My proposal was complete after vising the Ghibli Museum, so that left me with one last evening and a full day in Tokyo to wander around. I think all of the running around finally caught up to me because I was extremely exhausted when Saturday evening came around. I felt like I had seen and done everything I wanted to in Tokyo, so I allowed myself to take a much slower pace and absorb all the sights the city had left to offer.
There is a crossing in Tokyo named Shibuya Crossing. It's a four-way crossing, but at any given time, it is the most congested intersection in Japan. From what I read, during rush hour, there could be a total of 3,000 people during one light change. I found myself at this crossing and was only able to take this one picture, for fear of being trampled on. It is very overwhelming to have people coming at you from all different directions!
I was actually headed to the Omotesando neighborhood so that I could grab dinner at a place called Maisen. I had read about this restaurant and how its specialty was tonkatsu. The restaurant has been open since 1965 and once again, I had another delicious meal. This was definitely one of the best meals I've had in Japan. The breading was amazing - not too thick, not too thin, and certainly not greasy.
Doesn't it all just look amazing? The sliced cabbage with a bit of squeezed lemon juice complimented the breaded pork. Yummy!
After dinner, I walked around Omotesando some more. The street that Maisen was on was lined with the cutest boutiques. Once you turned the corner to the Main Street, it was very busy and there seemed to be quite a few weddings going on because I saw a lot of families dressed up. The area itself is very nice; similar to Ginza and Roppongi Hills.
After walking around, I decided it was time to get back to my hotel room to get a good night's sleep for my last full day in Tokyo.
Sunday morning started with a trip to the Takashimaya Department Store in Times Square. Within the store is another chain, Tokyu Hands. This store supposedly had everything you could think of and I wanted to check it out for myself. If I hadn't mentioned it before, everything in Japan has a mascot - including the trains. They're adorable. Here is Takashimaya's cute mascot. And how much do you love that the customer service employees are dressed like the mascot? So cute!
After browsing through all 8 floors of Tokyu Hands, I made my way to the Park Hyatt Hotel for some afternoon tea. Check out the view from their lobby lounge! That's Tokyo's version of Central Park. I think this picture really captures just how many buildings are in Tokyo and in some weird way, offers some beauty within the endless concrete structures.
Since I didn't have a prior reservation, I wasn't able to stay for as long as I wanted, so off I went. I did a quick search on the Internet for recommended places to have afternoon tea and decided to make my way to the Ritz Carlton. Sure enough, they had availability and informed me that there was no seat time; I could stay as long as I wanted. Perfect! I enjoyed some strawberry tea, light snacks, and decided that this would be the perfect spot to catch up on my blog. Talk about a calm afternoon!
A few hours later, I decided to walk around Akihabara, which is also known as Electric Town. I didn't take any pictures of the area because it didn't really interest me. It was also extremely crowded and I was ready to eat dinner for calling it a night. For my last dinner in Tokyo, I decided to go back to Kamakura Noodles. This is the place where I had my first meal the day I arrived. Below is the machine where you order your food. You put in your money, push the buttons (pick your dish/dishes), and then a ticket comes out. You hand the ticket to the host, take a seat, and voila! Your ramen is ready to eaet at your pleasure.
My next post will be my reflection post, so until then...oyasumi nasai (good night)!
-Mrs. de Leon :)
No comments:
Post a Comment