August 12: My boyfriend’s obsessed with this mapo tofu in Yokohama Chinatown, and the weather happened to be nice and sunny, so we took the oppotunity to make the trip down to Yokohama. Plus, it just so happened that the Pokemon World Championships were taking place in Yokohama the weekend we were there, so there was a ton of Pokemon events happening too.
The first order of business for me was to get some malasadas, a type of Portuguese donut, from Leonard’s, which is actually a Portuguese bakery chain from Hawaii. I watched a video on things to do in Yokohama a while back, and the video recommended getting donuts from Leonard’s. It’s actually located in a mall called World Porter’s, and the floor it’s on is basically a Hawaiian themed floor. Between the two of us, we got one original and one of the current limited item, the mango cream.
They came out hot, and we tried the original first. The outside was crispy, covered with crystalized sugar bits, and the inside was super soft and fluffy, almost melting away under the crispy outside. The mango one was similar, except the middle had some mango cream, that wasn’t too sweet, and tasted like a tangy, almost ripe mango. The cream was mostly concentrated in the center though, but otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed them and would definitely go back. I was very thankful there wasn’t much of a line in the morning.
After our malasadas, we headed to Chinatown to go get the legendary mapo tofu. I’ve actually been meaning to go to Chinatown sometime, but I just never had the chance. There’s a ton of small streets along with the main one, with very much Chinatown vibes and decorations, and so many restaurants and food stalls. All of it looked really good…but we had a goal, and luckily, there wasn’t a line for the mapo tofu restaurant.
Since I don’t do spicy food, I left the mapo tofu up to him, and I ordered a crispy rice dish for myself. He needed rice for his mapo tofu, so we got an order of Yanzhou fried rice, and we’ve been predtty vegetable deprived lately, so we also got some garlic veggies. It all added up…but the food was good, and really hit the Chinese food spot.
After lunch, I did want to explore Chinatown, but for one, we were full and not in the mood to eat anymore, and two, it was super hot and we didn’t want to stick around too much in the crowd under the sun. We moved on to my next stop, which was going to a kind of nearby cafe. No, not to eat, to take pictures. I’m a big tokusatsu nerd, and one of my Japan travel goals is to go to various tokusatsu filming locations. The cafe nearby happens to be the central cafe for the series Lupinranger vs Patoranger. I think if we weren’t full, we would have eaten in, but I was just satisfied with a picture from the outside.
Our next order of business was to check out the Pokemon festivities happening around Yokohama, including the Pikachu parade that was happening at 3. Along the way, we got sidetracked by various pokemon things…I wanted to stop by the Pacifico Convention Center to get some pictures because that was also a tokusatsu spot, but there was a bunch of pokemon stuff set up there…
Along the way, we stopped by Minato mirai station, which had a huge Pokemon pop up area underground in the station, with a pop up shop, decorations everywhere, and a popsicle stand. My boyfriend was interested, mostly for the free sticker that came with a popsicle purchase, so we both got a popsicle in the shape of some ice penguin pokemon. It was ramune flavored, pretty refreshing, but a little odd to eat.
The station is connected to various department stores/malls, and one was hosting a pokemon pop up exhibit with art of the original 151 pokemon. Allt the art was very pretty, but for some reason I couldn’t find a Snorlax for my mom…here’s a Mew for you though.
By the time we finished looking around, 3 was almost approaching, so we decided to go to the venue of the first Pikachu parade of the day. That may have been a mistake, since it was only 10 minutes before yet the crowd was already massive. I managed to climb on top of a park rock bench thing and got a better view over the tall crowd, but otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to see the parade. It was cute seeing the Pikachus march along to the music, but there were way too many people.
Earlier in the day, we got a pamphlet for a Pokemon stamp rally happening in the Tokyo/Yokohama area, and my boyfriend was pretty hyped about collecting them, and getting at least three for a free clear file. However, when we got to Yokhama station, we learned that the prize colection period would end at 4, leaving not enough time to even go to the closest station to get a third stamp, so we just gave up…instead, we just headed to my next toku spot, Yokohama Business Park. It was very cool in person.
My boyfriend wanted to try the new Starbucks watermelon frapp, but since I’m not a watermelon person, I still wanted something refreshing, so I opted for the seasonal Yuzu Citrus Passion Tea in grande size, because it sounded good. I forgot to take a picture…but overall I liked it, not too sweet, and had light and refreshing notes. I was a little peeved by the yuzu peel bits, but maybe that’s just a me problem.
We wanted to be back in Asakusa in the evening because there was going to be a lantern lighting thing down the river starting at 6:45. It seemed cool, but it was less festival and more purely lanterns (they were selling them!), so we went to go eat yakitori for dinner at a nearby Torikizoku, a pretty big yakitori chain.
Train back to asakusa Torikizoku 2880
At 6:45, we went back to the bridge where the lanterns would be set off, but there was a pretty big crowd gatered around the good spots already. I think it would have been much prettier if it was in the evening, but there was still a decent amount of daylight out, the laterns were only being slowly let out, the tons of people made it hard to see, and we didn’t want to wait around, so we left pretty early on.
We were pretty close to the Yi Fang in Asakusa, so we went to get boba. Read about my boba here!
We bought some more water and then went back to rest.
August 13: It was time for Akiba Day 2, because my boyfriend is obsessed with Akiba (don’t get me wrong, I like it there, but he could spend his entire time in Akiba…), and he needed to go back to get some things for his friends anyway.
When I went to Tokyo in March, I got this amazing melon pan from Arteria Bakery along the main Asakusa street food street. I told my boyfriend about it, and he got in during his March Tokyo trip and liked it. We weren’t really in a hurry with a specific agenda, so we slept in and headed to Arteria Bakery around 10 when they were suposed to open. It was a rainy day (though on and off throughout the whole day), and we got one each.
The shop moved location from where I found it originally in March, and now had a bigger shop and an eat-in space. We decided to take cover until we finished our melon pan, and sat in. I was actually pretty dissapointed this time around, because it wasn’t hot or anything. The melon pan I bought in March was one of the best I had because it was hot and crispy, almost as if it was freshly baked. I’m not sure if it was because I went in the afternooon that time and the morning this time, but it wasn’t hot at all…and just made for an ok experience. Funnily enough, there was a different melon pan bakery next door. Competiton much?
We then headed to Akiba, and my boyfriend wanted to first check out the Shosen book tower, which was basically a 7-storied or so bookstore. By then, it was nearing noon, and we decided to grab lunch at a tsukemen place nearby, Yasubee. When we entered, there was a bit of a line, but we sat down after 5-10 minutes or so. There was even more of a line after us.
The thing with Yasubee (it’s a chain you can find all over Tokyo) is that you can choose however much noodles you want for free, or the same price as a normal. They have a small, a “normal”, a medium, and a large. Both my boyfriend and I went for the medium size, and I got the normal tsukemen, and he got the spicy miso. My broth came with some small chashu chunks and bamboo, and had a nice mellow flavor to it, and it wasn’t super thick or salty, which I think most tsukemen broths tend to be. I liked the variety on the topping plate, but the absolute star of the show had to be the boiled dumplings. They were so good, juicy, and tasted like proper dumplings. The noodles were chewy and bouncy, and I thought mine was a good amount. I did leave pretty full, but at least managed to finish the food I ordered.
After lunch, we went back to a few of the anime shops we visited in Akiba the other day, just to take another look around and run some errands. We were walking around quite a bit, and wanted somewhere to sit down, so we checked out Cure Maid Cafe because they were doing a Love Live collaboration and selling themed drinks. It’s “takeout only”, but we were able to takeout and sit on their terrace seating. I got the Chun Chun Milk Tea, which uses their permanent collaboration tea. It was pretty good, and the tea flavor was refreshing and tasted different than a normal Japanese milk tea for once. Also, this was the thickest whipped cream I’ve ever had. It was substantial, and a sweet, almost feeling and tasting like cake frosting.
We chilled on the terrace for a bit, then decided we didn’t have much else to do, so we just went back to the Airbnb where we could at least soak up the AC. On the way back, I wanted to check out this traditional Japanese sweets place that was in a tokusatsu show and the basis as a house in an anime I like, but they happened to be closed on Sundays, which I was fine with since I didn’t need to eat in. It was only after I took a picture that I noticed the no-picture sign, so out of respect, I will not post that…
For dinner, we didn’t want to go anywhere too far, so I found a Taiwanese/dumpling place near the Airbnb that looked pretty good. The selection all looked good, and we each got an order of their specialty pan fried soup dumplings, their ruroufan, braised pork rice, and I got their dou gan/dried tofu.
Everything was much yum! It felt really good to eat some dried tofu after a while, and the ruroufan tasted very nostalgic with pretty decent chunks of meat. The dumplings were amazing, but almost too juicy, because every time we bit into one, the juices came spilling out…we then got boba from Kocha again, and you can read about my boba here!
August 14: My boyfriend wanted to check out the Animate in Ikebukuro, which is now suppsoed to be one of the biggest anime stores in Japan after it got a makeover earlier this year, so we decided to make our last full day an Ikebukuro day and hang around there.
For breakfast, or brunch rather, I found a few fruit parlors in Ikebukuro, but at the very last moment, I found a branch of Takano Fruits Parlor as well! My boyfriend expressed interest when I told him about it, but unfortunately we didn’t get to go to the main store on our Shinjuku day. The store opens at 10, and I figured it’d be better to get there as soon as possible in case it was popular, even on a Monday morning. Plus, we had a lunch reservation at 1, and probably needed time to digest…
We ended up arriving around 11, and we had to wait a bit in line! It also was a little suspicious that there were man empty tables, but my tought was maybe they were trying to stagger customers and wouldn’t need to be busy first thing in the morning…trying to stay positive.
Most of the menu was the same as when I went to the main branch in July, but some items were different. I ended up going with the Okinawa Mango parfait, which would technically be the same item as what I got the month prior, but it came out looking different. I mean, it still tasted amazing, but just something of note. My boyfriend got the seasonal fruit one, with a combination of melon, peach, and watermelon.
After parfaits, we headed over to the Ikebukuro Animate, and browsed the first few floors. When 1 was coming around, we made our way to Kamen Rider the Diner, a Kamen Rider and Super Sentai collaboration cafe (the Sentai version is called Super Sentai Restaurant, but they’re basically the same). As a tokusatsu fan, I figured if we were going to be in Ikebukuro, we might as well go…I did make a reservation as soon as we decided we would be going to Ikebukuro.
The food was pretty decent for collaboration cafe food, though a bit on the pricier side. I suppose you’re paying for the free stands you get, and also the experience and the themed-ness. My boyfriend was the one who ordered the loaded fries, and I suppose the chili and the salsa were accurate (as a non-fan). I liked how the fried ricce had fishcake, which I thought was unique. You do have to pay a 700 yen seat fee, but that’s technically covered because you get free additional goodies; the Rider ones were a cookie, a small ceramic plate, and a coaster, although randomized.
We finished browsing the Animate after lunch, and with not much left to do in Ikebukuro, we headed back to our Airbnb in Asakusa. Unsure of what to do for dinner, I decided to head to this traditional Japanese place that does teishoku (set meals) for a really good price around central Asakusa, Mizuguchi. I was going to get the grilled salmon, but I saw a sign on the first floor saying their mixed fry was a best seller, and what settled it for me was that it included scallop. Weirdly enough we kept getting Englished even though I spoke in Japanese the whole time…did I look that much like a foriegner?
The miso soup was very nice with all the fillings, the rice portion was pretty large, and the pickles were decent. As for the main…I could have done without the croquette, the aji fry was pretty good, the chicken had nice flavor, but the star I was waiting for, the scallop, was so tiny! It was like half a scallop at that point, and I was pretty dissappointed. At that point, I should have ordered only fried scallops, which I only noticed on the menu after we ordered. Oops.
Of course, we got boba on our last day in Tokyo, and went to Yi Fang just in time before they closed. Read about my boba here!
August 15: It was time to go home! Our flight was at noon, and it would take us about an hour to get from Asakusa to Narita Airport, so we wanted to leave as early as possible in the morning. Our first order of business was to return our pocket wifi from the place we picked it up in Asakusa when we first came, and they open at 9, so luckily we could just return it first thing in the morning when they open.
Since we were out and about and had some time before our train, I originally wanted to stop by this onigirazu (like an onigiri sandwich?) place in Asakusa, but when I checked their calendar, it seemed like they would be closed that day. I was pretty bummed…but then I remembered I passed a random Taiwanese breakfast place on our first day here, checked reviews on Google, and it looked pretty legit, so I decided to make that my breakfast of the day. Man, everything on the menu looked super authentic and good, but I couldnt eat/bring home that much, so I decided to just get a normal fan tuan.
It came out super hot, so I could tell it was freshly made. I ended up eating it at the airport after a few hours of transport, and it cooled down to a nice temperature by then. The ratio of rice to filling was just right, and had all the traditional ingredients: you tiao (fried bread), pork floss, pickled veggies, and radish pickles. Everything was there, though I wish there was a bit more pork floss. By the time I ate it the you tiao was pretty stiff, but perhaps it’s beause I waited to eat it. I’d argue this was even better than the one I had in Taiwan, though that one had peanut powder which I never expected in a fan tuan, much to my dismay…I must eat another one in Taiwan to make up for it.
We arrived at the airport just before 11, and checked in my bag, and went through security. I attempted to drink as much water as I could, before my boyfriend told me that domestic flights here actually allow liquids. What happens is they put plastic bottles through some kind of scanner, and when my bottle got flagged the officer sniffed the inside, and put my bag through again without my bottle. That was pretty interesting.
In the small souvenir section our gate was next to, I noticed a Fa So La shop, which happens to be one of the only shops that sells the new Matcha Cake by Tokyo Banana. I saw an article about it a few months back, and wanted to try it, so I jumped at the opportunity to get it.
(After getting home), I tried out the snack, and I liked it quite a bit! It’s very matcha forward, with thick matcha cream enveloped in a soft cake (supposedly matcha as well, but matcha tends to be muted in a baked good). It has nothing to do with bananas rest assured, other than the parent company is Tokyo Banana. Highly recommend for matcha lovers.
Our flight home was a bit delayed, but we made it to New Chitose without any issues. I guess what we get for flying a budget airline is that our plane landed in the middle of nowhere, and we had to take a bus to the actual main airport. We were both hungry by that point, so we went to my boyfriend’s go-to, Ichigen, for some ramen. I decided to try their shio with thin noodles this time.
The broth was as shrimpy as I remembered it, and I liked how it was made thicker with the tonkotsu broth. I think I really do prefer the thin noodles, and was glad I got that. We then took the train back to Sapporo station, barely missing the 4 bus, so we got The Alley before the 5 bus home.
Read about my boba here!
That marks the end of my August Summer Vacation, and school would start a few days later. I suppose the next time I get on an airplane would be in December for when I go home, but this trip really made me realize how many planes I’ve been on this year…
Part 1 was here.
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