Day 92 - Sweets Paradise and Christmas Market

Hey everyone!

On December 12th I met up with some friends to go to Sweets Paradise!
As the name suggests this restaurant is a haven of sweets!

Sweets paradise is an all-you-can eat dessert restaurant. Adults pay ¥1530 (the price increased with the tax hike) and you are given around an hour and a half to eat as much as you can stuff into your fat little chops, which could, incidentally, be quite a lot, or not very much at all!

There are many branches of Sweets Paradise across Japan, but we went to the branch in Ikebukuro. As soon as you entered the restaurant it had a fun almost Charlie in the Chocolate Factory-esque theme to it. However, the branches all seem to have varying themes, which, if you ask me, is a perfect reason to go more than once. To experience the difference atmospheres of course!

sweets paradise gatcha-gatcha machine

The ticket machine also used in lots of fast food restaurants

Before you are guided to your seats you use the machine to buy a meal ticket. These kinds of machines are quite common in fast-food restaurants in Japan.
For example the donburi chains like Matsuya use these machines where you choose your meal and pay for it first. You then take the ticket printed out by the machine and hand it to the waitress or waiter. The benefits to this system is that its rather efficient and you don't have to worry about the bill after your meal!

As to be expected, the clientele of Sweets Paradise was primarily female. That doesn't mean that there aren't a fair share of men who enjoy the sweet treats on offer!

Sweets Paradise has a wide range of cakes and baked goods on offer and they are constantly being replenished. But that isn't all, there is also shaved ice, ice-cream, Japanese sweets and a chocolate fountain to fill up on.

There are also a variety of hot and cold drinks to choose from, from tea to melon soda!

In the middle of the restaurant was this huge rotating ice-cream which was pretty snazzy! 

If you think you would get sick of all the sweets, fear not! There is also a selection of savory dishes to enjoy. There were soups, curry, salad, pasta, and sandwiches to choose from that day, but I have been to Sweets Paradise since and they were also serving pizza, chips and garlic bread. The garlic bread bites were particularly moreish.

There was also a popcorn machine with warm savory popcorn to much on! Being a popcorn fiend, I couldn't resist!

After enjoying sweets paradise Amy and I dashed off to Roppongi to meet some friends so we could visit a Christmas market.

View of Tokyo Tower from Roppongi

The Christmas Market!

We were all missing the feeling of Christmas so it was nice to see some more traditional-looking Christmas decorations. The Green and red decorations coupled with warm fairy lights made me feel like Christmas was on its way!

There were lots of shops selling Christmas decorations, although naturally they were all pretty expensive!

There were also a lot of German Christmas food stalls selling things like sausages and mulled wine. Although I didn't really drink any mulled wine the smell was enough to get me into the Christmas spirit.

There were a lot of people from other corners of the globe who, like us, seemed to also be seeking a more traditional Christmas atmosphere away from home!

I know my friends were happy to see the mulled wines and assortment of cheeses! 

We managed to pack a lot in even though we had had lessons that morning. I was glad to finally try out Sweets Paradise as I had heard a lot about it!

The Christmas market was really nice for its smells and sights but it was a little bit expensive and I found the small size of it a bit disappointing. I was expecting it to be much larger but it only consisted of a few stalls.

Well, that's all for now!

Until next time!

Day 91 - Korean barbeque

Hey everyone, just a restaurant post for you all today!

On Dec 11 I went with a few people to Gut's Soul ガッツ・ソウル, a Korean BBQ restaurant.

At this restaurant there are three different all-you-can-eat courses to choose from:
Bikkuri course

Ultra course
Chotto ii course

The Bikkuri course was the cheapest course at ¥1,300 or ¥2,400 to add the unlimited drinks option and the Chotto ii course was the most expensive at ¥2,080 (¥3,100 unlimited drinks). The different courses vary on the number of dishes available.
The bikkuri course only has chicken, pork and seafood dishes whereas the other two courses also have beef (with the most expensive course, of course, offering more varieties). All of the courses had a range of side dishes to order from such as rice and toppoki (with a few differences between the 3 courses).

We went for the Bikkuri course, although it was the cheapest course there was still a wide range of choices of meat and side dishes so it was definitely sufficient!

When you go in you choose the course you want and then the time limit. The usual limit is 90 minutes but for you can pay more to have 2 hours.
When you are seated you are given the all-you-can-eat menu corresponding to your course. You can eat as much as you like from the menu as long as you can actually finish it all!
You order the meals through a little electronic device on the table. It was a little difficult to use but we managed somehow!

In the middle of the table was a square grill to cook the meat and vegetables on. It was definitely hands-on dining so it's your own fault if the food is overcooked!!

There were also condiments on the table to use as desired.

Curry-salsa cheese rice

There were a lot of side dishes including the rather strange sounding salsa-cheese-curry rice which I just couldn't resist trying.

Overall the BBQ meats were really tasty and it was fun cooking the food ourselves. The only warning is that unlike some other restaurants there aren't plastic bags to put your coats and bags in so be prepared to come out smelling like smoke and food!

We decided that 90 minutes would be sufficient. However, although we weren't left wanting for more food, we ended up rushing at the end to finish what was left over so if you are a slow eater or prefer to eat at a particularly leisurely pace or just want more time to chat at the end of the meal, then it may be worth adding the extra 30 minutes. 

The bad points that we came across were that we found that the waiters that time were slightly less than welcoming which was a shame. Not to say that the service was terrible but it definitely could have been better. The other thing was that the side dishes were not as nice as the BBQ dishes but for an all-you-can-eat you cannot exactly expect Michelin-star food! It wasn't the most beautiful restaurant either, but as long as it isn't a particularly special occasion then it shouldn't matter too much.

Overall it was a good evening, we ate lots of tasty food and the fact that we could use the grill ourselves was pretty fun!
I would recommend this restaurant to people who like Korean barbecue. There are a lot of options, even on the cheaper menu. It is a bit more expensive than the usual meal at a restaurant but this is usually the case with Korean food and it was also a tabehoudai (all-you-can-eat). I think this restaurant is suitable for dinner  out with friends but probably wouldn't be good for a date (if only for the smell! And the not-so-romantic atmosphere).  If your looking for lots of tasty food, it is a good bet, but probably not advisable if you are looking for something more fancy!  

Day 86 - Mochi making sumos!

Hey everyone, just a quick post here!

On December 6th there was a special event taking place at the Waseda campus during the lunch period!

It was a Sumo Omochitsuki! I'm sure you all know what sumo are but perhaps I should explain a little about お餅つきOmochitsuki. Omochitsuki is a mochi rice cake making ceremony.

Omochitsuki is carried out by adding mochi rice that has been soaked in water and then cooked into a traditional wooden mortar usu. Then the mochi pounding begins! It takes two people to carry out with one using the massive wooden mallet kine while another person kneads and wets the mochi. It's a little scary because if they are not synced well it can end in injury! When it is done the mochi is taken away to be made into various foods that can either be savory or sweet.  Of course people take it in turns to make the mochi as it is really tiring!

The sumo at the festival were rather small when compared to some of the professional sumo you may go to see at a match but they were still certainly a sight to see! It was my first time seeing sumo so it was pretty cool!

At the event you could try making some mochi yourself by trying your hand at the heavy mallet. You could also line up to try some mochi for free. They had a few flavours and if my memory serves me right I believe they may have also had some gyoza. Unfortunately I had classes and I couldn't stay around for long so I wasn't able to try either but it was nice to have the opportunity to witness the festival. It was really lively with lots of students sitting on the grass to eat and talk.

I only wish I had been able to do so too!

Who better than a sumo to wield the heavy kine!

Even though it was coming into winter there were still lots of momiji autumn leaves to see, so on the way to my next class I took the opportunity to take some photos of the colourful leaves that had taken their rest on the ground.

Even though I could only stay for a few minutes is was nice to take in the atmosphere and witness my first omochitsuki and take in the festival atmosphere!

Mochi is a traditional treat during the new year so I knew I would have a chance to try them again, which I did so hold tight for a post on that in the future!

Well, till next time!

Day 214 - Kanamara matsuri!

Hey everyone!

So I have a rather odd post for you all today! I just want to pre-warn you that there will be some sexual(ish) images because today I went to…

Kanamara matsuri! 

The Kanamara matsuri is a festival that is held every year on the first Sunday of April at the Kanayama shrine, Kawasaki.  Kanamara matsuri is known as the festival of the steel phallus in English. Yes. You did read that correctly.

The festival celebrates fertility and it does so in a pretty big way! Large penis-themed mikoshi divine palanquins (portable Shinto shrine) that start off in the grounds of the shrine are taken around the neighbourhood in a mikoshi parade. There is also drumming and other rituals but there were so many people it was very hard to see much of it.

The phallic theme of the festival is pretty apparent not soon after entering the temple grounds. There are people dressed up in penis themed costumes and accessories, penis themed goods and food and even phallic statues around the shrine grounds.

The quirky theme of the festival coupled with its presence on the internet as another “oh, Japan!” point of amusement, has resulted in the numbers of festival goers swelling over the past years. This is primarily due to the increased number of tourists drawn to the event.

It was clear even on the train during the journey to Kawasaki that it would be rather crowded and we weren’t wrong.  It was absolutely packed, and it only got busier as the day went on (until it rained that is!). The shrine was only very small, not really meant for such heavy crowds so it was a case of shuffling and squeezing through a sea of people.It got progressively harder to move until the rain thinned the crowds slightly so it was a challenge, but we managed to see quite a few things. 

As with most Japanese festivals there were of course many things to eat!
As soon as you entered the gates to the shrine the smell of cooking food was in the air with a kebab stall and a hot dog and churros stall by the entrance. Not Japanese enough? Well fear not because there were other stalls with plenty of other goodies to try.  There were yakitori skewers, croquettes, yakisoba and of course, alcohol!

What I believe was a Chinese savory pancake with a meat filling - delicious!

Couldn't resist after I saw some girls carrying this around!

There were also some rather unusual snacks being sold around the shrine... Penis and vagina lollipops! They were being sold in various colours, shapes and sizes! One stall - with perhaps the most realistic looking sweets - sold them as "King" and "Queen" sweets.

The "king" - one of kanamara matsuri's infamous sweets!

Aside from the sweets there were also many phallic goods and souvenirs on sale such as the penis-shaped candles above. 

In the shrine area there were many other things to see and do. Unfortunately I couldn't get pictures of it all due in part to the crowds and part to my being so short!

One of the mikoshi

The girls in white were performing a ritual

Wooden ema - plaques on which people write their wishes

See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil.... What?!

Folklore says that a woman, inflicted with vagina dentata sought help from a blacksmith who forged an iron phallus to cure her of her infliction. It was lead to the iron structure being enshrined in Kanayama shrine. Perhaps this is fabled iron penis from the tale?

There were phallus-shaped structures around the shrine which of course were used as photo opportunities by many of the visitors. In fact there were two wooden penises that people were taking turns to ride on!

I always find myself drawn to the kitsune

Waiting for the parade

Due to the large number of tourists there was some inevitable second-hand embarrassment as some less-than-thoughtful foreigners committed cringe-worthy acts such as sitting down to smoke in a group on a shrine *shudders*.  I somehow managed to get though without dying of shame!

The mikoshi parade was scheduled to start around 12pm so we lined up outside to await its arrival. But on asking one of the workers we found out that  it wouldn't be passing us so we moved to a road opposite the station which proved to be a better spot by far!

So many people

All the people near the shrine entrance

The crowd stretched all the way down both sides of the road

We saw this guy when we were waiting for the mikoshi parade. He was acting as a guider but whether he was official or not is something I cannot say.

We didn't have to wait long for the parade to pass us!

The front of the parade

Pretty scary!

And you thought high heels were hard to walk in!

Two men dressed in wigs and female Kimono

The only photo I could get that didn't have a bald head entirely filling the frame!

This mikoshi was carried by transvestites!

We stayed a bit longer after the parade but it started raining soon after prompting us to return home.

On the way home we decided to stop by the Shrine near Waseda - Ana Hachimangu. In fact I can actually see this shrine from my window!

At the shrine we did a bit of O-hanami (sakura blossom viewing) and I decided to buy a shuin cho stamp book. These stamp books are used to collect stamps from the various shrines and temples. Each shrine or temple has their own stamp.

'Til next time!