Day 29 - Okonomiyaki restaurant!

Hey everyone!

It's another short-ish post again today, but the next one will be longer and more exciting! Promise!

Be prepared! Its another food post!

On October 10th I decided to try something interesting for lunch.
We bought and ate in the WIC lounge in Waseda as usual.

I saw this Cup Noodle and thought it sounded interesting. The flavour was Mila Doria. "What is Mila Doria?" I hear you ask? Well, I haven't actually tried the actual dish here yet but what I have heard is that it is a Japanese adaption of a supposedly Italian dish. From what I have heard about it, Doria is a kind of cassaroley-gratin with chicken and cheese and lots of other yummy things, kind of like a crazy lasagna but with rice instead of pasta.

As this was a Cup Noodle the rice was substituted with instant noodles, my favorite!

Now if I am perfectly honest, the main reason that I chose this - apart from the fact that it looked curious- was that it was also cheese flavoured.

I actually often find myself choosing a dish purely based on the addition of cheese!

mmm look at all that smooshey stuff!

Sorry for the blurriness! 

This was what it looked like before adding the boiling water. Those big cubes were glorious lumps of cheese!!

The final product!

This Cup Noodle was really good. The sauce was thicker than usual and it had bits of meat and vegetables included. But the star of the show was the cheese. The cubes turned into melted cheese after being cooked and were pretty good!

I decided to continue with my interesting and unusual theme when choosing my drink so I went with this vegetable juice. It was really nice! If you looked inside the carton you could see that the liquid was a bright orange colour! The juice was actually sweet as it had fruit juice inside it too! I would definitely drink this again.

The restaurant front

In the evening a bunch of us headed over to an Okonomiyaki restaurant as they were having a special deal on one of the Okonomiyaki!

The Okonomiyaki on sale!

The sale meant that the Okonomiyaki was really cheap. If I remember correctly it was only around 400 yen (around £ 2.50)!

This time we didn't cook the Okonomiyaki ourselves, it was brought to us and put on the hotplate.

The Okonomiyaki here was really nice, and for the price we couldn't really go wrong.

The waitress seemed surprised when we ordered one each! They were quite big and I think she thought it would be too big for the girl's to finish but we didn't order any sides so it was just right for a dinner. 

After finishing our meal some of us headed home early. Amy and I stopped at a Takoyaki shop on the way back and had our first Takoyaki since we arrived in Japan!

The Okonomiyaki was quite big so we weren't exactly hungry but we both decided we were hankering for a dessert.

My Taiyaki! (Excuse the chipping nail varnish!)

Taiyaki is a fish shaped treat that you can find across Japan. The outside is a crispy, baked waffle-like batter shaped like a fish which has some kind of filling.
The most common (and more traditional taiyaki) is filled with azuki (sweet red bean paste). However nowadays they can be found in a variety of flavours. I think you may even be able to  find savory taiyaki in some places!

Not being the biggest fan of azuki - I don't dislike it! It's just not my favorite flavour - I opted for a sweet potato taiyaki.

It was nice and warm and the filling was sweet without being overly so. I hope I can try some other flavours in the future.

Well, that's all for now.
I hope this post wasn't too dull, but I promise the next post will be more interesting so hold on for that!

See you later!

Day 25 - Get to Know You Breakfast!

Hey everyone!

Although I am still really busy I am starting to get into the swing of things!

This is a pretty short post, but fear not! There is more to come!

Early morning on October 6th I came back to my dormitory before going out to Kaiten zushi to find that a note had been slipped under my door!

It was an invitation to a "Get to Know You Breakfast"! It started pretty early (9:00 am!) and I didn't quite feel exited at the notion of waking up so early on a Sunday morning, especially after staying out at Karaoke all night the night before. However, I felt I hadn't gotten to know many people in my dorm yet so I decided to bite the bullet and set my alarm for early morning. 

I had feared slightly that given the early start, nobody would turn up and I would have awoken for nothing! But luckily I didn't end up being the only one there! Given that the whole dorm was invited, it wasn't a massive turnout but it was a really nice group so no complaints!

On the way back from Karaoke I had picked up some things to bring so that I didn't have to turn up empty handed!

I tried to go for breakfasty things that were shareable so I got a few pastries and some juice.

The spread!

Everyone had brought something to share so we had a table covered in lots of yummy treats from pancakes and condiments to fruit and drinks.

We all ate in the common dining room we have on the second floor of our dorm, it was quite nice all sitting round a table and eating together!

It was good getting to know the people in my dorm more, they were all really nice! We had some good conversations and one of my dorm mates told us how she was interviewed for Japanese TV and got to meet Yusuke Yamamoto - a Japanese actor who was in a drama I like!

We ended up talking for quite a while! I am glad I decided to go, even though I was tired!

Well, that's all for now!

Day 24 - Cakes, Kaiten zushi and Karaoke!

Hey everyone!

I hope you are not too cold!
It is still pretty mild-weathered here in Tokyo, it's only just getting to be coat weather.

On the 5th of October I had a pretty naughty day food wise! So be prepared for lots of food snaps!

After our lessons had finished Amy, Kayan and I headed over to Anniversary, an almost unbelievably picturesque cake shop. We had previously spied the cake shop and vowed to go and try a cake as soon as possible!

Perhaps a bit early, but there were lots of cute Halloween decorations!

So much thought must have gone into the displays both inside and out!

Would you just look at this!!!!

Look at it!!!!!

This shop is just so cute it's almost painful!!!

As you can see, not only do they sell cakes, but they also make other yummy baked treats too!

They even sell Okuma san cakes! (Our university mascot!)

Would you just look at that little bear cake! 

The cakes were so adorable I could have just died! It would have been very hard to make a decision if it wasn't for the fact that I really wanted a Strawberry Shortcake!

On top of the fact that pretty much everything in that shop was drop-dead adorable they were pretty too! The cakes were mostly around 400 yen around £2.43. And before you go ahead and think it, no, the quality of the cakes do not suffer!

Amy's cake

We took the cakes back to the common room of my dorm and ate them while watching a Japanese drama. Yup, I know what you are thinking, we are livin' the dream!

I bought a tuna mayonnaise onigiri on the way back!

My cake, and what a cake it was!

Kayan and I both chose the Strawberry shortcake, while Amy opted for the very seasonal pumpkin cake! They were decorated so nicely, and I really liked that mine came with a happy little pumpkin decoration! It's the little things that make life fun!

I must say, I was wondering how a cake that was so cheap, whilst being so cute would taste but I was not disappointed! This was the nicest cake I had had in a while! It was sweet without being overly so, and the sharpness of the strawberries - on top and inside the cake - gave it a really nice balance. In fact, just writing about it now makes me want to run out and buy one!

There is no doubt about it, I will be visiting this cake shop again!

Now here is where the day starts to get naughty! Put your judging hats on, cuz this is about to get shameful!

~My choice of beverage~

Shortly after finishing our cakes, Amy and I headed out to go for coffee with another group of people. 

We went to a coffee shop chain called Choco Cro that was quite close to our dorms. 

I had a green tea latte to drink and here is were it starts to get embarrassing....

A Chocolate and Apple bun!

The green tea latte was nice, but not the best I have ever tried. The green tea flavour was a little too weak for me.
The bun was pretty good, unfortunately I think it was a seasonal option so I think it is no longer on the menu.

After having a drink and a chat Amy and I dashed off to a Daiso (100 yen store) to pick up some folders to bring some necessary organisation to our university work! 

We had to rush because we needed to meet another group of friends to go to Shibuya for... yes you guessed it! MORE food!!!!

On the way to the restaurant I spotted this... Going by the pictures I think it's best I don't know more about what's sold in that shop!

The restaurant we went to was a 回転寿司 kaitenzushi restaurant! (conveyor belt sushi) 

At a Kaiten zushi restaurant you usually have the following things at your table:
Matcha powder, hot water taps, pickles, soy sauce, wasabi and a seasoning.

You place your order on a screen above your table. There are menus on the wall to look at or you can just browse using the touch screen! Once you have chosen the sushi you want (usually a maximum of  4 plates at a time) you push the ordering button and then all you have to do is wait!

When your sushi is ready it will make its way on over to you via a little track in front of you. The dish of sushi is placed on a little train that rapidly makes its way down the track until it reaches your spot. It's quite fun to watch the sushi fly down to you seemingly by itself!

After you have taken the plate of the train you push a little button which sends the now empty train back into the kitchen. Pretty cool right?

Not only is this way of eating sushi super fun, it is also pretty cheap too! Most plates of sushi cost around 70p each!

Okay, are you ready for more pictures of food? 

This was the star of the night for me! Scallop sushi! The scallops were so creamy and mildly sweet! I had quite a few of these!

Look at that crispy tempura coating!

As usual, I couldn't turn down an opportunity to eat prawn tempura! These were good!

Prawn mayonnaise gunkan maki!

 Okay here is where you may start judging me again. I just had to try this sushi because it was just so weird!

HAMBURGER SUSHI!

I know, I know, you're probably thinking that this is a crime against nature. And to be honest, you are probably right. But, nobody needs to be right all the time! right?
Well, as weird as it was, it was pretty good. It was obviously not the best sushi there but it is certainly worth a try, - at least for the novelty! - so if you ever end up in a kaiten zushi restaurant definitely check to see if they sell any unusual sushi like this!

Standard tuna!

Salmon Nigiri!

Hotate (scallop) again!

and again!

Here is the aftermath!!

I had around 10 plates of sushi and a section of pineapple which all came to around 1000 yen which is just over £6! Try to find that value in London!

During the meal you occasionally get a chance to play a game of rock, paper, scissors for a chance to get some money off or win little gifts!

After finishing up at the restaurant we headed back to Takadanobaba, where we decided to go to Karaoke! Because, why not!

At this Karaoke place you could change your room to a special room for free! We just went for a normal room though.

Unlimited drinks were included in the price!

I couldn't resist the slushie machine so I went for a two tone slushie! God, how I love that frozen goodness!

Unfortunately the pictures I took of the Karaoke room didn't come out too well so you will have to make do with this lovely shot of my drink!

Well, that's all for now!

Trip to Hakone! Mt. Fuji and Onsen!

Hey everyone!

Today I went with a bunch of friends to Hakone!

Around now is the right season to go to view the momiji (red autumn leaves). 

We had initially planned to visit Kyoto for the weekend but all the reasonably priced hotels had been filled up when we tried to make bookings. We then decided to change our plans to go to Kyoto for a day trip but the Shinkansen tickets alone were 25,000円 (around the ballpark sum of £160). 25,000 yen being too much for some of us to part with for a day trip we decided to look for somewhere else.

We eventually decided on Hakone! We knew that we could see some amazing views in Hakone and was definitely viable as a day trip! It cost us 5000円 to buy a two day travel card that covered all the transport we needed from Shinjuku to Hakone and inside Hakone! 

This included boat, buses and cable cars!

We got to Hakone by train. We had a few changes but luckily we didn't make any mistakes! Well, we almost took the wrong train but realised just in time!

We took a train from Yumoto to Gora to get to the cable cars that would transport us to Owakudani (the great boiling valley). The train was SO slow! We were all crushed in like sardines but we still had to stand for aaaages! At one point even more people piled in!

We took cable cars up to a Owakudani,

which had some spectacular views! Owakudani is a volcanic hot spot which is famous for its sulphurous springs.

There we could see Mt.Fuji in all it's glory! It really looked like such a cliche of a mountain! If a child were asked to draw a mountain it would be just like Mt.Fuji! It is such a perfect peak shape with a good cap of snow! 

The weather was gorgeous so it was a perfect day to see the views! However, it appeared that everyone else had thought so too! The queues for the cable cars were shocking! 

We couldn't pass up the opportunity to try Owakudani's famous black eggs (黒玉子). Each egg you eat is said to increase your lifespan by 7 years! A set of 5 were 500 yen! We bought a pack and had one each, so expect us all to stick around on earth for an extra 7 years! 

These eggs are cooked in Owakudani's sulphurous water which gives the eggs a curious black colour. 

Once you peel away the shell, The eggs were pretty much the same colour as a normal boiled egg. The set of eggs came with a little packet of salt to season them with. The taste was also not much different from a normal boiled egg!

Owakudani had lots of black coloured foods to try! And as usual I could not pass up the opportunity to try something new and unusual! After eating the egg I bought a Black Monja Bun (黒もんじゃまん). It was really nice, the bun had a mixture of vegetables, noodles and meat. It had a rich, almost sweet flavour.

Another thing being sold was black ice-cream! It came in two different flavours: vanilla and strawberry! I chose the strawberry flavour as I felt this would be the most interesting and was not disappointed! It even had tiny bits of strawberry inside. The flavour was good, undeniably strawberry! The ice cream temporarily turned our lips and tongues black! I wonder if I will live 7 years longer after eating this!

There were lots of other black foods to try including black ramen! But I can only stuff so much into my gullet in one afternoon! 

After we had had our fill of black foods and beautiful views we headed back down the cable cars towards Lake Ashi (Ashinoko) to ride on the one of the "pirate ships". 

The ships were decorated quite gaudily to look like pirate ships. They look quite spectacular out on the water.

We rode the ship across the lake, the views really were quite stunning.

From the ship you could make out the Shinto shrine with its torii gates rising out of the water. The scenery felt very Japanese.

After riding the boat we returned to Yumoto by bus. We walked around in search for food and eventually decided on a soba restaurant. It was a bit expensive - around 1680 yen for each dish! Unfortunately we would have had to wait around 20 minutes for soba so I ordered a tempura udon dish.

It was really tasty. The broth was really rich and came with a small dish of spring onions which you could add to your own taste. The prawns and vegetables were also really good, and the udon were a good consistency! It came with a pot of spices to season the broth as well.

After eating we had a look around some Omiyage shops (gift shops) to see what special Hakone treats there were on offer.

After we had perused the wares enough Amy, Cami and I found just enough time to dash off to an Onsen called kappa tengoku (かっぱ天国).

It was really awesome, it was described as slightly shabby online but I really found it quite charming! 

The lantern-lit stairway up to the inn gave off the feel of the Miyazaki Hayao film, Spirited Away. 

We were quite nervous as Amy and I had never been to an onsen before and the prospect of stripping down to nothing but your birthday-suit was quite daunting! 

Luckily the other people were just leaving as it was already late so we had the onsen all to ourselves!

It didn't take long for us to get over the nakedness of it all and just enjoy it!

The onsen was just under 800 yen including a towel - the train pass that we had bought gave us a bit of a discount which was great!

Before heading into the onsen you go over to the showers and wash while sitting on the stools. There is soap and shampoo provided in big bottles and there is a bowl to fill with water and wash water over you.

When you are clean you can then submerge yourself in the welcoming waters of the onsen!

The water was a perfect temperature! I was worried it would be too hot for me to be able to enter, but it was just right! You need to be careful thought because it is possible to faint or feel sick if you stay in the hot waters for too long!

It was a really lovely atmosphere with the stones and the steam rising from the hot waters. I was really glad we had a chance to squeeze in the trip to the onsen at the end! 

After bathing in the onsen we dashed off to the train station as it was getting pretty late! We had a bit of time to kill before our train left so we looked in the Omiyage shop in the train station and bought some souvenirs.

We all bought some Hello Kitty Onsen Tabi socks to remember the trip to the onsen and then made our way back home!

It was an amazing day out! We got to do so many things and the price was really reasonable! I'm so grateful for everyone who came for making it a great trip! 

I will be looking forward to the Niji no Kai trip next weekend to Yamanashi!

Well, see you for now!