Tokyo - Day 4 (Hanazono Shrine - Meiji Shrine - Mitsui Outlet Park Tama Minami Osawa)

- January 18, 2020

I'm a big fan of Sushi Zanmai in Malaysia and decided to give it a try in Tokyo, Japan. Sushizanmai is just 7 minutes (550m) walking distance from APA Hotel Shinjuku Kabukicho Tower. We were a bit disappointed when we saw the menu because almost 80% of the food were raw. Since neither of us eat uncooked seafood, we have very limited selection. The waitress can't speak English and it's a bit difficult to communicate with her. Luckily she has a translator device but somehow there's still some communication gap.

We ordered seafood Miso soup, salmon teriyaki, sea eel grill without seasoning and boiled prawn. Salmon is fresh but they gave us the head portion which we're not good at eating it. Grilled sea eel is nice but there's a lot of small bones in it. My favourite is the boiled prawn. Rice is nice and fluffy. Most importantly the prawn is fresh. Overall, lunch was just okay.

(Total bill - ¥2,606)

Sushizanmai located on the 3rd floor

Restaurant ambience

Hot green tea

Ginger

Seafood Miso soup - ¥450

Salmon teriyaki - ¥680

Sea eel grill without seasoning - ¥1,180

Boiled prawn - ¥148 each

Complimentary disposable heat pack

Address:

Sushizanmai
3rd Floor, 3-18-4 Shinjuku,
Shinjuku City,
Tokyo 160-0022,
Japan

Family Mart is just 1 minute (91m) walking distance from Sushizanmai. Since we had very light lunch I decided to grab some dessert. I bought chocolate waffle ice cream while my partner bought his favourite Strawberry Frappe. I stood and had my ice cream outside the shop because this Family Mart does not provide a small dining area for you to dine in.

Strawberry Frappe - ¥330

Ricco chocolate waffle ice cream - ¥184

Ricco chocolate waffle ice cream

Address:

Family Mart

3-21-7 Shinjuku,

Shinjuku City,

Tokyo 160-0022,

Japan

Hanazono Shrine is just 4 minutes (290m) walking distance from Family Mart. This shrine is located in the middle of the busy streets and tall office buildings. It's a beautiful shrine and it's not so crowded with people.

Hanazono Shrine

Address:

Hanazono Shrine

5-17-3 Shinjuku,

Shinjuku City,

Tokyo 160-0022,

Japan

We walked from Hanazono Shrine to Meiji Shrine and it took us approximately 25 minutes (1.7km). Along the way, we passed by a railway track and we were trapped in between the track because both the boom barrier came down so fast. Luckily there's a guy beside me with a bicycle acted fast by pushing up the boom barrier and both of us including my partner managed to escape on time before the train comes. We learnt our lesson well. So next time when we hear the railway bell, it's either we run across the railway track before the boom barrier comes down or wait till the train pass by.

Railway crossing

We reached Meiji Shrine around 2.45pm and took our own sweet time to walk around. There's a dango stall outside the cafe and I bought one to try. Dango is made from rice flour and it's tasteless unless you topped with sweet sauce. My partner took a bite and leave the rest to me. It took me some time to finished it because I feel bad to throw it away. There's a souvenir shop just beside the cafe. I bought two lovely key chains for my niece and nephew. Feeling a bit hungry, my partner ordered a bowl of rice with beef and onion from Noodle & Rice Bowl. The food turned out to be just okay.

While hanging around, we heard an announcement that the main shrine will be closed at 4pm. Only then we realized we have less than 10 minutes and quickly walked to the main shrine area. Luckily we managed to get into the main shrine before 4pm. It's a beautiful shrine and we saw a Japanese couple taking their wedding photos there.

Beautiful leaves

Meiji Shrine

Dango stall

Dango - ¥350

Noodle & Rice Bowl

Gyu - don (rice bowl with beef and onion) - ¥750

Cafe & Ice-cream

Sanpellegrino Aranciata (sparkling orange juice) - ¥450

Souvenirs - ¥390 each

Maple leaves

Meiji Shrine

Address:

Meiji Shrine

1-1 Yoyogikamizono-cho,

Shibuya City,

Tokyo 151-8557,

Japan

We planned to do some shopping at Mitsui Outlet Park. So we took a train from Harajuku Station to Shinjuku station (¥140 per person) and took another train from Shinjuku Station to Minami-osawa Station (¥350 per person). It took us approximately 45 minutes to reach Mitsui Outlet Park Tama Minami Osawa from Shinjuku Station. Mitsui Outlet Park is just 4 minutes (350m) walking distance from Minami-osawa Station.

We decided to have our dinner first at a Korean restaurant before we start our shopping spree. We ordered spicy Kimchi seafood soup comes with clams & tofu and chicken cheese rice. By ordering 2 dishes we get to enjoy free flow of salad and some other side dishes. Their Kimchi seafood soup is nice but chicken cheese rice is just okay for me. We managed to finished our dinner within 50 minutes and we have less than an hour to shop because all the shops closed at 8pm. We didn't manage to find anything that we like so we headed back to Shinjuku empty handed.

(Total bill - ¥2,480)