5 April 2015
One of the top 10 things to do in Tokyo is to go to Shibuya and experience walking across the famous intersection outside the Shibuya Station. When the lights turn red at this busy junction, they all turn red at the same time in every direction. Traffic stops completely and pedestrians surge into the intersection from all sides, including us. We wanted to go get a coffee at the Starbucks overlooking the junction but it was just too packed.
As a dog lover, I was looking forward to seeing the Hachiko statue at the entrance of the Shibuya Station too. The statue was easy to find as there were many signs pointing to it and it was also a popular meeting place in this crowded place.
There are many stories of dogs who were so loyal to their owners that they stand guard over their graves or stand waiting for the owners to return. This sculpture honours such a dog named Hachiko. According to the famous story, the dog waited for his master every day in front of Shibuya Station, and continued to do so for years even after his master had passed away. I find the sculpture not as detailed and nice as the one I saw at Edinburgh Scotland, named Greyfriars Bobby. But the story of the dog’s loyalty to its owner is quite similar and just as inspiring.
Shibuya is place for shoppers and with the light rain coming down, it made sense to go indoors into some of the malls. Plenty to choose from and wander around. These included Shibuya 109 (mainly women clothes) and Shibuya 109 Mens just for men.
After the rain stopped, we walked around Center Gai. There are plenty of restaurants at Center Gai and we had a craving for something soupy. So we had ramen and gyoza for lunch.
The ramen tasted better than the famous one at Tokyo Station but that’s because I liked the soup better.
There’s a large, 8-storey Tokyo Hands store in this area and worth a visit. Tokyu Hands has everything from do-it-yourself, interior, hobby, crafts, outdoors, travel goods, stationery and more.
As we headed northwards from Shibuya, we soon found ourselves in Harajuku. On most Sunday, Harajuku would be teeming with teens engaging in cosplay. But not today it seems. Maybe because of the rain in the morning, we did not see many cosplay teens. However, Takeshita Dori (Takeshita Street) was packed.
The 400 meter long street is lined by shops, boutiques, cafes and fast food outlets targeting Tokyo's teenagers. We went into Daiso Harajuku, a 100 Yen Shop to take a look and bought some stuff.
A must try is the crepes with ice cream that seems to be a speciality here as there were quite a few stalls selling these, with queues on all of these stalls.
From the end of Takeshita Street, we walked into Omotesando Hills. Omotesando is a broad, tree lined avenue that reminds me on Champs-Elysees in Paris. By that time, our legs were feeling the kilo-meters walked today and shopping was no longer fun anymore.
My research for a place to eat before our trip suggested that one of the best restaurants serving Tonkatsu in Tokyo is the Maisen restaurant located at 4 Chome-8-5 Jingumae, Shibuya, Tokyo 150-0001, Japan. It is a few hundred meters off the main Omotesando avenue, on a small street, but easy to find using google map.
We came relatively early (5.30 PM) for dinner hence there was not too much of a queue. After a short wait (queue) on a row of seats, we were led into a large room with tall ceilings. This is a former World War II public bathhouse!
We wanted to order their specially reared and locally sourced pork dish but were told it was sold out. Apparently there were only limited numbers for sale each day and most were sold out by lunch. So we went for the normal kurobuta pork cutlet set instead. And some Asahi beer to go with the meat.
I am not a fan of Tonkatsu but this meal was excellent, and maybe a bit pricey. Recharged after dinner, we strolled along Omotesando Hills at night and took some pictures.
As it was still early in the night and with legs recharged after dinner, we decided to head to Chidorigafuchi Park again to see the cherry blossoms. A short subway ride from the Omotesando Station to the Kudanshita Station later, we were once again at the Chidorigafuchi Park. This time, much of the blossoms had fallen over the last few days and the blooms were not as impressive as the first visit.
Nevertheless, the nights scenes were still beautiful and I kicked myself again for not bringing my Nikon DSLR for this trip.
These were night shots taken using my Samsung Galaxy Note4.
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