TRAVEL 21

I've been hesitating to visit Yokohama since my first visit to Japan though it is conveniently close to Tokyo. I thought that this city was not special, until I finally visited Yokohama last month. I fell in love with this city! It took us around an hour and a few minutes from Asakusa to Yokohama and our first destination was Yokohama Chinatown which is Japan's largest Chinatown. Yokohama itself is the second largest city in Japan by population. Entering Yokohama Chinatown will make you forget that you are actually in Japan for a moment. with all the traditional Chinese architecture buildings, bright red lanterns, and board signages in Han Zi. It was Sunday afternoon, and the Chinatown was packed with people. Mostly tourists like us, I guess. Chinese restaurants and street snack stalls filled the area with their bright colored shop signs - I felt like I was in Mong Kok for a while since it got pretty similar vibes. Since we already had lunch before we went to Yokohama, we gave ...

I think the highlight of my Tokyo trip was visiting Starbucks Reserve Roastery. I read somewhere that it is the largest Starbucks Reserve Roastery in the world by now, even larger than the one in Shanghai. The building is located in Meguro, which felt a bit different from the other districts I visited before in Tokyo.  I saw Meguro as a hip area where small coffee shops and local boutiques are aligning along the river. It was Sunday night and the area was quite quiet compared to the ever busy areas like Shibuya or Shinjuku. We alighted at the Naka-Meguro Station, and the maps said that we needed to walk around 12 minutes to the Starbucks Reserve Roastery. But guess what? We arrived around an hour because we stopped by The Alley to try their boba drinks and a tonkatsu restaurant called Fujiki to have dinner. After awhile, finally we arrived! We started exploring from the first floor where you could find special merchandise which is only available this place, and also where the coffe...