Day 10: My little (?) walk..Shinjyuku Gyoen Garden

 21/2/2023

Today I met up with my friend and went to Shinjyuku Gyoen. I walked to Shinōtsuka Marunouchi line station ( underground), took me only 15-20 mins or so. I do love this line, it runs through centre of Tokyo, when it runs up to overground, it's a bit of sightseeing spots. I hadn't been on this for about 4 years and things changed a lot, especially Shinjyuku area. Anyway, managed to meet up with my friend ( a bit cold and windy, I waited for my friend downstairs rather than upstairs and missed him🤣)

It was only short walk to the main gate, paid 500 yen for entering fee. Already, I could see a few plum trees blossoming, looked very pretty. 

Once we were inside, it opened up to brown grass with trees, minimalistic zen-like open space. The garden was very neat and tidy, perfectly pruned trees everywhere. Soon we realised they were cherry blossom trees. So many of them and so many different kinds! We were saying, when they are in season, it will be so beautiful with pink petals! I was here long time ago in autumn time, and it was beautiful with ginko trees with yellow leaves. 

This garden has very modern building in backgrounds, contrast to how the garden is. Luckily it was sunny and warm ( although a bit chilly winds) with blue sky, pink petals really stood out. 

I thought it was one of old Syogun's garden, but it is run and owned by Ministry of environment. I didn't know this, I Googled last night to do my homework where I was going.  😊

I  loved pine trees and Zen minimalistic garden as well as Taiwanese house which sat peacefully inside the garden. I felt really peaceful and serene there. I would love to have a house like that with view of the garden! 😍

After our walk, we went for lunch. It was a franchise Indian restaurant near Metropolitan Government Building. I had mixed Japanese mushroom Curry and Naan. It was lovely, naan was huge, I couldn't eat all. Then more walk! We walked to Metropolitan Government Building, hoping we could go to top of the building for observation area. However unfortunately, it was closed. So we strolled to Shinjyuku station where we parted. 

I was so pleased to be able to see early blossoms ( Kanzakura 寒桜) and plum blossoms. I really thought I was going to miss them. For cherry blossoms ( Sakura) will be another a month or so to be full 🌸. 

Shinjyuku Gyoen: https://www.env.go.jp/garden/shinjukugyoen/english/index.html

Metropolitan Government Building: https://www.yokoso.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/

Day 6 : Rikugi-en garden, Komagome-ku

 17/2/'23

Part Two!

After our lunch and coffee ( I had a glass of oced tea) in really vintage cafe in Ikebukuro. They had a bakerly down stairs, cafe was on the 9th floor. Cor, when I stepped out, it was like...tme tripped into 70/80's. Really old decor, vintage looking fake sample display food, 80's wallpaper, yellow ceiling....It really reminded me of when I was grwoing up. Grumpy old guy took our order and served us. 

I oredered iced tea and it came with plastic straw and a little jug of sugar syrup! I was really surprisd to see being my tea served like tha, very 80's/70's. My friend had a bottle of Kirin beer. I could still taste in my mouth. I didn't even thought of drinking it, just remembered me used to drink. 

Anyway, after this, my mate asked me if I anted to go to Rikugi-En ( Japanese garden in Komagome station on Yamanote Line) He wanted to take some photos. So I said yes, I do like the garden I used to go there often when I was growing up. Only a few stations away from Ikebukuro. 

When we arrived, we walked around a corner to get into from side entrance. A bit of walk for me, along the main road. But, as always, worth the walk. It was beautiful. Kinda surprise, such a beautiful, peaceful garden in the middle of busy part of Tokyo. Today, there weren't many tourists, seemed like locals were there. 

It was 300 yen for an adult charge. It's not very big garden, just right size to chill out and looking round. It was buit for 5th Tokugawa Syogun in Edo period. More history, link below. Although there weren't fillend with any autumn colours or spring bloosom colours, still it was beautiful with shaped Matsunoki/ pine tree (?) 

There were little early blossom flowers, I would assume they were plums. Cute😍

Later, my friend asked me If I wanted to visit Shinjoku Gyoen which is another famous beautiful garden in Tokyo. really looking forward to this. These days, I don't get out from my local neighbourhood , so it would be lovely to visit the garden. 

Friend of my friend just has starting his touring company in Hawaii, Honolulu based. My mate is going to help him and getting business grow together. They are touring company, to Japan. If you would like to visit Japan, worth contacting them Full English speaking guides and show you round not only popular sightseeing spots in japan and restaurants but also hidden gems and gorgeous places to eat with very reasonable price. They can also suggest you where to stay with good price and service. Make Japan trip special and unique. 🤩 Link below!

Related links: 

EightDays dining: https://gurunavi.com/en/gg97700/rst/?__ngt__=TT13e22b3da005ac1e4a59edQ7jnBwvgEMZWp6bdJkxpNy

(2 chome, Otsuka, Toshima-ku, Tokyo)

Rikugi-En Garden: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3026.html

(Komagome, Bunkyou-Ku)

ResponderJapna: https://www.responderjapan.com/?fbclid=IwAR1tqjBnIM0w1gZqeLPIw-EDPoLThCVCmKakIINTkLL4gD2HGtmcWEzJtbE

(Honolulu based)

Day 6: Lunch in Tokyo, Ikebukuro Vegan ramen

 17/02/'23

I met my friend who I used to work with, long time ago, when I used to work in one of the bespoke hotel in Tokyo, I was young 😆 and so hyper! It was good old days, and fun, we used to drink and eat loads, with our colleagues. Shinjyuku ( 新宿）, Ikebukuro（池袋）, Ginza（銀座）, and Yotsuya（四谷....from ramen to Korean BBQ, Japanese yakitori（焼き鳥） bar to Izakaya　（居酒屋）... I still don't know how I managed all that. 😅 Anyway, we met up in Ikebukuro, Tokyo today. we were going to a cafe in Tobu department store's food court, however, he mentioned about a ramen noodle bar where he sometimes go and now serve vegan ramen. With no hesitation, I said; " let's go there". It took us a bit to find the ramen shop, we managed to find in the end. 

Why Ikebukuro is so confusing? West side had Toubu ( "Tou" means East) department store, east side has Seibu ( "Sei" means West) department store, and different department stores are attached to them ( Parco). 

Anyway, just thought of having vegan /vegetarian noodles made me really excited. I even took a photo of myself with the sign🤣. It was only small ramen cafe. I ordered my vegan ramen with vegan meatless meat. Also there are various extra toppings available from 100yen to your ramen.  The main ramen was south of japan, kyusyu island flavour which usually has deeper  flavour soup than other part of Japan.  To be honest I never had one, so I am not sure how it tastes. Kyusyu ramen is popular with Japanese....

Anyway, my bowl of noodle was delish, very happy, it was a bit greasy yet really light. And not too much noodles in a bowl either. Vegan chasyu ( meatless meat) had smorky flavour and it was extra to pay. Topped with nori ( seeweed), Japanese spring onion, and not sure what other toppings were. 😅 Soup of salty flavour,  I could taste little slices of yuzu which cut a bit saltiness and greasiness. 

My friend had their signature ramen; "Jangara ramen". He said it was ok. 

Anyway, I am looking forward to eat more before I go back to U.K. Only a week left......😅

九州Jangara ramen:  https://www.sogoseibu.jp.e.ld.hp.transer.com/ikebukuro/diningpark/chinese_food/jangara/

Day 3: Went to a Vegan cafe in Minami Otsuka

 15/ 2/'23

Finally, I went to a vegan cafe; Slow Ecolab in Minami Otsuka, Tokyo. Only 10 mins walk from my parents house. Now I know where it is, easy to get there! 😆 

Also, I want to mention, there's a posh noodle bar ( my brother told me it was  noodle bar) next to it, and had a queue outside today too. It is very popular, and I bet it is small inside. No wonder my brother knew about the shop.... specialised ramen noodle bar and my brother loves ramen...Orientals love noodles🤣 !  Link below, I haven't had ramens there and not going to eat it, ( I am a veggie)  but I would assume it's tasty. Apparently it was awarded as Michelin star restaurant in 2017. Michelin noodle bar....I wonder how many stars they got....🧐

Anyway, back to the vegan cafe. No queue outside ( phew!), when I stepped in, it was very calm and peaceful. Felt very familier. A guy in the open kitchen took my order, I ordered oat latte and a cake ( today's cake was pumpkin muffin and costed me 1000yen for both). Muffins were still in the oven, and smelt yummy ( nothing beats smell of home baked cake in oven), told me ready in 15 mins. The smell of muffin was exploding inside the cafe..😍 Made my mouth watery 🤣. When it was served which was worth waiting for, it was lovely. Not too sweet, just right, crispy on the top, moist inside😊 tasted very natural and looked very rustic too. Initially I wanted decaf latte, but they don't do decaf. So I went for regular ( sugar and caffeine woke me up a bit from jetlag😆 ) . Oat mylk was one I sometimes buy from Co-op in U.K,  Minor Figures organic barista Oat mylk. They also sell them at the shop. 

I sat on sofa with a round table, it was comfy! Felt like I was at home

I bought another muffin to take away for my brother, he ate very quickly, I think he enjoyed his first ever vegan pumpkin muffin. I just remembered, next time, I would take a container with me,  just in case (for this reason...take away...). He put it in a paper brown bag for me today. 🙏

Quiet environment is perfect for reading, writing, or remote work. I am looking forward to another visit to the cafe soon. Definitely on Sunday! ( I booked a yoga workshop to attend, it includes meditation & lunch at the cafe, really looking forward to it.) 

This cafe is also English language friendly. ( staffs speak fluent English, I would imagine they get lots of visitors from overseas or those who live here in Tokyo) 

I also hear there's a vegan/ vegetarian friendly cafe in Sugamo high street ( Syoten-gai), I am meeting up with my cousin on Saturday, might go there...or might find somewhere else.... I am not planning to go outside of neighbourhood, so, all my activities are around Otsuka.... 

Photo below is sweets my friend Mari gave us yesterday, haven't tried yet, looking forward to them too😊. They are local products from Kawagoe, Saitama. Pink and white ones are made from very sticky rice, yellow packaged one is I would assume sponge based baked cheese cake ( contains wheat). Often Japanese sweets are individually packaged, and very neat. ( personally I don't like too many packaging, creates so much rubbish..especially plastics) 

 

Link below! 

Nakiryu noodle bar: http://www12.plala.or.jp/nakiryu/

Slow ECOLAB: https://slowecolab.owst.jp/   TEL 03-5810-1807

Lunch at Asian cafe in Ikebukuro, Tokyo

 14/2/'23

My friends took me to Taiwan tea Vegetarian/ vegan cafe - restaurant today. I wanted to go somewhere else, but it was closed on Tuesday. It turned out this cafe restaurant was a winner! I am so grateful for my friends who took me there.  😊

We met about 11 am at Nishi Ikebukuro station, just outside Starbucks. It was a bit windy and chilly morning( later it got chillier ), and a bit grey. But I am used to weather like that, so I didn't mind. 😁

When two of my friends arrived, who we first met in London back in 90's, we begun chatting straight away as if time we didn't see each other didn't exist.  It was so lovely to see them again, felt very comfortable being three of us together. 

My friend T had google map ready so we started following google map direction. Eventually we arrived at the cafe. Looked very homely from outside. As soon as stepped in, very welcoming atmosphere, simple decor and I had a comfy chair too! Tables were quite chunky, looked very rustic. It was very clean, it seemed to be very popular with mums from university near by. 

A staff who was there was very helpful, she explained which ones were vegans and vegetarians. They all looked delicious, it was hard to decide, but I really fancied a noodle dish, so i went for noodle option. 

It was a good choice for me, it was light, noodles tasted like mung bean noodles which is my favorite. Soup had a bit salty flavour, deep yet light, not heavy in the stomach. I really enjoyed it. 

A small bowl of soup came before my noodles. I could taste oil yet not greasy. lovely. I wondered if I could recreate the soup at home...🤔

Anyway, my friend Mari had vegetable curry, T had vegan soya burger with chips. They both looked yummy. 

After our meal, we had Taiwanese tea, mine was iced. I was very happy with meal and tea! 

Then we walked to find a cafe to have another cuppa, found a cafe in the square, there was dance event by people were affected by DV, neglect etc, got together to dance to bring awareness to DV. 

I had iced Jasmin earl grey tea in the cafe in the square.

After our chat and tea/coffee, Mari needed to go home and she left. Myself and T went to the Tobu department store to look for smoking area ( T smokes). It was very busy, Japanese people were buying cakes and chocolate ( even queueing again), I would assume because it was Valentine's day? 🤔

When she came back from smoking, T asked if I wanted to go for another coffee. There were plenty restaurants and cafes there, no problems finding one. I had Iced Mango tea. To my surprise, this mango tea had mango puree on the bottom with tiny bits, so I mixed it well with my straw. It was ok. 

Fake display food look so real these days....

We sat there a few hours, chatting away. 

We both took Yamanote line ( same direction) and parted. It was sad to say good bye to her, but I know we'll meet again. 

TSUMUGU CAFE ～台湾茶とベジフードのお店

https://tsumugu-cafe.storeinfo.jp/

"本格台湾茶や、台湾茶葉を使用した様々なフルーツティーも人気。 肉・魚介類・五葷を一切使用しない台湾素食スタイルのベジタリアンカフェ。ソイハンバーガーやアジアンヌードルなど、食べ応えのある料理が種類豊富に揃えている。 （Vegetarian foods/ Vegan/ 肉・魚介類・五葷一切不使用/ 素食） All the dishes do not be used any meat or fish. We can remove dairy ingredients and change to vegan dishes."

住所. 東京都豊島区西池袋3-36-20 1階.

Address: Ground floor, 3-36-20 Nishi Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo

Japan trip -- London HRT - HND 2023

12, 13/2/2023

Tokyo, here I come, I have arrived in Tokyo. It's been for a while since I last visited Japan ( my family), it was 2019, just before summer. I had  such a fun time here, attended lots of yoga classes, seeing my friends having yummy food and chats. Then when I came back o U.K, I got ill.... diagnosed with cancer, then Covid hit, lockdown etc, took another 3 years to see my parents.

When I arrived in Haneda airport ( Narita is miles away from Tokyo, Haneda is much closer to central Tokyo), with excitement and  feeling a bit nervous since long absent of long haul flight, I was really tired. Then we were asked to walk long way to get health check register with Covid vac passport. It was looooong walk! I had to stop and rest. Then, a staff kindly offered me a help, they ended up bringing me a wheelchair. I was pushed through ( short cut) into covid check room, very quickly processed my covid vac passport ( they were super impressed I had already 6 vaccines🤣) , then they asked me to wait for a staff from JAL ( I flew with BA operated by JAL) which took a while.......😊 When a staff turned up, she was very kind, polite and gentle, helped me all the way to customs and immigration. I was really grateful for this staff. All the staffs helped me there were very kind and helpful, I definitely recommend fly in to Haneda airport🤩

Actually, I wanted to disguise myself when I came out, see how long I could stand next to them without them noticing.... but my plan was not succeeded....never mind, maybe next time🤣

After the long wait, my parents who came with their friend ( who had a car) and I met. My parents' friend gave us a lift back home. By the time I got out the airport was dark, driving through Tokyo, on motorway, seeing lights from skyscrapers and blocks of flats... bridges had also lit up. Looked very pretty, but no greens, trees, or woods. Just building with lights on. What a different world, I thought...

This is 👆a tram runs trough outside my parents house, it runs to Waseda to Minowa, which I used to take it to go to school. It horns too, quite loud! Used to wake up early in the morning, let you know time to go to school🤣 Our doggo used to lie on the tram tracks and disrupted tram, she did that a couple of ties, glad she didn't get ( or us) fined or taken into a court😆 and kind drivers always stopped for her. My mum told my dog off and she stopped since. My childhood memory...

After dinner, had a bath then bed, woke up 2 am wide awake with jet lag, watching outside 👇, the city seemed falling asleep, very quiet. It was surreal, after 14 hours of flight, here I am  in Tokyo again, where I was brought up...my childhood...changed so much even since I was here last time. Nothing like how it was. Exciting to explore new places and walking round the town again...

Following day, my dad and I went out for a little walk in neighbourhoods, I wanted to find where yoga workshop for this Sunday, after a bit of walk with a map ( my brother printed out for me). We found it alright, then my dad said to me: "this place used to be a nursery school who used to rent out our 1st floor shop" Me: 😓 why he couldn't find it straight away? I thought... never mind, we found it in the end. then we walked down to find a vegan cafe, after walking well over 30mins, we gave up and back home. In the afternoon, I tried again, with correct address ( no wonder we couldn't find it, I had wrong address😂) here it was, I found it. Unfortunately, it was closed..... I was really looking forward to my oat latte... never mind. Next time! 😊

Tomorrow I am meeting up with my friends who i met in London years ago, having branch, looking forward to that. Taiwan tea and vegetable cafe, apparently. with good reputation! Can't wait.  

Side story; I ordered vegetarian meal for my flights. Here's what I got...

Veggie option Dinner

Veggie option breakfast

C'mon, BA, you can do better than this for veggies/ vegans, I thought. Curry for dinner was not too bad, but mostly consisted with fruits and salad. I would like a bit more variety on a tray, just like regular meals please... Bless her, one of staffs on my flight, she was very nice and polite, but she didn't seem to know there was difference between vegan and vegetarian. She didn't give me cheese cake 'bun' and a tub of ice cream...But I thought that was fine, because I wanted to cut down on wheat and sugar anyway. Hope veggie meal option will be improved in the future ( especially for breakfast!) ....😆 I did enjoy a bit of curry for dinner and all me fruits❤️ though.