After the ballet class, we made our way to Jessi’s neighborhood, Musahi-Koyama, to meet with Shuta, who’s been bravely guarding a table for us at a sushi restaurant, Tsukiji Gin-ikkan. It was a conveyor belt sushi place, but the variety and quality of the sushi was amazing. There was always a line at the restaurant, especially during lunch and dinner time. So, we were lucky that Shuta saved a table for us!
We tried as many types of sushi as we could while we were there, even managed to try the Otoro, which was so sweet and melted in our mouths. We ate so much that we actually ended up with three piles of dishes (taller than shown in the picture below) by the time we finished our lunch.
Although we had piles of plates at the end, we convinced ourselves that we had saved a little space for some yakitori around the corner.
Walking around Musashi-Koyama Palm, the “longest covered shopping arcade in the whole Japan”, Shuta took us to this famous yakitori place. You could just pick up the skewers and eat them while standing outside the stall. They counted how many skewers you had at the end and you have to pay accordingly. Yumm!!
Then, we realized, we actually had their yakitori about 3 years ago, when we stayed in Musashi-Koyama for a 5 days holiday in the winter. But since then, the area around the station went under renovation, and the yakitori stall had to move. This was us, 3 years ago, in front of the same stall munching on the yakitori.
After the yakitori session, we walked around some more in the arcade and found a pet shop filled with cute kittens, then another one with puppies. After staring for some time from outside, we decided to go in and have a look around. The sales lady picked up a mame shiba-inu puppy, and let Aina pet her. Mame shiba-inu is the tiny version of the regular shiba inu. So, when the regular sized shiba inu is already cute, this one was like… MEGA cute! Aina was ecstatic and couldn’t stop telling us how soft its fur was and how cutely it was looking at her. Of course Aina wanted to bring it home. But with the price tag of over six thousand Singapore dollars, there was no way she’s going home with us! MEGA cute = MEGA expensive…
Meanwhile, Thalia found out that Reese had time to meet up today, since she and her family were going away on a holiday tomorrow. We have met Reese also three years ago, during the same trip as the yakitori thing above. Thalia has not writted the entry for that trip, but you can see the photo album in Flickr.
Shuta took us to a patisserie place called De Bon Coeur for the meet up. The place had a rustic feel to it, with cooking classes on the weekends and top notch desert and coffee. Thalia ordered the fruity white mousse cake, while Jessi ordered the tiramisu.
Reese brought the whole family this time. It was our first time meeting Frank, Reese’s husband, and Emi, their youngest. The last time we met, Lolli was Emi’s age, and Emi wasn’t born yet.
While Lolli and Aina bonded almost immediately over the photo app in Aina’s iPhone, the adults caught up about life in Japan. Emi just woke up from her nap and was a little shy, so she just sat on her daddy’s lap trying very hard not to look at the adults.
After the cake session, we bid farewell with Reese and Frank and took a quick stroll to Shuta and Jessi’s apartment to rest for a bit before coming out again for dinner. Their apartment was pretty large compared to Jessi’s previous place, which was literally a shoebox. They were making peach cider for the summer, so it was a very much welcomed refreshing drink. Aina loves peaches and we all shared a plate of the cut fruit…
Shuta, though, wasn’t very happy with today’s peaches. A few months back, they ordered peaches from Nagoya, directy from the farmers. He said, those would be the good peaches, and if it arrived in the next few days, Aina would be able to try it.
That night, we decided to go for yakiniku for dinner, around Musashi-Koyama as well. It was called the Beef Factory 73. Even though Jessi and Shuta was a regular at this place, we made reservations because it was usually packed during dinner time.
Shuta was in charge on what to order…
The place certainly lived up to its name. The quality of the meat they served was superb. Marbled kobe beef and thick juicy beef tounge. There was this plate of thinly sliced wagyu called the “three seconds”. And we literally just put it on the grill for three seconds and then to our mouths. Simply amazing…
The thick melt-in-your-mouth wagyu… it was sweet, even without any sauce.
The three-second wagyu!
After dinner, we went back to our hotel with our bellies filled to the max. It was an amazing day highlighted with great food and even greater company.
For all the photos while we were in Tokyo, they are in Tokyo 2017 photo album. Other entries of this trip is at Japan 2017 Trip: Ballet Competitions.
