We started off our day by dropping into a bakery where Steve picked up a chocolate croissant and pizza for his breakfast. Then off to Komagome station we went to meet Yuko my friend from when I did exchange at Sophia University here in Tokyo.
We met Yuko at the South exit and already there were many Sakura trees. We then headed to Rikugien which wasn’t far. This is a beautiful big Japanese park that is like a big Japanese garden. There was koi in the pond and the plants were well shaped and maintained. It was a very peaceful place and we slowly walked around. We ended at the gate where they sold dango, which is rice balls on a stick. We got soy sauce flavour dango and sat down to relax and catch up.
We then headed to Yotsuya by subway. This is where my University is so we took a trip down memory lane and walked through some of my University where there were many sakura trees. It was the first day for many Uni students so it was quite busy, but nice to remember the uni days 😍.
Then we walked out into Yotsuya city and Yuko took us to a nice Japanese lunch set place she sometimes for during work lunch break. There was a line up the stairwell which moved quite fast and we we given a small room where we had to take our shoes off. Yuko had the pork and radish set and Steve and I got the fried chicken and veggies set. It was delicious and a very cool place we wouldn’t have found without Yuko!
Next stop Shibuya! We had watched a YouTube video on the top 10 street foods to try in Shibuya and this melon pan ice cream sandwich was recommended! The shop translates to the second best in the world melon pan ice cream sandwich. The reason it is not number one is because they want to respect the master who made the melon pan. Steve likes melon pan and ice cream so this was something Steve wanted to eat before we leave Tokyo. He got the recommended strawberry flavour, which was freshly baked melon pan, strawberry ice cream, a strawberry and strawberry sauce. Steve said it was totally worth it!
Next stop was Tokyu hands to buy some Japanese knifes for the kitchen. I bought a knife last time I was in Tokyo and it is very good quality, so we bought my brother and ourselves one for our new house!
We then headed back to the station to Tokyu food store so I could have one matcha soft serve before I leave Tokyo! Last time they were sold out and this time the machine almost stopped working and the guy had to pause halfway through filling the cone to get it to work again but I got it in the end!
We then also tried a pancake that had red bean and cream cheese inside. There was a line last time we were there and so we thought we should try it and of course it was very tasty 🐷.
And just like that our holiday is nearly over so we had to think hard about what we want for our last dinner in Tokyo. We had walked past a Tonkatsu place yesterday and decided we wanted that for dinner. I ordered the standard pork loin but Steve had some pork and cheese cutlet as well as standard pork loin. What a delicious way to end our time in Tokyo 😍.