Tag Archives: Japan

Lisbon: SEA ME

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SEA ME

 

When looking up the best restaurants for seafood in Lisbon, you’ll find SEA ME – a Portuguese/Japanese fusion restaurant in Chiado. Because we love Japanese food, we really wanted to visit SEA ME! We discovered the restaurant a bit late in the trip, but luckily were able to secure a reservation our last night in Lisbon. I knew already a bit about the Portuguese-Japanese connection, because I watched a documentary about tempura in Japan, that it was introduced in the 16th century by the Portuguese living in Nagasaki.

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Tonkotsu Ramen

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Tonkotsu Ramen

One of my favorite dishes while in Japan was tonkotsu ramen. “Tonkotsu” means “pork bones” in Japanese. The dish is aptly named, because the broth is made by boiling pork bones for almost an entire day. When Koen decided to make the dish, it took an entire weekend to prepare!

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Japan: Shinjuku (Tokyo)

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Sipping sencha at the Park Hyatt in The Peak Lounge

One big recommendation from friends of ours was a visit to the Park Hyatt in Shinjuku for breakfast or tea. The restaurants are located high up and offer a beautiful view of Tokyo. We were too late for breakfast, so we enjoyed tea and a sweet chestnut cake in The Peak Lounge, which features a skylit bamboo garden as its centerpiece.

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Japan: Odaiba & Roppongi Hills (Tokyo)

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Life-size Gundam Statue

For our second to last day, Koen and I explored Odaiba, an artificial island in southern Tokyo. We had beautiful weather and enjoyed walking along the water. Turns out there was a dance competition while we were there, so we bought some street food and watched the show!

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Japan: Meiji Shrine (Tokyo)

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Torii leading to the Meiji Shrine

The Meiji Shrine in Shibuya is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shōken. The Meiji Shrine is located just beside the busy Harajuku Station, Meiji Shrine and the adjacent Yoyogi Park making up a large forested area – an oasis in busy, urban Tokyo!

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Japan: Shibuya (Tokyo)

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Red Light

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Green Light

Harajuku is a neighborhood of the Shibuya ward, so of course we wanted to explore more of Shibuya. Shibuya is most famous for the busy intersection at the Shibuya Station – the Shibuya Scramble. All of the lights at the crossing turn red and green at the same time. I think in most top 10 lists for Tokyo you’ll find the Shibuya Crossing. You can also spot it in a lot of TV shows or films that feature Tokyo. Like in Girls (40 second mark):

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Japan: Harajuku (Tokyo)

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Daily morning coffee in Harajuku at The Roastery by Nozy Coffee

We were in Japan for 3 weeks, the first week in Tokyo, a week of travel, then the last week again in Tokyo. The first week we stayed in east Tokyo in the neighborhood of Ginza, so we wanted to have a different experience for our last week – Harajuku in west Tokyo!

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Japan: Ghibli Museum (Tokyo)

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On our way to the Studio Ghibli Museum

Visiting the Ghibli Museum was one of our tops things we wanted to do while in Tokyo! We didn’t realize how difficult it is to secure tickets (you should purchase them many months ahead of time and you can’t buy them on site). Luckily, after some online searching, we were able to secure two tickets – even though we paid 5x the normal price. But worth it!

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Japan: Ueno (Tokyo)

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Ueno Station at night

Ueno is a neighborhood in northern Tokyo, part of the Taito Ward, and home to many of Tokyo’s museums. Compared to other neighborhoods, Ueno is part of the Shitamachi, or literally the “low city”, a working class area. Koen and I really enjoyed coming to Ueno one evening to walk around and have a drink and sample Japanese bar food.

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Japan: Hoshi, the world’s 2nd oldest hotel

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Relaxing in my yukata, close to the garden

For a small getaway before heading back to Tokyo, Koen and I spent the night at Hoshi, the world’s second oldest hotel, founded in 718 and operated by the same family for 46 generations.

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