosts and spirits, Italy, and many more RANDOM themes.  But one set of themes that Namjatown is known for are the food themes: ice cream, gyoza, and dessert.  These areas give visitors the unique opportunity to try different styles of those specific foods.  Each stall within each region has a slightly different take on the overall theme.

In the gyoza area, there about 11 or 12 different stalls offering a different array of gyoza.  Oh, by the way, if you don’t know, gyoza are crescent shaped dumplings filled with a variety of different things.  Anyways, as you are walking by many of the stalls, you may see gyoza filled with: Iberico Ham & Cheese, Pork, Chicken, seafood assortment, garlic and herb chicken, eel, chopped scallops, and many more.  We ordered two different kinds so that we could try them.  To get to the point of actually ordering them took about…25 minutes.  Seriously, there are so many choices at each stand that it takes a long time to finally decide on which one(s) you want to try.  All the stands put out there menu (with very large images) in front of the stand itself.  They are about 6 to 6.5 feet tall and resemble drive-through menus.  Some of the stalls even feature a numbering system that tells the visitor which are the most popular gyoza at that stand, so that if a person wants to ensure they chose a good one, that they use the wisdom of the crowd, to pick the number one or two top selling gyoza.  But you never know, for some of the more elaborate or…weird flavors, they may be featured as the number one selling gyoza not for their taste but more for their novelty.  Regardless, we bought two orders, one from one stand and the other from another stand.  We chose Iberico Ham & Cheese and then another one that is like a pork filling but features a little bit of habanero chili sauce on top, I chose the later of course!  So we sat down at one of the stalls that we had ordered from, and then asked for the other one to be brought to where we were (just like take out)…told ya’ they are like drive-through, hahaha.  A little while later, we were served the habanero one, and were greeted with a small intense heat when we ate the gyoza…which then lead to a slightly bit more of discomfort that didn’t want to go away.  Yes, we were served water to drink, but in a plastic cup slightly bigger than a typical shot glass; so yes, we needed more water ASAP!  But I think for me, the heat got to me since it was the first thing I’d eaten all day, so it was a huge wake up call.  Either way, Ayaka gave up and offered to “give” me the rest, about three gyoza.  I was like, “uh…heck ya’!”  Once your mouth is already coping with the first set, it really doesn’t hit you as much, all you are doing is prolonging the burn, hahaha.  So fortunately for Ayaka, the Iberico Ham & Cheese (covered with a sweet brown sauce) arrived.  We each tried one, and enjoyed this one the most.  Obviously you could enjoy the flavor of the filling more, and the sauce was complimentary part of the gyoza, versus the main feature that gave it its distinction (in other words, the Habanero gyoza is featured as an option at one of the stands because it uses habanero sauce, not because of a special filling).  Regardless, I enjoyed both!

The hallway of the gyoza themed area...so many to choose from

Gyoza with the habanero sauce on top

Gyoza with Iberico Ham & Cheese inside

Took a while to choose, not it is time to enjoy!

Taking a photo down one of the halls that is decorated more traditionally

We then headed up to the 3F for the dessert theme.  But because we were still feeling the habanero sauce, we decided to skip dessert (consisting of cakes, flans, cookies, puddings, custards, etc) and headed to Ice Cream City.  We figured something cool would help, hahaha.  Ice Cream City is an area that features tons of varieties of ice cream, from the mundane chocolate or strawberry, to more extravagant flavors like Sesame, to just outlandish flavors like ox/beef tongue, sushi, curry, viper, eel, octopus, squid, and many more…”interesting” flavors.  Here we decided to get an extravagant and outlandish flavored set of ice creams.  We first went for ox/beef tongue.  Yes, it tastes like it, but not because of the ice cream itself (which is like a vanilla or a plain crème flavored) but instead, it has pieces (some pretty large) of ox/beef tongue.  So you have a bit, and then start chewing these pieces of tongue.  Oh, and if you let the pieces thaw out in your mouth, you will be hit with an even more intense flavor.  It actually was good, but I like ox/beef tongue.  When you first try it, the vanilla softens you up, and then you start chewing the tongue (hopefully not your own) and then that is when you are hit with the real flavor.  If you try to chew at the same time before swallowing the ice cream part, then you finally obtain the real “ox/beef tongue flavored ice cream”.  Needless to say, the second choice, Sesame flavored ice cream was less adventurous, but still AWESOME!  In fact, it is cool to see black ice cream.  The black ice cream is sesame flavored, while the white is vanilla.  The more you eat of it, the more sesame flavor you begin to taste – kind of a roasted, nutty flavor to it.

Entering Ice Cream City!!

The parlor area, where you can sit and enjoy ice cream in a cone

Cow tongue ice cream!

India curry ice cream!

Emulating the image on the ice cream container

Yum, real pieces of cow tongue!!

Sesame ice cream!

After our adventure with foods, we headed for the exit of Namjatown and then left Sunshine City.  I saw Amlux Toyota Showcase across the street and asked if we could make a quick stop.  There, they had the Lexus Edition (you have to drive a Lexus IS-F) of Gran Turismo 5 (for Playstation 3) as a live demo.  You could sit in a Recaro seat, and play this game on about a 32 inch television, featuring a very realistic feeling steering wheel and tiptronic style shifter – this was the ultimate simulator, hahaha.  Oh, you better believe I sat down to play.  Fortunately, there was no line and one of the machines was available.  Ayaka went first and then I tried.  We both didn’t win, but the simulation was awesome, something to really look forward to when they finally release the full version of GT5.

Amlux - The Toyota Auto Salon

Gran Turismo Demo!

Ayaka driving one of the simulators

Driving a Lexus IS-F...in the demo, hahaha

JGTC Toyota Supra

Toyota Partner Robot

Toyota Partner Robot

Wold map/globe

So after Amlux, we headed towards Ueno in order to visit Ameyoko.  Ameyoko is short for “Ameya Yokocho” and is a busy street market that is lined with many different products.  From fruit to fish, shoes to clothes, Ameyoko is a nice market with decent prices that gives visitors a small idea of what a typical street market is like.  Vendors are yelling and trying to bribe customers with good deals to come look at their selection of goods and to then buy.  They come out form their stalls and may try to wave something in front of you to grab your attention, or may just sit back and try to talk to you, “hey friend, come here and look at my selection of fruit, they are sale for…”  Others may not say anything at all, and just let the lure of their product selection do the talking.

Ameyoko - shopping area

After Ameyoko, we decided to stroll through a park nearby.  There wasn’t too much going on, but there was a baseball field in the park – with a few young boys playing around, and what seemed to be some old coaches on the side taking notes.  At another side, there was a large water fountain that shot water into the air about every two minutes or so, and would sustain this tall fountain for a good three or so minutes.  Oddly enough, we had seen that the park had a zoo inside so we looked for it.  After passing it without noticing, we then realized and turned around.  We were about to go inside, but then I realized, “I can go to a zoo anywhere…”  So we instead decided to heads towards Asakusa.

Asakusa is a district within Taito, Tokyo, Japan.  Asakusa is famous for the Senso-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to bodhavisattva Kannon.  You may have seen photos of it and just didn’t know the location, but at the front gate there is The Kaminarimon that houses a giant red chochin.  Apparently, the Kaminarimon has been burned or destroyed multiple times, and each time was rebuilt and some times, features were added.  Ayaka was telling me that at the foot of the red chochin, there is a word that says…Panasonic.  Apparently during some event, Panasonic put that there, as a type of sponsor…that is pretty funny.  Anyways, after passing under The Kaminarimon, you are met by a long walkway of traditional shops offering edible goods, mini lanterns, scrolls, chopsticks, bobble heads, toys, etc.  The street or area is called Nakamise.  There were a lot of people on this street, and it seemed to go on forever.  Ayaka told me that this is one of the locations where you can find a group of many shops that are selling more traditional-like items…but obviously some of the items are meant for tourists versus of being of traditional quality and context.  Once you walk through all these shops, you arrive at Senso-ji.  It is Tokyo’s oldest temple and has a lot of significance.  After admiring the architecture and throngs of people walking around, we walked up to a small well that had incense burning and releasing a very strong smell as well as a lot of smoke.  People were  walking up to the well and then using there hands to bring the smoke to their face and then to direct the smoke to roll over there head and body.  Ayaka explained that the action of directing the smoke to cover one’s head and body is a symbol of purification.  Furthering this process, nearby was a water fountain that had a lot of ladles around it.  People would take these with their right hand, wash the left, then take the ladle and scoop more water with the left and clean the right hand, finally, you fill the ladle a bit and drink the water (some people choose to spit the water, others swallow it, it is up to you.  Upon finishing our purification, we entered Senso-ji and deposited a few coins into a collector as a sign of thanks and offering.  I took a lot of pictures of the sanctuary, were only a select few are allowed to enter to pray/meditate.  I followed Ayaka over to the right where she explained a very old tradition of fortune telling.  You take this cylindrical item, shake it, and then tap the end to cause a small stick to come out.  There are a lot of these sticks in the cylinder.  On the stick is a symbol(s) inscribed telling you which drawer to open.  Upon opening the drawer, you take out a piece of paper that has your fortune written out on it.  Poor Ayaka! She received the worst “fate” and then had to go over to a special area to fold it up and pray that the bad fortune be taken away.

The Kaminarimon!

Nakamise street...you can find "traditional" Japanese products

Halt!

A very large red chochin

I was able to fit a lot into the photo...many aspects of the area are spread out!

Purifying myself with incense

Water purification...wash the right, then the left hand, now drink or swish the water

Inside the Senso-ji

After that, we went looking for something to eat.  We found a restaurant that specializes in Okonomiyaki.  Okonomiyaki is a pancake that is filled with a variety of ingredients.  As we entered the restaurant, we were asked to remove our shoes and place them into provided plastic bags.  We then walked over to our table, sat on the floor, and then were given a few instructions.  Oh, and there was a large fan right beside the table…and for good reason, the place was SO HOT!  I’ve never been inside of a building that was that hot.  The place had a lot of fans (at least one per table) and was also open to the ambient in that no doors were present…so why was it so hot?  Well, the large flat cooking area in front of us was a pretty big clue, they were apparently always operating and so were always putting off tons of heat.  Anyways, we began looking at the varieties of Okonomiyaki; there were over 30 kinds!  We ordered two so that we could try different flavors: Butakimutiten (long green onions, pork, leeks, and Kimchi) & Osomeyaki (the house special – steamed cuttlefish, steamed shrimp, egg, cabbage, minced meat, and noodles).  At the restaurant you can have the table servers make the Okonomiyaki for you or you can make it yourself.  We elected to make it ourselves, although we did ask for some help at a few critical points, namely at the point when you have to flip the entire pancake so that you can cook the other side.  The process to make the Butakimutiten was very straight forward, just mix the ingredients and batter that are in the bowl, together and then pour this mixture onto the grilling/cooking area.  The Osomeyaki was a little bit more complicated.  The batter is first put down to cook for a bit.  The batter is poured and then with a circular motion starting from the center out, is shaped into a large pancake circle.  After about 30 seconds, the ingredients are literally stacked on top of the semi-cooked pancake.  Noodles are added on top and the entire thing is cooked for a bit.  Once the pancake on the bottom has stiffened a bit, you flip the entire Osomeyaki, a good 4 inches tall.  We were told to flip the Osomeyaki about three times, and then it would be done…if done right, hahaha.  As both ended there cooking times, Ayaka used the provided metal spatulas to cut both pancakes into quarters.  We started with the Butakimutiten.  It had a really god taste because of the kimchi; and the sauce in the center was still slightly liquidity so it had a nice effect when you bit into it, like a filled donut with a cream center.  So the entire pancake was warm and cooked, but the center was slightly liquidity so that the entire piece would melt in your mouth; very good flavor!  The Osomeyaki was next.  Just before we ate it, we used a brush to put some sauce on top of it and then we served one another.  It was really good, and I think I liked it the best.  The noodles on top had not stiffened too much like I thought they would.  I mean, they are in direct contact with the cooking area after you flip the entire thing; so I figured that they would become hard and crispy.  They weren’t, they were chewier than simply boiled noodles, but they had a nice slightly nutty/buckwheat flavor to them.  We continued to eat and eventually finished both…bad idea.  We were both so stuffed, but at the same time, the meal had been very good and also entertaining (since we cooked it ourselves).

Okonomiyaki restaurant

Ayaka mixing the Okonomiyaki mixture

Butakimutiten (long green onions, pork, leeks, and Kimchi)

Osomeyaki (the house special – steamed cuttlefish, steamed shrimp, egg, cabbage, minced meat, and noodles)

So we headed to Shibuya to look around.  If you don’t know, Shibuya’s station is one of the busiest in the world, and no wonder, there is a lot to do in this district/city of Tokyo.  We passed by Hachiko, a statue of a dog, who is remembered for being very loyal to its owner (even after his death), but is now hailed as “the spot” to wait for friends arriving in Shibuya.  I suppose it is an easy landmark to use as a meeting area before heading out.  As we passed it, we came up to the famous street of Tokyo, that allows walkers from different corners of the intersection, to all cross the street at one time.  It is funny to see people walk using different paths and angles to get across the street, and many times, people will pass in front of you, coming from a countless number of directions.

Shibuya @ night

In Shibuya, there are a lot stores for shopping.  We went into a few and I began to see some of the different trends in Tokyo.  In one of the buildings we went into, there was a small shop that had a lot of small unique products like colored toilet paper!!

Cool cup...look at the reflection to see the words "Thank You"

Colored paper toilet paper!!!!

Walking around made us hungry, and so we went into a restaurant on one of the top floors of a building nearby.  It was a type of restaurant where you can order a few drinks and some small dishes.  I had a plum liquor on ice, and we both shared a salad.  The salad had a mayonnaise dressing that added a unique flavor to the overall salad.  It was a light meal to end the day, and allowed me to experience one of many options in Shibuya at night.  With a lot of friends, I could see a place like this being a lot of fun.  Each “table” is a private room, with sliding doors.  You ring a small electronic bell to capture the attention of the servers in order to take your order or ask them a question.  Thus, with some friends, this place would be really relaxing and allow for some great conversations.  Needless to say, it was a bit loud in there, since people had been drinking, were laughing and giving each other hard times, and the fact that the private rooms were separated by walls made of parchment, didn’t really stop much sound…just the sight of other people, hahaha.

A very tasty salad!

The sauce on top was rather sticky...like jelly or molasses like

Filed under: Travel by Giancarlo Deleon