For Day 6 (Part 2): From Hakodate to Sendai, click here.
For Day 7 (Part 1): Yamadera, click here.
Anpan-man Museum 仙台アンパンマンこどもミュージアム＆モール
Address: 宮城県仙台市宮城野区鉄砲町145
Sendai was not hot by Singapore's standard averaging at around 16-18 degrees but it felt hot coming from Hokkaido where I was used to an average of 5 degrees. Was a terrible idea wearing the thicker fur coat walking to my hotel, ended up sweating quite badly. The Anpan-museum is located about 10 minutes away from my hotel and might be a little hard to navigate so I provided the address. Interestingly, it is located on Teppo-cho which means cannon street. ^^
On the way to the museum, reminded me a bit of Motomachi in Hakodate
Greeted by the face of Anpan-man as you near the museum
Met Yumi-chan outside the museum and this time round I was on time as the train to Sendai earlier was not delayed. The museum touts itself to be an interactive participatory museum where children can enjoy the wonderful world of Anpanman, with a shopping mall full of goods featuring the original Anpanman characters and offering unique services. It comprises of only 2 storeys, with the museum located on the second floor and the shops on the first floor. Entrance fee was 1,080 yen (about 13 SGD) which was actually pretty steep for only 1 level of exhibits (although it was a pretty spacious level).
There was an exclusive cafe for museum-goers but we gave this a miss as the stage performance was starting soon
Cute and colourful interior of the cafe museum
Didn't know there were so many characters in the Anpan-man universe!~ I could only name like 5 while Yumi named only managed about 20 haha
We managed to catch the signature stage performance at the Yanasetakashi stage (やなせたかし劇場) and it was the last one of the day at 4 pm!~ At first we were all very paiseh to sing and dance along but amidst the infectious happiness of the parents and their kids surrounding us, we gave in. Felt like being a kid again with all the haiiiis and ikuyos replies but it was really fun. ^^
Yumi was like, "I'm never going to go down there but you should as you're a tourist... I'll help you take the photo!"
There was a meet-and-greet with Mr Skull here who kindly posed for me right after the stage performance
We also managed to catch a couple of the seasonal performances while grabbing some souvenirs and unique food from the first floor. There was the Spring Festa (メロンパンナのスプリングフェスタ) featuring one of Anpan-man's best friends, Melon-panna (roughly translated to Melon bread Anna, as she was a girl ^^). It took place at the plaza in the middle of the sprawling first floor and we managed to catch glimpses of it from the restaurant that we were in.
One of the many unique little stalls (in the foreground) alongside the bigger shops (in the background) selling Anpan-man goods you can't find elsewhere... I got myself a clear file and Yumi got a pen for her cousin
Wanted the popcorn because the bucket it came in was so cute but decided not to as there was no way we would finish this without stuffing out our tummies
Anpan-man onigiris ^^
So cute!~ But there were not cheap at 300 yen (about 4 SGD) a piece ^^;
There's a playground at the top left corner for kids to enjoy while their parents can take a break and get some food
I had the Anpan-man meat bun (nikuman) while Yumi had the Baikin-man red bean bun... wasn't cheap but it was fresh from the steamer and was piping hot and delicious ^^ Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars
Rikyu 利久 仙台駅店
Address: Sendai station 3F
We parted ways in the evening as Yumi already had a dinner appointment (一緒にとったの写真はメールで送ります！) so I decided to double back to Sendai station to try out one of Sendai's most famous specialties, gyutan or grilled beef tongue! Had a bit of a hard time finding the restaurant I wanted to go as the station was pretty big, but thankfully the station staff were all very familiar with the place. It's located round the corner of the Shinkansen ticket gates in the north exit's direction. The portion of gyutan served was extremely generous and the gyutan was grilled to perfection, retaining its chewiness yet not being overly rubbery.
Sendai at night with its many lights on is a much prettier sight than in the day
Must have been extremely hot in there, but the guy expertly and deftly flipped every piece of gyutan such that they were all evenly cooked. He did it at a rather amazing speed too, was a marvel watching him cook as I ate.
The shop boasted that the marinate for its gyutan was a secret recipe and it was really savoury and complement with the gyutan's taste really well. This set costs about 1,600 yen (about 20 SGD) and was totally worth it. Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars
Oosaki Hachiman-gu 大崎八幡宮
After a most hearty and filling dinner, I decided to head for the Oosaki Hachiman-gu first before returning back to Jozenji-dori for a late supper. You can take the Sendai shiei bus no. 10 or 15 from the bus terminal next to the JR station and it takes about 20 minutes and 220 yen (about 3 SGD) to get there. The Shinto shrine was constructed for Date Masamune between 1604 to 1607 and the main shrine building (社殿) has been designated as a national treasure of Japan as oldest extant ishi-no-ma-zukuri (石の間造) structure and an example of Azuchi-Momoyama architecture.
The station on the left, the taxi holding area on the bottom left and the bus terminal on the bottom middle and right
Arrived!~
Jozenji-dori 定禅寺通り
Was pretty underwhelmed when I got to Jozenji-dori but had expected to feel so because spring was not the season to visit this street. This street was a symbol of why Sendai had long been referred to as the city of trees or 森の都 with tall Zelkova trees lining the boulevard for about 700 metres. It is also home to the Jozenji Jazz Festival every September and is lit up with thousands of light during winter for the Pageant of Starlight. I was much more interested in the Seiryuu Manjushan Shanghai Ramen located nearby as Yumi told me that it served an excellent shoyu ramen for the cold weather. While I agreed very much with the light shoyu broth, the chashu slices were too porky in taste for me. But at 690 yen (about 9 SGD) this was one of the most afforadable ramen I had this trip.
The Zelkova trees were still bare so early in spring at Jozenji-dori
The boulevard were lined with interesting buildings along the sides, would have liked to dine and sip coffee on the higher floors overlooking the street during summer
Chen Long?! I asked, and there was no link to the famous movie star ^^; Address: 宮城県仙台市青葉区国分町3-6-10
Why is it that racial stereotypes are so prevalent everywhere in the world? Because this is a Chinese ramen shop so it must use the distinctively Chinese bowl with dragon and Xi engravings.
Kokubun-cho 国分町
Kokubun-cho is an area nestled between Higashi Niban-dori and Bansui-dori in Aoba Ward of Sendai City. It is a representative downtown district of the Tohoku region that developed along the Kokubuncho-dori where you can find more than 3,000 eating and drinking establishments standing next to each other. During the Sendai Tanabata Festival in August, elaborate and beautiful decorations deck the streets of Kokubun-cho which is the venue of this event. It reminded me a lot of Susukino in Sapporo, with a bustling night scene and those darn promoters/pushers who either want to drag you to a karaoke bar or some love motel. Didn't manage to take that many photos in the area as I went to join Yumi and her friends for a drink soon after.
Where we had our yakitori, robatayaki and another round of gyutan which was surprisingly good Amimoto Jou no Ie 網元 上の家 Address: 宮城県仙台市青葉区国分町2-2-28 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars 裕美ちゃんたちへ：写真はここ
Wasn't sure if they sold real or fake disney stuff... some of the products seemed dodgy ^^;
That scary taxi pool near the station again
Some of the freebies I got from convenience stores such as the Attack on the Titan plate and the Rilakkuma clear file... many many thanks to Yumi for buying me the bread from the Anpan-man museum earlier despite it being so expensive!~ Felt damn bad as I only gave her a couple of polaroids we took at the museum and later at Jou no Ie. Will give you a huge present when you come to Singapore!~ ^^
Click here (coming soon) for the breathtaking view of Yamadera.
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