Tokyo Troopers Day 2 - Part 2 [Shibuya]

Hi all, it's been a while since I've posted about my Japan Trip. So I shall continue today with Day 2 part 2 of the trip!

So after exploring the city of Harajuku, we went one stop down the JR Yamanote Line and made our way to the Vibrant City of SHIBUYA!

 Shibuya is one of the liveliest city in Tokyo, with many Jumbo sized shopping centers clustering together in different parts of the cities as well as crazy crowds  swarming the streets from dawn till dusk. Some Places of interest we visited/walked passed include: Shibuya 109, Hachiko Statue, Tokyo Hands ... etc.

Let's not waste anymore time and go straight to the pics shall we?

View from the Train Station Exit

 Outside the train station, you'll be able to see a group of people (usually tourists) gathering around this dog statue. It will take a while to type the entire story here so you can search it up on google if you're really interested in the story of this loyal dog. 

Took a while to take a clear shot cause there's sooooo many people

 One of the iconic attractions in the city: The Shibuya crossing. 

Best place to take a picture of the crossing?

I would recommend those who want to take a picture of the crossing to go to the Starbucks located at level 2 of the building opposite the streets. Level 2 is great because you get to see the crossing top down and up close. 

 

Shibuya Crossing

Afterwards, we went to explore the streets of Shibuya:

Hope to see this in Singapore someday, having this many eating outlets on the same street :)

Neon Building

Stumbled upon this Little Pet Shop:

Kitty!

*Death Stares*

Stop by at TokyoHands - Shibuya to do some shopping. I've introduced TokyoHands in my previous blog post already so i'll just leave some pics for you guys to look at

Ziiiiips

Space Food !

Rocks and Gems

3D Puzzle

Figurines made by metal sheets

Really Awesome Display

Tokyo Hands here openly sells test tubes and other laboratory apparatus

We then took a short walk along ''Spain Zaka'' スペイン坂 or Spanish Hill and manage to settle down at a restaurant to have our dinner

Spot the Spanish Flag

Stopped by at this Omurice Restaurant for dinner and the food there is just too damn good. There's a crazy variety of Omurice available here.

Seafood Omurice

After dinner, we circled around the other streets of Shibuya randomly and found a Second Hand clothes shop! This Second Hand Clothes Shop called ''Bingo'' is located at the basement of a bookshop called ''BookOff''. The following pictures you're gonna see will blow your minds:

Clothes Sorted out according to brand and colour, OCD people are you feeling better now?

Hats and Jeans

Shoes!

Watches!

Flannel Shirts!

In Japan, cheap clothes are mostly found in Second Hand Clothes shops and well, there are pros and cons when it comes to shopping there. Depending on the brand, some of the shirts may have their prices discounted drastically whereas some may just be a $50 discount off the original price. Also, some of the products have defects like holes, loose threads and the most common defect: white turned yellow products. I can't really tell you if it's a good place to shop here because I feel that you yourself will be the best judge to see if the item is really worth the money because different people have different expectations of the products, some of us are willing to close one eye and accept minor defects whereas some of us would rather die then to buy products with minor defects.

Finally, i will show you the most interesting thing I've ever came across so far while in Japan. Was desperately trying to find a toilet and I found this super cool urinal in one of the toilets at the Sega Building. 

There's a screen above the urinal which shows a girl with her hat and what you need to do is to pee on the target on the urinal. As you pee, the screen will show the girl getting blown by a gust of wind. The longer you pee, the stronger the wind which will eventually blow her skirt upwards :P 

The longer you pee on the target, the stronger the wind, the higher the skirt lifts:)

 Japanese...

Well, thats all for now. In the next traaaaavel blog post, i will be introducing day3 of my tokyo trip where i will be going to Tokyo University, the top university in Japan. I will also be exploring the great city of Akihabara, home to large amount of electrical appliance shops as well as anime figurine shops. Stay tuned !

P.S. Cafe (Dempsey Road)

Hello all, went to PS Cafe (Dempsey road) last week with Le Army friends. Wanted to try WildHoney at first but the queue's really long so we decided to change our plans and eat at PS Cafe instead.

How to get there ?

It's pretty inaccessible so i would recommend one to :

1) Drive there,

2) Take a shuttle bus from a few places. 

The link below will show you a few places where you can take the shuttle bus that will bring you to Dempsey Road.

http://www.dempseyhill.com/location.htm

3)Take public bus : Bus Lines: 7, 77, 106, 174

Really Love the Organic theme, Doesn't it look like a secret cafe in some enchanted forest.

 

Area's Pretty Big !

I must say that the cakes on display looks really good, but its damn pricey. I've exceeded my budget for the day after spending a bomb on the main course and the side dish so I'll most probably come back another day to try the cakes and desserts.

Here are some of the Cakes/Desserts on display:

Flour-less Orange Cake With Orange Butterscotch

Ultimate Fudgy Brownie

Muffins & Other Cakes

Pineapple Meringue Pie

Coconut Bakewell Tart

Golden Banana Butterscotch Cake

 Now for the Main course:

PS Burger

Burger's one of the best sellers but it's extremely pricey ($30), the most expensive main course I've eaten so far. BUT, at least the portion's quite big and it's really filling. The beef's really well cooked, really tender and delicious. The unique thing about this dish is the sauce that comes together with it. It tastes like a mixture of Mayonnaise and Tom Yam. I would say probably a ratio of (7 Mayo : 3 Tom Yam), which is surprisingly a great mix. I feel that this Asian inspired sauce really compliments the Western dish well which is quite commendable.
 

Truffle Fries

Not the best truffle fries I've tasted, but at least I won't get bored of the taste after eating it for a while. The Mayo-Tom Yam Sauce from the PS Burger goes perfectly with the fries.

P.S. Big Bacon & Eggs

Not my dish so i can't tell if it's really good. But, at least it looks quite expensive and appetizing. Can definitely do without the baked beans :)

Harro

Overall, I would say that this Cafe serves pretty awesome food. A pity that i didn't get to try the cakes/desserts because it'll really burn a huge hole in my wallet for that day. Food's a little pricey but what do you expect from a cafe located at Dempsey Hill? Nevertheless, I really like the scenery and the architecture of the Cafe. A really good place to hang out and chill with my bros.

PS Cafe
28B Harding Rd
Singapore 249549

:)

Eat-Play-Love

Hello all! Went to EatPlayLove last Sunday with Randal.

I didn't do any research on this Cafe and hence had zero clue what dishes this cafe has to offer. I was expecting the usual English breakfast, Eggs benedict... etc , but was quite surprised in the end by the unique dishes shown in the Menu which are influenced by both Thai and Western cuisine.

Photos:

How to get a Table?

Customers will have to key in their name, handphone number and get a queue number onto an iPad located in the Cafe, near the entrance. You will then receive a text from them which will tell you your Queue number. When there are seats available, the waiter will call for your name + queue number and take you to your seat.

Unique colour choice!

This Cafe is definitely more of a kid's cafe. As you can see, they've build a kid's craft corner for kids to showcase their creativity. Some kid was having his birthday celebration while we're there too.

 

Old school tidbits are sold here at a higher price though. Do you remember eating these tidbits when you were a kid? Not bad, this Cafe caters to the inner kids for the older generation as well.

 

What I ate :

Mango Salsa Chicken Burger

There are a few problems I have with this dish ,

1) Chicken patty feels like processed chicken. It's harder then normal chicken meat. The chicken has this tomyam flavour which taste like the one at Seoul Garden. Hmmmm

2)Too much Vegetables. I'm fine if it's a small portion, but as you can see from the picture, it's kinda everywhere. It's a Chicken burger!!! Not a vegetable burger! Poor chicken's drowning in the sea of green :/

However, I feel that this dish has a lot of potential. Tom Yam chicken burger sounds reaaaaally awesome ! So I think it'll be good to work on the execution and display of this dish.

Baked Cheese Pasta!

I feel that the dish's quite ordinary. Something you can make at home. Overall dish not really worth the price.

As for the cafe's design, I feel that it's really really awesome ; Looks really lively and colourful! The Cafe's concept is also pretty unique, A Thai-Western Cafe catered to children (Where else in SG can you find that?). As for the food, the Thai-Western theme has a lot of potential so they'll need to improve on the execution of the dish!

Eat Play Love Cafe

28 Aliwal Street #01-07 Singapore 199918

Aliwal Arts Center

:-)

Tokyo Troopers Day 2 - Part 1

Hello, it's another Tokyo Travelling episode ! And today, I'll be introducing the Meiji Shrine, Takeshita Street and other stuff we did throughout the day to you guys!

Enjoy!

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Went to "Freshness Burger", located near our hotel for breakfast in the morning.

Menu:

Does it remind you of Mos Burger?

Wanted to try something different so I got a "Popover". Not very sure what that is but it seems like a "butterfly" shaped crossoint , just that the surface's not as flaky. I'm not sure exactly what's in the saucer , but I know it's definitely not butter. I'm guessing it's just cream cause it's kinda bland. Just slightly sweet, like 2/10 sweet.

After breakfast, we made our way to Harajuku. Stopped by at DoughnutPlant NYC on the way because the doughnuts look so good!

Doughnut - White Day special

Berry Doughnut!

How to go to Harajuku from Shinjuku? : Take the JR Yamanote from Shinjuku Station and Harajuku is only 2 Stops Away! 

About 4 mins later ....

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We reached! 

Takeshita Street is just across the road after exiting from the station.

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Decided to visit Meiji Shrine first which is a 10mins walk from the station.

First gate before Meiji Shrine

Let's go! 

2nd Gate

Gate before the shrine

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Cleansing corner:

It is believed that one will be cleansed after washing their hands and rinsing their mouth using the water here. One thing to note *when rinsing your mouth, scoop the water , cup your hands , pour it into your hand and rinse your mouth with the water in your hand . Do not place your mouth on the scoop!

No Photos when you're at the altar in front so this is as close as I can take. 

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Next to the main temple, there's a corner where you can write your well-wishes at a counter.

What to do?

1)Take a white piece of paper from the center compartment. You can choose to write any form of well-wishes (eg: family health , world peace ... etc). Don't forget to write your name at the end.

2)Insert the White paper into the Brown envelope.

3.) Place your offerings into the envelope first before dropping it into the box below.

*If you want to go the extra mile, you can purchase a piece of wooden block and write your well wishes. You can then hang these wooden blocks on any one of the hooks around the trees.

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Witnessed a traditional wedding ceremony. Many couples choose The Meiji Shrine place to hold wedding ceremonies and wedding photo shoots because of its beautiful architecture and peaceful surrounding.

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Around noon, we left Meiji Shrine for Takeshita Street.

Takeshita street is a shopping street more for youngsters. There's lots of stuff sold there , eg: bags, clothes, caps, keychains...etc. 

If you're super hungry, you should totally have your lunch there because most of the restaurants serve their food in huge ass portions. 

If you've already had your food elsewhere, you might want to stop by at one of the many crepe shops. There's 30+ flavors available so you'll definitely find one that you like.

Underground Clothes store 

Look at the crazy amount of clothes. Reminds me of bugis Street

One of the many crepe shops

See what I mean when I say they sell huge ass portions of food

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We wandered along some street across the road at the other end of Takeshita street and saw this along the way...

Truck/Bus promoting some Jpop girl band. Common sight in Japan.

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This street, whose name I forgot, sells really expensive stuff. If you're not ready to spend $100+ on clothes and shoes then I suggest you skip this street.

Expensive shoes

Japanese Cosplayers

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Had lunch at some random Restaurant. Had chicken chop curry rice. The best seller there.

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Alright, that's all for now but here's a sneak peak of what we did for the rest of the day :

I'll be introducing the busy city of Shibuya! It's another major city in tokyo with cool attractions such as the hachiko statue, shibuya crossing ... Etc. Stay tuned!