Retracing YJ's steps - Toride

Dear sisters ….. thank you so much for reading and leaving me your comments in the Kamakura outing, I am so touched at your interests. The credit belongs to cloudnine who has so tirelessly arranged the itinerary and guided us around. Hehe, since moi can’t offer much, so I was just quietly observing and recording the days’ events. Thanks thanks cloudnine for the educational tour. Next, shall we move onto Toride?


You remember in the Megane Ichiba CF making video, Yong Joon looked so excited telling us about the crew would all go to eat ramen after filming? He said this was his first time eating out in this Tokyo trip, poor boy! (fyi : he worried about causing a commotion in Tokyo, so he had room service at Conrad during his entire stay, well except once to Gosireh I suppose.)

Today we had the honour of Pallet and moichan joining us, we met at Shibuya crossing, probably one of the busiest intersection in the world. Trust me, on any regular day when all pedestrian lights turn green, there are literally 1000 people crossing the intersection.

Toride is located in Shibuya, about 30 minutes walk from the subway station. If you watch Amazing Race (yeah yeah, my whole family is big fan), you know it’s almost impossible to decipher an address in Tokyo because the streets have no name and do not follow any grid systems. Other than having bionic legs or built-in rollers under your feet, the best way I'd say is to follow other Bae sisters. Finally Toride, a traditional storefront for a small ramen shop. The 3 benches in front actually reminded me of bb's post on how the NHK crew took turn lining up so they could have all 25 seats inside the shop :)


Inside is quite small and dark. In front of the open kitchen are a row of counter seats.

and a small quiet corner for 4,

then a huge table for 10 that Yong Joon sat at (the far left I believe). You see, 2 Japanese sisters were eating there already :)

Hehe, like most of the small Japanese eateries, the patrons are usually male workers and they tend to walk in and want a no-fuss quick bite, then go on with their living. Now suddenly Toride has these ladies all dressed up in groups as if they are coming in for an afteronoon of high tea and leisure chat. All thanks to one single late night visit by Yonsama!

Like Raitei, there is an unwritten Yonsama course. It’s not on the menu, so be sure to ask, ok? The House ramen (with shredded pork, half-boiled egg, nori) and gyoza (dumplings)

Nigiri rice balls (hehe, this is Kelly’s)

Yong Joon also ate dessert – strawberry ice? and drank beer I believe, but we didn’t order them. I particularly like the pork bone soup base. It’s milky white, very sweet and tasty, so different from other ramen shops’ salty miso or greasy soyu soup. Chuao!

Next, we had a very important mission – to boost up the Japanese economy. Well actually, it’s Jessica, Jos and Kelly’s jobs but I am just happy to be the accomplice. Kelly and Jessica are determined to have their Yonsama eyeglasses while Jos couldn’t bear to miss the chance to shop for Japanese fashion. Hehe, I don’t blame you Jos, I have been here for 10 months and I still can't get enough of those pretty Japanese fashion@@.

By now, you must be very familiar with the display of Megane Ichiba already. This cube display is new though, have to show you ....


Then Kelly (the serious photographer with all the equipments to match) noticed how unprofessional I was using only one hand to snap a shot. Hmmmm, as I recall, some hunk did the same not too long ago, and his picture turned out just fine :)

Kelly kindly gave me some tips on how to capture a shot at a better angle, even re-arranging the store display!

Kelly and Jessica decided to use their Yonsama frames for sunglasses (which I am sure they have a few pairs at home already :) Hehe, looks like it’s an unwritten rule that we Bae fans always buy 2 of the same Yong Joon’s goods; one to use, the other one untouched, in its original wrapping for keepsake?

Since we have wait for 25 minutes for their glasses to be ready. We went to a nearby coffee shop and this was my cafe latte :)

Their plan was to go to Park BOF after and then dinner at Gosireh with more Japanese sisters waiting. When the clock struck 3pm, I felt a bit sad as I had to switch my role from a carefree Bae fan back to being a caring mother (and I am sure Yong Joon would want us to live responsibly too:) I had no choice but to bid farewell to Jessica, Jos, Kelly and all the sisters. Hehe, maybe cloudnine can fill us in on the exciting events I had missed that night? By now, the JF sisters should be back home safe and sound. Hope you ladies had a sweet and wonderful memory of Japan :)