Naritasan, Chiba

The next day after coming back from our trip to Akita, we went on a trip to Narita.

First stop - Marondマロンド成田店, for breakfast.

First time trying this pastry which has been getting popular in Tokyo. While it is nice that the cream is light and fluffy, I am not a fan of this as it has too much cream in it.

Then we walked along the shopping streets to Naritasan.

As it was very early, the streets were empty and many shops were still closed.

I found it interesting that the Chinese animal horoscope line the streets.

There are some pretty cool retro buildings on that street.

Finally made it to the gate of Naritasan Shinshoji Temple (成田山新勝寺).

The temple ground is huge and there it a lot to explore.

Be ready to climb a lot of stairs though,

Spot the tortoise.

The new green is really nice. I think that this place would look pretty covered in snow too.

 

I imagine that this place would be very busy pre-pandemic as it is very near to Narita airport and easy access for tourists. But due to the pandemic, the temple and the nearby streets were pretty empty.

As the ground is very big, we had a great workout walking up and down all the stairs.

Luckily, the weather was nice and perfect for walking.

After all the exercise, we stopped by 韓国料理 FOODLAND&MARKET for lunch.

We ordered oden and korean fried chicken in garlic and yangnyeom flavours.

The chicken was super good as they were fried till perfection. I love how crunchy the skin is and that they were very flavourful.

On our way back out the shopping street, I spotted an amazake shop and had to try it. It was interesting that they serve the amazake in paper cup as the one above that is suitable for walking and drinking in. It is made in a way that the liquid will not spill easily.

It was nice to be able to experience the peacefulness of Naritasan during this pandemic. I hope to be back again before the crowd returns.