Japan Day 15 P3

After our mini eating spree @ Asakusa, we abolished going to the next destination, headed back to our apartment & attempted to pack our luggages.

We literally took almost 2 hours to pack all the shopping bags into our luggages & our official luggage count has increased exponentially to 7.

We headed out in search of food for our last meal in Tokyo. In Japan, they have these women-only cabins where women would be safe from gropers, as groping in crowded commuter trains has been a problem in Japan.

Rem Leecher threw tantrum at me cuz he didn't get to eat his tofu meal? We went back to Tokyo Tower in search of the restaurant. Before that, pictures first, wa ha ha!

With 333 meters, Tokyo Tower is 13m taller than its model, the Eiffel Tower of Paris and is the world's tallest self-supporting steel tower. It was completed in the year 1958 as a symbol for Japan's rebirth as a major economic power and serves as a television & radio broadcast antenna, as well as tourist attraction. We were debating if we should go up the observatory tower, but we decided to skip the idea & head for food instead!

Ta-dah! The long-awaited tofu meal for Leecher :) We were ushered in warmly by the attendants at the front yard. However ....... Leecher still didn't get to eat his much-anticipated meal as the restaurant was full -house that night, LOL. I was trying not to burst out laughing when Leecher gave the you-got-to-be-kidding-me-look to the waitress. When we came out from the restaurant, we saw hordes of tour groups entering the restaurant while Leecher walked out dejected.

So I decided to cheer him up with tuna crepes while he flipped his book of must-eat-food-in-Japan for our dinner.

So we arrived at this place, all geared up for charcoal grilled Yakitori :)

Seated at the bar-counter to witness the preparation.

Fresh ingredients right in front of us!

The divine menu, which we ordered almost 70% of what they have to offer!

Started the meal with some appetizers while waiting for the chef to work his magic round the kitchen.

Quick quick, I'm famished!

Due to our hunger, we polished these off as soon as they were served. One word: YUMS! Lightly salted & grilled to perfection, no wonder each stick costs an average of $2. You really pay for the quality and freshness!

Ordered more from the menu! Love the grilled cheese and biscuit combi, heavenly! As a non-vege lover, even the asparagus tasted good!

More more more to add to the plates, 2nd helpings, 3rd helpings & counting!

My 1st and only time eating raw chicken, yeah. We actually ordered the wrong item on the menu and imagine our shocked faces when this was placed in front of us. Surprisingly, it don't really have the raw taste, kind of sweet on its own. This officially became the highlight of the night!

Japan Day 15 P2

Behold, it's me Leecher blogging here. (must contribute my fair bit or risk facing the wrath of You-Know-Who)

Another round of cleansing since we are entering the main hall of Sensoji temple.

One of the most majestic cleansing ponds I have seen so far.

We didn't take a lot of pictures within the temple for fear of "offending the gods", instead we spent most of our time at Asakusa looking for this shop! Courtesy of one of my colleague who told me there's this shop which sells freshly grilled Senbei (a kind of Japanese rice crackers)

Look Blamer was so happy holding onto her Senbei!

I like mine wrapped in a piece of nori. Adds flavour and extra crunch to the cracker.

Next Blamer spotted these cute round balls and wouldn't leave me alone till I promised to let her try one.

The texture was very much like our glutinous rice balls except that they were more colourful and has a slight flavour to it. I believed what Blamer tried was yam flavour.

This was slowly turning out to be a feasting spree. No guesses to what we were having next... ...

But I spotted something else at the same shop front, partly seduced by the aroma lingering in the air.

This was really interesting, I suspect it was made of coconut sugar, or what is commonly known as "black sugar", and they have a coating of soy sauce brushed onto it, giving it a savoury yet sweet taste at the same.

And then the shop lady offered me something else. Spicy! Many ways to eat this snack I must say, but this was way too spicy for me!!!

Which make our initially objective much more appealing to me at the moment... ...

Blamer seems to be exceptionally happy to get her hands on the food, I'm just relieved to be able to extinguish the fire in my mouth.

Japan Day 15 P1

After my little "strike" over the wkend, Leecher was "forced" to blog Day 14 (most of it)! Sometimes, going on strike is good, lol ... just kidding. I was busy with personal stuff & Leecher 难得 took the initiative to blog.

Anyway, after 2 days of magical adventures in Disneyland & Disneysea, its back to Tokyo sightseeing. Today marks the last full day in Tokyo before we pack our bags and leave the land of the rising sun to sunny Singapore.

Our 1-day Tourist Open Ticket pass as our JR pass had expired.

Our first time taking the Metro. We were on the JR trains for the past 14 days. Personally, I prefer JR trains as I find that they are located in more strategic locations as compared to the Metro. En-route to Asakusa, 2 stops away from our apartment.

Asakusa is one of Tokyo's few districts, which have preserved a certain atmosphere of the old Tokyo. Kaminarimon (seen above) is the first of 2 large entrance gates leading to Sensoji Temple. Built more than 1000 yrs ago, it is the symbol of Asakusa. The Nakamise shopping street leads from Kaminarimon to the temple grounds.

The famous Asakusa Nakamise shopping street. Nakamise is one of the oldest shopping centres in Japan.

Food! This pinky stall attracted my attention. Since we are in Japan, must try sake & this version is sweet sake :) Nice!

Kibidango aka millet dumplings. They are so soft & smooth that literally melt in your mouth!

Next, we tried home-fried beanjam bun (seaweed flavour) aka "Goma Age Manjyu”. There are many varieties, but most have a filling of red bean paste, made from boiled azuki beans & sugar.

The main attraction of Asakusa - Sensoji, a popular Buddhist temple built in the 7th century. The temple is dedicated to the god of mercy, Kanon. It was built after a golden statue of Kanon was fished out of the Sumida River by 2 brothers in 628. All attempts by the brothers to return the statue to the river failed as it was always returned to them. In 645, the temple was built around this statue and the legend was completed. The temple's buildings were almost all destroyed in air raids on March 10, 1945 and were reconstructed after the war.

The gigantic slipper (zori) hanging at the 2nd entrance to the temple! It was hung so high up that we couldn't even reach 1/4 of its height after jumping.

*bed time now for me, to be continued in p2*