So this trip was quite a last minute decision as I only realized after coming back from Taiwan that I should yolo and do one last trip before I start work. I bought air tickets at about 3 weeks before my departure, and it costs about $360 without check-in baggage.
In Tokyo, it is highly recommended that you stay at either Shibuya or Shinjuku. These 2 places give you the best connections to other cities, airports, and has good connections to the rest of Tokyo. This is especially so for Shinjuku. We stayed at an Airbnb here. It's clean, affordable with great location but has thin walls.
And Shinjuku also has like the best ramen store that I have ever been to. This store is called Fuunji Rmaen and specializes in a ramen type called tsukemen, which is noodles dipped in a thick soup stock. The flavor of the soup is intense and mainly revolves around the use of bonito to give it a rich and complex taste. The noodles are also the best ones I have ever eaten, with a springy bite that goes splendid with the soup. Costs 800 yen for the basic tsukemen.
Fuunji also sells normal ramen.
Since public transport in Tokyo is not exactly cheap (costs like SGD$2.50 on average), it is recommended that you get the Tokyo Subway Ticket. It allows the use of Tokyo Metro and Toei lines at 500 yen a day if you buy the 3 day pass. A 1 day pass costs 800 yen and a 2 day pass costs 1200 yen.
From Narita Airport (where we landed), there are a lot of ways that you can go to Shinjuku. I recommend the Narita Express (4000 yen 2 way). It is very comfortable, takes 1 hour 15 mins and requires no transfers.
After putting our bags at our Airbnb, we proceeded to explore the Shinjuku area. We stopped first at Tsunahachi Tempura, a famous tempura chain recommended by our friends.
Much to our dismay, it tasted rather mediocre. The rice was awesome (literally shining) but the tempura given wasn't much and didn't blow our minds like we had hoped it would. Still, a good meal to start off in awesome Tokyo.
The Shinjuku area has a lot of malls. Notable ones are Isetan, Takashimaya, Odakyu, Keio, Lumine and Mylord. All the big malls have food basements that sell things like tourist traps (expensive touristy looking food) to lovely snacks.
Octopus!
Having craved for ramen for the past few weeks, we decided to start our ramen adventures at Ichiran Ramen, a store that is apparently very popular among Singaporeans and recommended by our ladyironchef. However, it actually tastes average, both soup wise and noodle wise, so much so that I would rank it even below Tonkotsu King at Orchid Hotel. But it has an interesting restaurant set-up.
Another ramen restaurant that you can try is called Santouka. Singapore has two branches, one in Central and another in Cuppage. The noodles and broth are only average, but this ramen chain from Hokkaido has the best ramen meat that I have ever tasted. Called pork cheek meat, it is cooked to perfection and costs like half the price that you have to pay in Singapore (1290 yen for a ramen bowl and a plate of pork cheek meat).
On our way to another shopping mall as we walked around the Shinjuku area, we chanced upon a long queue in front of this cheese tart shop. A survivor tip that you can take away is that if you see locals queuing up for something, you can be pretty sure that that something is worth queuing for. This baked cheese tart is shipped fresh all the way from Hokkaido and costs 200 yen. They actually even limit the number that you can buy at 12. It tastes pretty yummy and the cheese has a fluffy and soft texture to it.
After hours of shopping around the many different departmental stores, we headed for Omoide Yukucho, which is the green banner that you see before. It is this small network of alleyways with dozens of tiny eateries that sell affordable food. Take note that it only opens from 5pm onwards and cigarette smoke is aplenty at this place.
It was hard to get a recommendation on a restaurant in this alley that we could eat at, so we gambled and decided to hit this small and packed sushi bar. My girlfriend and I shared a plate of Omakase (a sashimi dish that is prepared using the freshest ingredients of the day) for 3000 yen and a 4 pieces of otoro (fattest part of the tuna) for 2000 yen. Both dishes were really good and the otoro even has marbling and melts like candy in your mouth. Be prepared to try weird looking seafood if you decided to try the Omakase, but be assured that the taste is top notch.
After eating the sashimi at this store, I was so impressed that I asked if the stores at Tsukiji Fish Market would be of a higher standard. (Tsukiji Fish Market is one of the world's largest fish market.) However, one of the customer who works at Tsukiji Fish Market told me that this small sushi store is of much higher quality compared to the ones near Tsukiji Fish Market as it has become quite touristy over the years. So if you can, do give this shop a try! Omoide Yukucho is quite a small place and probably has less than 20 stores, so you can probably find this shop by matching the photo to the stores around.
Other things in the Shinjuku area worth visiting include the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building which has a free observation deck, Kabuchiko (red light district), Japanese Sword Museum, Shinjuku Gyoen (a park), Alice Fantasy Restaurant (theme restaurant) and Cat Cafe Calio. Photos below are taken from the web as I did not have the time to visit them.
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building.
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