From Asakusa to Shibuya

After getting changed, we grabbed some gelato at the shopping street in Asakusa.

This particular stall has many interesting flavours, especially seasonal japanese flavours which I highly recommend.

I think we had the amazake and tofu which were the seasonal flavours during that time.

After that, we went to Shibuya to get Disney tickets because it was Golden week and we want to make sure that we have tickets.

Lol, loved my hair so much that I kept it that way.

For dinner, we went to Ichiran ramen.

Always enjoy the ramen here even though I dun enjoy the queues.

Ichiran does offer an interesting experience to tourists as the sitting area is different from restaurants elsewhere and their tonkotsu is good too.

heehee, these 2 happily peeling their eggs.

We also had some green tea pudding for desserts!

Kimono experience in Asakusa

First time trying on the kimono with my fav cousin~!!!

We woke up early to get to Asakusa to avoid the crowd, hoping that we would be the first customers of the shop so that we won't have to wait. While there were a few people who were already at the shop when we arrived, we didn't have to wait that long to get dressed.

Getting dressed itself is an experience and a tiring one. I think it took almost an hour to get dressed. We had to wear an inner layer, while was eventually wrapped over with multiple layers of towel and ribbons to create a beer barrel shape before the colourful outer layer could be laid over. And over that, more cloths and ribbons.

After getting dressed, we get to choose accessories for our hair and a handbag too.

As the layers pile on, it feels as if it gets harder and harder to breathe because the lungs couldn't expand to it's full capacity.

However, it was all worth it because the outcome was amazing~!!!

I have always wanted to try the furisode which is the kind of kimono with the super long sleeves. If not mistaken, they're only for ladies who are unmarried.

Before leaving the shop, we were also allowed to chose the kind of geta that we wanted. I have to say, it's not an easy foot wear and not very comfortable, especially since I rarely wear slippers.

The geta with the socks, together with the tightly wrapped kimono around the legs makes it difficult to move around. One would have to take small steps.

I loved everything about the experience, the hair, the ribbons, the kimono~ It's a must try when in Japan~! And Asakusa provides a nice background for the pictures too.

We paid to enter the garden by the temple, so that we can get more backgrounds for pictures.

Along the way to the temple, tourists stopped us to get pictures with us. Lol~

When in Asakusa, of course we had to visit Sensoji.

After some street snacks, we decided to grab lunch at a restaurant and we decided on Tenya.

Grabbed some delicious tempura. Our tummies which were tied so tightly under all those layers that were starting to feel uncomfortable and we couldn't fit in any desserts.

So, we decided to head back to change into our normal clothes before grabbing some ice cream.

I couldn't be happier to be free of all the cloths and ribbons. The moment everything came off, I felt like I could finally breathe freely again.

Overall, it is a highly recommended experience for tourists~

Asakusa

Dropped by Asakusa and we were lucky enough to catch the shidarezakura.

We went up to the top floor of the tourist information centre for this view of nakamise after our workshop. We were there for the shamisen workshop organised by the Japan tourism board. The workshop is free and I highly recommend it to every tourist.

After that we went back to the nakamise for some ice cream. We spotted some interesting flavours like sakura and kinako.

There's even the amasake.

I got a little greedy and requested for three flavours. We got the sakura, green tea and amazake.

Day in Asakusa & Ueno

First time trying out an even organised by TYO at the Asakusa tourist information centre.

I must say I was impressed as the event that I joined which was a Japanese dance event was well organised. Best part of all, it was completely free. A perfect way for tourist to get first hand experience of traditional japanese culture. They should definitely organise more of these kinds of events!

After that, I went to Asakusa temple with K and got myself a Daikichi omikuji!!! :D

As we walked around the temple grounds, we also spotted a show by a very talented and smart monkey.

These pears are seriously huge and I'm always super tempted to buy them but every time I spot them, I'm on the way to do something which will last the whole day.

We walked all the way from Asakusa to Ueno to grab dinner.

After that, we wanted to get some yakiniku for dinner but ended up at this super expensive place which we only ordered these 2 plates before deciding that we need to change restaurants.

We then went to the nearby grilled seafood place.

First time trying kani miso and I really like it. It was super flavourful and filled with umami!

Lol, K can never not order fried chicken!

Grilled prawns which were yummy~

This item here was a huge surprise. Who knew that a seafood place would serve yummylicious onion rings?

We also ordered this squid to be grilled and it was absolutely delicious!!! 

I would definitely love to be back to have more grilled seafood!

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Coincidence?

It snowed in January and it was the first time I've seen such a heavy snow fall.

Naturally, I was excited and can't help but snap pictures of snow whenever I can.

One day after hanging out at Shibuya with J, I went off to grab dinner with my cousin.

We had shabu-shabu at Onyasai. This was the first time I ordered a set instead of the buffet.

The portion for the set isn't small at all. Look at the amount of food we have! And the meat were of really high quality~

Dinner was yummy and it was nice to catch up after so many years.

On the way home, guess who I bumped into?! Is this coincidence or as cheesy as it may sounds, fate? heehee.....

But seriously,  the odds of bumping into someone you know is pretty low in a big city! Especially when both people are travelling in opposite directions to different places.

Made a snowman the day after the heavy snowfall but you could hardly see it. I sent the pic to J and he turned it into Olaf for me!