Tokyo Day 2

Day 1 in Tokyo wasn't really Day 1. It was more like 3 hours at the airport and 30 mins at Denny's so in Day 2, we were so excited to venture out and roam the streets of Tokyo that we woke up so early the shops along Harajuku were still closed. Actually, it was more like I woke up early because of jetlag and MM woke up because I was moving restlessly around the room. 

We walked to the Shibuya Station, got our Suica passes and hopped on the train to Harajuku. As it was so early in the morning, the streets were still quiet. Some coffee shops were open serving delicious looking pastries. Creperies lined the streets and Harajuku girls sat in storefronts waiting for the shops to open. 

Takeshita-Dori in the morning

Because there wasn't anything else to do, we headed to our next destination - the Meiji shrine. It was quite a bit of a walk from Takeshita-dori to the Meiji shrine. The shrine is surrounded by forestland and nearby, there's a garden and a treasure museum. 

Sake barrels donated to the Meiji shrine

Long walk to the shrine

The Meiji shrine

Prayer cards

We were lucky enough to witness a wedding procession while we were there.

Entrance to the shrine

We started getting hungry, so we headed towards Ginza where we had a list of restaurants to choose from. MM wanted gyoza so we navigated our way to Tenryu, trying to understand how addresses in Japan are interpreted. We spotted a line outside a Chinese restaurant and figured we must be at the right place.

Ginza

Giant gyoza was delicious!!!

We then went to the Mitsukoshi department store to check out the food hall. Most of the department stores in Japan have a food hall and a supermarket in the basement. 

Everything in a salad

Food heaven!

Fried everything.

After exclaiming over the amount of food we were seeing, we agreed that it was time for a second lunch. So we went up to the restaurant floor and again, waited in line to eat.

Katsu curry.- probably the best meal during our trip. I always liked Japanese curry, but I was never really a big fan of tonkatsu, until now. The batter was crunchy, not coarse and the meat was so tender it left me craving for more.

We, then, walked around the department store and checked out all the floors and discovered how expensive kimonos are. After a bit of "shopping," we once again stepped outside in search for more food - the Pierre Marcolini chocolate shop and cafe. We spotted a line outside the shop and I thought it was just for the chocolate shop. We went there for ice cream, and since there was a Pierre Marcolini gelato shop next door, we thought that was what we went there for. I had a mango gelato which tasted much like the mango gelato from Mondo gelato in Vancouver. MM had chocolate gelato which was very rich chocolate.

Mango gelato from Pierre Marcolini

I noticed that they were handing out menus outside the chocolate shop and discovered there is a cafe on top of the chocolate shop. Well, heck, I just had to try it, so I convinced MM once again to step in line with me. We waited a good 1-2 hrs for ice cream. It was actually quite disappointing. They didn't allow us to share, so we each got our own parfaits. The selection was very limited. There was only chocolate, chestnut and caramel parfaits. I went with chocolate. MM went with chestnut this time.

          

We spent the rest of the day going from one department store to another. In the evening, we went back to the Mitsukoshi food hall to get something for dinner. All in all, it was a very satisfying food adventure!