(Eastern) Tokyo

All set for a hot day in Asakusa!

Say bye to Tokyu Stay Shimbashi! We will be back tonight!

Although I love this hotel, the alley nearby was a little dodgy though. 👙

Wefie while Dennis was searching the map.

And here we were in Asakusa! The first thing we saw were rickshaws and the rickshaw drivers were super hot! I must say, from what I have observed so far, 80% of young Japanese women were attractive but only 20% of young men were hot, and among them, 90% were rickshaw drivers! LOL I’m just joking, please do not bombard me hehe.

See? Pretty hot right?

Dennis was always telling me how delicious Mos Burger is when he had them in Singapore. I did not have a chance to try it when I was in Singapore so I thought it would be a good idea to try it now although the shop looked rather run down and dodgy. The staff were friendly but it was a long wait and the food was just okay. (Nop, it was definitely worse than okay …)

The first sight at the outer gates of the temple is the Kaminarimon (thunder gate), with its huge lantern, and crowd of tourists.

Next, the walk continues along Nakamise Dori, which consists of mainly Japanese souvenirs and snack shops.

… and finally, the main hall of Senso-ji (浅草寺), or Asakusa Kannon Temple – the oldest temple in Tokyo. Before heading in we tried drawing an Omikuji 🙏, something like a fortune telling stick.

More photos while wandering around the temple …

Randomly snapping photos and noticed there was a fire at a building nearby.

There’s also a nice garden in Senso-ji next to the main hall.

Spotted some seafood while strolling in Asakusa. Those rock-like clams look delicious hehe.

Stopped at Family Mart for some drinks. I wonder how much Family Mart has earned from us two.

Japan has some Starbucks series of drinks sold in convenience stores.

Randomly browsing Don Quijote, which is a large and popular discount chain store in Japan.

Look what have we found! Toy set for you to create your own fake foodie!

And for lunch …

Ticking off another item on our to-eat list! Sometaro (染太郎), highly rated on Trip Advisor, famous for their okonomiyaki. You might want to take a good look on this picture because it is so tucked away behind those greenery and you can easily miss it. We stood right in front of it searching on the internet for a good 5 minutes before deciding that this is the place!

We were greeted warmly by the staff and the first thing she said was ‘Hot. No air cond.’ I showed her my Minnie fan and said, ‘No worries. I am prepared.’ LOL. I didn’t come all the way here to be beaten by the heat!

The ambiance was nice with wooden interior and tatami mats and creaking floorboards. We ordered the ebi okonomiyaki and I forgot what the other one was, but it was something like okonomiyaki but it was not. LOL.

The ingredients for ebi okonomiyaki, which you should stir well …

And pour onto the hot plate. The one on the left was the ebi okonomiyaki and the one on the right was the not-okonomiyaki hehe.

A closer look. The staff spoke good English and told us how to cook them, when to flip etc. I was so into it that I set my stopwatch on LOL!

So hot that he’s subconsciously grabbing for the water while posing for camera. Time to flip!

Brushed on the sauce generously. Someone said I brushed on too much sauce and when I went lighter on the second one, he secretly added more sauce himself. Ish.

Almost done! Adding some mayonnaise and laver for taste and deco.

Tada! Introducing, the something-that-looks-like-but-is-NOT-okonomiyaki! It looks really good right! I am actually pretty good at this hehehe! 😁

Tada! The second one is an Ebi okonomiyaki!

Verdict: Sometaro 9.5/10 As delicious as it looks! Both okonomiyakis were delicious and the filling was generous. We ordered another dessert red bean filled thingy hehe so we were really full by the end of it. It got a little too hot at some point though, but I would totally visit again if given the opportunity.

Paid and bye Sometaro!

Stopped by Nakamise shopping street (Kaminarimon) while heading back to the train station.

It may not looked attractive but the matcha they sold here was delicious and cheap!

Next stop, Ginza – The most expensive place in Japan. You can find most luxury brands here, and each brand does not simply own a shop, but rather, they have one whole building per brand.😱

Welcome to Ginza, where you can roam on the main street like it belongs to your grandfather (only on weekend afternoons and only along the main street of Chuo Dori).

First stop, Uniqlo!
Remember I said I was amazed at the multistorey H&M store in Harajuku? That was nothing. This Uniqlo is 12 storeys high.

Look how high up we were!

Bought this because I dropped mine 😭.

We were trapped in there for so long that the sky was much darker when we finally got out.

We were searching so hard for a restaurant named Kimukatsu which is famous for their layered pork and we ended up in this restaurant instead. Looks like it is the restaurant we’re looking for but until now we’re not sure why it has a different name …

Verdict Genkatsu 8/10. We had the cheese, sour plum and yuzu pepper flavoured layered Katsu. They were all nice and juicy!

If you do end up eating here, here’s a tip: do not assume that the fancy looking jug is filled with tea… 😂