Back in Japan!

If you happen to be a regular reader of this blog, you may have noticed we are rather big fans of Japan. The language, the cuisine, the culture, we love it all basically. So we've been yearning to go since our last visit in the spring in 2013 - and we finally gave in and booked our flights for the end of October.

This time the plan was to visit the Japanese Alps - but as always our trip started in Tokyo. Our flight was from Milan, so we had a 3-hour drive before boarding our Alitalia flight. The flight went smoothly (I caught up on my Hollywood blockbuster shortlist by watching quite a few films I've been wanting to see but just hadn't found the time to...), and we arrived in Tokyo, not too nackered, determined to stay awake until the evening to get into the Japanese rythm as soon as possible.

This time around, we stayed near Yanaka, a very nice part of Tokyo we enjoyed walking around last time. Our hotel was the typical Tokyo hotel we go for - cheap (by Tokyo standards), with a clean & tidy small room. After dropping of our bags (too early to check in), we headed off, eager to explore Tokyo. We started by walking around Yanaka, happy to find the area as charming as last time around. Yanaka is one of the few areas of Tokyo that wasn't wiped out by the Allied bombing raids of WW2, and retains some of the old "small-town feel" that Tokyo (apparently) used to have.

Yanaka is mostly famous for its cemetery, which we strolled through. There are also a couple of more commercial streets with nice little shops selling all sorts of funny stuff. From Yanaka we carried on to Ueneo Park, checking out the street peformers and a temple along the way. We found a nice little Ramen restaurant where we had a much-needed lunch. Oishii - Ramen is I suppose what one could call Japanses fast food - rather healthier and tastier than the Western variant...

We then headed back to the hotel, checking in finally. After chilling out for a bit in our room, it was time to head for our rendez-vous with our special Tokyo guide, Matsuoka-san! We had the ambitious plan to walk to Kita-senju station, where we were supposed to meet. Didn't seem that hard, as we checked the route before hand, but in practice, we sort of got lost. Quite a few phone calls with Matsuoka, a goat, a rather confused discussion with a shopkeeper (my Japanese isn't quite up to scratch yet it would seem even for the simplest conversation ;) and a finally a taxi ride later, we eventually managed to meet up with Matsuoka.

Great to see our Japanese friend, apart from having changed jobs (he's now an entrepreneur with his own company - we even got to visit his office), he's not much changed. Certainly not his appetite for good food and fun - he took us out on a rather unforgettable night out that started in a charming little Japanese Izakaya, followed by a fantastic little eatery (which is so discreetly hidden away that one could not stumble upon the place by accident) where we ate some pretty amazing stuff (mouth-watering sashimi, kobe beef, just to mention a couple of things). So we got back to the hotel very happy after a fantastic night out!

The next day, we got up early-ish, eager to explore Tokyo yet more. We walked around Yanaka a bit more, and then headed back to Ueno. After a bit of shopping for cloths and stuff in Ueno, we headed of to Akihabara for a bit of camera shopping (I ended up purchasing a nice wide-angle lens for my camera). Then 'twas time to meet up with Matsuoka again for a bit of lunch - so off we headed again to Kita-Senju. We had a nice and very Japanese lunch again (VERY Japanese - I had nattō aka. fermented soya beans - apparently I was the first non-Japanese person Matsuoka had seen eating it, so I felt rather proud).

After a bit more walking about, we headed back to the hotel to rest a bit and prepare for dinner. This time we decided to try some tofu - our guide book recommended a restaurant that specializes in just that not far from the hotel. Now, normally, I'm not what you'd call a fan of tofu (although I don't really mind it either). But this place is something else. We each took a set menu of basically just stuff made from Tofu - and it was delicious. Needless to say the tofu is not the industrial stuff you normally get, but rather made using traditional methods by the restaurant. A real culinary delight.

The next morning, it was time to jump on the train and head to Matsumoto! So bye bye to Tokyo for now.