My last day in Japan. How I wish I can stay longer here. The final day started with breakfast at CoCo Ichibanya. The CoCo Ichibaya in Japan serves pork as well whereas the Malaysia branch does not have pork. I located a CoCo Ichibanya in Shinjuku which was opened early in the morning. The restaurant is quite small. English menu was provided upon request. I ordered the Pork Cutlet Curry rice with pork curry for JPY774. Pork curry certainly tastes good. Click here for a more detailed blog post of my CoCo Ichibanya experience.
Next, I took the train to Harajuku Station. From there, I entered via the southern entrance and walked for about 10 minutes before reaching Meiji Shrine which is deep inside Yoyogi Park. Meiji Shrine is a shrine dedicated to the spirits of Emperor Meiji (first emperor of modern Japan) and Empress Shoken.
It is important to follow the rules there as a respect to the shrine. Before entering the main complex of the shrine, one shall rinse the hand and mouth at a well near the entrance. There are English instructions available. Once inside the main complex, there are also English instructions on how to pay respect to the late Emperor Meiji.
You can write some wishes at leave it at this shrine.
Meiji Shrine (明治神宮, Meiji Jingu)
Address: 1-1 Yoyogikamizonocho, Shibuya, Tokyo 151-8557, Japan
Operating Hours: Sunrise to sunset
Admission: Free
There are also other attractions within the grounds of Meiji Shrine with some admission fees.
Treasure House
Operating Hours: 9.00am - 4.30pm (until 4.00pm from November to February)
Admission: JPY500
Inner Garden
Operating Hours: 9.00am - 4.30pm (until 4.00pm from November to February)
Admission: JPY500
There is also another shrine nearby which is just beside Takeshita Street.
For lunch, I took the train to Ikebukuro Station. From there, I walked for about 10 minutes to Mutekiya. The queue was quite long and the weather was extremely hot. It took me almost 1 hour before I could enter the restaurant. The restaurant is quite small and can only accommodate a small number of people. Finally, this was the one and only ramen restaurant that doesn’t use a vending machine. I ordered the Mutekiya ramen for JPY1,100. The broth was very tasty and the size of the chashu was very big yet still melt in the mouth. I would say this is one of the better ramens that I have eaten in my life. Click here for a more detailed blog post of Mutekiya.
Since this was my last day in Japan, it was time to complete Miss J’s to-buy-list and also to get some souvenirs. I took the train to Ueno-okachimachi Station and walked to Ameya Yokocho which is just a few minutes walk. The drug store products in Ameya Yokocho are among the cheapest in Tokyo and Yokohama area.
Tips: For most products, OS Drugs is generally cheaper but you can only use cash. You can get discount vouchers from Matsumoto Kiyoshi’s Line App
For dinner, I went to Ningyocho Imahan to grab some light food. It was a little difficult to order since there were no English words at all at the shop. Luckily, the shopkeeper can speak a little bit of English and could tell me what is what. I bought two potato croquettes; one beef and one plain. The potato croquette was very delicious.
Next stop, Akihabara. Akihabara is the paradise for otakus. There are plenty of electronic stores, arcade centers, maid cafes, anime and manga related shops, sex toy shops, etc. Actually, it kind of disappointed me as I was expecting a really lively area. Maybe, my expectation was wrong since the place is where most otakus will hang out.
I headed back to Ginza to grab some waffles. I have seen a few branches of Manneken in Tokyo but this was the only one with a queue. I ordered the Strawberry Waffle for JPY162. The waffle was really delicious with a slight strawberry taste in it. The texture was just nice as it crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.
I did not visit Tokyo Skytree, the world’s tallest tower at 634m. From internet sources, the entrance fee was not cheap. That’s why I decided to just look at the tower from far. Fortunately, I have a perfect view of it from my hostel.
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