Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Japan 2008:: Tokyo

happy monday, guys! :) 

last week, i've been struck by the most unbelievable bout of post-vacation blues. yikes and its not like i hate my job in the first place! oh well! c'est la vie.
tokyo. wow! where do i start. 

the sights and sounds in the city kept me bouncing for days. and the food! i can eat japanese food for days and not get sick of them. the variety is overwhelming!! and in japan, food stalls are just everywhere! we could not stop eating there was always a classic we HAD to eat, a new flavour of snacks we'd die if we didn't taste or something interesting we NEEDED to buy. we had food and snacks spilling from our ears for the entire week! 

also, on our 7mins walk to and from our hotel to the nearest train station, nippori, there is a long stretch of local food street. filled with amazing croquette, hot onigiri, yakisoba and rice crackers! so everytime we leave or come back, we had to pick up some snacks! needless to say, most of our expenses went to F&B!




this, however, was our excuse for making this trip - the tokyo marathon. we found this phoney picture booth at the race expo, which carried the most amazing selection of running gear! they had running gear in the cutest designs and all sorts of cool gadgets and neat fabrics!! and its by far the best organized race we've been to!

this is daniel's finish time (in his dreams!).. haha, he beat his last race time in the miserable rain and low temperatures so we're mighty proud. daniel is by no means a top runner but he does take his races very seriously so when tiny women dressed in stiff kimono-s, soccerballs, men in ballerina tutus other random mascots ran past our dear boy, he was greatly humbled. i guess there is always more races and better timing to work towards.

unfortunately, this is our only race picture as the weather was miserable and there were too many people at the finish line!!

we celebrated his victory over yakitori and beers in a little street near ueno amongst drunk and rowdy pubbers.


i loved the flowers in japan! this particular gorgeous one was just by the roadside in a bush!! some of them had ranunculus, daffodils and even cherry-blossoms growing right out of pot in their houses. i was extremely jealous and wished i could bring all of them home in my backpack!


imperial palace & the surroundings were gorgeous! i love how much effort they put into manicuring their gardens and pruning their flowers! every corner is picture-perfect!!


i vote this the BEST japanese curry! home-made curry is just a regular local chain of curry restaurant. you can find them at most train stations. tucked in a little corner, you pick your meal from a vending machine (i picked mine from the thumbsized pictures on the vending machine) and put your cash in, within seconds, your freshly plated curry is served with a little side of pickles and an ice-cold glass of water. no fuss, no asking for cheque, nothing. we kept going back to them for more meals!! i wish they had more of these places in singapore!


daniel at harajuku in his best do! :)


one of our nice long walked through meiji shrine.. it was so peaceful and quiet. great place to clear our minds and have a little think about realigning our goals.. a much needed breather from daily life. also a pat on the back for our pseudo-long dist relationship! we're at mid-point and the end is near!! yayy..

harajuku shopping was a tad bit disappointing! we didn't pick up as many things as we wanted to. some shops were super cute but way too crazy.. also, we visited on a weekday so missed out on the cosplay dressers!! boohiss!!


we did however, wake up for some fresh seafood at 4am!


and checked out the fish market!!

and picked a cozy sushi restaurant, had the best red-miso cod fish, seared tuna sushi and amazing salmon with mayo sashimi. *yums* when we tumbled back into bed, it was only 7am!! boy, it was so painful to climb out of bed that morning. i felt like a truck ran over me..


and it was hard saying bye to tokyo. with promises that we'd return to tokyo one day, we reluctantly boarded our train to kyoto, so i thought! :)

keep reading for more adventures...

2 comments:

  1. u make me miss japan..
    i wish i work there man..

    ReplyDelete
  2. me too! how cool would it be? i can spend hours shopping and exploring all the lovely nooks and corners!!!

    ReplyDelete

leave me a little love note. xx