Delica Ondoru (Korean cuisine)

Tokyo is a gigantic city with endless options to explore. This was what we kept telling our family and friends who came to visit. 

...But then whenever a holiday or vacation came around for ourselves, hubby and I left the city instead ^.^" Living in Tokyo was much different than visiting it of course. As much we loved the city, the density and the fast pace were taxing so whenever we got a chance, we escaped elsewhere for a break and a breather.

All that blabbering was a lame excuse for not exploring Shin-Okubo (aka Koreatown) further. But the few times we did go, we ate here at Delica Ondoru. 

Tokyo Eats - Omotesando area

Hubby and I, and our friends too for that matter, only went to Omotesando a few times when we were in Tokyo. It wasn't because we didn't like it. We felt--for lack of better words--out of place there. Why? From our view Omotesando is really poshy, the all-grown-up-and-super-successful big sister of Harajuku. Ginza? Pffft, too touristy, which was why we spent a lot of time there because we could blend into the crowds of tourists. But there at Omotesando, our decidedly "un-hip" appearance stuck out like a sore thumb.

The Prada Aoyama branch.

Tokyo Eats - Shinjuku area

Throughout our time in Tokyo, the majority of our visits to Shinjuku was to eat sukiyaki tabehodai (all you can eat hotpot) at Nabezo with a host of friends and visiting family. The remaining of the time was me exploring the Shinjuku Isetan and a few other shopping destinations, me meeting up for lunch and coffee with my old friend K., and our afternoon tea club hanging out at the Peak Lounge or the New York Bar of the Park Hyatt Shinjuku ^.^ So suffice to say we did a great injustice to the enormous and super dense Shinjuku and didn't explore it as much as we could and should have.

An Afternoon in Asakusa, Tokyo

My brother was visiting us in Tokyo around late September, and during one weekday he and I took a stroll around Asakusa after lunch. No, we didn't go to Senso-ji again. Been there a million times. Instead, we started out at the famous and crowded Asakusa Nakamise and made our way through all the surrounding shotengais.

An Afternoon in Akihabara, Tokyo

Before hubby and I moved home from Japan last October, my brother flew out to hang with us for about 10 days around late September. Free place to crash in Tokyo, so why not, right? When he was there for the holidays season 2015, he got the explore the city a little bit. The second time around he was a lot more comfortable venturing out by himself, knowing how the subway system works, how much things cost, etc.

One Sunday he convinced us to go with him to Akihabara, or Akiba for short. We both have been once, though only briefly a long time ago, back in 2010-2012 when we were living in Yokohama. So hubby and my brother went out there after breakfast, and I joined them after lunch.

Atago-jinja, Minato, Tokyo, Part III

A few days after we returned from Taipei, hubby and I took a late afternoon stroll in the neighborhood and promptly stumbled upon a festival at Atago-jinja. As you can see, it was still gloomy and wet after having rained cats and dogs earlier that day. We were quite surprised to see a festival going on as they usually just cancel and move to the next day.

A day in Nezu, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Part II

After having a delicious kamameshi lunch and taiyaki snack, T. and I walked over to Nezu Shrine famous for Tsutsuji Matsuri (Azalea Festival) during the month of April.

A day in Nezu, Bunkyo, Tokyo

While in Tokyo, I frequented a cafe and made friends with a gal who works there. T. had spent a few years in Australia as an international student, so we had lots to chat about. In the second week of September, she had a few hard-earned days of vacation and was kind enough to spend one of those days introducing me to her hometown Nezu (根津).

On another note, I made it to the middle of September in my photo backlog. Will post about a quick and gastronomically satisfying trip to Taipei soon ^.^

Anyway, T. and I met up at Nezu Station and she suggested a kamameshi restaurant. I had zero objections as I love kamameshi. Turned out the place also serves yakitori. What's better than having one of your favorite foods? Why, it's having two of your favorite foods, of course! 

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Shinjuku, Tokyo

The end of August took me to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building with my friend K. and her two year-old toddler, K.

K. and I have actually known each other since 2005, when I was a JET in Takaoka, Toyama, at the same high school where K. was teaching. She was one of the teachers I taught with and we've kept contact intermittently over the years. When hubby and I moved to Tokyo in the late summer of 2015, we met up for lunch every few months or so.

Afternoon Tea at The Lounge, Aman Tokyo, Part II

Back in July, our Tokyo afternoon tea club was taken breathless with the space and the atmosphere at The Lounge on the 33rd floor of the Aman Hotel Tokyo. So despite the chocolate overload in the afternoon tea service, we voted to come back for a second time in mid September for a last hoorah, just one more tea session before we all part ways and return home after a year in the capital of Japan. We figured it's been two months and their menu has probably changed, so it won't be the same death by chocolate as with the July session.

Tokyo Eats - Roppongi area Part VI

My god, how many food photos did I take?!? I finally made it to the first week of August in the photo backlog, and it filled up yet another Tokyo Eats - Roppongi area post! I guess it was because hubby worked there, and so I went there everyday to meet with him for lunch. That was how I ended up with lots and lots of photos of mostly food ^.^"

Afternoon Tea at The Lobby, The Peninsula Hotel Tokyo

In August, our afternoon tea club was reduced to just three, me, hubby, and J., as the rest was on vacation along with half of Japan ^.^ Our choices of venue were drastically reduced also, because even though I was calling 2-3 weeks in advance, every other location was already booked through the whole month--so keep in mind to plan far, far ahead if you're ever going to visit Japan in August.

Luckily, we have a long list of places to try, and to our luck we got into one of them: The Lobby on the ground floor of the Peninsula Hotel Tokyo. Before you ooh and aah though, I just want to point out that it's the afternoon tea service at the Peninsula Hongkong that's among the legends. Whereas the afternoon tea service at the Peninsula Tokyo is known for being more "traditional," which can mean boring depends on who you ask. Either way, it was August and we took what we could get.

Check out this interesting staircase with a mini zen rock garden at the bottom.

Afternoon Tea at The Lounge, Aman Tokyo

Happy New Year!

Meanwhile, I'm still catching up with photos. For July, our afternoon tea club tried the tea service at The Lounge on the 33rd floor of the Aman Hotel Tokyo, in Otemachi, north of Tokyo Station and west of Nihonbashi.

I have to say, the building may seem unremarkable from the outside, but inside it was rather breathtaking in terms of design and decor. Our group of six were mesmerized the moment we stepped inside The Lounge and I have a boat load of photos to prove it ^.^ The whole place is vast and airy and well-lit. In super dense Tokyo, there's nothing more luxurious than space itself. Just look at that ceiling!

Afternoon Tea at the Oriental Lounge, Mandarin Oriental Tokyo Part IV

We had our last session of afternoon tea at the Oriental Lounge of Mandarin Oriental Tokyo in June. Four sittings and each was as spectacular as the last. No disappointments, no repeats, always something different and unique, and delicious. Gosh I love the tea service here, I really do. The next time we go back to Tokyo, this is where I'll be camping out ^.^

Tokyo Eats - Roppongi Area Part IV

More food in Roppongi, though probably not the last since I'm still waaay behind on photos. I'd thought to wait until I'm all caught up but the post will grow too long, so I'm posting what I have now, already pretty darn long as it is!

An art display at Midtown, along with even more photos of sakura that I didn't get to in the previous installment. I know, I'm posting spring photos in the fall and summer photos in the winter. Ha.