Tokyo

Yoyogi to Higashi-Nakano via Shimokitazawa

Posted on by kymdt

Horray for wi-fi on a plane. I planned this route on the way to Japan high in the sky JL52. I was using Strava to plan this route – but is quite surprising that a premium paid product is almost useless for route planning in Japan. I typed in Tokyo as a location and it kindly offers suggestions of restaurants in the United States. In any case, I persisted using a combination of Google Maps (very useful for street view) and Strava to plan this route. The goal was to start and finish at trains stations along to Sobu line – the line that is literally only a few steps from our hotel.

You can get this route from https://www.strava.com/routes/3419161344007497190

The route includes a the opportunity for many good coffees! We had one from Little Nap Coffee Stand, a ride around Yoyogi Park, Blue Lug (if it’s open!), Planet of Curry, some vintage shopping, great back street riding in some interesting areas, and a afternoon tea at Petite Patisseries Yuki. If you had more time you could add a ride through/to the old Olympics site, visit Harajuku and cat street and Nakano Broadway.

Here are some photos to whet your appetite. I have to credit these photos to our most excellent Social Media Manager!

What you experience when cycling…

Posted on by helenhmk

Watching Japanese movies, TV and anime often there there shots of train crossings.. so on our ride to breakfast this was perfect timing…

… additionally if you’ve ever wondered what it’s like cycling through Yoyogi Park… here is the view from the cycle path..

Riding to traditional breakfast near Yoyogi park

Posted on by kymdt

Tokyo is a big city.. but many of the big cities within a city are actually quite close. Where we stay is about 3km from Tokyo Station and Marunouchi and just over 5km to Shinjuku. After many trips not actually getting to Shimokitazawa, known for its vintage fashion (and perhaps curry shops), we had planned an 18km route from Yoyogi Station to Higashi-Nakano station via Shimokitazawa. Both of those locations were on our local train line.

In the morning, instead of catching the train we decided to use the old “Compass” mode of Beeline with a single location plotted. That location was Tanbo a rice specialty shopping that indeed is closed during harvest time. Not too many wrong turns and few spots that demanded riding on the path.

It was certainly worth it. The rice was great and the toppings grilled salmon, pickles, egg and some nori were top notch. The MISO soup! WOW! Helen loves a good Japanese breakfast and is now trying to rearrange our holiday to visit again!

Great day with friends

Posted on by helenhmk

We met up with our Tokyo friends near Tsukiji station, and happened across the Analogue Market. It featured records, cassettes tapes (yes you read that right), and a variety of second hand products, from kitchen wares, fabric, children toys, handmade ceramics… and of course food vans. While they did look appealing as we had planned to eat sushi… we kept on walking.

We wandered around to the Tsukiji outside market until we found a sushi place which looked good. The old Tsukiji Market moved to Toyasu… but the outer market still remains and there are large number of people visiting to experience some of the best seafood in the world (okay I’m probably biased).

… then we went to a croissant place called Tony Bake, from Sapporo, but is only in Tokyo for 100 days. Luckily our friends son is a karate competitor with their son… so an order was placed in advance, as the shop is open until they sell out each day.

We took them to a park, grabbed a coffee from Blue Bottle (in Toyasu) and enjoyed in the nearest park… and yes it was damn good .. but I really didn’t expect it to be anything but good!

After wandering around their local shopping place… we decided to look at the view of Mt Fuji from the 36th floor of a hotel. The weather today was around 19 degrees… and windy.. but the view was fantastic! 🗻

Dinner was had at a local beef restaurant… where the beef is cooked in an oven at 400 degrees and placed on a hot plate. It comes delivered to the table with the paper around the plate, and they pour sauce over the top in front of you it sizzles, and you hold up a large napkin to stop it from getting you in the face. It was a great experience and very tasty.

Afterwards we all enjoyed a tasty dessert… and Kym and Gaku’s are the ones with the message on the plate with he cartoon characters- かわいい　😍

It really was a fabulous day, and great to spend it with our long time friends. We appreciated the time spent with us (our very bad Japanese) and we hope to see you again!

Walked 17,231 steps

Plan B

Posted on by helenhmk

It’s always good to have a plan B – especially as today it is Cultural Day in Japan, which is a public holiday and opening times vary.

Train trip to Hakone

Posted on by helenhmk

Saturday morning we met up with longtime Tokyo friends and headed to Hakone, which is just over 1.5 hours by train outside of Tokyo.

First challenge – getting from one side of Shinjuku train station to another… not the easiest station to navigate to get to the meeting spot. Unlike previous times it didn’t take too long and we were able to met up buy bento for the train and get to the platform to take photos of the Romancecar train.

The name comes from the arms rests being omitted in between the seats… which was radical at the time of creation back in 1957. The cars also have large windows enabling passengers great views of the scenery. The train offers a fabulous opportunity to sit back enjoy passing of greater Tokyo as you head to Hakone and eat bento!

Thank-you non Brompton friends…

Posted on by helenhmk

When visiting Tokyo, we always catch up with our ‘non-Brompton owning’ friends – who we’ve known since 2009.

As we’re in Japan for a month we were able to see them a few times. Firstly they took us to their local popular Izakaya. The food was as fabulous as the company – as it was great to catch up with them after 12 months.

They also spent time with us taking us to places in Tokyo.

.. and on our last day we were able to catchup with them again before taking the plane home. We enjoyed the local speciality of Sendai (tongue) and went to the fish art museum. Let’s face it they are impressive when you get an opportunity to see them up close and well lit).

Afterwards they took the time to come to the airport, enjoy one last meal together at the airport before we took the plane home.

Being from Australia we don’t necessarily value the large number of leave provision days we can take off. Japanese get much fewer days off – so when our friends let us know they are taking a day for us – it’s very special and we value their time… and can’t wait to see you again – hopefully next year.

But first coffee

Posted on by helenhmk

… as always morning priorities after the bags are packed! At the beginning of our trip we found a great new coffee place near the hotel… great beans and great breakfast. so we went for the last time.

They also do a great hand-drip coffee style too which was enjoyable today.

Bags are packed…

Posted on by helenhmk

It’s always an interesting experience – packing the suitcase at the end of the trip. It’s a realisation of the amount you’ve bought (… oh I don’t remember that..!) and how it all manages to fit together. We have the added weight of the cycling gear – which really isn’t too much. What is frustrating is having to move the suitcases… and remembering what it will be like when we get to the other side.

..yes those are our bags, and two of the lockers have hand luggage.

But enough of that – today is a crisp 11 degrees and is a blue sky day. For those of you en Adelaide, commiserations on the forecast but we will will enjoy this while we can.