Tokyo: Doraemon, Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya

Day Two

BREAKFAST

Breakfast on Day Two was, again, in the hotel. Travelling on a budget with family often means any money saved is an added bonus.

Breakfast Day 2: Seaweed salad, grilled salmon, konnyaku, sausages, seasoned seaweed, seasoned rice, and hot milk tea (with sugar)

FUJIKO F. FUJIO MUSEUM

Ten minutes' walk from Mukogaokayuen Station, I suggested yet again to forego the ¥200 bus fare. The walk was similarly peaceful as the day before, but this one through a neighbourhood area, a look around gave an insight to how the Japanese live, with the tight quarters and masses of vending machines, right on the doorsteps of houses.

As the museum sells tickets by allotted time period, we were asked to line up until the facilities were prepared for our session. Lining up outside the museum allowed us time to take pictures of the miniature exhibitions in the walls of the buildings.

The Fujiko F. Fujio Museum is structured differently to the Ghibli Museum. Unlike the day before, where exhibitions were open for viewing, this one had a one-way direction. Guided by an audio guide available in Japanese, Mandarin, Korean, and English, we were allowed in rooms as long as we desired and move along at our own pace, though the few exhibitions in each room meant it wasn't necessary to return. Again, photography and cell phone usage was strictly prohibited, until the main exhibitions are exited, and after the audio guides are recollected, leading into a free area.

Doraemon as New Year's Mochi

Doraemon dressed for the year of the Ram in front of the iconic image of Mt. Fuji

Also part of the Museum is a theatre which plays a short film every 20 minutes of a mix of the artist's various works. Again, presented only in Japanese, the idea of this short film was much simpler to understand through the exaggerated expressions and movements of a typical cartoon aimed for a younger audience. Following the film, access to the gardens and the roof was made available, where photography was also allowed.

Outdoors: Nobita and Doraemon riding Piisuke

I couldn't resist taking a photo from the roof. The sky was cloudless and amazing. The air was sharp but not freezing.

The Museum focuses primarily on the artist's life, and how he progressed to develop Doraemon and some of his other beloved series. As its main exhibitions are of the artist when he had been alive, and the free areas simplistic and fun, I considered the museum to be aimed at children who like enjoy his stories and those who reminisce of the days they enjoyed them. It didn't have as much of the art aspect as the Ghibli Museum, though younger children and any current or past fans of his work will appreciate his series more learning of the late artist.

SHINJUKU

LUNCH : C&C CURRY

As per Dad's request, we stopped by in Shinjuku for the Yodobashi Camera store near Shinjuku station. Across from the multi-storey buildings of electronics is a small curry shop - and when I say small, it really is. Rivalling the size of Sukiya from the day before, C&C Curry is another chain store which features Japanese-style curry. Ordering is done by paying through a ticket machine, the ticket handed to the waiter, who will bring your order according to the printed slip.

Pretty much the whole restaurant from where I sat

The menu, again, had no English, though most were decipherable through the limited Japanese I'd learned. Extra toppings or meats were purchased on a different ticket, and each person retained their combination of tickets in order to differentiate the orders. As we handed the tickets to the waitress she had us specify whether we wanted the curries mild or spicy, and similarly to the day before, were served to us piping hot and within minutes.

My beef curry ¥590, with an extra half-boiled egg ¥80

Fish curry ¥550, with an extra korokke (potato croquette) ¥70

Japanese curries are very unlike any other, with a distinct group of spices and a thicker consistency than the creaminess associated with Indian curries. It's also quite mild in taste, suiting the Japanese palate of subtler flavours. As the curry is served directly on the plate with the rice, one of the tests the meal must pass, as mentioned in a manga, is the test of curry to rice ratio. The consistency and strength of the flavour of the curry often dictates the amount of rice eaten with each spoonful, and whether or not both will be finished simultaneously, or one obviously more quickly than the other. Though it's likely in the case of chain stores that the rice and/or curry is served automatically by machine, C&C passed the test, with flying colours.

TOKYO METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT BUILDING

Allowing ourselves some time in Shinjuku, we opted to head to the Government building, as access to the top is free, a nice alternative to the ¥2600 fee of the Skytree. As the highest accessible floor for tourists matched those of most of the surrounding buildings, it wasn't as impressive as hoped, but it was nice all the same.

Unfortunately, I have no photos to prove this. Perhaps it can be taken as an incentive to see it for yourself.

HARAJUKU

An obvious destination for any Japanophile visiting Tokyo. With the station positioned right outside the entrance, it was difficult to miss, especially with its bright signage.

Entrance to Harajuku

One of the first stores spotted just left to the Harajuku entrance

There are shops, food, and sights galore in Harajuku. Due to the thick crowds of a weekend afternoon, I missed many opportunities to ask people dressed particularly interestingly for photos in order to stay near my travel partners. Shopping there is an experience, and there are crepe stands every 30 metres. Unfortunately, with another area on the itinerary, browsing Harajuku was a hasty blur, and it left us in a rush for time.

One of the shopping possibilities that caught my eye

SHIBUYA

One of the first things to do in Shibuya after exiting the station was to locate the famous Shibuya junction. The sheer mass of people prepared to cross led me to wonder whether every crossing was like this one. In our rush, we unfortunately missed the famous Hachiko statue.

Part of the famous Shibuya Junction. Excuse the artful tilt of the camera

We headed towards PARCO, a listed destination in our itinerary due to Sis#2's love of manga, because of the store located on the topmost floor of the building. Rushing past the multi-storey Disney store ("You can't miss it... The entrance is SUPER ugly," said Sis#2, to which we spotted it and agreed that it was), we saw and were herded into the PARCO entrance and split off.

I joined Sis#2 in the search for the Mugiwara (Straw Hat) Store for all things One Piece. On the top floor, it has everything related to the manga, and was a great place to look around (me) or purchase One Piece-related souvenirs (Sis#2).

Statue of an iconic moment. Take a picture with Shanks!

The remainder of PARCO is mostly clothing stores. While the quality of the clothing is very good, the price range was far from what my family planned to spend, making PARCO a very short-lived shopping trip.

DINNER : JAPANESE McDONALD'S

Another quintessential of things to do when travelling, regardless of where you go, is McDonald's. I chose to ignore the multiple stories of how McDonald's tastes the same internationally - clearly, an over-processed cheeseburger will always taste like an over-processed cheeseburger, but the points of interest in the case of this fast food chain are the menu items exclusive to the country or season.

Sisters #1 and #2 and I agreed to share three burgers: Ebi Fillet-O (shrimp), Tonkatsu McBurger (pork cutlet), and Teriyaki McBurger. Disappointedly, the Shibuya McDonald's was out of curly fries, so we settled with regular. Some of the drink options were unrecognisable, and, deciding on an unfamiliar drink logo, we ended up ordering an aloe vera drink much to our good fortune (contrary to my mikuji prediction).

A very sad photo of the Ebi Fillet-O burger

Please excuse the lack of photos. Very hungry and tired, only Sis#2 managed this one to see we'd already started eating. All three were very flavourful and it was difficult to pick a definite winner. The Ebi fillet was crunchy, very hot, and satisfied my love for seafood, the Teriyaki was inevitably delicious, but the Tonkatsu was marginally better, with a great sauce and a hint of mustard that made it all the better. This meal completely refuted the idea that all McDonald's taste the same - you just have to order the right things.



End Day Two.