On our first day back to Tokyo we did what we do best: wander around town aimlessly waiting for interesting things to trip on. There was a lot of walking to do, although no plan whatsoever. We tried to get a filling and trendy breakfast at Bills, which was just around the corner from the apartment, in Omotesando. The queue was humongous so we settled for a visit to the Tokyu Plaza’s terrace garden.
We had terrific ramen for lunch at 2-Chome Tsukemen Gachi where they serve a deconstructed ramen with udon noodles and scrumptious (actually probably the best I’ve had) fried chicken. The flavors of the thick broth are so complex and they balance so well the lemony chicken. Ramen is funny because it’s so delicious you literally can’t stop eating until you can see the bottom of the plate, and only then you realize how full you are. This time was no exception and we had to make a quick run for some gum to help with the digestion.
We kept on hoofing the streets until we reached one of the interest points we wanted to see: a pratice batting center in Shinjuku. The neighbourhood is quirky, filled with motels to the brim. And not legit motels either; they were exclusively girls motels, as in rent-a-room-per-hour kind of deal. The batting center was cool though, and we saw some great batters there.
After that, we headed to Ueno were we saw a flea market by the pond and wandered around a few sketchy streets. Again, almost exclusively girls businesses.
The day ended were we’d started it. We were finally back to Harajuku and thought: we could go for some ricotta pancakes right now. So we headed back to Bills to find no queue, but a 20 minute wait (with a pre-emptive warning) for the yummy pancakes. We didn’t have anywhere else to go then, and it was completely worth the time.
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