Hey Hive!
I'm currently recounting our anniversary trip to Tokyo back in Feb 2023! It'd been at least 3 years since we visited Tokyo and the last time was pre-covid so we decided to go back and find some new places to explore while revisiting our favourite hot-spots.
Last week, we wrapped up our group bus tour to the mountains of Gunma by exploring a quaint Japanese town. We used some local coupons to get some snacks. We also tried a new activity scooping up some fresh bean curd skin.
We end up having a bean curd skin buffet and I ended up having a food coma on the bus back.
We have just a little bit left to this day so let's go!
7 Feb 2023. Tuesday.
We arrived back into mainland Tokyo and it was still early in the night so we went to walk around for a bit.
We were in Shinjuku so of course we had to go to the arcade!
The first floor of this GIGO arcade was mostly full of crane machines so we just looked around.
I saw some interesting SPYxFAMILY figures they had as the prizes with the classic Anya face.
There was also a kirby lamp that was so cute! I would totally have bought that if it was for sale normally.
There were 6 floors to this arcade with lots of different machines.
There was also a very huge toy section that I thought would have some interesting ones but it was mostly kids toys.
There were also some gachapon machines up here but nothing too interesting sadly.
There was a whole group of these VAG themed gachapon machines though but I'm not sure what or where these came from.
The toy section was actually pretty huge.
They also had plenty of board games and puzzles.
There were these Mario games that looked quite interesting but it mostly just the regular toys that I've seen before but Mario-themed. I feel like these would be fun for kids but I'd rather just play the normal games.
There were some interesting paper crafts called Paper Theaters that you could buy and assemble yourself.
I was quite tempted to get one but they were mostly anime-themed and I was only familiar with the SPYxFAMILY ones.
There were plenty of puzzle sets as well but I wasn't too crazy about the themed sets since they were mostly Disney.
I never realised how many versions of UNO there were. It's crazy!
Of course we ended up in the gaming section in BIC Camera to check out the latest releases.
I like that they arranged the store like it's SONY vs Nintendo. Clearly there are different factions of gamers as well.
But our favourite thing to do is to play on these mini arcade machines they had on display. xD
They also had a huge toy section here!
Look at all these Mario plushies! I was so tempted to get one but I wouldn't know which one to pick.
They looked quite derpy though, like the princesses.
There was also a huge Minecraft section but I'm not that into the game.
This Kirby and Animal Crossing section on the other hand... I did get an Isabelle plush but I'm really regretting not getting a Molly one too..
There was also this Kirby mirror that was very tempting with how the Mouthful Mode works.
We were really surprised to see some Danganronpa merchandise though, since it's a pretty old game by this point.
There were also some unique Peanuts figures.
Quite a few of them actually, but they looked a little small.
There was a fangamer section with some Stardew Valley, Celeste, Undertale/Deltarune and Hollow Knight pins as well! I was so tempted but I wouldn't know where to put the pins since I didn't collect them at the time but now I'm regretting not buying them.. dang.
There was actually quite a lot of Undertale stuff which was surprising, since I didn't know it was that big in Japan too.
These were really well made though! I was quite impressed.
After that we left before I ended up buying the entire stock.
It was time for dinner! Since we were in Shinjuku we had to go have our favourite noodles!
I've written about this place before but every time we're in Tokyo we always make it a point to stop by for a bowl of Bura Bura soba!
Also known as oil noodles, it is noodles tossed in a flavorful sauce with lots of different toppings.
We found it completely by accident and now it's become one of our favourite noodle places.
The noodles were so steamy that Sean had eat it without his glasses.
It looks plain from the photo but the sauce is actually very flavourful.
There are different condiments as well so you can also add some extra chili sauce for some spice.
At the end you can also add some of their special broth to your bowl and mix it with the sauce for some extra flavourful broth.
It was such a satisfying meal and a great end to a full day. After that we walked to the train station on the way back to our hotel. We also saw this Mii wallpaper that looked interesting.
But I think that's going to be it for today! Thanks for reading!
To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!
Check out my previous post in this series!
TacoCat’s Travels #285 (Tokyo): Healthy Bean curd Buffet 😋
