Day 3
Ichiran Ramen➜Meiji Shrine➜Harajuku➜Bills Pancake➜Sake bar restaurant➜思い出橫丁 Yakitori Alley
Ichiran Ramen 一蘭拉麵
Day 3, I started with Ichiran Ramen which is a popular ramen store, and they just opened a new store in Taipei. Had no idea what to eat, I found out there was a Ichiran Ramen just nearby the hotel. I’m always fascinated by the Japanese dining system which you choose what you wanna eat first and pay the vending machine, and the machine gives you the coupons for your meals. Ichiran is famous for not only the good ramen but also that the customers get personal seats. It means that it wouldn't feel awkard for lonely eaters to go alone. It's a quite new experience for me that we dined together but got separated by curtains haha!
Meiji Shrine 明治神宮
Not having a strict plan to follow, I suggested we go to Meiji Shrine for a walk. It's also a must-see destination as recommended. The temple is covered by a big forest. I really liked how easy it is to enjoy big green scenery in Tokyo. A large torri gate is the entrance along with trails to the temple. Walking for about 20 mins, you can see the temple in the end. Apart from foreigner tourists, many students were on a field trip as well to pay their tribute.
Torri entrance (the biggest one in Japan)
Barrels of sake wall
Saw a traditional wedding ceremony! So lucky!!
Bills Pancake
Meiji Shrine is right in Harajuku where is a shopping and dining area for young folks. I've been told that Bills has good pancakes. Lining up for 20 mins, we finally got a table to have afteroon tea time! (My companion was not so patient though. thank god he liked the pancake a lot haha!)
The banana pancake looked soooo fluffyyyyy! We also ordered avocado and healthy juice. The pancake was tasty and creamy but I almost couldn't finish my plate.
Bills has stores throughout in Japan↓↓↓
It was on a big sale season so I decided to go shopping for treating myself afterwards. Apart from local brands, you can also see international ones which Taiwan has not imported yet. Without doubt, Harajuku is totally a shopping paradise!
Meeing up with Kana!!!
The most exciting part of the trip was that I could meet up with a couple friends here. Kana was my best friend back in the U.S. while I was on exchange student program. I was the only exchange student from Taiwan during my stay. I remember she approached me at orientation ceremony and we became good friends ever since. We hung out together basically every day and we both drank! I was over 21 already (yeah I was 24, one of the oldest students among the exchage students.) so I could go buy booze for us haha! We even took some trips together. It was always so fun to hang out with Kana and so many fantastic memories/jokes we have shared.
Our last trip back in Boston, 2013.
Sake bar restaurant
I saw Kana 2 years ago when she came to Taipei last time. We also met up and had a good time. So, I told her I'd come to Tokyo in Jan and we definitely should hang out and we DID!!
Kana brought us to a fine sake bar restaurant. It's hidden in a basement, a pretty cool place with only 30 seats but its full. Kana made a reservation and we got to sit at the bar to see a wall of sake bottles! She ordered a box of sea urchin(uni) and I'd say its the best one I have had in my life. We also tried many kinds of good sake. It was such a great combination. Catching up with our lives and making jokes, we all got tipsy in the end. God! I miss it so much now!
Meishuizakayagankooyaji (銘酒居酒屋 頑固おやじ)↓↓↓
https://tabelog.com/tw/tokyo/A1304/A130401/13128233/
思い出橫丁 Yakitori Alley (Piss Alley)
After the sake bar restaurant, Kana took us to yakitori alley. Memory Lane(Omoide Yokocho) is right ouside of west gate of Shinjuku station. The alley is quite small filled with small bars and food stands aka Piss Alley. We walked in a random restaurant to have yakitori and beers. I always loved the atmosphere in yakitori bar, easy to talk with friends and Kanpai of course!! We had a good time here! Wish we could hang out more!
See you next time somewhere in the world! My dearest Kana :)
留言列表
