The long awaited post for Hello Kitty fans!!! Another extremely long post with pictures.
Friday 7th November
The day started with us eating breakfast at Denny’s as we missed the breakfast at the hotel. But that doesn’t matter. I finally got to order a Japanese breakfast which included natto beans. This is the first time I tried it (and the last time). Natto beans smell, it’s bitter and it’s very sticky! Never again natto. Never again. Bleurgh. It’s like a love-hate thing that you have with Marmite (and I hate Marmite too…!!).
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| Japanese breakfast |
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| Natto beans with spring onions. Ugh. *SHIVER* |
Miss Pinky had a normal breakfast… Boring!! (But with some EXTRA THICK toast!).
Total cost came to 1604 yen. (~£10.09). Such a cheap meal. Don’t understand why people think Japan is so expensive. It isn’t really.
Next stop was Sanrio Puroland (that’s Hello Kitty World for most people)!!! I love Hello Kitty. This is the place where I have always wanted to go to (plus make all my friends jealous). 😉 It was a trek getting there from Kayabachō. I chose to get there by going via the Tozai line then changing from Monzen-Nakachō Station. This is when we got confused as we actually had to go out of the station, go to gate 5 and get on the Oedai line to Shinjuku. From Shinjuku we had to get another train line, and a old guy at the station (I wonder if he was following us) helped us along the way… He spoke ok English and told us to get the train heading towards Hashimoto on Platform 4 on the Keio Line. It was so confusing because we couldn’t see it on the train maps. In the end we just got on the train and stuck with it until our station came up… It was a very long journey, about 2 hours, and our stop didn’t show up on the screen of the train until we reached to Chōfu.
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| At Exit 5 |
Take the Keiō New Line from Shinjuku (or the Odakyu Tama Line).
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| The rest of the stations are not shown on the map at the station |
During the journey you get to see rural areas of Tokyo… The gaming areas, the small houses and mountains. Beautiful!
We got off at Keio Tama-Center, then asked at the information section on how to get to Puroland. It was quite easy. Turn left out of the station. Walk straight down. After the department store turn left again, and you will find yourself on Hello Kitty Street.
You might find yourself getting distracted with all the cute things surrounding the area.
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| On Hello Kitty Street ^_^ |
Yatta!! We made it to Puroland!!
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| Sanrio Puroland |
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| Yatta!! |
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| That’s me walking away from Miss Pinky… I was being so eager. ^_^ |
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| It’s Hello Kitty’s 40th anniversary!! |
Tickets on the weekdays normally cost 3300 yen (~£20.75) but I found a coupon online which came to 3200 yen (~£20.15) per person. Yay! It’s not a lot but worth it.
I think I got too excited when I got in as Miss Pinky didn’t seem impressed very much. Oh well I don’t care, as long as I get to see a Hello Kitty person, then I don’t really mind!
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| I did a skip o these stairs and Miss Pinky found that amusing ^_^ |
We made it in time for their main show (Miss Pinky wanted to see this) and I swear Miss Pinky enjoyed it (she denied it all the way)! Secretly she enjoyed it. At the start they sang this song… I think it’s about waking up in the morning and pooping, but I haven’t really checked out the lyrics yet… ¬_¬””
So for this part it’s all pictures from the show… Can’t you spot where Hello Kitty comes in?
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| Hello Kitty appeared!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
Next it was time to enjoy the rest of Puroland. With lots of the rides you go on you will find yourself being photographed. So prepare yourself to pay for lots of photos!
This American is fantastic, he cuts up paper in a matter of minutes and creates a side view of his client. He designed this 12 years ago he said!! Wow!!
More walking around…
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| The toilet is magnificent too… sorry that’s me in the mirror taking a picture… I’m not a ghost!! |
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| Seriously マジで！Would you really leave your child in the changing area? |
After shopping around and going to the loo, we headed back outside. It was extremely exciting going to Puroland despite the amount you spend inside and the travelling time. Would love to go back again… but might have to try Studio Ghibli as we skipped this one because of possible journey time and money situation.
Address: 1-31 Ochiai, Tama, Tokyo 206-8588, Japan
Nearest Station: Keio Tama-Center
I was kind of hungry so I wanted a McDonald’s… Just to try out the Japanese menu really. So I had the Pork Tonkotsu burger, which isn’t bad at all. The sauce and cabbage fell out so I didn’t feel the full taste of it all. 😦
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| Tonkotsu burger |
Miss Pinky had the Big Mac. We think the Big Mac sauce may have small traces of prawns in it so be careful if you have an allergy to prawns.
Next stop we went backwards and stopped at Daiso, the ultimate store for cheap things. (As Miss Pinky put it, it’s a Wilkinson store).
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| Daiso Store… That’s Miss Pinky from the side view… 😛 |
Then we found ourselves going to another department store.
Please don’t make me shop!!!!!!!!! (I didn’t thankfully).
Finally it was time to head back. We managed to get the 16:52 train heading back to Shinjuku on the Keio line. On returning back to the station our ticket stopped us from going anywhere else… Not sure why. I think because we headed out too far and came back too early. Not sure about that theory. Maybe we should have gotten a Suica Card instead of a Pasmo Card… Clueless!
It seems whenever we got lost someone will always ask if they could help us! Very grateful, because I think we got lost trying to get back to Kayabachō!
I ate a packet of Avocado and Cheese tortilla chips in the meantime and I think they’re ok. They could add more avocado flavour and felt it was a bit too cheesy for my liking.
After lounging around in the lobby with the WiFi and discussing where to go next we ended up in Shimbashi. Miss Pinky wanted to drink at a pub (The Hub)! We almost got lost in Shimbashi… But anyway we needed to eat first. Miss Pinky wanted to eat rice but we saw a ramen bar and I had to have a look. Miss Pinky said we should go and eat in here and I did say no because she wanted rice. But we ended up eating ramen!
This place is called Tonkotsu Ramen Hakata Furyu とんこつラーメン博多風龍 and it is also operated by a vending machine. So you put your money in first and select what you want. We both went for the barbecue deluxe ramen which only costs 750 yen! (~£4.72). So much cheaper than London!!!!!!! I couldn’t believe that ramen is so cheap in Japan!
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| Tonkotsu Ramen Hakata Furyu |
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| Lots of extra ingredients that you can add to your ramen for free |
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| Barbecue deluxe ramen in creamy broth |
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| Bright looking noodles |
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| I finished it! |
Aaaaaah. The pork broth was the best thing ever! It reminded me of Kanada-ya’s ramen, but this was slightly better with the amount of ingredients involved. The slices of pork were thicker. And the broth was just so creamy throughout. Men were ordering extra ramen too. Wow!
So jealous of the Japanese who can just eat at ramen bars like this. Such friendly service too. Miss Pinky enjoyed it too!!
My geeky rating: 5/5
Address: 1-13-5 Shimbashi, Minato, Tokyo Prefecture 105-0004, Japan
Website: http://fu-ryu.net/
Next it was time to go to the Hub bar, unfortunately the bar was filled with people. Friday night seems to be the ultimate drinking night for the Japanese. For some, it’s everyday! We ended up walking around and then going back to Kayabachō for a drink… The Japanese really work hard and drink hard!!
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| Plum soda (alcholic) |
I fell asleep snoring later. 😀 (Sorry Miss Pinky!).
End of Day 7.
Day 8: http://asimplegeekylife.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/lost-in-tokyo-japan-2014-day-8-yokohama.html
A Simple Geeky Life 