Just a note... I will be journaling my Tokyo adventures here on my blog, so if you are only interested in crafting, you may want to skip these posts..
On our way to the Miyamoto Taiko store, we found some friends on the Ban Dai sidewalk! DH wanted to take a photo with Kamen-Rider. I decided to mimic this cute froggie since Akemi is into amphibians right now...
We also decided to take a picture with the huge Kaminari-mon or huge chochin!! I guess this is a very popular photo op and we lucked out that we took the photo early in the morning. When we went back in the afternoon, it was super duper crowded.
Here we are at the Miyamoto Taiko store... DH was in bachi heaven! He was soooooo happy to be there and admitted he finally understands how I feel when I go craft shopping!!!! Oh, and he also told me that he will try to be more patient when I'm craft shopping too.. Heard that everyone?
After buying a lot of taiko stuff, I dragged DH to Mister Donut. I just wanted to check it out to see if it was japanese or american donuts. I was happy to find out it was japanese and boy was it insanely good. Much better than Krispy Kreme! The chocolate dipped one had banana cream inside and the other one was just cruncy donut goodness!
After dropping off all the taiko stuff to our room, we headed for the Nakamise-dori. This was the first store I went in and I was so awed that I didn't buy anything... yet. Here's me with a wall full of washi paper.
I had to take a photo of the whole wall so that you would believe me.
We saw a lot of people eating this mochi on a stick, so we stopped and shared one. It was covered with some kind of teriyaki sauce. They made sure we ate it inside their shop and didn't walk around with it.
After some shopping, we got hungry and attempted to find one of the recommended restaurants by Mikey. We decided on the stuffed katsu place called Kichi Katsu(?). If Mikey did not give us the directions, we would have easily bypassed this place. In fact, we thought they weren't open, but decided to try the sliding door and we happy to find that they were open. The service was great and the food so ono.. here's DH with the miso katsu and gyoza stuffed katsu. They said the other popular one was cheese stuffed but DH didn't want to try that one.
On our way to the temple, we got side tracked because DH heard some drumming, so we went to investigate. It turns out it was this monkey who did tricks on the street. So cute! Got a photo of him jumping over the stick.
One of the traditions is to get a fortune. If your fortune is bad, you should tie it to the stand and leave it there. Both of us had bad fortunes, so we did the same.
The other thing everyone did was to have this smoke blown on you. Everyone stand the pot and fans it into them. It supposed to be healing smoke, so we did it too.
After the temple, we had another snack that Mikey told us about. It's called age-manju or fried manju. OMG! It was sooooo good, not oily at all and so fresh. We had the custard flavor, but I'm sure we will go back and try more later.
And I found frozen yogurt! Well, I can't be sure its actually frozen yogurt, it could've just been soft serve for all I know. But it was green tea and the cone was so good. So fresh- not stale at all like back home. Sigh.. the Japanese sure know how to eat!
So after a day of shopping, we got back to the hotel to rest before heading out to eat dinner... but I crashed out and woke up at 1:00am. So much for dinner! Gotta try go back sleep for a few more hours since we have Tokyo Disneyland later this morning. Sayoonara!
On our way to the Miyamoto Taiko store, we found some friends on the Ban Dai sidewalk! DH wanted to take a photo with Kamen-Rider. I decided to mimic this cute froggie since Akemi is into amphibians right now...
We also decided to take a picture with the huge Kaminari-mon or huge chochin!! I guess this is a very popular photo op and we lucked out that we took the photo early in the morning. When we went back in the afternoon, it was super duper crowded.
Here we are at the Miyamoto Taiko store... DH was in bachi heaven! He was soooooo happy to be there and admitted he finally understands how I feel when I go craft shopping!!!! Oh, and he also told me that he will try to be more patient when I'm craft shopping too.. Heard that everyone?
After buying a lot of taiko stuff, I dragged DH to Mister Donut. I just wanted to check it out to see if it was japanese or american donuts. I was happy to find out it was japanese and boy was it insanely good. Much better than Krispy Kreme! The chocolate dipped one had banana cream inside and the other one was just cruncy donut goodness!
After dropping off all the taiko stuff to our room, we headed for the Nakamise-dori. This was the first store I went in and I was so awed that I didn't buy anything... yet. Here's me with a wall full of washi paper.
I had to take a photo of the whole wall so that you would believe me.
We saw a lot of people eating this mochi on a stick, so we stopped and shared one. It was covered with some kind of teriyaki sauce. They made sure we ate it inside their shop and didn't walk around with it.
After some shopping, we got hungry and attempted to find one of the recommended restaurants by Mikey. We decided on the stuffed katsu place called Kichi Katsu(?). If Mikey did not give us the directions, we would have easily bypassed this place. In fact, we thought they weren't open, but decided to try the sliding door and we happy to find that they were open. The service was great and the food so ono.. here's DH with the miso katsu and gyoza stuffed katsu. They said the other popular one was cheese stuffed but DH didn't want to try that one.
On our way to the temple, we got side tracked because DH heard some drumming, so we went to investigate. It turns out it was this monkey who did tricks on the street. So cute! Got a photo of him jumping over the stick.
One of the traditions is to get a fortune. If your fortune is bad, you should tie it to the stand and leave it there. Both of us had bad fortunes, so we did the same.
The other thing everyone did was to have this smoke blown on you. Everyone stand the pot and fans it into them. It supposed to be healing smoke, so we did it too.
After the temple, we had another snack that Mikey told us about. It's called age-manju or fried manju. OMG! It was sooooo good, not oily at all and so fresh. We had the custard flavor, but I'm sure we will go back and try more later.
And I found frozen yogurt! Well, I can't be sure its actually frozen yogurt, it could've just been soft serve for all I know. But it was green tea and the cone was so good. So fresh- not stale at all like back home. Sigh.. the Japanese sure know how to eat!
So after a day of shopping, we got back to the hotel to rest before heading out to eat dinner... but I crashed out and woke up at 1:00am. So much for dinner! Gotta try go back sleep for a few more hours since we have Tokyo Disneyland later this morning. Sayoonara!
Sounds like you're having a lot of fun! Did you eat a "Lion" donut at Mister Donut? For the longest time, Mr. donut was a landmark for me when I went to Osaka, to make sure I went out the right exit at the train station.
ReplyDeleteI hope you get to go to Ameyoko by Ueno Park, I think your DH would love the toy store there, I know I do!
Thanks for sharing your adventures!Have a great trip!
Wow! Sounds like you & DH are having a blast! Yum! All that food you're describing sounds delish! Have fun & be safe!
ReplyDeleteTammy
OMG!!! You're having SO much fun!! can't wait for our Japan trip... in like a few years... LOL.. Have fun girly, can't wait to hear more of your adventures!!
ReplyDeleteHey Jenny,
ReplyDeleteI keep thinking about you and wondering what kind of neat supplies you're buying and goodies you're eating. Sounds like you and Paul hit on some ono grinds and having a well-deserved blast. And OMG, all that washi paper. WHOA!!! Have fun!!!
EXCITING!!! I LOVE Japan! Looks like you guys are having a blast!!
ReplyDelete