Day out in Yushima & Ueno

We came to Yushima shrine again to have a look again before going for lunch.

Back at 香港傳奇(LEGENDARY HONGKONG) again. We were the first in queue today.

Look at all the food we ordered!

We ordered 2/3 plates of each!

There were some that we did not take picture of, including the polo bun, wantan noodles and chicken rice.

We definitely over ordered because by the end we were stuffing ourselves to not waste food.

Overall, the food is not bad, but I would suggest to skip the noodles and rice.

After our very heavy lunch, we walked to Ueno Park.

J snapped these very artistic shots of ducks in the lake.

Sakura was already blooming at Ueno Park!

We had to stop for some pictures :D

Then we spotted an Uncle who brought a bag full of snacks, feeding the pigeons at the park.

As we moved nearer to the station, the sakura trees there were even nicer because they were already in full bloom!

However, there were many people here and it didn't feel as safe to take off our masks for pictures.

After that, we went to explore the underground market in Ueno. I remember visiting once before with Q many years ago. It was like a totally different place, like we were no longer in Japan. 

After IT got her groceries, we went to the BLUE LEAF CAFÉ (上野) for some desserts. This place was very busy and it was pretty hard to find seats for the 7 of us. We eventually managed to get 2 separate tables on the first floor.

Website: http://blueleafcafe.jp/

J and I got coffee and this green tea parfait. The parfait was good, but it would definitely taste better if it was summer.

The other are cramped at this corner table here LOL

After desserts, we continued shopping along ameyokocho and went clothes shopping.

Before heading home, we thought that we'd get dinner at Sushi Ro, but it was pretty popular and had a long queue. We took a number and tried waiting for it but gave up eventually as we felt that we might not be able to enter by their closing time. As it was still the SOE, shops close at 8pm.

We ended up at Obon de Gohan おぼんdeごはん 上野店. J called and they happened to have tables available that they can hold for us. So we rushed there immediately. We were super lucky because after arriving a queue started forming behind us. I guess everyone were trying to grab dinner too before heading home.

I order this udon and rice set while J had steak. His steak definitely tasted better than my order, even though mine looked a lot nicer in picture.

The steak dish, which came with tororo. I am not a fan of tororo and usually will not order sets that come with it.

 

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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Ueno Zoo

Just about a week before we visited the zoo, the panda at Ueno Zoo gave with birth to a baby panda.

The girls and I visited Ueno Zoo with Yh's colleague on a weekend. There were many people, mostly there for the panda I guess as the entrance to the panda area was the only one with a long queue.

Unfortunately, the panda was sleeping and not facing us when we visited.

Ueno Zoo is big and there are many places to explore.

The weather was really hot on the day we visited and I think the animals feel the heat too. It's just too hot to do anything.

This gorilla here looks like it just wants to relax all day under the shade.

These 2 horses are really pretty.

There's this little hut with air-conditioning  that houses the rabbits and guinea pigs. They were super cute, especially when they were feeding on the fruit pieces provided to them.

Hello there my friend, your tail looks like it needs grooming.

Pretty in pink~

There was a big area for the hippos too and the area was super stinky. I just rushed through it. heehee....

After the zoo, we had dinner Yh's colleagues. Then we went to shop around the area and grabbed ice cream at BR before heading home.

Ueno exploration

After the art exhibition, we went to this huge pond area in Ueno.

This area is really beautiful. Look at the cute fuzzy white looking flowers.

I can't believe that I never knew that this place existed.

Hello friend~

As it was summer, hydrangeas were in full bloom and they were every where.

With the girls~

A group pic with everyone~

From the pond area, we went on to explore the nearby shrines and monuments.

We had dinner at this place called 上野精養軒 (Seiyoken), which provided a nice view of the pond.

Website: http://www.seiyoken.co.jp/

I ordered a fish main that came with butter rolls, which was yummy~

We also ordered 2 desserts to be shared among the 5 of us.

The desserts were beautiful and pretty. I prefer the one at the bottom compared to the top one because the creme brulee was delicious and I really liked the chocolate ice cream.

After that we went to the Taiwanese food fair and had some food. It was the first time I ever tried stinky tofu. While it was stinky, the taste was surprising acceptable.