Omiyage Atsume

One of the best things about being on vacation is the lack of a firm schedule. Today was one of those days. I got up and went for a run along the Sumidagawa this morning. Sumi had good intentions, but the futon did not cooperate. Once she was finally able to break free of the comforter, we hopped a train to Meiji-jingu for some omiyage (souvenir) shopping. There is a good deal of construction going on at Meiji right now, in preparation for both the 100 year anniversary of the shrine and Tokyo hosting the 2020 summer olympics. Many sections were emptied of their usual items (omikuji, omamori, etc) and the bonsai exhibit was only in one half of its usual spot.

Flowering bonsai. First time seeing them in bloom here.

After visiting the shrine and picking up some omiyage, we took the train further north to Ikebukuro for a little more omiyage hunting and a dessert buffet! At the station, which can be very confusing to find your way around, we ran across a mascot, Umerin (likely an Umeboshi, or pickled plum).

Umerin

After looking around Sunshine City for some stuff, and stopping at the world's largest Pokémon store

Pikachu and...um...some orange dragon dude

we searched around for the Ikebukuro Sweets Paradise, a chain of buffet restaurants that specialize in desserts. It was hidden on the 5th floor of a building that also housed a Denny's, a CD shop, and other stores. The sign was tiny. If we didn't know exactly what we were looking for and where, we'd have never found it, or assumed it was some gentlemen's club, given the name.

Sweets Paradise

So, you walk in, and select your buffet choice at a vending machine, which gives you a ticket. We went whole hog and tried the special, which is a set meal of egg sandwiches and your choice of dessert, along with the seven buffet stations and 105 minutes to eat as much as you want.

Salad, Pasta & Soup, Crunchy Snacks, Coffee, Flavor Water, Flavor Syrup, and, of course, Cake

Egg soaked, and I mean SOAKED in fish sauce.

Sumi's came with the Haagen-Daz buffet. Oh my word, this was GOOD ice cream. Melon, Yuzu, something not chocolate, and Belgian Chocolate. Excellent.

Fruit-flavored water with fruit and flavored syrup.

Mine came with fresh fruit. Very tasty.

So, yeah, the egg sandwiches we inedible for us, which wasn't a big deal, as there were many other options available. The salad was fresh and good, the pasta was good (the sauce OK), soups were good, flavored water/syrup took some experimenting to get good combinations and the right amount of syrup. Then there was the cake.

It's kind of like a challenge to see if you can sample all of these...

First cake course

Second cake course

We-lost-track cake course. The lime chiffon (lower left) was amazing. Real limes, no fake flavoring. Tart and wonderful.

The place is known for their desserts, and it is justified. Not the best you will ever have, but good and unlimited. This is a novelty we'll probably not try again soon, but it was certainly fun, and something I urge anyone visiting Tokyo give a try. 

Once you finish eating, you bring your stack of plates to a holding area and then exit via the back staircase. Both of these, I believe, are intended to allow you to hide your shame at the sheer gluttony of what you have just done. We didn't feel quite as bad when we had a group of four older teen boys sit next to us, and their first plates were piled almost comically, straight out of a movie-type high with nothing but desserts. And then they polished it off in minutes. And went back for seconds, and thirds. And were still there when we left.

So, we waddled our way back to the station, feeling overstuffed, and headed back to Ueno, spotting another group of mascots, this time promoting Ibaraki Prefecture goods

Before heading back to the hotel, we stopped at Yamashiro, a character goods store, which had about what you'd expect:

Rilakkuma Family Photo

So....many...Gigi....

Still feeling a bit bloated after all that dessert, we decided to take a walk down to Akihabara (about 2 miles) to work off some of our gluttony. Visiting Yodobashi Camera, we added to our omiyage (mostly done for the trip), then walked back the long way (3 miles) along the Sumidagawa. It was a beautiful night for a walk, and the sky was a neat, purplish color

Overall, a gorgeous day to walk around. Tomorrow Sumi will be taking a Wing Chung lesson with Sifu Freddy, I'll be book shopping, then we'll be checking out a local festival.