Category Archives: Place

{  Tokyo Disney Sea: Part 1  }

Tokyo Disney Sea
Tokyo Disney Sea
Tokyo Disney Sea

Tokyo Disney Sea : Part 1 – The Park

I’ve never visited Tokyo Disney Sea until now… and I loved it! I was impressed with how beautifully crafted the park is. Tokyo Disney Sea was opened in 2001 and is located right next to Tokyo Disneyland. It has a nautical exploration theme and the park is divided into seven parts. Tokyo Disney Sea is supposidely the most expensive theme park ever built, estimated to have cost over U.S. $4 billion. I can certainly see why it cost so much, the attention to detail is so meticulously executed it’s amazing.

Even though we spotted many families with kids, this park is geared more towards adults since the rides are scarier, they have many more options for food than Disneyland, and most importantly, it is a very magical & romantic place for couples.

I decided to do a three-part post on Tokyo Disney Sea because there’s just too much to share. Stay tuned for more tomorrow when I’ll be sharing all the food and shops that are exclusive to Disney Sea!

Here are some related posts on Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea.
…………………………………………………………………………………..
Tokyo Disneyland – Halloween 1: The Park
Tokyo Disneyland – Halloween 2: The Food
…………………………………………………………………………………..
Tokyo Disney Sea – Part 1: The Park
Tokyo Disney Sea – Part 2: The Food & Shops
Tokyo Disney Sea – Part 3: Rides (& some helpful tips!)
Tokyo Disney Sea – Most recent trip!
…………………………………………………………………………………..

Website // http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/tds/index.html




{  Yurakucho Ga-do Shita  }

Ga-do Shita
Ga-do Shita

Yurakucho’s “Ga-do Shita” is an area with many Izakayas and Yakitori restaurants hidden away literally underneath the railroad tracks. As a result, when you visit this area you can expect to hear the JR and bullet trains passing by above you. Most people traveling on the trains would have no idea what they’re passing over, but in this somewhat mysterious part of Tokyo lie some hidden spots.

We visited Ga-do Shita on a day after it snowed in Tokyo so it was quite empty, but it is typically packed with salary-men drinking away the night. During the summer time, everyone sits outside in the open space and it becomes very lively and loud.

Check out Yurakucho Nenohi if you’re in the area. We enjoyed it!




{  Google Japan  }

Google Japan
Google Japan
Google Japan

Ever wonder what Google Japan looks like? It happens to be located in one of the most expensive office buildings in Tokyo in the center of the Roppongi Hills complex of shops and restaurants – a great location. Although this is not exactly a restaurant post, I thought I’d share this with you.

After checking in at the front desk of the Mori Tower, we went through a security check point, then got into Google and got our name tags printed out. We were lucky enough to have lunch with our friend who works there. Like the US headquarters, Google Japan has a buffet-style cafeteria with a large variety of choices such as salads, fish, meat, pastas, ramen, rice, soups, fruits, desserts, etc all for free! They also have a wide selection of drinks available in vending machines (for free). If Google employees have this available almost 24/7, I can see why they wouldn’t want to leave their office!

I also got to check out a few other parts of their office and I was impressed/jealous. I would love to work there. The best part was their lounge which has a billiards table, foosball, ping pong and more. Not to mention the most awesome 360 view of Tokyo. They’ve really created a fantastic place to work with such a fun design and amazing perks. Wouldn’t it be great if every company had this? Amazing.




{  Daikanyama T-Site  }

Daikanyama T-site
Daikanyama T-site

This is another Bonus post :) (From time to time I may post non-food related posts just to share some of the sights in Tokyo) I thought I’d share this new area which is related to my other post about Ivy Place. Daikanyama T-Site is a brand new area that opened in December, 2011. It’s not large of a space and there’s not too much to do there but it does have the most beautiful TSUTAYA book store I’ve ever seen. You can spend hours in there just thumbing through books, browsing magazines or listening to music.

The 2nd Floor of the bookstore has a very sheek lounge area which serves tea, desserts, and light snacks. Every table has an iPad that has the lounge menu on it (there are no paper menus!) and the walls are lined with expensive memorabilia including original Picasso drawings and rare books. As you can imagine, this lounge is not cheap – it’s close to $10 for just a tea or coffee. However, There’s also a Starbucks reserve located on the first floor of the bookstore if the lounge upstairs is too pricy.

The outside area is a very dog friendly place – it has machine for washing dogs, a small dog park to let dogs roam free, a dog hair salon and a leash holder so that pet owners can spend time in the shops and leave their pets outside. Clearly the designers of this new area wanted to attract the pet-owners!

Here’s a brief guide to the photos above:
01. — An art installation inside TSUTAYA made out of the same wrapping paper they use to wrap anything you buy in the store.
02. — The kids books section inside TSUTAYA.
03. — Dog leash holder
04. — fully enclosed dog park (with a giant art piece connecting the inside and outside of the play area)

Address // 16-15, Sarugakucho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan (map)
Website // tsite.jp/daikanyama




{  Tsukiji Fish Market  }

Tsukiji Fish Market
Tsukiji Fish Market

This is a Bonus post. From time to time I may share some of the sights in Tokyo just for fun :)

According to Tripadvisor.com, Tsukiji Fish Market is the #1 thing to do when you visit Japan. From a Japanese person’s perspective, I’m not sure why this became #1, but I finally visited the fish market for the first time myself, and wow it was definitely an experience.

Tsukiji Fish Market is the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world and also one of the largest wholesale food markets of any kind. For some time, the market actually banned foreigners from visiting because of an increase in sightseers and the associated problems they cause. The place is so busy/non-stop with fisherman doing their business that now I definitely understand why having  tourists trying to take pictures and wandering around their work-site is causing them trouble. In fact, I was showing my friends around who came from out of town and I got pushed out of the way by one of the workers because I was standing in his way, and my friends got yelled at because they were too close to a tuna taking pictures…sigh. So if you ever visit the Fish Market, I highly advise you to go through it without getting into the workers way and GET OUT quick!

There are plenty of other things to do in the ‘Tsukiji Market’, the first part of the craziness you see when you exit the metro (before you arrive at the Fish Market). The “Tsukiji Market” is where there are hundreds of little restaurants where you can actually sample the super fresh seafood that is sold in the Fish Market next door.

If you are looking for a Sushi Restaurant in the area, I wrote a post about one in the area which I recommend, Sushi Sei.

……………………………………………………

Tripadvisor.comによると、外国人が選ぶ東京の人気観光スポット第１位は築地市場だそうです。日本の方からすると意外な感じですが、私自身初めて築地市場に行ってみて人気の理由がわかりました。

ご存じの通り築地市場は世界的に見ても大きな魚介類の市場であり、その他の食べ物も扱われています。ここ最近観光客の増加にともない色々な問題が起きており、場内への立ち入りを禁止している事もあります。実際に築地市場の場内に行ってみると、想像以上に混んでいる上皆さん忙しく働いており、観光目的で写真を撮ったりゆっくり見学という雰囲気とは程遠いものでした。私が友人に市場の説明をしている時の出来事ですが、たまたま業者の方の通り道をふさいでしまっていた様で突き飛ばされてしまいした。また、一緒に行った友人はマグロの写真を撮っている時にマグロに近づきすぎて魚屋からどなられてしまう始末…とても反省しています。皆さんも築地市場に行く機会があれば、働いている方の邪魔にならないように急いで見学する事をおすすめします。

そして、築地エリアでおすすめのお寿司屋さんは寿司清（すしせい）築地本店です。

……………………………………………………

Address // 5-2-1, Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan (map)
Website // www.tsukiji-market.or.jp/tukiji_e.htm