Life as J

Looking back on this trip, there were a lot of things that went well, along with a whole list of things that could have been even better. Trying to think of the best way to organize my thoughts, I figured that it might make sense to organize it along the same order as we planned the trip. First, we jumped on a flight deal. It was an insane price we couldn't refuse, and in keeping with the mentality of saving money, we declined every "add-on" that would increase the price of our flight. This turned out to be somewhat painful - as one of the "upgrades" when purchasing the flight was the ability to reserve your seat. Depending on the type of ticket you're buying or the airline you're flying with, seat selection may be included in the price and part of the purchase process. If it's not, the additional fee may be something in the range of $15 to $20. If it matters where you sit on a long 10-hour flight, then this extra cost may be well worth it, especia...

For our final hurrah, we did a victory lap around the city. Since we noticed the line up of ramen lovers outside Kagari in Ginza, we figured we'd give it a shot today. I ordered the specialty: chicken broth soba with tender chicken on top, and it was unreal. Creamy, rich, full of chicken flavor, and accompanied with unique vegetables of different textures which mildly changed the taste of the ramen when you added it to the noodles. Totally worth the sentence fragment! From Ginza, we took the train to Shibuya to witness the chaos at the famous Shibuya crossing. I compared it to a similar intersection in Ginza, and Shibuya is definitely busier - but is it because there are so many spectators added? For optimal viewing, there's a Starbucks next to the intersection that has a second floor - check it out! After Shibuya, we continued along the Yamanote line to Ikebukuro. Here, we headed to Sunshine City to get some gyoza from the Gyoza Stadium at Namjatown. There are 8 different ...

So much ground covered today! We started off in Ginza, braving the rain in search of scallop ramen at a restaurant called Tsukiichi. It turns out Tsukiichi is right on top of a much more well-known ramen joint, Kagari. To get to the scallop ramen, you'll walk past the line of people waiting for a seat at Kagari, through a door under the Tsukiichi sign, and up a sketchy narrow staircase to a vending machine, where you'll choose what you want to order. I ordered the shio scallop ramen for a lighter meal, instead of the shoyu ramen. It took awhile to get our order, but once it arrived, I couldn't stop eating - the scallop broth was wonderfully flavorful and the grilled scallops, chashu, and fresh vegetables worked well together. It was the first time I actually finished all the ramen broth! Other highlights of Ginza: the many bakeries, the world's largest Uniqlo, and elite brands to browse in one place. I don't know if the Ginza Uniqlo changed since I last visited, b...