Tokyo Spring Day 6: 18th April 2012

 

 

Today was a hot sunny day, with temperature around 20 degree celcius. Hence, I stepped out in a pair of short pants. We planned to go to Shibuya, a center for youth fashion and culture, and a birthplace to many Japan's fashion and entertainment trends

To get to Shibuya, we took JR Yamanote line from Shinjuku to Shibuya, which is just 3 stations away, and exit at Hachiko Exit.

Hachiko is a dog statue which is a landmark in Shibuya, to commemorate a dog, named Hachiko, who waited on his late master at Shibuya Station every day from 1923 to 1935, eventually becoming a national celebrity for his loyalty. The statue of Hachiko was built adjacent to Shibuya Station, and the surrounding Hachiko Square is now the most popular meeting point in the area.

In front of Shibuya Station at the Hachiko Exit, is the famous pedestrian crossing where pedestrians inundate the entire intersection. To watch clearly how people cross the Shibuya intersection elbow-to-elbow, I ordered an ice-blended matcha from a Starbuck overlooking the busiest Shibuya crossing, sipping and enjoying the view from atop the second level, which is located at Tsutaya Building nearby.

The view from Starbuck.

We took our time to check the place out. First the drug stores which are favoured by us girls. From cosmetics, skincare products, hair products, health supplements and many more, you can find lots of interesting finds and products if only you are able to read Japanese. Some with nice packaging which make you tempted to splurge but you just don't know what they are used for...At this point of time, it's best to ask any salesgirl around, with much difficulty and hand signals thing LOL...

Passed by a fruit shop, with a whopping price of 7,350 yen (S$116 plus) for a box of 12 albino strawbies. Interesting? Anyone wants to have a bite?

We trudged further, and found the Shibuya 109, a trend-setting fashion complex for young women and an icon of the Shibuya district with more than one hundred boutiques spanning ten floors. Please take note that photography is not allowed in Shibuya 109 premises. I warn you, the salesgirls are all so trendy, gorgeous and pretty, even me feel shy when talking to them, not to say about you guys!

I retreated and told my mum to walk out from Shibuya 109 after checking out only 3 floors, coz there were just too many funky, cool and fashionable items which I wanted to buy ALL! Ahhh....Thinking of packing and stuffing my bulged luggage, I couldn't bear to splurge more! Sob sob...My mum tried to convince me into window-shopping, but it's just not my thing, I am a shopaholic who can't control my spending habit! Hopeless!

So, we had early lunch at Go Go Curry, which is a popular curry rice chain restaurant among Tokyoites. Go Go Curry has its background from Kanazawa Curry, which was invented by a curry restaurant called CHAMPION. There are 12 Go Go Curry restaurants in Tokyo.

You might miss the Go Go Curry shop as there's only a small advertisement board at an entrance. I found it only by chance, and we always wanted to try Japanese curry rice. You need to walk down a staircase to get to the shop's entrance, and this was the first thing we saw once we opened up the door, the ticket machine with a printed gorilla face on the wall. The interior of the shop is painted in yellow.

Without wasting time, we slotted money into the machine and pressed on the button, with the food items we wished to order. Two tickets were printed out, passed the tickets to a waiter, and at the same time, we were guided to our table.

Our meals tickets.

The place was packed again with black-suited working men, during lunch hour.

I had chicken katsu curry, which was basically curry rice with chicken cutlet. Mum had number one rated tonkatsu (pork cutlet) on top, which is called ROHSU KATSU CURRY. Here, Go Go Curry adds Okonomiyaki sauce (a sweet brown sauce made out of vegetables and fruits) on the curry rice. You can ask for more sauce for added value to your meal. The verdict: Crispy pork/chicken cutlet on the outside which still retains its juiciness, with added shredded cabbage at the side, makes the palate more refreshing and not oily. It was quite a generous and huge serving, very very filling, for a reasonable price.

Please give Go Go Curry a try if you drop by at Shibuya. The info as followed:

 

GO GO CURRY （in Japanese, ゴーゴーカレー）
Address: 12-12 Udagawa-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo (located at the basement floor of the bldg)
(in Japanese, 東京都渋谷区宇田川町12-12 B1)
Nearest train station: JR Shibuya Station (10 min walk)
Website: http://www.gogocurry.com/ (only in Japanese)
Operating hour: 10:55am-10:55pm

With full tummies, we walked to a shop with many claw machines and purikura machines. There were my favourite rilakkuma bear and duffy bear too.

Act cute in front of purikura machines.

OK, time to move on to other place, we walked back to Shibuya Station, and many people were seen clustered around the Hachiko Square, outside the station, ready to cross the infamous Shibuya crossing. Be prepared to bump into people, where many pedestrians from all directions marching towards you.

Next destination, Odaiba, a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo. To get there, travel on JR Yamanote line, get off at Shimbashi Station, and look out for automated Yurikamome transit system with a seagull sign. Take an escalator up to the Yurikamome ticket station to purchase your tickets. We purchased 2 ways tickets to Daiba, costs 620 yen per ticket (S$9.90), which is stop number 7 in Odaiba. Daiba will bring you to the replica Statue of Liberty, Fuji Television Studios, AquaCity Shopping Centre and the view of Rainbow Bridge. But if you want to stop at all the stations, it is worth to get a one day pass for 800 yen.

The Rainbow Bridge seen from Daiba.

Fuji Television Studios.

There's also a man-made beach in Daiba. Locals come here for picnic, relaxing and spending time with families, away from the hustle of bustling Tokyo city.

Stop and smell flowers. There were so many colourful flowers blooming around in spring. The sakura....

Daisies...

For those who are interested to cruise along the Tokyo bay.

The replica of Statue of Liberty.

So many seagulls flocking by, as people were seen feeding them with bread.

It was late evening, and the dusk slowly set in. We found a cafe and ordered hot coffee to warm ourselves while waiting for night fell. Our aim was to see the Rainbow Bridge being lighted up in rainbow colours. As sun set, temperature started to dip. I felt the chill within the atmosphere.

 

To our despair, we were told by a staff working in the cafe, that the Rainbow Bridge will only at its prettiest of rainbow colours on Christmas Day. Sigh....picture below is normally how the bridge will look like in normal days.

Ok....our trip to Odaiba was considered complete with pictures taken on man-made beach, replica of Statue of Liberty, Fuji TV Station, Rainbow Bridge....but how about the life-sized Gundam at DiverCity Tokyo Plaza? Oh well...maybe next time, when I will be back in November..:)

We travelled back to Shinjuku and had our dinner at a ramen shop with ticket machines at Shinjuku Station. Bought the tickets and stepped into the shop.

These were how the tickets looked like. Though it was in Japanese, but we managed to order the food based on the pictures shown on the ticket machines just now.

Passed the tickets to this obasan, and there was an uncle who prepared our meal. Waited for less than 5 minutes, and voila...our meals were ready. I moved to the side bench and slurped down the ramen.

Mine: Shoyu (soy-based broth) ramen, mum's: Tonkotsu (pork bone) ramen with extra serving of garlic fried rice

My purchase for the day from Shibuya 109.