After staying for a few days in Nikko, we travelled back to Tokyo!
And all hell lose 🤣
The plan is to leave the airbnb early so we can check more places, and yes, it didn't happen. We (always) slept late (like 4am) 😁 Thanks to the non-stop stories and food on the side.
So, we've readily accepted that the first meal of the day is brunch 🤣
I cannot remember the exact sequence of what we did but here's the list, you might want to check it out as well:
1. Yebisu Beer Museum 2. Food trip! 3. Gundam Odaiba/DiverCity Tokyo 4. Senso-ji Temple, Asakusa 5. Akihabara 6. Gundam Cafe 7. Asakusa Suzukien (best Matcha gelato! Try level 7 - no regrets ♡♡♡) 8. Tokyo Sky Tree
Reunion with childhood friends! Fun tour in Japan 😊
We were supposed to be 5, but Mama Bear wasn't able to join this time 😔
The weather was cold during our stay in Nikko (no kidding!).
Anyway, I'll just go over what we did since I can't remember exactly what happened back in 2019.
Three of us went ahead to Nikko, and we traveled via train and bus. Japan's transportation is amazing. As long as you know the train/bus schedule, you're good. Otherwise, take the pricey cab 🤣
It was about a 4 to 6 hrs of travel ( estimate) from Narita to Nikko.
Nikko is home to the famous World Heritage sites such as the Toshogu shrine.
We booked an airbnb that we thought was nearby the heritage area but turned out to be 2 to 4 stations away from the place.
Here's a quick video recap:
1. Edo Wonderland
We planned to stay for half a day, but we opted to stay the whole day since the place gave a glimpse of old Japan.
We even wore kimonos and yukata to enjoy the day. Our activities aside from eating, included watching a samurai play that really looked so real! The effects were also good! We had a photo with the actors right after!
We also saw another play but its about geishas and wow, I wonder if she's really a maiko/geisha! Then we participated a samurai training too that included riding a dummy horse while shooting arrows 🙂
It was a day full of interesting activities!
We left at closing time and enjoyed a relaxing onsen at an onsen spa.
It was very cold and the onsen bath really helped!
Note: be mentally prepared to be naked when you step inside the onsen area.
2. UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE: Toshogu Shrine, Shinkyo Bridge, Rinno-ji Temple
The next day, we fetched another friend at the train station before going to the shrine.
There were a lot of visitors too and food stalls. We had gyoza first!
The park itself is big and you'll be lost if you don't plan ahead on where you want to go or what to see.
As the place is full of trees and flowers, timely season as well, it felt like being one with nature.
The next day, we were supposed to visit the waterfalls, but due to time constraints, we chose to return to Tokyo, with a plan to see the Tokyo Skytree.
After eating a lot at Mercato High StreEAT BGC, we then settled to have coffee and desserts instead of having dinner 😁
Elephant Grounds was TAPped!
Taste - 4/5 Double shot espresso for the win 🥰 Desserts are good too! Don't skip their icecream!!!
Ambiance - 3/5 Most of the time, the place is full. Although it did try to achieve the 'relax and third wave cafe' look, I still find the place a bit small and that you'll hear other table's stories (but this depends on their voice).
Price - 3/5 I can't say affordable but price range is average. You can have a cup of coffee for 150php.
Still, Elephant Grounds won't shortchanged you when it comes to quality and taste!
My friends and I were talking of bbq or streetfood for few weeks now and we're so happy that we were all able to meet for some bbq time!
Prior today, I was with another friend when I've chanced upon the newly organized Mercato HighStrEat in BGC. We looked around and can confirm that new Mercato indeed befits its name - HighStrEAT! Not because of the location but because of the choices 😅
Example, Wolfgang, La Picara etc. - exceeded my expectations 🤣
Good thing the usual affordable stalls are there!
Going back to the present, I came here with another set of friends! We ordered what we craved for weeks now - bbq, isaw, takoyaki, tacos (El Chupacabra), cheesecake and more!
We were so full that instead of looking for a dinner place, we opted to dropped by for desserts and coffee at Elephant Grounds!
Since June, I've been complaining of back and shoulderaches. In short, I wanted to get a nice relaxing massage but given the current situation, I can't do anything about it.
Hence, when the government allowed the massage spas to slowly re-open, I made it a point to get a massage before the year ends.
There were only few massage spas that re-opened and we chanced upon Breeze Oriental Spa & Massage. We made a reservation to be sure that we won't wait in line.
Here's a short video of how it went by:
The first thing that we did when we enter the place was to fill the form for contact tracing. We were then asked for the type of massage that we want and we availed the Revitalize Oil Massage that will last for an hour. We also opted for individual rooms.
After the session, I became a fan! It was trully a nice experience. I didn't expect that they are trained to even know the pressure points of the body, making the massage experience trully unforgettable. I mean, they're very accurate to press which is which.
My friend and I wanted another hour 🤣 We might get the Thai massage next time.
There was this one time that we went to Greenbelt for coffee but ended up trying Tsujiri.
Tsujiri is a brand from Uji Kyoto, Japan and I've assumed that their tea is imported from Uji too.
Uji matcha is a top quality matcha in Japan and is used during tea ceremonies.
I had Yuzu O-Matcha and it was refreshing! The combination of citrus and matcha is something that I didn't expect to turn out good. Maybe because it is served with ice.
I got to taste my sister's order - Signature O-Matcha. I saw that it was prepared the traditional way and when I sipped, I felt like I'm having a tea ceremony minus the sitting position and the yukata 😊
The cake was good too! Next time, we'll try the matcha lava cake.
The place is small, so few seats were available.
Tsujiri was TAPped!
Taste: 5/5 Perfect for matcha lovers out there! I feel that every matcha drink is superb given that we've tried two and it was good!
I stopped myself from ordering another Yuzu O-Matcha! I hope they offer a bigger size in the future.
Ambiance: 3.5/5 If you want a place to relax and stay longer, then this is not the place for you since there were only limited seats available.
Place is okay for a quick rest.
Price: 4/5 A bit pricey but definitely, worth it 🍵💯
