Father-Daughter Trip in Kichijoji
You wouldn’t guess… someone who designs the VALORANT game maps, emailed me for a tour! My manager who plays the game was fan-screaming!
Erika from Riot Games was coming to Japan with her father (his first time to the country in 40 years). They are coming from different countries, so it was nice that they are spending quality father-daughter time in their favorite place in the world, Japan.
“I want to experience the magic of Ghibli and some of the local street foods in the area.”
Unfortunately, there was not enough time to book the Ghibli Museum tickets. Usually, we need a month’s notice to book. I still wanted to bring the magic of Ghibli to her, so I hunted around and got Erika a little Totoro keychain and some Ghibli-themed goods.
“We are chill people and love to live in the moment”
Erika selected the Kichijoji Tour since she wanted to get away from the hectic city and experience suburban life.
In my opinion, everything is better quality and cheaper as you get out of the 23 wards. That includes people… from my observations.
Erika and her father’s travel speed is nice and slow, taking everything in… I like to “read the air” and match my guest’s pace. We had meaningful conversations, story time, shared our challenges… all while grazing at my recommended food stops.
“Bunny, you hit home on this one!”
Erika and her father both fully enjoyed the freshly made pan-fried gyoza. We are off to a great start!
Dads love to explore these under-rated hidden gems in sketchy alleyways.
This is a local favorite and many people order take-out to cook it at home. It’s that good!
Menchi katsu, fried beef ball, is our guilty pleasure.
Purikura Break
There is a Game Center in every city in Tokyo. The area was completely empty and not a single high schooler in sight. Duh, because they are all at school!
Although it is not Erika’s first time at the purikura (photo booth in Japanese), I figured it would be a nice souvenir to take back home. The pictures turned out so kawaii!
Crepe worth waiting for…
There is a special old-school retro crepe wagon in Kichijoji. It is a local favorite and there is a long line full of Japanese people. Not a single foreigner, except us. So it must be good!
These crepes are huge! They got strawberry jam and cream (500 yen/ $3.50 usd), raspberry jam and butter sugar (430 yen/$3 usd). (Cash only).
If you want fresh whole strawberries and whipped cream, it’s about 750 yen= $5.50 usd. We spent about 35 minutes in line. Some things in life are worth waiting for.
Here, have a bite of mine!
She approved.
The menu is not written in English, which may be the reason for lack of foreign customers. So I guess you’ll have to learn Japanese Hiragana and Katakana from me! Free video lesson: Katakana Song
Capybara & Cat Cafe
Erika and her father love animals. She owns a Corgi at home. We did a lot of walking and standing in line so this was a nice break. Something about being with animals is so relaxing.
The Best Fro-Yo in town!
If anyone asks me what is my favorite dessert to splurge my calories on, it would be this! It is plain frozen yogurt and they use a machine to mix fresh fruit. We got pear, mango and raspberry. Erika’s dad was on a raspberry craze.
Magical Totoro Cream Puffs
As we showed up to pick up our Totoro Cream Puffs, we saw a sad couple from Asia come out of the store only to be told all cream puffs were sold out that day. This always happens. At Cyber Bunny Tours, you are guaranteed however many creams puffs you want and the flavor of your choice.
They chose the raspberry flavor (since Erika’s father can’t stop eating raspberries lol) and maron chestnut flavor, which are seasonal flavors during the Fall. Absolute perfection!
Sidenote: We may have seen Hayao Miyazaki’s direct relative that day because we saw an exact look-alike!
Fall Foliage to end the day
This was right before Thanksgiving time, and it was the beginning of peak season for fall foliage in Tokyo area. We took our Totoro cream puffs with us, and shot family photos by Inokashira Park. Don’t mind my iPhone quality.
