สวัสดีค่ะ ตอนนี้นิดาอยู่ที่โตเกียวกับครอบครัวค่ะ มาเที่ยวที่นี่ทุกปีตอนช่วงเวลานี้จนเป็น tradition ของที่บ้านไปซะแล้ว นิดาเลยติดว่าน่าจะชวนเพื่อนๆไปเที่ยวด้วยกันเลยดีกว่า โดยนิดาจะพยายาม up รูปลงทุกๆวันนะคะ version ภาษาไทยนิดาขอลงใน album ในเพจ ส่วนในนี้นิดาขอเขียนภาษาอังกฤษนะคะ

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Hi there! Every year in March I come to Tokyo to celebrate my birthday, every year I write down a list of restaurants to visit and things to order, and every year i never stick to that list! So let’s check out the places I managed to check off the list on my first couple of days of the trip, shall we? Luckily the weather is warmer this year, Spring time is upon us and the cherry blossoms (sakura) are in full bloom. One of my favorite spots for sakura viewing is the century-old Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. There’s something rather heavenly about endless rows of sakura trees. I especially love the contrast between the dark majestic tree trunks and the varying shades of delicate flowers – white, baby pink, and bright magenta petals scattered and blown away in the spring breeze are one of my favorite sights to see.   After spending a couple of hours in the garden, I escaped the crowd into the near-by Takashimaya. One of the biggest advices I have for non-Japanese-speaking-first-timers in Tokyo is to head for large department stores for great food. The selection of restaurants, cafes, and patisseries are endless. And unless they are good, they will not be selected into places like Takashimaya and Isetan. The supermarket itself is a culinary delight, I can spend days just browsing through the endless selections from ridiculously expensive but extremely delicious fruits (square watermelons, anyone?) to rare cheesecake to Japanese-interpreted versions of classic French pastries, to unbelievably delicious breads with any filling imaginable. I could go on forever, but I’d rather you see for yourself.   On the 13th floor of Takashimaya department store, you’ll find a delicious Bretagne-style creperie i visit on every single trip called Breizh Cafe Creperie. Their paper-thin buckwheat crepe is perfectly made to compliment delicious selections of filling from raclette cheese to white asparagus to good old sunny side up eggs – you seriously can not go wrong here. I also love to sit outside and enjoy a class of mulled wine with my crepes.                 In terms of desserts, the simpler the better. My favorite is actually the simple buckwheat crepe with sugar and butter – you can seriously taste how good the crepes are! Another popular dish is the caramel pommes – crepe filled with apple compote, drizzled with a delicious caramel sauce, and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.     I also read in a dessert guide book that on 12th floor there is a delicious cafe not to be missed called Carmel. The recommended dishes were the mont blanc and millefeuille. I read that the mont blanc is made with flake coconuts, which are not my favorite dessert ingredients, so I opted for the caramel souffle instead. I have to say that I was slightly disappointed with the desserts. I thought they were decent but too plain jane for Japanese standards.

The best two things I had all day were the freshly made waffles from Mr. Waffles – a little store outside the exit of Lumie Est. Building and Ichiran ramen. I found the waffles place by following my hound nose. (I have an unbeatable sense of smell and directions when it comes to finding food, but I am hopeless on the road…) The apple waffle was one of the best waffle I’ve had, maybe, ever! It has am ever so slightly caramelly crunch on the outside. Once you bight through that, you’ll find perfectly soft and sweet waffle with delicious chunks of apples. I think I died for 3 seconds at that point. The plain one is also really good!

Last but not least – Ichiran Ramen – or the famous cubicle ramen chain. By now you probably know that I love hakata-style ramen with thick pork bone soup, and this spot is my 3rd favorite hakata ramen after Ippudo and Jangara. The experience itself is very fun albeit being highly anti-social. How often do I get to eat in a cubicle without any eye contact from fellow diners and waiters, right?

At this point, you all are probably wondering how I manage to fit all these things into my 40-something-kg frame, well, let’s just say I walked from 9 am to 11 pm straight! A girl has got to eat after that amount of workout!

Bon Appétit!