Bubye 2008.... Hullo, 2009.

Hello, kiddos!  I didn't forget about this place.  I guess my lack of blogging has been a result of (or combination of) 1) lack of time, 2) laziness, 3) lack of interesting things to say.  Maybe I'm the only one who still read this blog.  That's ok, I have no problem talking to and reflecting on myself.  The year of 2008 has whipped by quickly before my eyes and I still can't believe it's 2009 already.  2008 has been a fulfilling year with lots of blessings and excitement along the way.  Let's recap, shall we?

• Visited Tokyo, Japan and Hong Kong with my hubby in March.  It was our first vacation together!  Originally, we didn't plan on vacationing after the wedding (we didn't even have a honeymoon).  But alot of my families (including my 93 year old grandma) from my mom's family were unable to attend our wedding back in 2007, so we decided to use the 1.5 weeks we had in spring break to visit my grandma and relatives in HK.  We found a great deal in the end so we stopped by Tokyo for 3 nights before our HK trip.  It was a fun trip.... too short, though.  We hope to return to Japan some day.
• Celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary.... actually, we didn't really celebrate.  I think we went to Kingspark for dinner (mmmm, honger mini-meals) and rented a movie afterwards.  We didn't even have gifts for each other or anything.... just cards.  But, we did go to a nicer place for dinner later on to celebrate our 10 years together as a couple.  The best part was, the meal was free because we had a gift card.  Double woooooo!
• My best friend gave birth to a healthy, handsome little boy!  He's probably the best looking baby I've met so far, and he melts my heart!
• Went to Vegas for 6 days.  It was an impromptu trip as hubs and I weren't planning on vacationing again after the Asia trip.  However, my coworker was able to score us a deal on a 1 bedroom apartment (with full size kitchen!) right on the strip for $40/night.  We also flew on Allegiant Air out of Bellingham to save money because, well, it was $80 per person for flight.  Score!
• Hubs and I both got into grad school and started our programs in September.  It was crazy going to work full time and doing school part time, but we survived our first term and did really well in our courses.   I was proud of the fact that I still managed to cook at home most of the days (besides eating with our parents).  And we didn't kill each other. Let's hope this keeps up.
• My brother got into VPD.  We are all so proud of and excited for him.  I think my dad even recorded a VHS clip of him being interviewed on the news... lmao.  Our families are looking forward to him graduating from the academy this summer.  (I want a ride in the cop car... with sirens on!  weeeee!)

The hubs and I were very lucky to both have 2 weeks off from work and school over the holiday break, so we took the opportunity to bum around and do nothing.  It was weird for the first day or two... not having any work or readings to do at home, and I was constantly on my Blackberry doing work emails.  It didn't take us long to start learning how to relax (I think hubs is better at this than me).  We mainly vegged at home, rented movies, braved the crowded malls, got caught up and finished Heroes' Season 2 (Yattaaaa!), spent time with our families, and hung out with a few good friends over the holidays.  I was happy to have time to cook and bake for families and friends.  Aside from getting small presents for our parents and brothers, we tried to stay away from overspending on things we don't really need because really, we're already blessed with far too many things we don't deserve.  But, I did get a coffee card for the hubs at his favorite coffee shop (not Starbucks!), and he got me a pair of iPod headphones so that I can use my iPod when I'm at the gym.  Have I mentioned how sucky the stock ones are?  They never want to stay in your ears and don't even try to work out with them on... they just slide right off your ears as soon as you move.

Anyways, there are many things I hope to accomplish in 2009.  Some of which include:

• Having more patience at work.  Oh dear, I couldn't count how many times at work I've lost my cool and was really close to killing anything that moves near me.  Not good.
• Keep up with my work out sessions at the gym (I completely stopped my exercise routine over the holidays, so I'm looking forward to getting back on it next week).
• Find time to do devotions.
  

Happy new year, everyone.  I hope this year brings you much love and happiness along the way!

Vacation rules!

Well, hello children! Are you ready for my triumphant return to the blog world? Today is my first day off from work (weekends don't count), and I shall celebrate by writing a blog entry! Afterall, it's been 2 months since I blogged. I guess I just don't have enough (interesting) things to say, and I'm really lazy. On most days after work, I am too tired to even turn on the computer at night to write.... meh.

I can't really say I've accomplished much on my vacation yet since it's only been day 1, but the husband and I did 2 loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen counters and stovetop. There are alot more things at home that need cleaning, that's for sure! The last few days, I was able to spend some time with my parents, play piano, read, and not think about work. I've only looked at my work emails on my crackberry twice today, so I'd like to think I'm doing well so far.

I hope I can really relax and take things easy during my 4 week vacation. I know the time will go by very fast, so I'm trying to make good use of my time and enjoy my vacation as much as I can before returning to work in a few weeks. Work had been crazy during the past 6 months, so I'm glad I got the chance to go away for a breather. Once September rolls in, I'm not sure if I have time to breathe as I decided to throw myself back to more schooling. I hope it wasn't a bad decision on my part - to work full time, go to school part time, and manage house chores....and let's hope I pass my first graduate course. Honestly, I'm a tad (maybe more than a tad) nervous about September. Afterall, it's been 8 long years since I graduated from UBC. I'm not really sure what to expect from there. I don't even know if I can still write an academic paper anymore?!? Yikes!!!!!

On an unrelated note, I really dislike oblivious drivers. I hate the fact that I'm driving straight on the right lane at a constant speed, and drivers peek out from the side street trying to get onto my lane. Sure, either you step on your gas and go for it, or wait after I go and you turn out. Noooooo, they have to wait until you are very close to them and then they turn out, making you slam on your brakes with steam coming out of your heads. What's worst is they drive at 40km/hr in front of you. Or, you try to back out of your parking spot and the driver (if you're in Ditchmond, they are usually female of Chinese descent in their 40's-50's) signal for your spot, but is totally blocking you. They refuse (or do not know how) to back it up abit to make room for you. Instead, they just sit there and think it's my responsibility to back out of my spot 50 times so she can run everyone else over just to get my spot. This is after I found out there were tons of spots near my spot... closer to the mall entrance.

And if you can't keep up with the flow of traffic or the indicated speed sign on the highway, DRIVE ON THE RIGHT SIDE and stay there. The left lane is for passing!!!!!!! Driving 60km/hr on the fast lane on a 90km/hr highway is very dangerous! And if you decide to pass someone, get onto the fast lane at a faster speed, not at a slower speed so that the 20 cars on the fast lane behind you can smash right into you.

Ok, I think I feel better now. I'm currently baking some blueberry muffins in the oven. I hope they turn out well since the recipe has so many high ratings. I love blueberries. I was so happy when my mom gave me a huge box of blueberries... apparently she bought them for cheap from a local blueberry farmer. My current healthy snack at the moment is fresh blueberries with fat free vanilla yogurt with granola! EEEEEE!

Ok bye! Maybe I'll post again soon (and hopefully not in 2 months time).

Day 4: Tokyo (Asakusa) - Hong Kong

Wow, I'm blogging two days in a row! What is going on here!?

Actually, I'm waiting for my cake to finish baking. I'm baking a strawberry cheesecake for my Mom's birthday tomorrow. I hope it turns out ok. I'll try to take some pictures with my spankin' new camera!

Anyways, here are some photos from our last day in Tokyo. :( We only had the morning to travel around as we had to be back at the hotel by noon for the airport shuttle bus which we reserved. Our flight to HK was in the late afternoon so we had to give ourselves plenty of travel time, in fear of getting stuck in weekday traffic.....

It took us about 20 mins by train to get to Asakusa, which is one of the older districts in Tokyo. The district is alot less busy than most parts of Tokyo, and it has preserved some of the older and more traditional Japanese atmosphere, cultures and architectures including old residential buildings and houses, and temples. We saw alot of people in traditional Kimonos... but, I'm not sure if that's what they commonly wear when they visit temples.

We went to one of the most visited and popular temple - Sensoji Temple! There were lots of tourists and local school groups... who interesting were all accompanied by a foreigner (Caucasian) sensei (teachers). Cultural exchange studies, perhaps?

Outside Sensoji Temple, where many people tried to get the best spot for photos!


Nakamise, a 200m street/alleyway that leads to the temple from the front gate. Most of the stores sell traditional Japanese handmade crafts, ornaments, fans, freshly made rice cracker snacks (osenbei), manju (deep fried soft cake) with many fillings including the popular red bean paste filling,




This place is packed!


We spend about 45 mins at the temple walking along Nakamise, going into the temple and watched a group of local monks chant.... and people watching! We had to go back to Ikebukuro. :(

We quickly stopped by a small shop inside Sunshine City (chuckle) in Ikebukuro for lunch. Good timing on our part... by the time we placed our order, we saw a crowd of businessmen and office ladies outside waiting in line.

Nobody spoke English at this place either! So Colin ordered "Katsu Don" and they happened to have it. ROFL. He said it was actually very good, best Katsu Don he's ever had! (It must be good, because he didn't share any with me).


I had the soba noodles with prawn tempura. Yummy!


It took us almost 2 hours to get to the airport (traffic congestion on the highway). When we got to the airport, we quickly looked for snacks!

Japanese herbed mochi with red bean paste filling. We were so addicted... they must have put crack in it.


A traditional mochi, with red bean paste filling. WHY MUST YOU BE SO TASTY!?!?!?#!*&#


Colin took a photo of this girl we saw at the boarding gate area. He thought she looked like my brother.....


Bubye, Tokyo. :(

More on Hong Kong.... later.

Day 3: Tokyo (Shibuya, Roppongi)

Ooooops, I forgot I was suppose to keep blogging about my trip. I got lazy, and I didn't really think people want to bother with reading my boring blog. So I kind of forgot about it. Anyways, we took alot of photos during the trip but I can't possibly talk about every single one of them. Maybe I'll try to find time and post some on my facebook page. I have to stop being so lazy.

Shibuya - "overwhelming" is the word I'd use to describe the place. It's packed with people, you often feel claustrophobic (sp?). But the food and shopping is great. We actually didn't buy much during our stay in Tokyo, but we really enjoyed alot of the window shopping. Shibuya is filled with brand named shops as well as many local, hidden treasures. When I did my travel research, I basically pinpoint the major areas one must visit on the area map. We'd try to hit all the major areas and then we'd be adventurous and wander off. We figured that as long as we could find our way back to the subway station, we're good. It was really fun to wander off to all these small, hidden shops and eateries!

We've arrived Shibuya! Thank you to the cute school girl who took this picture for us. She bowed 10 times after I thanked her. o_O


We didn't know there was a Bape store in Shibuya... apparently it was just opened in late Fall of 2007. The store entrance had a huge glass conveyor(?) belt that you walk on as you step into the store, and all their collector shoes on the belt would run under your feet. We also listened to alot of NERD (Yea!), Pharrell and Teriyaki Boyz in the store. It was awesome. Woo.

Mr.C likes his Bapes.


After many hours on our feet at Shibuya, we had to stop for lunch. Best sashimi I've had yet, and it wasn't expensive (that says alot, because I'm cheap haha). As a matter of fact, I don't think "crappy" sashimi... or any crappy food in general, exist in Japan. The Japanese take pride in the food they make and the service they provide.


Shibuya Station (Koen-Dori exit) - this is the busiest station in Japan! I wasn't able to capture how "busy" the station is. I think I snapped this just after the crosswalk light turned red... most people already crossed the street. Imagine 5x the crowd in the picture. Oh my goat.


Shibuya was really fun, and we didn't want to leave. But, we had to get going because there was just far too many places we had to visit during our short stay in Tokyo. We left Shibuya around 4pm and got to Roppongi.

Tokyo Midtown! Crazy architecture both inside and outside. It has business towers, shopping district, convention centres. I wish I knew how to use the camera better (it was a borrowed camera) so I could capture the architecture better. Some of the shots turned out crappy because I had the wrong setting and my hands were shaking alot due to the strong winds that day/night. Oh man, was it cold ever.




Inside Tokyo Midtown - we really loved the modern architecture and lighting in there:


We then walked for 20 mins to Roppongi Hills!

Mori Tower @ Roppongi Hills (sorry for the blur).


Highlight of the evening - We went up to Tokyo City View on the 52nd Floor of Mori Tower!
"Tokyo City View offers 250 meters above sea level, offering 360-degree vistas of the bustling metropolis."


We sat on this really neat cushioned sofa while we enjoyed the night view. When you sit on it the light in the sofa turns on and glows.


After the Tokyo City View, we were starving (it was already 9pm or something). We walked around Roppongi not knowing what and where to eat... and we decided to just pick a place and give it a try. We walked into this small little shop about a block away from Don Quixote (by the way, this was a really weird 24/7 store that sells ANYTHING you can think of). None of the staff spoke English and their menu was basically filled with handwritten Japanese. !!! I think after a few minutes, someone who looked like the owner came out and half mumbled something like "What you like eat?". We said we didn't know and asked him to suggest something. He said "I bring you us signaturk deeeshes ok". Woah. We had no idea what to expect. I was going to say Katsu Don but I felt stupid ordering that in a local shop.

The prices on the menu didn't look so bad, so we told him we're very hungry and we'll try their best food. This is what they served us.... and they definitely wow-ed us!

I couldn't make out half of what the owner told us, but from what I gathered this is a Hokkaido style udon. Those two brown things.... I thought they were meat so I gave one to Mr.C to try, he popped the whole thing into his mouth and almost spat it out. It was a sour plum. Eeeeeks.

Dang, it was good.


Mr.C had the curry udon - Kyoto style. This was apparently the shop's signature dish... because the owner kept saying "good" and "best" and I saw our neighbours all eating the same udon. The curry soup was so flavorful and the freshly made udon noodles were so good. If you eat this, beware... as you are very likely to dirty your clothes.


The staff give all customers a bib when their food arrive. It was a great idea.


We also shared some chicken karage.... it's nothing like what we have here in Vancouver.


We didn't know what to expect when we walked into this place, but we were so happy after the meal. It was a hidden treasure in Roppongi indeed! (Sorry, I don't know what this place is called... it was all written in Japanese). But, if you ask me directions on how to get there, I'd be able to tell you! :D

Hmmm, blogging is very tiring. I'll try to blog about our last day in Tokyo... soon. Hopefully not in 2 weeks' time.

Oh aaaaand, I got myself a new digital camera! We never owned one (I either borrow my parents' old camera, or my bro's gf's camera during the trip). My brother researched and found a good camera for a pretty good price (a price that I can afford). So after I read the 300-page manual, I'd get to play with it. I hope it takes better macro pictures, then I can blog about food again after all this blabberings about our trip because.... I'm starting to run out of things to talk about.

Day 2: Tokyo (Shinjuku, Harajuku)

Well hello kids, I'm back to blog about the 2nd day of our trip. At this rate, it looks like it'll take me a whole month to finish yapping about my trip. Maybe I'll try to talk less....

We spent our Day 2 in Shinjuku and Harajuku. It'd be nice if we could spend a day in each place, but we have limited days and we did what we could. Anyways, we woke up at around 7:30am each day to brush up, drink water (we were constantly dehydrated), read up where we'd be visiting, and off we go to our hotel lounge for the complimentary breakfast buffet. When I was planning our trip, I was planning to eat breakfast out but soon realized after reading a few travel blogs that finding Japanese style breakfast on a weekday at 9am is practically nonexistent (unless you opt for McD's and Wendy's.... or Starbucks). Our hotel breakfast turned out to be a great idea as it gave us enough fuel to start off our day. And oh hey, it's free so why not!

The congee and "ja choy" (picked veggies) was so yummy. I don't know why I got myself a hardboiled egg and scrambled eggs... I was probably craving eggs or something that day. And they served fries for breakfast, haha! Yes, that's kimchi on the plate... I don't know why I got that either but it was delicious. They also had a whole variety of grilled fish, pickled veggies, steamed rice - a typical Japanese breakfast. And natto. OMG it was ewwwwwww. A dude beside us was eating it with his rice and I had to try not to squint my eyes or make a disgusted face. Sorry, it smelled like pinch :(


Mr.C likes his fries!


After breakfast we walked to Ikebukuro Subway station and took the Tokyo Subway train for the first time. The underground station was so big that it was rather intimidating at first. Did you know this station is the 2nd busiest in Japan, serving over a million passengers each day? :O I was glad I took my friend Zandra's advice and figured out the route system before going to Tokyo. It turned out pretty easy to navigate around, but you could easily get confused and jumped on the wrong train or the wrong platform. I think my Chinese skills helped abit... especially when we couldn't find English in some signages.

Our first stop was Shinjuku- known as a major commercial and administrative centre housing the busiest train station in the world. Surrounding Shinjuku station are department stores, specialty electronic and camera stores, restaurants and shopping centres. We got there at around 10am and stores were just starting to open. We managed to get into a 6-storey bookstore as I wanted to find a Kotaro Oshio guitar book for my brother. Man, was I lost in there but I did eventually find it. Again, I applaud myself for my kanji/Chinese skills :P

We spend the first half our our day in Shinjuku. There were alot of department stores and smaller specialty stores that caught our attention.

We got hungry when we got to the basement of a huge department store, Isetan. My gosh, they have a huge supermarket, food market filled with freshly made goodies from appetizers, breads, main entrees, desserts, wine, cheeses, noodles, pickled goods... pretty much anything you can think of. We bought chicken skewers (Mr.C's fav) and desserts. Heh.

Ricecake with strawberry, apparently called Ichigo daifuku - Freshly made mochi with a sweetened strawberry inside. Who could resist? Oh, and a box of 12 strawberries in Japan costs about $15 Canadian, btw.


We left Shinjuku mid-afternoon and jumped on another JR train to Harajuku - home to the weirdest dressers! We saw a couple of Alices in Alice in Wonderland, amongst other things. o_O Harajuku has 2 main shopping areas; Omotesandō with expensive brand name stores such as Prada, LV, etc. (and they have a KiddyLand!), and Takeshita Street with lolita/rocker/gothic/punk/hip hop/latest Japanese street fashion...

Harajuku station. When we got out of the train, there were groups of teenage girls in their school uniforms getting excited and giddy about something. It was funny to see them in their school uniforms with crazy punk hair/jewelery/shoe accessories....


Takeshita street - it's nuts in there. It was almost like Mongkok in HK, but 10x crazier. It was funny when a group of black men (I was told they are Nigerians) were trying to lure us into a store on the 2nd floor and sell us fake jeans and runners. And, there's a Daiso on Takeshita street, which we didn't go into :P


We took this photo for Ken C.... hahaha.


Of course, we had to pull over on Takeshita street and try the famous Harajuku Crepes! We picked the busiest crepe booth and lined up for 15 mins for our choice of Harajuku Crepe to get a taste of the Japanese pop culture. If you're in Harajuku, you have to try it!

Angels Heart Crepes.... hahahah.


This is for Kelly and Hilda, who are crazy about crepes of all sorts.
My crepe - chocolate strawberry banana crepe: fresh strawberries and banana chunks, tons of chocolate drizzles, whipped cream, and puff pastry chunks. This thing must be like 30,000 calories. :(


Mr.C had the Strawberry banana chocolate cheesecake crepe - real cheesecake chunks. Yikes!


p.s. We ended up snacking our way in Harajuku, and went back to Mutekiya in Ikebukuro late at night for some quality ramen. mmmm ramen.

Day 1: Vancouver - Tokyo

After the last day of school for Mr.Chan, we flew on Japan Airlines on a Saturday noon flight and on our way to an exciting 2 full days + 2 half days trip to Tokyo! JAL was pretty good. The flight attendants were hawt (well, moreso than the ones on Air Canada), the food and beverage choices was alot better, and we lucked out with good seats! On our flight to Tokyo, we were assigned seats behind the front door entrance panel so we got abit more leg room. We were hoping for the emergency exit seats but they were all taken. Oh well, we'll take anything!

Bubye, Vancouver! Bubye, work! Bubye, crazy coworkers!


Is this what Heaven looks like? I want to pounce on those fluffy, bouncy clouds!!


This is what I tried to do to entertain myself on the flight. You'd think I'd play on my own NDS... but this was too cool. Who wouldn't want to play tetris on their own personal screen at their own seat????? I also watched American Gangster for the second time.... good movie.


This is the lunch served before we arrive Tokyo, after a 9 hour flight. Not bad, Mr.Chan liked the cookie so much he stole and ate mine. >:(


So after a 9 hour flight, a 1.4 hour shuttle bus ride from the airport (which I totally recommend... abit of a splurge, but who want to haul luggages and jump from one train to another, and walk who knows how long from the subway station to the hotel when you're groggy from the plane ride and you don't really want to tackle Tokyo Metro subway station on their first day?!?!).... we arrived our hotel just before dinner time. Sunshine City Prince Hotel (the name is so azn haha!) in Ikebukuro!! It was a decent hotel. Rather old (hence the affordable price), but very very clean. We just wanted a clean place to shower and sleep after a long day, and we couldn't justify paying for an extravagant hotel. Apparently it's a very popular hotel for first time travelers and tour groups. The best part is, our hotel deal came with free breakfast buffet (western continental breakfast, and Japanese breakfast!). It was a good idea because most places in Tokyo open between 10:30 - 11:00am, and we started our days early. A good breakfast in the morning really boosted us up and prepared us for the traveling we had to do ... until lunch.

I'm not joking when I say our hotel room is small. The bathroom is about double the size of an airplane bathroom.


You also had to pay to watch any TV channels in your hotel room. MEH.

Our room might be designed for tiny people, but the view from our room wasn't so bad.
View of Ikebukuro (part of).



After we washed up and replenished fluids in our bodies, we were ready to head out. We didn't care that we were tired and jet-lagged. We wanted to make the most out of our times there!

Our hotel is connected to the Sunshine City, which is a multi-entertainment, shopping and food complex. Between the hotel and the complex is the famous Toyota Amlux. As car lovers, we had to make a pit stop there (well, it's also because of its free admission - hey, we're Chinese). We were a little bit disappointed because we were hoping to see alot more sports concept cars... but we didn't. We were abit groggy due to the fact that we were tired and hungry, and the building was to close in 15 mins so we rushed abit. Meh. The Amlux closes at 7pm, so we wanted to check it out before we find food.

The Harrier hybrid engine... nice! I'm a sports utility type of gal. How I miss my Scooby Impreza. :(


Mr.C's new school bus, the Hiace. He likes to drive it like it's stolen.


I think this was the bB.


7 floors of Toyota vroom-vroomness! The one thing I forgot to do was to take a photo of the the ultimate car from Toyota ... the Century packed with an omg V12 engine! (this is the car that's near Mr.C's face in the photo below). Toyota's F1 doesn't even have a V12 engine, you see. Apparently this car was made for the Japanese Emperor, but civilians can buy this car. However, it was rumored that when you no longer want this car you'd have to return it to Toyota, so there are no 2nd hand Century roaming around anywhere. I also didn't take a photo of the Castrol Supra JTCC that was on display there.... SUPRA, what was I thinking! I blame this on my jetlag.


After a 40 mins stay in the Amlux, we were ready to eat. We were suppose to go to this local ramen shop in a secluded alley near the Ikebukuro subway station. We got in and we were scared away by the lack of pictures and kanji on the menu. Correction, they didn't have a menu. It was a vending machine and you had to choose and press buttons according to what you want for meat/veggies/noodle thickness/soup base. You insert money according to what you pressed, and it spits out a receipt in Japanese which you then take to the chef at the counter, who will make your order. The only chinese word on the vending machine was "grill" and that wasn't very helpful. It was our first day and we didn't feel adventurous enough so we walked another block and found another famous ramen shop called Mutekiya. I read about it on several travel blogs when I was doing research before the trip, and we had to try it to find out what the hype was. The best part of this place was, the menu had pictures! Yay.

This is a tiny little shop, and seats maybe 10 people maximum at any given time. There were no tables... we all sat on bar stools in front of a long bar counter, filled with self-help goodies such as ice water, iced green tea concentrate, garlic, chili oil, and some foreign/funky/strong smelling condiments that we didn't try. You may find it claustrophobic in there, but no worries - as with any ramen shops nobody hang out there to chat and mingle. We had to line up for about 35 mins but luckily, one waitress took orders from outside to speed up the process. Apparenty, it's not uncommon to line up for a bowl of their ramen for a minimum of 30-45 mins. When we were ahead in the lineup, there were about oh, 40 some people behind us. My goodness. I was tempted to take a photo of the lineup, but I didn't want to get beaten up on the street.


I ordered their signature dish: Honmarumen consisted of Chasu, tomago (seasoned smoked egg... mmmmm), roasted seaweed/laver from Chiba, original sungan, veggies and freshly home-made ramen in a thick pork broth. The Chasu (pork slices) were so soft they literally melt in your mouth... no chewing needed. The noodle had a good, "chewy" texture and the soup was so flavorful .... we had to keep drinking it. It was worth the half hour wait. It was so good we went there again the next night... after dinner for "late night snack". Yikes.


Mr.C was excited about his ramen. He ordered the "Chasu only" ramen as he didn't want any vegetables contaminating his soup. Uhhhh.


Mutekiya was about 2-3 blocks away from Ikebukuro station. After dinner, we walked back to our hotel (about a 15 min walk from the station). Along the way, there were small shops, 100 yen shops, eateries, a Hello Kitty store (!!!), Pachinko parlours (we didn't go into those), and the Sunshine City Complex. The street was packed with people and crazy traffic 24 hours a day...

On our way back to the hotel was a busy pedestrial-only street lined with shops, karoake places, Izakayas, beer parlours, convenient stores, small shops and even a Wendy's (which was always busy... weird). The blue sparkly building behind Mr.C is the Toyota Amlux. The Sunshine City is just across from the Amlux and our hotel is behind the Amlux.


More to come ... more later.