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βSo .... I've definitely eaten more than 26 kinds of food in Japan, but this should be a good enough reason for you to visit this foodie's paradise!
No trip to Japan would be complete without eating Japanese food. Usually, I do not write a separate post on the food scenario in a country that I visit, however for Japan, I'm making an exception. I need to convince people why they should visit Japan. I may have not known the names of all the things that I ate there (because it was all written in Japanese) or the names of all the restaurants that I dined at, however, I do have some mouth-watering pictures to share. Any info. I have about a food joint will be shared along with each picture.
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1) Creamiaβ - This is one rich, creamy and full-fat milk flavoured thats very common in Japan. Even the cone if made from Japanese wafer.
2) Gyoza - Probably a very common Japanese food. However, in UAE, I'll have to pay atleast four times the price to enjoy 6 pieces. I stopped at a random food joint at Namba station in Osaka just after I landed, and I got this treat for a steal!
3) Rikuro's Cheesecake - This wobbly piece of heaven has been making rounds on the internet, and I was determined to try it out. Its light and fluffy but does have a strong smell of egg. We bought an entire cake and both of us had half each for brekkie the following day.
4) Okonamiyaki - This Japanese style pancake is available throughout Japan. Everyone boasts that theirs is the best. In order to know the reality, we tried them in every city. Just watching them prepare it is an art.
5) Takoyaki - These crispy octopus filled balls are a popular street food in Japan. They taste really good! Just make sure not to pop it into your mouth immediately!
6) Oysters - I have never had a cooked oyster in my life, that was until I visited Japan. The first one I had was in Miyajima, and there was no turning back. They cook them in various style - char grilled, deep fried, etc. In some of the markets in Japan, like the Omicho Market ... they have entire stalls dedicated to oysters. Each size in priced differently. Just pay for it, season it and pop it in!
7) Fish cake- A maple leaf looking thing which is a popular street food in Miyajima.
8) Cream Puff Pastry - I have no idea what they call these in Japan, but I had these in Kyoto. Its a pastry filled with cream. We tried the ones filled with matcha, sakura and something else!
9) Ichigo Daifu - Mochi is very common in Japan. We had this one while we were on our way to the Todaiji temple in Nara.
10) Green Beer - Because ... how many people get to have a beer thats green? We had this somewhere in Kyoto.
11) Sushi - This is something we all associate Japan with. Sushi train restaurants are very common in Japan, and while the regular fishy sushi is available everywhere, some of the restaurants even have them with meat. The meat ones are really good!
12) Grilled Bamboo Shoot - We usually have little slices of bamboo shoot in Chinese or Indian cuisine, however, I've never had a big chunk all by myself. We tried this in one of the little stalls at Maruyama Park in Kyoto.
13) Grilled Rice Balls - We found this at the Fushimi Inari shrine in Kyoto, however, you'd probably find it anywhere. They are basically rice balls, brushed with sweet sauce and dusted with soy bean powder.
14) Gold Leaf Ice cream - Only in Kanazawa, will you find an ice cream thats covered in real gold leaf. You're sure to feel like a million bucks!
15) Omurice - I became a fan of this dish when I had it in Kanazawa. Its basically an omelet stuffed with whatever you choose and smothered in a sauce of your choice. Omurice = Omelet + Rice!
16) Japanese Curry - You do not need to be a fan of curry to try out Japanese curries. They are different from other curries and are really comforting. We tried one at the Shirakawago bus station and another in Tokyo. In some restaurants in Japan, you can choose your fave curry from a machine thats located outside the restaurant, pay for it and then enter. Make sure you try out the hashed beef curry!
17) Dumpling looking things! - I have no idea what these were called or what they're filled with. We saw a long line at a certain restaurant at Yokohama Chinatown and knew that we had to try it. Its got a dumpling texture on top and a pastry texture at the bottom. We burnt our tongues when we tried to stuff one in our mouth. Its filled with hot soup!
18) The actual dumplings - Okay, these were normal dumplings that we found at Yokohama Chinatown. They're there everywhere!
19) Tokyo Banana - The cutest little cakes shaped like a banana and filled with banana cream, choco- banana cream, etc. They are available at a couple of stations in Tokyo and even at the airport.
20) Ikinari Steak - When in Tokyo, make sure you visit this steakhouse. They are so welcoming and the steak is to die for!
21) Totti Candy Factory - for the largest, fanciest and most colourful cotton candy you'll ever see ... atleast for me. They are located in Harajuku, Tokyo.
22) Japanese breads - The Japanese sure know how to get creative with their bread. We ditched the regular breakfast in Japan and headed to bake shops to try out their assorted breads. Black bread, green bread, panda shaped breads ... they have them all!
23) Seafood in a shell - That's the best name I could give this shell filled with all kinds of seafood. I found this at the Tsukiji market in Tokyo. Trust me, its worth every yen!
24) Pablo's Cheesetart - We tried out 3 mini tarts filled with matcha, cheese and chocolate. I personally loved the chocolate tart and its no surprise why.
25) Scallops - In UAE, scallops are a delicacy that come at a price. In Japan, they're sold almost everywhere and are dirt cheap. I don't think a day passed by when I didn't eat a scallop!
26) Yakiniku - Last but not the least, I loved the concept of grilling my own meat. Japan has one of the best beef (Kobe beef) that I know of and we weren't afraid to unleash our inner carnivore.
Phew !!!!
βSo .... I've definitely eaten more than 26 kinds of food in Japan, but this should be a good enough reason for you to visit this foodie's paradise!
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Out of all the cities in Japan we'd visited so far, we spent most of our days in Tokyo. Mainly because we wanted to do a couple of day trips to Mt. Fuji, Nagano, etc. However, that didn't happen. Let me start by saying that Tokyo's main railway station is the most complicated station I've ever been to! Nearly 30 countries down, and I've never seen anything like it. The three times I passed through this station, I got lost all three times. Its just too complex. Tokyo is a big, beautiful and fast-paced city with plenty of things to see. Since we had six days here, we could explore this city at our own pace. We stayed at the Grand Arc Hanzomon and bought a day pass everyday to get around. Here are some of the places we visited while we were there:
1) Senso-ji - This is one of Tokyo's oldest temples. We had to enter the Kaminarimon Gate and walk through a row of shops (Nakamise Shopping Street) selling Japanese stuff to reach the main hall. There are a few other structures on the grounds including a five storey pagoda. It was crowded!
2) Tsukiji Fish market - One of the largest and busiest fish markets in the world. If you're interested, you can even witness an auction that takes place around 2am. We're a bit allergic to early mornings so we visited around 9am for a seafood feast. The choice of fish is plenty and we saw things that we'd never ever seen before. This market also had fruits, veggies, spices, sweets and more. Ditch your hotel breakfast & head here!
3) Takeshita Dori - A popular street in Harajuku known for its teen culture. Stores here sell wacky outfits popular among the young crowd ... not something that I would wear though. If you love a good crepe, this is your place! You'll find a crepe shop after every 2-3 shops. Make sure you try out this giant cotton candy too!
4) Akihabara - This is Tokyo's electric town and you'll see why when you get out of the station. What you can expect here is fancy signboards, gaming arcades, stores selling any and every kind of gadget and shoppers hunting for great bargains. We were more inclined towards coin machine games that vended soft toys! In Japan, you'll see more adults at these games than kids. Plenty of French maid cafes too in the area.
5) Odaiba - An artificial shopping and entertainment island built on Tokyo Bay . To visit Tokyo Bay, we had to purchase a separate ticket as our regular day passes were not valid. This part of Tokyo kinda reminded me of New York. We saw a Statue of Liberty, Rainbow Bridge and a giant robot.
6) Rappongi - This area is popular for Tokyo's vibrant nightlife. There are clubs, bars, pubs at every nook and corner in addition to a number of restaurants too. We visited Rappongi during the day as well and checked out the giant spider at Rappongi hills.
7) Hachiko Statue - You may have watched the movie about this faithful dog who waited on his master in the same place every day for 9 years after his death. A bronze statue was built near Shibuya Station in memory of this dog.
8) Shibuya - Another area in Tokyo with flashy signboards, restaurants and more. The most popular tourist attraction here is the Shibuya crossing. Thousands of people cross this busy junction every hour.
9) Tokyo Skytree - This is the tallest free standing broadcasting tower in the world. We visited in the hope of seeing Mt. Fuji ... which supposedly can be seen from here on a clear day. Unfortunately, we were not that lucky. However, we did enjoy a beautiful panoramic view of the city. If you pay extra (which we did), you can visit a higher deck located 450 metres above the ground. Tokyo Skytree has a glass bottom floor which totally freaked me out!
10) Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building - Our second attempt to see Mt. Fuji from Tokyo was here. And we failed yet again. There are 2 observations decks - one at the north & the other at the south which are free to enter. We just enjoyed the view from the observation deck.
11) Ameyko Shopping Centre - We stumbled upon this large outdoor market by chance. What followed was two consecutive days of shopping. This place is insane. Rows of shops branching into even more rows of shops. This is a bargain hunter's and foodie's paradise!
12) Tokyo Midtown - An upscale area in Tokyo which consists of stores, restaurants, museum, park and a 5 star hotel. We popped in here just for an hour on our final day and basically walked around the mall and the surrounding garden.
13) Tokyo Dome City - An entertainment city in the heart of Tokyo that features a stadium, shopping mall, amusement park and spa. Although we were tempted to visit the spa, we couldn't because people with tattoos weren't allowed inside. We visited the amusement park though, where Mr. D unleashed his inner child. For an adrenaline rush, make sure you try out the Thunder Dolphin roller-coaster . I was happy to be a spectator!
14) Kabukicho - This is known as one of the liveliest entertainment areas in Shinjuku. Kabukicho is supposedly the red-light area of Tokyo with plenty of hostess bars, clubs and theaters. However, we felt very safe walking around. During the day, we checked out the gaming arcades and restaurants. At night, we visited the Robot Restaurant. This was probably one of the highlights of our time in Tokyo. It was a glitzy show of robots, dancers, lights and characters. Definitely worth checking out while you are in Tokyo.
Tokyo is a big city and there are definitely more things to see than what I've mentioned here. We visited Tokyo during the end of the cherry blossom city and this was the only city where we didn't see any cherry trees. However, I'd seen enough by then. I was more than happy to settle for unique food, busy streets, neon signboards and skyscrapers!
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