The Cube

Pre-travel:
First trip to Tokyo in 2009, only 4 days (what was I thinking?)
Second trip to Honshu in 2011 for 18 days (that's better)
Third trip to Hokkaido in 2012 for 7 days (that's alright I suppose)
Fourth trip to Kanto area (current trip) for 7 days (can't complain especially considering my holidays in 2014 :P)
And breakdown of travel days and links to accommodation.


Tokyo:
Day 1
 - Accommodation in Asakusa and breakfast in Yayoi-ken
 - Ghibli Museum and tea break at Straw Hat Cafe
 - Dinner at a random izakaya in Shinjuku


Kawasaki/Tokyo:
Day 2
 - Doraemon Museum
 - Lunch at Doraemon Museum's cafe
 - Ramen dinner at Mutekiya in Ikebukuro


Day 3
 - Walking around in Asakusa and visiting Senso-ji
 - Checking out Hayao Miyazaki's NI-TELE Really Big Clock in Shimbashi
 - Lunch in Ginza and pretending to study in University of Tokyo
 - Pre-dinner snacks and dinner in Harajuku, rushing to see the Really Big Clock again and finishing up in Akihabara


Hakone
Day 4
 - Accommodation in Hakone
 - Sightseeing in Hakone


Day 5
 - Sightseeing in Hakone
 - Lunch at Hakone-Yumato and departing to Nikko


Nikko
Day 6
 - Accommodation in Nikko
 - Superb meals in Tokanso
 - Shoyo-en twice a day
 - Paying respect to the founder of Tokugawa shogunate in Tosho-gu
 - A tranquil walk in Kanmangafuchi


Nikko/Tokyo
Day 7
 - The sacred bridge - Shinkyo and Futarasan
 - Back to Tokyo (Ikebukuro)



Side note: Time for round 2 of lunch.. :P

The plan after reaching Tokyo was just to rest, eat and maybe shop. I even left my camera in the hostel. Ate we did a lot of that but nil in terms of shopping. We started eating random snacks even when we were in the shinkansen.

We started with Nikko Cheese Egg (チーズたまご). These seem to be popular among the souvenir food in Nikko. We were curious so we each got two to try. It's a bit like cheese cake but in the shape of an egg where the yolk is definitely the cheese-y bit.



By the time we walked out of Ikebukuro train station, we had already made two other purchases.

The first one - warabimochi (わらび餅). Warabimochi has got to be my favourite mochi. Warabimochi's texture is more jelly-like than usual mochi. It is made from bracken starch and covered in kinako (sweet toasted soybean flour).

As we walked passed the Kanesue kiosk in Ikebukuro station, I tapped Little P and asked if we can buy that. Yumm. For some strange reason I have the perception that warabimochi is more Kansai food maybe because I first had it in Kyoto. Anyhow I was pleasantly surprise to spot it in Tokyo. ^^



The other snack that we bought was this Ginza Maron (銀座 マロン). The main reason why it caught our eyes was because it contained chestnut. Japan - Autumn - chestnut. Grin. It was ok but warabimochi wins.



Just as we left JR Ikebukuro station and walked to hostel, we saw KFC on the way and some chicken nuggets were waving at us. I know KFC chicken nuggets are not exclusively sold in Japan but these little morsels were really pretty good.



Then it was time to go out to have a walk...and dinner. Told you there were no lacking of eating. We finally found a shabu-shabu place to compensate for the izakaya dinner in Shinjuku. It was also a randomly walking near the train station area and found one - Nabezo. We initially wanted a sushi dinner but the reasonable kaiten sushi place we found was so full that it had an hour waiting time.

We had the buffet style meal (a.k.a all you can eat) in a set time limit. It comes with two soup base, free flow of meat (choice of pork and beef) and vegetables.

Nabezo

After dinner it was back to hostel to pack before bed as our flight the next day was at noon time.

We somehow have accidentally caught the Narita Sky Access Skyliner at Nippori to Narita Airport. The initial ticket was purchased at the ticketing machine costing ¥1,240. Upon entering the gate, a train staff told us that all seats are reserved for Narita Sky Access Skyliner train and we were required to pay the additional ¥1,230 for seat fare. Total cost for this one way train fare added up to ¥2,470. Travel duration from Nippori to Narita Airport T2 only takes 36 minutes. Compared to the slower train we took on our way from Narita Airport to Tokyo, this is faster by 1/2 the time but also more expensive with cost about doubled the price.

So, I still think all the trains option to and fro airport is still way too confusing. :P


Side note: Ah... I want to go see some sand sculptures before it finishes for the year...

Car park with a scenery

We set out for Shinkyo Bridge (神橋, Shinkyō) after breakfast because when we got to the bridge yesterday evening, it was already getting dark.

Needless to say, we were easily distracted with the leaves colour in the car park and practically almost the whole way to Shinkyo.

This is just on the same road to Tokanso

Shinkyo ranked as one of Japan's three finest bridges. It stands at the entrance to Nikko's shrines and temples and said to be belongs to Futarasan Shrine.

We should've guessed that crossing the bridge cost a fee because otherwise, why would the bridge be so empty. To cross this sacred bridge, adults to pay ¥300, high school student ¥200 and elementary school students ¥100. Discounts applied for groups of 20 people or more. I was being cheapie and just took many photos of it.

If you are curious, here's how Shinkyo looks like at night. I personally think it looks better during daytime.


We walked to Futarasan from Shinkyo, a bit of an uphill trek.


Right at the entrance of Futarasan Shrine, there was an bamboo ring arrangement where a girl and a boy was walking around this bamboo ring, presumably for luck?


At time of visit, there was a wedding ceremony in session. We later saw the newly weds as well as many adorable children donned in kimono. A little girl even obliged to post for photo for us, complete with a peace sign of course.

Spot the bug

With that, we left Nikko and back to Tokyo, staying at Ikebukuro for the night.


Side note: Got to kick like a little motor boat!

Kanmangafuchi is serene and beautiful. We left Tosho-gu and head towards Kanmangafuchi, hoping to make a good time before the sun set. Lucky for big breakfast but we were getting a little peckish and could do with some food. So we bought some koala biscuit as snack before walking to Kanmangafuchi.


If you see these two statues and you are coming from the Tosho-gu area, you are pretty much on the right track. We actually stopped here to check the map and saw this statue below, it looks like a head, isn't it?



It probably took us longer than the usual expected time as we walked, ate and took plenty of photos - of bridge, waters, leaves, houses... lol

I initially thought this was some drain with some super fast water...

I promise, it really wasn't far to walk and you will be well rewarded. If it helps in the walking cause, there are drinks from vending machine to fuel the energy.

We got one on the way back... You'll go through a park with some stones and greeted with water sounds soon after.

Seeing the crowd in Tosho-gu (there were different groups of tours and school students with different colour caps), it is actually quite amazing that it is quiet here. There were a couple of people but we were by ourselves pretty much most of the time. (and yes, it is a good thing).

The statues lined up along the river. Serene and tranquil.








It is said that the numbers of the jizo changes each time you count them, both Little P and I counted separately and we got the same number, at 88. Though we did cheated a little as we only counted the bigger statue.

We walked back to the town area bought some sake and went back to the hotel. ;)


Side note: Connoisseur's Murray River salted caramel sauce and choc coated hazelnuts ice cream is yummm.. even better when eat with some liqueur.