japan
Hike from Mount Takao to Mount Jinba in the rain
A few weeks ago, I went back to Mount Takao, in Hachioji City, in western Tokyo. This time, the objective was to hike all the way to Mount Jinba, passing through the summits of Mount Kobotoke-Shiroyama and Mount Kagenobu along the way. Although it started to rain quite heavily at some stage, I still had a great time.
Tokyo Port Wild Bird Park
The Tokyo Port Wild Bird Park (東京港野鳥公園) is a 24ha nature preserve built on reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay, just north of Haneda Airport. It was built as a habitat for resident and migrant birds.
Spicy Miso Tsukemen at Mendokoro Hanada in Ikebukuro
Spicy Miso Tsukemen (“extra vegetables” option), with additional flavoured egg. I thought that the soup was not much spicier than the regular miso version but it was still pretty tasty.
Hakone Round Course
Last week, I went on a day trip to Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture. The trip takes about 2h from Shinjuku Station in Tokyo using the Odakyu Line. There, I did the so-called Hakone Round Course (counter-clockwise), which involves going through the area using 5 modes of transportation (train, cablecar, ropeway, boat and bus), starting and ending at Hakone-Yumoto Station. Hakone offers great natural beauty, with mountains, a lake and the view of Mount Fuji, as well as historical sites, hot springs and museums, although I did not get to enjoy everything.
Sanji at the Grand Tsukemen Fest in Shinjuku
The Grand Tsukemen Fest is a yearly all-Japan competition featuring the best tsukemen shops in the country. The final round with the 24 best entries has been taking place for the past few weeks in Ohkubo Park in Kabukicho and will last until next Wednesday. Each week, 6 of the finalists serve their specialty tsukemen.