Travel Blog: Japan Trip 2013 Day 4 - Tokyo Imperial Palace, Yokohama, Asakusa, 日本之旅第四天 - 皇居, 横滨市, 浅草, 5 Jun 13 ~ Dude81's Travel Blog

日本之旅第四天：6月5日2013年, 星期三 - 皇居, 横滨市, 浅草
Japan Trip Day 4: 5 June 2013, Wednesday - Tokyo Imperial Palace, Yokohama, Asakusa
日本の旅行第四日：６月５日２０１３年（水曜日） - 皇居, 横浜市, 浅草

The itinerary for the day was quite mixed. First a visit to the Tokyo Imperial Palace, then we ventured south to Yokohama, and then back to Tokyo to visit the Asakusa shrine. Sounds like a lot of traveling, and it really was.

First thing in the morning, we got up at 7am or so to prepare for the long journey ahead. We got ourselves some bread and pastries from the convenience store on the previous night as our breakfast. We munched on them while walking along the long underground passageway from our hotel to the station. Many working adults who were also on their way to the station were staring at us. I'm not sure why, maybe because we were so hurriedly walking to the station while munching on our food, or because I was wearing my blue 2010 edition of the Japan World Cup jersey lol.

In fact, our itinerary included a visit to the famous Tsukiji Fish Market. But upon arriving at the market, what we witnessed was a deserted ghost town. The security guard at the compound told us that it was closed for holidays. We were like "WHAT?!" What a wasted trip. Several other tourists were also walking around aimlessly in the empty market. Having been there before and not wanting the two of them to feel like it was a wasted trip, I still brought them around the place for them to take some pictures. I even recognized the restaurant I patronized during my last visit and told them about it. Somehow it was opened, despite every other restaurant being closed for the day. There were many tourists hanging outside the entrance, apparently not wanting to waste their trip and therefore decided to have a meal in the only restaurant opened in the entire market.

Our breakfast for the day.

Tickets to Tsukiji Fish Market.

Ghost fish market.

The only restaurant opened for the day.

Momo dear wants to be a fish trader.

Our next destination was the Tokyo Imperial Palace. We then took the train and alighted at one of the train stations near the palace. The palace compounds is very huge and so there are many stations all around it. I believe we alighted at the Sakuradamon Station. We then proceeded to the nearest palace gate, where we could see a watchtower structure called the Fushimi Yagura (伏見櫓) beyond a double-arched bridge (二重橋). The combination of these two structures serves as beautiful background for a picture. We even bumped into some Middle Eastern television crew, probably filming for some tourism show about Japan. Everyone was vying for a good spot to take a picture of the above-mentioned combination of watchtower and bridge.

Beautiful trees all over the park outside the Tokyo Imperial Palace..

The famous view of the watchtower and bridge.

How can we not take a picture with it?

It's a long walk to reach the main gate.

This is the closest we can get to the watchtower. A Middle Eastern TV crew was filming.

Close-up of the watchtower.

After that, we quickly left the area as it was very warm and we were already sweating profusely. We walked through the park around the exterior of the palace compounds and arrived at a statue of a samurai on his horse. It was that of Kusunogi Masashige (楠木正成). It looked very majestic, with the stance of the horse and the samurai himself appearing to be ready for battle.

Statue of Kusunogi Masashige.

Momorange and the samurai.

We were feeling hungry already by then, as we crossed the road to the business districts of Tokyo. We ended up at Marunouchi Brick Square, one of several buildings containing fashion and restaurants in the area. We found that there was a Ippudo ramen restaurant in the building. We tried the one in Singapore and were really excited to find the Japanese version in the very building. Without hesitation, we entered the restaurant and ordered a bowl of ramen each. We got the 白丸元味 (750 yen), 赤丸新味 (800 yen), and 一風堂からか面 (850 yen). These ramen were kinda salty for our tastebuds. The broth was very thick and there was a generous serving of spring onions on top. I would say I prefer ramen with broth that is not so thick and salty.

Let's check out what's inside this building!

Some comic strips on the walls.

白丸元味 (750 yen) - Shiromaru Motoaji
IPPUDO’s original tonkotsu broth served with ultra-thin noodles, pork loin, bean sprouts, kikurage and spring onions. Classic Hakata-style ramen.

赤丸新味 (800 yen) - Akamaru Shin'aji
IPPUDO’s original tonkotsu broth enhanced with special blended miso paste and fragrant garlic oil. Served with thin noodles, pork belly, kikurage and spring onions. A refined, modern-style ramen.

一風堂からか面 (850 yen) - Ippudo Karaka-Men
IPPUDO’s original tonkotsu broth with special spicy miso, cashew nuts and ground pork.
(All description taken from http://www.ippudo.com.my/menu/pavilion-gardens-ippudo-menu-web.pdf)

Various other ramen are available as well.

Hakata Ippudo Ramen.

After we paid the bill, we walked on to Tokyo Station. The station itself was an architectural attraction. The girls bought some Tokyo Banana, a famous banana pastry found in Tokyo, at the station. Next on the itinerary was to head south to Yokohama. The train ticket cost 540 yen and the ride took about 40 minutes.

The outside of Tokyo Station.

Stark contrast with the skyscrapers around the station.

The interior of the dome within the station.

Our train tickets to Yokohama.

One of the many Tokyo Banana stalls in train stations.

They bought quite a lot! Even strawberry cake.

After the 40-minute train-ride, we arrived at Yokohama! After stepping out of Sakuragicho Station, we checked out the bus-stop for the bus that will bring us to the Cup Noodle Museum. There was still some time to the next bus, so we visited the nearby shopping mall.

Bus-stop and shopping mall conveniently located right outside Sakuragicho Station.

Both routes should be able to bring you to the museum. Just alight when you see the museum.

The museum is actually quite near the station, however we decided to just take a bus there. It was a very short bus ride and we alighted right outside the museum. Tickets to the museum is at 500 yen per adult. It includes a ticket to the theatre to watch the short film about cup noodles.

At the first floor lobby, there's a cute chick mascot, Hiyoko-chan, sitting on a huge cup noodle. We took pictures with it before climbing the stairs to the level two area where the Momofuku Theater was to watch the next show.

After the show, we checked out the various displays on the second floor before proceeding to the third floor to make our own cup noodles!

Yes, you can't miss the huge words "!!! CUPNOODLES MUSEUM" on the museum itself.

Tickets to the museum.

5 floors of fun to check out.

Hiyoko-chan, the mascot for chicken ramen.

Spacious first floor lobby of the museum.

We watched a short film about the history of the cup noodle.

Momo dear tries her hand at making some noodles.

Never give up!

Is this for sale?

It was pretty straightforward as there were very clear instructions in Japanese, English and Chinese. First, we had to purchase an empty cup from the cup vending machine at 300 yen each. Next, we sterilized our hands using the machine provided.

Step 1: Purchase a cup!

Step 2: Wash your hands

Then we picked a table to start decorating our cups using the marker pens provided. Unleash your creativity and relive your childhood as you decorate your own cup. We then joined the queue to fill up our cups with noodles and ingredients.

The area for you to decorate your cup.

Looks like loads of fun!

Instructions for Step 3.

Momo and Nut having fun decorating their cups.

Here's my design.

Nut drew this for Momo dear.

How awesome to be able to design your own cup noodle.

There were many ingredients to choose from: shrimps, eggs, spring onions, garlic chips, carrots, corns, veggie mix, cheddar cheese, and even interesting ingredients like kimchi and Hiyoko-chan naruto. We could choose four ingredients to be placed into our cups. I chose curry, my favourite, for the broth. They would then put curry powder into the cup. The cup was then sealed, shrink-wrapped and it was all ready to be packed home!

Many ingredients to choose from.

Here's more.

Step 5: Select one broth and four ingredients.

The friendly staff helps to put your chosen ingredients into your cup.

This sure looks yummy!

Step 6: Seal the cup

Step 7: Shrink-wrap the cup

Tadaa!!

Final step is to inflate the air package used to package your cup.

Very clear instructions on how to inflate and tie the string to your air package.

Momo dear holds up her finished product proudly.

Nut also enjoyed the whole process of making her own cup noodle.

This special room is likely to be for huge groups who want to learn how to make noodles.

We visited the cup noodle playground and then to a balcony where we had a nice view of Yokohama Port. After resting our tired legs at the balcony and having some drinks, we then went to the cup noodles park at level four. It contained walls of cup noodle designs since the very beginning. Quite a sight to behold. We finished up the last part of our tour at the shop on the first floor.

A cup noodle playground.

The top floor boasts a picturesque view of the port area around Yokohama.

Nice view eh?

Display area of all the various cup noodle designs.

This is insane. Look at the different designs they have over the years.

Some of the latest designs.

There's even a trick art area.

The museum souvenir shop.

It was about 5pm by the time we finished our tour of the cup noodle museum. We decided to walk back to Sakuragicho Station, while enjoying the scenery. Right across the road was the Cosmoworld Theme Park. There's a huge ferris wheel and rollercoaster ride. Then we walked past some bridges and near a Nippon Maru Memorial Park, where the huge sailing ship, Nippon Maru, was docked. I quickly snapped a picture of it before we proceeded to the train station to head back to Tokyo.

Cosmoworld Theme Park.

Just a short walk to the station, enjoying the scenery at the same time.

There was this area near the station called the Nippon Maru Memorial Park, where a huge sailing ship was docked. We did not have enough time to visit the ship, nor was it part of our itinerary. But it sure looked interesting. Would be sure to check it out if I visit Yokohama next time.

Sail Training Ship Nippon Maru

Back in Tokyo, we headed for Asakusa, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Tokyo. It is also the place of the famous Kaminarimon, a huge gate with a gigantic lantern bearing the words "雷門", which translates to "Thunder Gate". It was already about 7pm in the evening and most of the shops were closed. The good thing was there wasn't a huge crowd and so photo-taking was easy. As we slowly walked towards the central shrine area, the skies began to darken. We saw the Tokyo Skytree from a distance as well. The last time I was there, there were tonnes of tourists and locals as well. It made traversing the long road to the shrine area difficult. This time, however, I got a chance to witness the lights on the pagodas and shrines, making them all the more beautiful. I truly recommend going there in the evening to witness these historical buildings bathed in such beautiful lights.

Momorange at Kaminarimon.

Just look at the gigantic lantern.

It's evening time and most of the shops had closed.

That's the Tokyo Skytree in the distance.

I'm pretty sure this pagoda looks even more magnificent after the lights started shining on it.

Just a few steps more to the main shrine.

One of the two Gods guarding the place.

And here's the other.

I wonder what these words on the huge lantern mean. Look like names.

Trying their luck at picking a good Omikuji,

Tokyo Skytree at night.

By the time we left the Asakusa shrine area, the sky was totally dark. We quickly chose a nearby restaurant to settle our dinner. It was simple fare but tasted good nonetheless. Costs around 500 yen per person.

Dinner time!

Huge signboard of this small restaurant just by the roadside.

Katsudon

Curry Katsudon

Our last stop for the day was a place just next to our hotel. It was the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. The main objective of visiting the place was to reach the observation deck at the top. We found our way into the building, which was actually from a basement entrance. By the time we reached the deck, it was almost time to leave because it is only opened from 9:30am to 10:30pm. There are actually two observation decks. A North and a South. There are different timings for each deck.

Details of the observation deck can be found here.

We spent half an hour at the deck admiring the city lights and taking pictures. At around 11pm, we were then told to leave the place as it was really beyond the opening hours.

Many interesting buildings can be seen from the observation deck.

Magnificent view of the Tokyo city lights.

Taking a picture with our hotel - Shinjuku Washington Hotel.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building itself is quite beautiful at night too.

Our last night at Shinjuku Washington.

Before we turned in for the night, we went to our favourite convenience store - Family Mart, which was situated in the hotel building itself, to grab some snacks. I simply loved the melon milk. It was light and not too sweet and soothing to the throat. I also grabbed a pudding off the racks. What a way to end another fruitful day around Japan.