Japan, Part 4
Aaaaand this marks the last post from my Japan trip! Writing these posts have left me constantly refreshing airline websites in the hopes for an insanely cheap ticket so I can relive the experience all over again! Seriously guys, it was one of the best holidays I’ve ever had and I barely scratched the surface of what Japan has to offer.
For lunch we were determined to eat a whole lotta meat at a yakiniku restaurant, a japanese DIY style of cooking of meats on a grill. I’m not too sure which restaurant this was because I am fail and forgot to take a pic of the exterior but we were lured in by the signs spruiking Yomogata and Kobe beef.
There wasn’t an english menu so we basically just pointed at pics haha gaijin ordering fail! We were given some dipping sauces and a pot of broad beans mixed with salsa which was totally addictive.
Look at that marbling! Yeah baby yeah!
That sweet, glorious scent of fatty meat searing away ermahgerddd!!
We were in Shibuya for random shopping and buying last minute candy gifts and spotted signs for Cat Cafe Hapineko (Cratos Building (3rd floor), 2-28-3 Dogenzaka, Shibuya, Tokyo). I wanted to go to a maid cafe instead but Noods wanted to see exactly what a cat cafe was and since we were right there we climbed the stairs and made our way to the reception area. 30 mins in the cafe was 500yen/$5.25 not including tax and you have to order a drink off the menu for another 500 yen/$5.25.
AND THEN COME THE RULES. First shoes had to be taken off (which is pretty much a given anywhere in Japan), jeans had to be rolled up above the ankles, we could only bring our phones and cameras into the room so bags had to be left in lockers, we had to read and agree to the rules on which cats could or couldn’t be touched let alone picked up AND THEN head on over to the cleaning station where you have to follow very specific instructions to wash your hands in the order of disinfectant, water, soap and hand sanitiser and drying with paper towels.
I can totally understand all the rules though cos the cafe does get pretty busy with a lot of curious tourists and the cats do look pretty well taken care of. There were about 10 cats wandering around that day but half were sleeping and the rest were either super shy or just cbf playing with humans. If you guys visit, pay the 150yen/$1.60 for the cat food and the cats will show a bit more interest in you.
You get a designated area on where to sit and where your drinks arrive but really you can still walk around after the cats. The place was super warm and cosy and felt like someone’s living room! So many cat knick knacks and heaps of photos, books and toys all over the place. The size of our drinks (green tea and Calpis) were quite large and came with some biscuits.
Here kitty kitty kitty
When our time was up we reluctantly left the warmth of the cafe and wandered over to the Hachikō statue where I made a fool of myself.
As it was our last day Noods was super determined to eat udon and spent the night before googling where to go while I apparently sleep-talked in my sickness induced coma. We took the train to Tokyo station (15mins on the JR Chuo Line) and I very grumpily lagged behind as Noods attempted to find Tsurutontan (2-7-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Tokyo Building (TOKIA) B1F), a famous restaurant specialising in udon. We were walking outside in the rain for a good 15mins before we realised the restaurant was underground bah! Luckily by the time we found the restaurant the queue wasn’t too long and we were seated pretty quickly.
WOOT GIANT BOWLS OF UDON!!! The bowls were big enough to bathe a small child! I felt so sorry for the waitresses cos the bowls are damn heavy.
After doing his homework Noods told me to order the Creamy Zanmai Oudon (1800yen/$18.80), Tsurutontan’s specialty creamy udon with prawns, tender chicken pieces, super fat scallops and cod roe. Luckily (or not so luckily) the bowls aren’t filled to the top, the portioning is pretty spot and I only just managed to finish it all. It was pretty damn tasty and my insides felt warm with happiness.
Noods ordered the Shabuniku no Oudon (1500yen/$15.65), a sweetened soy sauce flavoured soup with meltingly tender Japanese beef loin and topped with a gooey egg. The noodles had the perfect bite to them and the soup hit the umami note spot on. It wasn’t the prettiest presentation but it was comfort food to the max! Good work Noods!
Since we were in the area we headed to Super Potato (5F, 4F, 3F, Kitabayasi Bldg., 1-11-2, Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo), an incredible 3 level retro gaming store.
Unfortunately the store was about to close so I didn’t have time to snap more pics but each level was filled with all the games of my childhood that you could purchase and even old gaming consoles like Atari! Plenty of plush toys and keychains galore and on the 3rd level there was a whole row of old skool arcade games that Noods was dying to play.
I managed to fit in a couple of MOS cheeseburgers that day because they are freaking awesome with melty cheese, a juicy patty and super squishy soft bun! So obsessed with how glorious these burgers were! And golden onion rings are so much win!
Also tried the cheeseburgers at Lotteria but wasn’t as blown away as I was with the MOS burgers. It was still a tasty burger but I felt it was tad greasy.
Oh random lego pic and lol I dyed my hair black in the hotel room in preparation for my brother’s wedding the next day. Felt like a criminal doing an identity change!
The End! Oh Japan, how I miss you. Words cannot express how much I felt so at home! The food, the people, everything! I will be back, oh yes…
Click here for Japan Part 1
Click here for Japan Part 2
Click here for Japan Part 3