Sea Change Okinawa

Tokyo Friend-Trip Part 2

Our third day in Tokyo (but second full day) we decided to take it a little easy, and just go with the flow. After grabbing breakfast at a delicious boulangerie down the road from our apartment, we headed out to Shibuya in search of a music shop to stock up on guitar strings and other assorted music supplies that are much cheaper than in Australia! By the time we were done with that, we were ready for lunch so went to Genki Sushi! I LOVE sushi, and even more so when it's delivered to you on a "flying" plate. You just place your order on the touch screen menu (english as well!) and then it comes straight to your table on a plate that flies along a conveyor belt type thing. They had a surprising amount of vegan and vegetarian options available so everyone was full and happy by the time we rolled out of there. I actually have a video on my Youtube account of flying sushi from a Tokyo trip last year, if you want to check it out.

When in Japan, you really need to have a purikura photo session. These photo booths are found in most games centers and even though in Japanese, are not too hard to navigate!

No trip to Japan is complete without a purikura session

Genki Sushi in Shibuya has lots of vegan and vegetarian options as well as touch screen ordering!

Sushi time!

After lunch and some more shopping at Loft (I can't get enough of that place!) we headed out to Shimokitazawa, on the Keio Inokashira line train only about 5 minutes from Shibuya. I knew it was a cool area to wander around in, as well as having Chabuton, a ramen shop with a vegan option, that we wanted to try.

Shimokitazawa

More shimokita streets

While our friends went crazy shopping in Village Vanguard, H and I found ourselves a quiet little bar to have a glass of wine in while we waited. We stumbled upon Bar Sakasu in a street near the station and it turns out that it had only been open for a month. The people working there were so lovely, and they got to practice their English and my Japanese. After our friends joined us for one more drink we went to Chabuton for the vegan ramen option and veggie gyoza, which surpassed my expectations! So good! We then headed back to Shibuya and our apartment, via an electronic darts bar that we had been to the night before. Darts was one of my favourite things to do when I used to live in Japan, and i'm so glad that everyone loved it as much as I do!

A random bar we found with super nice staff and tasty wine.

Pre dinner drinks

The vegan ramen option at Chabuton

The famous Hachiko statue at Shibuya crossing

Rainy Shibuya Crossing

Electronic Darts

The next morning our visitors flew back to Australia, and us to Okinawa. It was such an amazing few days in Tokyo. I think showing people around Tokyo has to be one of my favourite things to do! I really should consider running my own little customised tour company!

I included the link to the awesome 2 bedroom AirBnB we stayed in in Shibuya in my previous post. I really recommend it, and I think it is one of the best I have stayed in so far!

The view from our apartment balcony

A little shrine near our apartment

Street cat waiting for it's food from the tonkatsu restaurant across from our apartment

Have you ever been lucky enough to have a friends trip overseas? Where did you go?

16:58
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Where to find Vegan ramen in Tokyo

Japan

Vegan ramen may seem hard to find at first, but you just need to do a bit of research and look in the right places. This article will show you a couple of cool places to try in Tokyo

Last week I was lucky enough to spend a few days in Tokyo with great friends and no child (sounds like a dream right!?). As everyone we were travelling was vegetarian (and one vegan) we were on the hunt for all the best vegan options Tokyo had to offer. This, of course meant eating vegan ramen!!

I had read about the vegan ramen you could get at Chabuton, which even though it is a chain ramen joint, I still wanted to try it. It's not often that you get the traditional ramen restaurant experience if you are a vegan. By traditional, I mean, ordering from a vending machine, passing your tickets to the person behind the counter making your ramen, and sitting side by side with Japanese people slurping away on their ramen.

Ordering your food from a vending machine can seem kind of intimidating, but this one had pictures of all the food so you could tell what you were ordering. The other great thing about this place, which is also a rarity in Japan, is that they have veggie gyoza (Japanese dumplings). Also, if you are having any trouble ordering, Japanese people are extremely helpful, so you just need to ask for help. I would also recommend memorising the Japanese for Beer (ビール), as there is no picture for this on the vending machine, and I don't know about you, but I need a beer with my ramen!

Chabuton is a ramen chain that has one vegan ramen option. It is delicious and worth finding!

The entrance to Chabuton Ramen in Shimokitazawa

Ordering ramen from a vending machine can seem daunting but you just insert your money, select the picture of the ramen you want and hand your tickets to the person behind the counter

At Chabuton, you need to pay using the vending machine first, then hand your tickets to the person at the counter

The vegan ramen at Chabuton in Shimokitazawa is delicious!

The only vegan version of ramen at Chabuton, as well as veggie gyoza

The vegan ramen at Chabuton is made with spirulina noodles, and although I don't think it looked that attractive, it was amazingly tasty! I was definitely impressed and will definitely go back next time we are in Tokyo.

The Chabuton we went to was in Shimo-kitazawa, on the Keio Inokashira line (only a few minutes from Shibuya!). You can find the google pin here

Vegan ramen at Chabuton in Shimokitazawa uses spirulina to make the noodles. Yum!

The ramen! So delicious!

Everything at T's TanTan in Tokyo station is vegan

The other ramen place we went to, I have already been to twice before, T's TanTan in Tokyo station. This is probably the most well known place to get vegan ramen in Tokyo, and for good reason. Everything in the restaurant is vegan, and as well as about 5 different types of ramen, they offer curry rice, fake meats and bibimbap. It is all delicious!

My favourite is the shoyu ramen, but I also love the tantan. It's always hard to decide what to get when we are there, but the good thing is that you can get a mini side dish of their curry, bibimbap or fake fried chicken with your ramen if you're struggling with your decision and want all the flavours!

The shoyu ramen at T's Tantan in Tokyo station is so delicious! You can get a small side of curry and rice to go with it!

The shoyu (soy sauce) ramen with a small side of vegan curry

The tantan ramen at T's TanTan is super delicious! As is their small side of bibimbap.

The tantan ramen with a small side of bibimbap

T's Tantan is inside the gates of Tokyo Station (which is HUGE and extremely busy) so it can seem a bit daunting to find. The easiest way to find it it to look for the signs to the Keiyo line and follow them. Keep following the signs until you come to what looks a bit like a shopping street. It is on the right hand side and usually has a line out the front if you arrive during lunch time. The line tends to move fairly quickly though so don't let the wait deter you. It will be worth the wait for a hungry vegan. You can find their menu online here, as well as directions if you can read Japanese. If all else fails and you find yourself in Tokyo station with no idea where to go, ask for help!

18:24
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Tokyo Friend-Trip, Part 1

Japan

Travelling with friends in Tokyo is so much fun! Join me to see the highlights and get some tips on where to go and what to see!

This past week was Golden Week in Japan, which is a week in late April/May when 4 national holiday days fall together meaning - Holiday time! It's one of the busiest travel times in Japan as it's notoriously hard for people in Japan to get time off work for extended periods.

As we had some of our best friends over from Australia, as well as little G's dad, who was happy to look after G for a few days, we headed to Tokyo for a child-free trip with friends! It was so much fun! Although we love travelling with our little guy, it's a rarity for us to have someone to babysit for us so we are so grateful that we got to have a grown up 3 nights in Tokyo.

Out on the streets of Shibuya

We arrived at our apartment in Shibuya at around 4:30pm so dropped off our luggage at our AirBnb and headed out to show my friends around Shibuya. We went shopping at my favourite store, Loft, as well as some of the shoe shops (ABC Mart and Asbee) before having a drink at the closest bar and then heading out for more snacks and drinks at an izakaya. On the way back to our apartment, we passed a Lindt cafe that was still open and couldn't resist getting some chocolates as well as a soft service ice cream! It was delicious!

Soft service milk and dark chocolate from the Lindt cafe in Shibuya, Tokyo

Lindt soft serve was amazing!

I love the colour of the taxi's in Tokyo

The next day, our first full day in Tokyo, I wanted to show my friends some traditional Japan, so we headed to Asakusa to see Sensoji Temple, the same thing i had done with family the month before, but a must-see when in Tokyo for the first time. We walked up to the temple via one side of Nakamise street shopping for souvenirs, and came back to the station down the other side of the street.

Because we visited on Kodomo no Hi (Children's day) there was a parade happening with some traditional floats being pulled around the temple with small children taking part. There was also lots of festival food stalls around the temple. We chose to get Kakigori (shaved ice) because it was such a warm day and sat down to eat it by a gingko tree.

Soe of the many souvenirs available from the stores on Nakamise street, approaching Sensoji Temple

Tokyo Skytree in the distance

Fresh senbei being made on Nakamise St near Sensoji temple, Asakusa

Fresh senbei crackers being made on Nakamise St near Sensoji Temple.

Lovely Sensoji Temple

Kakigori (Shaved ice) was perfect on a hot day!

A parade for Children's day

So lucky for this woman <3

The grounds surrounding Sensoji Temple in Asakusa include a gorgeous Japanese Garden with Koi Carp pond and little shrines

Such a beautiful sunny day

Loved hanging with these awesome guys!

The Japanese garden on the Sensoji grounds is so lovely

Childrens day at Sensoji Temple in Tokyo

Children's day festivities at Sensoji Temple

After finishing up at Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, we headed to Tokyo station for vegan ramen at T's Tan Tan, then hopped on the Yamanote line train to Harajuku where we made our way through the crowds on Takeshita Dori (street) before heading to Commune 246 for dinner and drinks (separate post to come on that awesome place!).

If you're thinking about a holiday in Tokyo, I really recommend staying at the apartment we were in. It was 2 bedrooms with really comfortable beds and only a short walk from Shibuya station! You can find the link here, and if you sign up for Airbnb with my link, you will get money off your first stay!

18:49
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Tokashiki Island Daytrip - Do it!

beach

Last Friday was the first day of the Golden Week Holidays in Japan and I finally got organised and booked ferry tickets over to Tokashiki Island! I've been wanting to visit Tokashiki since we moved to Okinawa over a year ago, but just didn't get there last year. We have friends visiting from Australia right now and the weather forecast was looking good so I jumped on the opportunity and off to Tokashiki Island we went!

We opted for the 10am slow ferry over, and the 4pm slow ferry back because I thought for sure 5 hours on the island would be enough. If I could change that though, I would definitely opt for more time! By the time you get from the ferry to the beach and then get the bus back to the beach, we really only had 3 hours on the beach, which seems like a lot, but flew by!

When we got off the ferry at Tokashiki port, there were buses waiting to go to the beaches. We opted for Aharen Beach, basically just because the bus was the closest and I had read good reviews of both the popular beaches (Aharen and Tokashiku). The bus ride to the beach takes about 10 minutes and is up over twisty mountain road. The views coming down to the beach were stunning! The bus drops you right at the entrance to the beach with a shower/toilet changing block.

Aharen Beach

A day trip to Tokashiki is worth it during your stay in Okinawa

Even on a busy day, the beach wasn't too crowded.

We brought all our snorkels, beach shoes, picnic and a beach tent with us, but you can hire everything you would ever need at the beach. We actually decided to get a beach umbrella (1000yen for the day) for extra shade, and my friend even rented a swimming shirt because she forgot her own!

We set up our spot on the beach and headed straight in to the water to snorkel! At first I was a bit worried the snorkelling wouldn't be great because the swimming area looked netted, but it actually wasn't a net, just a barrier because there were water sports happening around the beach (jetskis, banana rides etc).

The crystal waters of Tokashiki are amazing for swimming and snorkelling

Can you believe this is Japan?

The water was crystal clear and there were heaps of fish following us around! I could spend all day snorkelling I swear! The only thing that got me out of the water was the fact that I was cold and hungry....

The 3 hours we had on the beach absolutely flew by, so I definitely recommend making a long day of it if you can. My one other tip would be to make sure you take something for sea sickness!! The ferry ride over to the island was pretty horrific, I'm not going to lie. I'm not one to get sick easily, and I think beause the ocean was a little rough, it might have made it worse, but I felt horrible the whole trip. Luckily the sold motion sickness tablets at a little souvenir stand at Tokashiki port so we bought some of those for the trip home, which I think helped a little. I definitely want to go back to Tokashiki, but I will come prepared for sea sickness next time.