miss wave & miss anna

#flashbackfriday to round two of hanging out with Miss Anna in Tokyo! No one can match this girl's stamina for traveling and I'm pretty sure no one can match either of us in coffee consumption. How our brains didn't short circuit this whole time is beyond me, haha.

miss wave & miss anna 2014

day 1

Our first expedition took us out to Odaiba. I have to admit, I went there once with my dad on one of his stopovers in Japan and kinda...never made it back? For some reason it was super crowded the day Anna and I went. Stopped for dinner and desert at Ku'aina (delish) and then walked around, discovered the Statue of Liberty, watched Rainbow Bridge light up, got some Pink Berry, and stumbled upon some Grecian Sculptures. All this in one place, you ask? Totally.




Check!

▶ Kua'aina (Odaiba)

135-0091 Tokyo, Minato,
Daiba, 1−7−1

 ▶ Venus Fort (Odaiba)

135-0064 Tokyo, Koto,
Aomi, 1−3−15

 day 2

When I say that it rains every time I go to Shonan,  I mean it rains every.single.fucking.time I go to Shonan. Anna and I were originally going to go only as far as Kamakura, but we ended up heading on to Enoshima instead. And after trekking up and down Enoshima in the humidity and rain, we were fully deserving of even more food by the time we got back to Tokyo. Though I was a bit disappointed my apple crumble was cold :(

Here's a much more detailed post with shiny Canon shots and place names! These are just extra photos that didn't make it into the original :)


day 3...or 4?

I honestly can't even remember now if this was day 3 or 4 or both? I'm guessing two days because there's clearly a wardrobe change here, haha. Pretty sure the first couple pictures are from Ikebukuro, my old home turf. Then off to what would become one of my favorite cafes in Shibuya, Hole Hole! Unfortunate name, but I ended up taking a bunch of people there for tomo-dates, haha. Can't beat good taco-rice! Last but not least, even more puri because, well. That's what we do.

 Place names etc below! To the best of my memory that is. Can't believe it's taken me almost a year (exactly) to update about this, haha.


Check!

▶ Tamago to Watashi (Ikebukuro)

Sunshine City Alpa 3F
3-1 Higashi-Ikebukuro
Toshima Tokyo

 ▶ BAKERs DINER (Ikebukuro)

Sunshine City Alpa B1F

3-1-1 Higashi-Ikebukuro
Toshima Tokyo

 ▶ hole hole (Shibuya)

2-10-1 Dogenzaka
Shibuya Tokyo

As always, if you see this post and end up visiting (or have visited) any of these places, leave me a comment and tell me how you liked it!

♡ jennifer

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silent hills of enoshima

Welcome to my first Travel Tuesday! I'm not including a lot of my more day-to-day Japan posts in this category because well, it was my home for five years so to me they're still more of a daily thing. Big travel places, however, like Enoshima, Nikko, etc get their own special spotlights :)



enoshima with miss anna

I've been to Enoshima a few times, but this time I had the chance to go with the lovely Miss Anna! We'd met up for the first time in person the year before when we conquered Flower Market Teahouse, and this time around we went on an all-out nonstop pilgrimage of DSLR shots, Instagram worthy cafes, and lots and lots of food. I'll have a separate post for that, but for now our day trip to Enoshima.

And I should mention, a very, very rainy Enoshima. After a short breakfast at Bills in Omotesando, we hopped on the train for a brief stop in Kamakura. 

Floresta Donuts is a must! I'm guessing they change seasonally, but these were almost too cute too eat :3 Almost. After some donuts (and possibly more coffee?) we hopped on the train again bound for Enoshima. The closer we got, the darker the sky got, and the more my spirits sank. Why?

Murphy's Law: It must rain every time (READ: EVERY TIME) I go to Enoshima. I don't have one single sunny day shot on this island. Like ever. In five years. WHAT'S UP WITH THAT.

Regardless of the ominous rain clouds, Enoshima was packed! I mean, impossibly. Neither of us had much patience for crowds that day so we made our way to the top of the island the back way. Never done that before so it required a lot more trial and error as we made our way through the narrow streets that zigzagged back and forth between the houses, but getting to the top unhindered by massive crowds was so worth it.

And those cats! I'm still incredibly new to photography, but I'm pretty proud of those cat pictures, especially the dark striped one! Though I'd probably never be able to do that again, haha.

The top of Enoshima--and well, most of the Enoshima and and Kamakura area really--is well-known for it's 鳶 or hawks. I'm 1000% not a fan of birds and even less so after I saw a hawk dive down and steal a man's croquette in Kamakura, but they do look pretty cool circling among the trees-laden cliffs. And honestly, despite the rain making for a very humid hike, misty Enoshima is actually really beautiful.

If not just a teeny bit reminiscent of Silent Hill.

The last part of our hike brought us to the southwestern side of the island and Iwaya Cave. I'd managed to miss the caves every time so far and even though I was happy I'd finally made it inside, it was a bit disappointing to be honest. Everything else about Enoshima is so authentic; the old, slightly ramshackle buildings, the lush forest, and lenient guardrails, but the cave was so....manufactured. Still worth checking out just not what I expected.


Check! | Omotesando, Kamakura & Enoshima

▶ Bill's (Omotesando)

Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Harajuku 7F
4-30-3 Jingu-mae, Shibuya-ku,
Tokyo 150-0001

▶ Floresta (Kamakura)

Komachi 1-3-4
Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa-ken

▶ Uomitei (Omotesando)

Enoshima 2-5-7
Fujisawa-shi, Kanagawa-ken

I really recommend Uomitei! I'd always wanted to eat at one of the restaurants that overlooked the water and this one, in my opinion, has the best views. If you're a seafood fan, try the Enoshima-don!

And if you see this post and end up visiting (or have visited) any of these places, leave me a comment and tell me how you liked it!

♡ jennifer

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