Precious Memories: Shinjuku, Shibuya, Minato

August 4, 2015 -- Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, Shibuya Midori Sushi, and Minato World Trade Center

Members of our group decided to do their own things this morning. A couple of them were under the weather and needed to rest. A few of them wanted to walk over to the Tokyo Tower which is not far from our hotel. We wanted to go to the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden for a visit. We have been in Tokyo three times already and have not had a chance to go there yet.

First, breakfast at the hotel restaurant on the 3rd floor. Breakfast was included in our daily room rate. We had a choice of a set Japanese breakfast or a set of the western breakfast plus all the self-service juices and drinks we wanted. We all picked the Japanese menu this morning just to try it out.

Japanese breakfast set

Grilled salmon was the main item with many side dishes.

a little bit of everything

Not sure what this was, kind of like the texture of cooked taro.

Daikon and preserved vegetables.

This I did not try. Fermented beans, just looked slimy and sticky. MOR gladly took mine.

Delicious miso soup

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden

After the interesting breakfast, we walked to the Daimon Station and picked up the Toei Oedo Line to the Kokuritsu Kyougijyou mae Station (Exit A5) for the 5-minute walk to the back entrance (Sendagaya Gate) of the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. It was very quiet with very few people visiting the garden on a hot summer day.

Hardly anyone at the entrance where we paid 200Y for our admission.

It's hard to believe that a huge garden like this exist in the middle of this big city.

This is the huge lawn area.

The Middle Pond

There is a French Garden, English Garden and other designated gardens. It was getting really hot so we decided to just go to the Japanese Garden side of the park.

Japanese Garden from the Taiwanese Pavilion.

Serene

It must be awfully pretty here during the cherry blossom season.

Shibuya

It was just very difficult to enjoy the beautiful garden under the hot sun. After about an hour in the garden, it was time for us to move on. We exited the garden through the front gate (Shinjuku Gate) which is right near the Shinjukusanchome Station on the east side of Shinjuku where we picked up another train to Shibuya. Our mission here was to find the sushi restaurant recommended by my brother and sister-in-law, the Umegaoka Sushi No Midori.

First thing we saw when walking out from the train station in Shibuya--lots of people!

Around the corner is the statue of the famous faithful dog, Hachiko. The real story of Hachiko will make you cry.

Right next to Hachiko is the Tourist Information Center (green train car).

In the same area is the smoking area.

We found Midori on the 4th floor of Mark City. We got a numbered ticket from the machine in front of the restaurant. A long line of people were sitting on the benches along the wall, waiting for their turns. We couldn't even find a seat so we walked down to the other side of the mall and found an empty bench to sit on. We waited for about 40 minutes and it didn't look like our turn will be up soon. We decided to just forget it because ChC wanted to look for a watch he was thinking of buying. So we left the place and walked to the Bic Camera store on the next street. Fortunately I kept the ticket. When we finished shopping, we wanted to see how far the number went. Oh well, they were calling numbers after ours already. When I showed her the ticket, she just told me to wait a little and we were lead inside when a table was ready. Thank goodness!

The take-away counter next to the entrance. For a minute we thought about just buying some sushi to go but that wouldn't be the same as eating in the restaurant.

This is a small restaurant but clean and comfortable. We were not sure what to order so we asked the Japanese family sitting next to us who seemed to be enjoying their lunch. We figured that we wouldn't go wrong copying their orders. They were very kind and pointed out what they had ordered from the menu. Now we are set for a great lunch!

This was what we ended up with. The set included miso soup and steamed egg.

Steamed egg came with the sushi set. Loved it!

All the ginger you ever wanted.

We ordered these to share.

ChC's set (2000Y)

MOR and I both ordered this (1600Y). OMG!

What a memorable lunch! I highly recommend this place for sushi if anyone is in the Tokyo area.

Superb sushi at reasonable prices. Worth the wait!

1-12 Dogenzaka, Shibuya Mark City East 4F, Shibuya, Japan

http://www.sushinomidori.co.jp/tenpo_e.html

After the wonderful sushi lunch, we looked down from the big windows at Mark City and watched the busiest crosswalks in the world...

Fascinating!

From there we took the train back to Hamamatsucho Station, which is a few minutes walk back to the hotel. We rested until it was around 6:00PM when we were ready to go up to the observatory at the World Trade Center building.

Tokyo Tower from our hotel window.

World Trade Center Seaside Top Observatory

The Seaside Top Observatory is on top of the World Trade Center about a 10-minute walk from our hotel, near the Daimon Station. It's not free, I believe it cost like 600 some Yen to go up but still cheaper than Tokyo Tower and less crowded. ChC wanted to go there when the sun goes down for some good pictures. What a great idea! Here you can have unobstructed view of Tokyo through the windows on all sides of the building. Oh, and we got the whole group together this evening.

We purchased our tickets to go up to the observatory from this machine.

A good view of Tokyo Bay, Bayside Hotel (the tall building on the far left in this picture) Odaiba, and

Kyo Shiba Rikyu Garden.

Rainbow Bridge and Odaiba in the far distance.

Wedding Chapel

JR train station (Hamamatsucho) and metro train station (Daimon) nearby.

A good view of Tokyo Tower.

This window was slightly 'decorated'.

Gorgeous!

Odaiba at night.

Chairs

After walking around a couple of times taking pictures, it was time for us to find dinner.

Hallway to the elevator.

A tiny store selling souvenirs.

Entrance to the wedding chapel near the elevator.

Tonkatsu Enraku

I have read about this pork cutlet (tonkatsu) restaurant called Enraku that is some where around the area near our hotel which was highly recommended. It's a few blocks away from the World Trade Center. We were determined to find this place for dinner that evening. On google map it shows that it's about five blocks up the Daimon Station to the north. We turned into a small alley a block from the Daimon station and kept walking until we found this tiny storefront. I must say that it was a nice find!