Different Japanese snacks and drinks

It would take a long time if I wrote a post for each and everything we ate there, so I’ll just clump them up into one post.Unfortunately I haven’t been able to take a photo of everything we ate, so these are the ones I have on my phone.

We’ll start first with the food, then drinks, and desserts 🙂

For starters let me just tell you that Japanese food are delicious and not to mention cheap!

This is Takoyaki with teriyaki sauce and eggs. These were cold eggs by the way, and they were delicious

This is a meal we buy at Family Mart, a 7-11 like store, except they have much better selection and is open 24/7! This has been our brunch for most of our stay there. Not only is it cheap, but it is absolutely delicious!. Underneath it is a lot of rice, way too much rice.

This is a supermarket sushi. Yes, supermarket, and it cots around 45NOK! Not only are they good, but cheap as well. The 49 NOK sushi from Rema 1000 has nothing on these, tastewise. These are the type of sushi you get at an overpriced restaurant here in Norway.

These are also from FamilyMart, quite cheap as well, I think they are under 20NOK.

Now, let’s move on to desserts

This one is the equivalent of “saft is”. They have ice-y bits on the inside, but this is perfect for a hot weather.

This is Matcha soft serve with black sesame seed cone from an ice cream store calle 63 C.

Pringle with wasabi flavor. This was quite good actually, not to spicy.

These are wasabi lolipop. I haven’t eaten my salmon yet, but my boyfriend says ” Can I have yours, since you may get a sore throat from the sweetness of it “. It’s actually as long as my middle finger, so it is quite big compared to normal lolipops.

Here’s a mix of desserts and food. The rice ball on the left, is onigiri with sour plum. Love sour plum and onigiri together. Perfect go-to meal or snack. Then we have a grape beer? I really have no idea, I was celebrating getting an A on our bachelor thesis. Then we have lemon shots, which have been my best friend for the first three days in Japan. It is because I became sick on the plane. And then we have milk pudding! It is so good!

Here are some other drinks.

Melon Soda! This is the only melon soda I love to drink!

Fanta Kiwi + E was suprisingly good, hard to decribe how it tastes like.

To be honest this wasn’t good at all,too sour. I only wanted the bottle 😛

I wished I took photos of everything we ate, but sometimes when you have little time or really hungry that is not the first thing that comes up on your mind.

Looking back at these photos makes me miss Japan more and wished we had more choices here in Norway.

Okonomiyaki

On our last night in Toyko, we ate dinner at an okonomiyaki place in Shibuya! We liked the place last year and wanted to visit it again.

This is how the table looks like. We or they cook the food on that plate 🙂

On each table, there are instructions on how to make an okonomiyaki.

On every table there is an hourglass that lasts for 4 minutes. There are also various Japanese condiments such as sesame seeds, mayonnaise, okonomiyaki sauce and bonito flakes. We also have lids to put on top of the okonomiyakis. Also there are ashtrays! Yes, ashtrays since Japanese people still smoke inside restaurants and cafés.

While deciding what to order, we ordered some appetizers. Cucumbers and some sort of sauce and squid rings 🙂

We finally managed to choose something to eat after eating our appetizers. My boyfriend ordered the Kagoshima BLack pork for 1380 YEN around 98NOK. While I ordered the Pork, Welsh onion and soft boiled egg for 1280 YEN around 91 NOK.

Here is how our meal looks like when they arrive! The waitress, mixes everything that needs to me mixed and puts them on our cooking plate.

When she is done she puts a lit on top of our okonomiyaki, and from then on we are the ones who flips it’s side every after four minutes.

We put the mayo and the sauce ourselves and designed it like that. I was so proud of my self 🙂

Here is our finished meal! Not picture perfect, but oh so good! The eggs, onions and other toppings we put ourselves 🙂

Ramune soft serve

Last year when we went to Mandrake in Akihabara we saw a soft serve stand. This year on our way there, I was praying that the same stand would be there as I really wanted something cold to eat on a very hot day! We saw the same stand on the same place and decided to buy soft serve before heading to Mandrake!

There are a few flavors to choose from such as Vanilla, Matcha, Chocolate and Vanilla, Ramune (soda pop), Melon, Mango, Vanilla and Caramel, Vanilla and Strawberry and Black sesame. Their price range is between 250-350 YEN, between 17 and 25 NOK.

What I find fascinating about this soft serve machine is that the flavors are in capsules, like the one on his hand on the photo below. In contrast, here in Norway it is one big machine that either has the normal flavor or chocolate or something else. There is not much room for all the different flavors that he serves. Also, since they are portioned it means that there won’t be that much waste on precious soft serve ice cream 😀

Anyways, without much further ado, here is my delicious ramune or soda pop soft serve!

One would think that having a soda flavored ice cream would taste horrible, but this one was actually quite good! it didn’t taste milk-y but soda pop-y.

We had to eat the ice cream in the vicinity of his stand though. In Japan they don’t really walk and eat much. There are often designated places for people to eat at.

Starbucks in Japan

I don’t really like Starbucks, but I do like Starbucks in Japan!

Why? Well because they have Matcha Frappe! and I am a big fan of Matcha, seriously Norway, please hop on the matcha wagon already!

I don’t know why, but I always go to Starbucks in Shibuya to watch the Shibuya Crossing. I have seen it a lot of times before, but I still want to see it.

Anyways, while I was in Starbucks, I went to try a new drink/dessert 🙂

A bit blurry, sorry about that. I tried the Chocolate Cake topped Frappuccino with Matcha Shot. Cake in a Frappe, yes you read it right.

I think it cost around 620 YEN around 44 Kroner. I was sceptical at first, but really wanted to try it.

You can see below how it looks like!

In order to drink it you mash the cake while inside the frappe! It is surprisingly easy to mash the cake, it was quite soft.

Was it good? YES it was! It was like heaven in my mouth 😛 but yes, it was very good. Surprisingly good 🙂

Now Norway, if you get this I will be your number one customer 🙂

Ramen

Categories Food
Ramen

Japanese ramen are the best! We found a ramen shop at Akihabara. I really suck at explaining directions, and I also do not know the name of it. However the ramen shop is located at the same street as Kotobukiya going towards KFC, sorry that is the best explanation I have of the ramen shop.

Here is the store entrance!

The thing about this ramen shop is that you pick your order outside on a machine. Yes, you order and pay outside.

I chose the Kotteri Tonkotsu Ramen with All Toppings for 1050 yen, around 75 NOK. After ordering and paying, you get a receipt which you give to the waiter inside the shop.

Upon taking our seat, we were served water or ice tea, I really can’t remember. There are also these manual grinders on each table. They are so that you can grind your own sesame seeds 🙂

Luckily, if you don’t know how to use it, there is a poster with directions plastered on the wall 🙂

Here is my ramen with all the toppings. Although it may appear as if it is a small bowl, trust me, it is not. I almost couldn’t finish this one because I became quite “mett” or “hearty” immediately, sorry can’t find the right translation.

By the way, the egg! Oh my goodness, the egg is so good. The egg white is warm, while the egg yolk is kind of cold! I have been to a restaurant in Norway which serves ramen, and their egg is just normal boiled egg.

I should stop making these food posts soon, I make myself hungry and miss Japan by seeing my photos 😛

Genki Sushi and Kaisen Misakikou

If there was one thing I was looking forward to on my trip, it was getting to eat Japanese sushi again! Japanese sushi is a whole different level that here at home!

One, Japanese sushi is quite delicious! Maybe it is how they prepare the rice. Two, they look good! Most sushi places here at home does a sloppy job! While I think in Japan, food preparation is an art! Three, sushi belts are not overpriced!

I think it is safe to say we have our favorite sushi belts. Favorites because we keep coming back to these places!

The first one is Genki Sushi located at Shibuya!

There are sometimes queues on this place, so often you have to make a reservation.

To order anything, you just choose from the screen! There are screens on every seat! Drinks are served by waitresses however I am not sure about soups. Otherwise food comes to you on the conveyor belt! Unfortunately I don’t have photos of how it looks like. But basically there’s this moving plate as I call it. There is space for three plates. When you order something, the chefs places your order on those plates, and that moving plate travels to where you are seated either on the upper, middle or lower lane. When your plate arrives, there is a sound to remind you that “Hey! Your food is here!”. You then take your orders, and have to press a button so that the moving plate can come back to the kitchen!

We usually order melon Soda which costs 120 for medium and 180 for large, around 8 NOK and 13 NOK. By the way, large is the same size as Norwegian medium.

Melon soda’s color is green, but it is delicous! We order it because you can’t find any green drinks in Norway and that flavor.

Sushi or nigiri varies in price depending on what they have as a topping! If I remember correctly they are from 110 to 440YEN, so basically anywhere from 8NOK to 32 NOK! They are good sushi and quite cheap. We never pay more than 100 per person for a lot of sushi!

Here are some of the things I have ordered from Genki Sushi, I wasn’t able to take photos of everything because I was to hungry! I try to order things we don’t normally find in Norway.

This one has got to be one favorite! This is yes, a cheese burger nigiri! This is absolutely delicious!

We were lucky enough to have the tanabata menu before we left so I ordered Tanabata Egg nigiri 😀 They were also delicious.

Honestly, I didn’t want to eat it because it looks too pretty to eat!

Moving on to the Kaisen Misakikou! This one is located at Nakano Broadway! Their sushi place is a little bit similar to Genki sushi, the only difference is that they have a moving sushi bar as well as a conveyor belt like in Genki Sushi. Their moving plate here is formed as the Shinkansen ( bullet train)

On the upper lane is the conveyor belt, while the bottom is the moving belt.

Just like Genki Sushi, you also order through the screen placed for each seat.

Here are some of the things we ordered! There are a lot of unagi (eel) order, because my boyfriend loves them!

Making this post made me crave for sushi! haha

Oh! I forgot to mention that they serve matcha on both sushi places. There is a hot water dispenser if I can call it that, on the table and matcha powder. They also give you these number plate that has the same number as your seat. So when you finish your order, you just give it back and then you pay 🙂

Japan Ice Ouca
Japan Ice Ouca has one of the best ice creams I have eaten! It is a small shop and is located near Ebisu station.
 

When we arrived there, there was quite a queue. We didn’t get to taste the other ice creams they were offering because we were already set on what we wanted to have, well not I. My boyfriend was set on having the same thing he had last year, I was not. It wasn’t until I saw the poster to the right that I knew what I wanted. I am a sucker for matcha ice cream 😁

I realized that this is not thebest photo of their menu, so my apologies!

The cute teddy dessert or Kuma-chan comes in a variety of flavors and they cost 640 yen around 46 NOK! Teddy or Kuma-chan comes in five different flavors, however I do not know what the other three flavors are aside from Strawberry and Matcha! My apologies, I should have asked them ✌

They also offer scoops of ice cream in different sizes where the smallest is 400 yen around 28 NOK and the biggest for 720 yen around 52 NOK.

Here are our shaved ice Pink Kuma and Green Kuma 😀

They are so cute, and if you notice they have different “backgrounds” on their serving plates. Green Kuma is in a matcha ceremony, while Pink Kuma is well surrounded by ice!

Here is my Green Kuma up close! His ears are made of dried peaches by the way, while his eyes are made of red beans 🙂

I almost feel bad for Pink Kuma as his eyes are falling off! To be fair it was hot and my photoshoot took a bit time so he started to melt! Pink Kuma’s ears are made of strawberry 🙂

Here below are some of what we ordered last year!

I seriouslt cannot remember what this Yellow Kuma’s flavor is! I think it was orange or something like that. If you notice, he doesn’t have a nice “background”. The serving plate was quite small and plain.

This one! was absolutely delicious! The different flavors are coffee, peach, matcha and watermelon! They didn’t taste artifical at all, they tasted quite natural! If I remember correctly the cookies or biscuits were quite neutral it taste, while the seaweed was sweet and salty at the same time. They all complemented each other.

If I visit Tokyo again during the summer season, I would definitely come back here! This is worth a re-visit!

Mocha Cat Café

During our last day in Tokyo we just hanged around Akihabara, because it is our favorite place, almost. We stumbled upon a Cat Café where you pay 200yen/10 minutes. I am highly allergic to cats, but I owned a cat once when I was in the Philippines. I wanted to go to a cat café, but not my boyfriend, because he didn’t want me to have a reaction. Given that it was 200 yen/10 minutes, I didn’t see any harm. I can survive inside a house for 30 minutes with a cat before I get my reaction.

It wasn’t until we were inside the café that we learned that we had to stay a minimum of 30 minutes. They give you wristbands that states what time you came.

Just to be clear, just because it says café doesn’t mean we eat a meal here. There was a strictly no food or feeding of the cats. They actually have a lot of rules. First we had do remove our shoes, and wear indoor slippers. Then we had to disinfect our hands with antibac. Also one rule is to not pick up or carry any of the cats. We could pet them and take photos of them. Also we weren’t supposed to be so noisy, I think. Also, the cats looked healthy and well groomed.

We stayed there for exactly 30 minutes. I must admit 30 minutes went by quickly!

I did not get any allergic reactions at all! I actually find it weird that when I am in Asia, I am not allergic to cats, but when I am Norway I am highly allergic to them. I wonder why actually.

Koiwa’s fourth Awa Odori Festival

Our host informed us long before our stay that Koiwa is having a festival. She gave us the date and time in advanced and gave it again when we were there.

On that day, we managed to go to other places and do some sightseeing before heading back to Koiwa to see the festival. A big part of the area was crowded with people, some of the performers and some of the viewers. Here are some pictures from that day

The festival was just amazing and was such a wonderful experience. It was fun and seeing how coordinated everyone was was also quite amazing. Part of the reason why I admire Japan so much is that even though they are technologically advanced in a lot of aspects, they still manage to keep or save their traditions.

Meiji Temple

If there is another place I love re-visiting it must be Meiji Temple! I have been here all the times I have been to Tokyo, and still am not sick of this place.

While in Tokyo, I met my aunt and her family who was also there. We met up in Harajuku and ate som lunch. Afterwards I asked them if they have been to Meiji Temple, and they haven’t so we decided to go there. They enjoyed the place as much as we did and we got to take a lot of pictures 🙂

Here is the entrance to the park or temple.

You wouldn’t really believe that this place is just right beside Harajuku, which is such a busy area.

Here are some pictures I have taken from our visit there.

In this area, you get to wash your mouth and hands before entering the temple. The rules of washing the hands and face are written in both Japanese and in English.

​Unfortunately, parts of the temple was closed. We wouldn’t be able to take photos of the temple as it is forbitten. At least it was when my brother and I went there when it was still open.