Discovering Asakusa in Tokyo, Japan

When I first went to Tokyo in 2010, I did plenty of research on where to stay, and, consistently, Shinjuku came out on top, with Ginza a close second for its proximity to Tsukiji Market and to high-end shops. I loved the energy of Shinjuku but we didn’t get to do our hotel booking early enough this time. We ran out of rooms in the places we were considering.

A store selling those popular rice crackers

I started looking for options in AirBNB. I opted out of Shinjuku because I was afraid we would end up at the red light district. I saw some promising apartments in Roponggi, Asakusa and Ginza. Mon, who lived in Tokyo for some time and was conversant in Japanese, said we were better off staying at either of the latter two neighborhoods.

We opted for the apartment in Asakusa because it looked really promising in pictures. The posting indicated that it could accommodate 10 people so there should be more than sufficient space for four. The first time I came to Tokyo, I stayed in a highly recommended hotel in Shinjuku where the room can hardly accommodate two people with luggage.

What a fantastic choice it ended up to be. We had a hard time getting our bearings from the Asakusa train station but once we figured out where we were supposed to go, transportation became less of a concern.

There's plenty of small, quaint restaurants but they fill up fast so come early and be prepared to wait

The historic district of Asakusa has a more traditionally Japanese atmosphere than other Tokyo neighborhoods. It has plenty of small, family-run restaurants and shops in narrow streets that are a pleasure to get lost in. It also has the oldest geisha district in Tokyo, although we didn’t see one during our stay.

Yuka’s Apartment turned out to be a great find because it’s right on the fifth floor of Rox 3G, which is one of three annex buildings of Rox, the only shopping mall you’ll find in the area.

The building and unit were both spotless. It must be obsessively cleaned because there’s not a spot of dirt even in the hard-to-scrub grout. The apartment was a great model of Japanese aesthetics—clean, well-structured, understated. I loved how storage is built into the walls, and how the different areas are partitioned with sliding doors so that you can enjoy the open structure and still have privacy when it’s called for. The entire place was equipped with necessities for cooking, bathing and cleaning, and stocked up with supplies including rolls of toilet paper, towels, beddings, etc.

Tokyo SkyTree

Senso-ji Temple

 From the balcony or through the glass doors of the living room, you can enjoy a view of the Tokyo SkyTree and Senso-ji temple. After an entire day of walking, we loved sitting together in front of the television with our munchies to relax. To get all that at half the price of a tourist hotel in Tokyo was a big stroke of luck.

One of the best things about it is its proximity to Nakamise and Shin-Nakamise Shopping Streets. Nakamise is lined with small vendor stalls selling items and local snacks. Shin-Nakamise or new Nakamise is a shopping arcade with interesting shops and restaurants. It runs perpendicular to the old shopping street. You can spend and entire day there because there’s plenty of interesting things to see.

Local snacks

I could spend all day sampling bites at Nakamise

A cluster of street-side bars where you can drink all night

Shin-Nakamise

Asakusa is small enough to discover on foot but if you don’t have enough time or want to discover the neighborhood comfortably seated on a high perch, book a rickshaw tour. Asakusa is the only place in Tokyo rickshaws are allowed to operate. Tours are offered in different languages.

One of the unexpected benefits of riding a rickshaw was getting an insider recommendation to a fantastic yakiniku place, which I will feature in the next post.

St. Marc's Cafe's Chococro (Chocolate Croissant): The Perfect Partner to Your Morning Coffee

St. Marc Cafe's Chococro doesn’t look like much but it is a little serving of heaven. It has been haunting me since I first tried it upon the recommendation of Joanna.

I have been a big croissant lover since I had my first bite of the buttery, flaky French version at Hotel Meslay in 1993 as a college graduate on my first visit to Paris. I became an even bigger fan when my mom and I enrolled in a croissant-making class at Heny Sison. I realized that achieving those crisp edges while keeping the inner layers meltingly soft takes hours of kneading and a fine-tuned technique.

St. Marc’s Chococro looks rather unadorned except for the dusting of almond bits on top and the dark chocolate peeking out of its edges. This isn’t the dainty bite of an ideal croissant, but the wisps of warm puff pastry giving in to a burst of what tasted like Gianduja-laced chocolate will get you at first bite. It’s something I’d like to have with my coffee every morning and a worthy replacement to my favorite pain au chocolat.

My niece Julia has her own favorite in St. Marc—the Golden Nugget, soft-serve vanilla ice cream with cereals concealed at the bottom of the cone. I had a taste of the ice cream, which had a rich texture and fresh, milky flavor.

We have Ben Chan to thank for bringing St. Marc Café to the Philippines. It opened its first store in 1998 at Ginza Maronie Boulevard in Tokyo. It has since grown to over 300 outlets globally, spreading happiness through its freshly baked bread and pastries.

St. Marc's Cafe
Ground Floor SM Megamall Fashion Hall, Mandaluyong
Ground Floor UP Town Center, Quezon City
2nd Floor Greenbelt 3, Makati

Oh, Tokyo! Part IV

It was either Disneyland or Akibahara-Ginza-Science Museum. The pull of Mickey and Minnie was just too strong.

Pressed against the glass in the first car of the very crowded JR Yamanote Line on a Monday morning, I took this picture.

The romantic DisneySea harbour behind me

Superbly talented street musicians

Galileo’s room

Because of the long lines, we didn’t get on as many rides as we wanted at Disney. So really, the highlight of my day was having dinner at this place.

Gotta love the Japanese for their attention to detail

I ordered the specialty, sukiyaki. The server showed me how to prepare. The blue jar contains sweet-salty soy sauce and the white one contains water, which you use to balance out the taste.

After pouring soy sauce into the pan, she added the meat.

I cooked the veggies, noodles, tofu and other ingredients the same way.

The server will ask you if you want whisked raw egg as dipping sauce. And God bless the Japanese for their rice.

Imahan is located at the food court of Takashimaya, which is truly a foodie haven.

Oh, Tokyo! Part III

Our Tokyo city tour was scheduled on the third day. Same drill as the day before – pick-up at Keio and rode to Hamamucho station where we boarded our assigned tour buses.

Barrels of sake donated to the shrine

Our first stop was the Meiji Shrine, a sprawling Shinto shrine in central Tokyo.

You have to wash your hands and mouth before stepping inside the main temple complex.

Lucky to witness two weddings. Here’s the first one. Japanese wedding gowns are so fashyon!

Wedding No. 2. The bride and groom and their entourage sauntered so regally to the middle of the courtyard, oblivious to the throngs of tourists and visitors offering their prayers.

The Imperial Palace where the Emperor and Empress live is off-limits to commoners but visitors are allowed to tour the East Gardens. Me at the entrance.

Dwarfed by giant slabs of stone

In love with the lovely autumn colors.

Yellow trees! Who needs yellow ribbons on oak trees?

Our next stop was the Asakusa Kannon, the biggest Buddhist temple in Tokyo.

The devout wrote their prayers on paper, then rolled and tied them up onto a string as offering.

Joining the throng of devotees

Leading up to the main temple, there were stalls selling food and souvenirs. I loved watching one lady make takoyaki. She’d pour the batter onto a hot mold and flip the balls deftly with chopsticks to cook the other side.

As we were about to leave the temple grounds, I saw a Buddhist nun. I asked to have my picture taken with her and she obliged.

View over Western-style lunch. Nice break from Japanese food!

Steak and hash brown

Fish and shrimps

Dessert plate

Tokyo Bay cruise after lunch

View of Fuji Broadcast Center in Odaiba from the boat

Our final stop was in the city of Odaiba, a high-tech urban area with lots of elevated walkways. It was built on reclaimed land. It’s a wonderful place for young people (read: teenagers) to hang out. The Statue of Liberty in the background was, like New York’s, a gift from the French government.

Oh, Tokyo! Part II

Pick up at Keio Plaza

Because I couldn’t bear the thought of going to Japan and not seeing Mt. Fuji, I booked a tour with Sunrise Tours. Pick-up service at my hotel was not available but the main pick-up point in Shinjuku, Keio Plaza Hotel, is a 10-minute walk.

We drove by the Tokyo Tower, which is actually taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

It took us 40 minutes to get to the Hamamucho bus station where we disembarked and exchanged our vouchers for stickers and were assigned our buses tour guides.

Saw this giant billboard of Tommy Lee endorsing Boss – not Hugo Boss but a local coffee brand often found in vendo machines and grocery shelves.

On the bus, I met Yoko, our tour guide, who spoke very good, intelligible English. After two hours, I finally had a glimpse of Mt. Fuji!

Snow-capped Mt. Fuji

Late autumn is a good time to visit. In the summer, the snow melts, so Mt. Fuji doesn’t look quite like the mountain we see in most travel photographs.

We were caught in weekend traffic so, instead of going straight to Mt. Fuji, we stopped for lunch here.

My bento box contained a scoop of Japanese rice (the packet on the lower left side is shisho powder that you mix in with the rice), tuna and shrimp sashimi, Japanese omelet, grilled salmon, deep-fried shrimp and all sorts of treats. We had green tea sherbet for dessert.

When we finally got to Mt. Fuji, we made our stop at the 4th station because the 5th station, which is the closest you can get via bus and has all the souvenir shops, was closed. But after 10 minutes or so, the fifth station was opened. Here I was at the Torii gate of the 5th station.

The beautiful autumn colors of Lake Kawaguchi.

Me lining up for the cable ride to Mt. Tenjosan. Lake Kawaguchi is behind me.

Another view of Lake Kawaguchi while queuing up for the cable ride.

We took the bullet train back to Tokyo.

Me with the best guide in Tokyo, Yoko.

Dinner at Katsukura in Takashimaya

Japanese beer

Pickles. Ewww.

Crush the sesame seeds to release the flavor.

Mix with the sauce provided and use this as dip for your katsu.

My ground beef katsu.