i studied abroad at waseda university where i would spend most of my time because i attended classes monday through saturday and i had little time to explore other parts of tokyo during the week. luckily for me, i met a lot of cool people and there were a lot of tasty restaurants nearby. i'm going to warn you now, this post will contain a lot of food porn, so if you're hungry, i suggest you go grab a snack now. i think most people can say that when you live in a certain area for some time, that's when you really find all the best, local spots to eat at and pretty soon the workers are start to recognize you and maybe even become your friends. if yelp had existed while i was living in waseda, i would have been a regular to at least five of the restaurants (idk if this sounds impressive or not). you can say that i wasn't a huge fan of cooking, but can you blame me? japanese food is so good and it helps when you have friends who are just as lazy as you are when it comes to cooking.
for those of you interested in my dorm life & studying at waseda university then continuing reading. all others, please proceed to the food porn. when i wasn't eating, i was probably either in class or studying (don't worry, just during the week). the dorm i lived in was mainly for international students who were studying abroad there. i met a lot of other americans, europeans, and people from other asian countries. surprisingly, i had a huge room and it even came with a sink. another nice thing was all utilities were included in the rent which came in handy during the winter & summer. my dorm was a seven minute walk to class so naturally, i would wake up about thirty minutes before class. since most of my friends and i had the same schedules, we would meet for lunch everyday. usually we ate on campus since the lines were usually too long at the nearby restaurants. we usually bought food at the school market or at the cafeteria. i would always get the egg salad sandwiches -- japanese bread is heavenly. and unlike typical american school cafeterias, waseda's cafeteria was top-notch and all the cooks looked like mothers which made me feel like i was getting a nice, home cooked meal.
aside from the nine hours of japanese class a week, most of the classes i took were related to east asia studies in the school of international liberal studies and were all taught in english. most of the students in my class were japanese and about fifteen percent were foreigners. in case you didn't know, japanese students have to take an entrance exam for each university they apply to which is why it is so important for students to study really hard to get into the specific school they want. of course, there are always other ways of getting into top universities, but the entrance exam is the most common way. another thing, waseda is known to be one of the most prestigious universities in japan, which was kind of intimidating to me. when i would tell people i was studying at waseda, people would automatically say, "wow, you must be a genius!" and trust me, i'm far from that. all my classes were graded on a curve -- the top five percent (i forgot the exact percentage) would get A+'s, the next fifteen percent would get A's, and so on, but no one would get lower than a C unless they just didn't show up for class. luckily for me (again), once the students get into university, their grades don't matter as much. i ended up getting straight A's the whole year, all counting towards my gpa. also, it helps that most students in their junior year are so busy job hunting that by the time they're seniors, they already have a job and really stop caring. this is not to say the japanese students didn't study at all and i didn't have any competition, but i'm pretty sure if grades mattered to my japanese classmates, they would've kicked my booty. all in all, i had great classes and was happy to learn about japanese history & japan foreign policy in japan. i highly recommend waseda university to anyone interested in studying abroad in tokyo or japan in general.
okay, now on to the photos!
back entrance of my dorm which also had a church on the same lot.
walking to class on a rainy day and seeing a man washing the streets..
studying hard in the common room in the school of international liberal studies.
just look at these happy faces. haha. again, i don't know the name of this place, but it was an all-you-can-eat okonomiyaki place. i only went here a couple of times, but it's a good place to go if you're eating dinner with a group. okonomiyaki places are little hard to come by in tokyo so this was the place to go for waseda students who were craving the osaka native food. surprisingly, all-you-can-eat places are pretty affordable in japan, but there is normally a time limit.
ahhh, momo. my go-to shabu shabu place. it was 2000 yen all-you-can-eat for ninety minutes. one of my really good friends, shelly (not in the photo), and i would eat here often. unlike the shabu shabu places i've been to in california, most shabu shabu places in japan are all-you-can-eat. the meat is pretty good quality and usually they have different broth options. for an extra fee, you can even get half shabu shabu, half sukiyaki. this was the closest location in waseda, but places like this can be found anywhere.
okay, i'm really bad with remember restaurant names, but this was one of the only decent mexican places we found near our dorm/tokyo in general. as a california girl, i have to get my mexican food too! if you couldn't tell, we decided to celebrate fourth of july here since it has a really fun bar with unique drinks. don't we represent america so well though? so multicultural. haha.
some friends and i before going out at nishi-waseda station on the fukutoshin line, one of the three stations in the waseda area. the other two are waseda station on the tozai line and takadanobaba station (aka baba) on the yamanote line and the tozai line as well. i would normally go to takadanobaba since the yamanote line is probably the most important lines in tokyo. it was about a twenty minute walk from my dorm. i've never walked more in my life than when i lived in tokyo. i miss getting my daily walks.
sam and i at the local izakaya where of course you can do all-you-can-drink for as low as 1500 yen. i think you can tell by the looks on our faces how these nights usually end and why it's common to see tons of waseda students passed out at baba station.
kaiten sushi! another place found all around tokyo and japan. you can either pick one of the plates off the rotary or you can order it fresh. i would normally order it fresh since i don't like my sushi with wasabi it in. yes, i'm a baby. it's hard to tell in the photos, but a pair of tuna nigiri was around 140 yen a plate. this place was located right next to baba station and was one of the closest sushi places to me.
cozy corner! my go-to place to buy birthday cakes and omiyage. this location was right next to takadanobaba station. i love japanese sweets since they aren't too sweet and the frosting has usually a light, fluffy texture. cozy corner has other locations and also sells boxed cookies.
for those of you interested in my dorm life & studying at waseda university then continuing reading. all others, please proceed to the food porn. when i wasn't eating, i was probably either in class or studying (don't worry, just during the week). the dorm i lived in was mainly for international students who were studying abroad there. i met a lot of other americans, europeans, and people from other asian countries. surprisingly, i had a huge room and it even came with a sink. another nice thing was all utilities were included in the rent which came in handy during the winter & summer. my dorm was a seven minute walk to class so naturally, i would wake up about thirty minutes before class. since most of my friends and i had the same schedules, we would meet for lunch everyday. usually we ate on campus since the lines were usually too long at the nearby restaurants. we usually bought food at the school market or at the cafeteria. i would always get the egg salad sandwiches -- japanese bread is heavenly. and unlike typical american school cafeterias, waseda's cafeteria was top-notch and all the cooks looked like mothers which made me feel like i was getting a nice, home cooked meal.
aside from the nine hours of japanese class a week, most of the classes i took were related to east asia studies in the school of international liberal studies and were all taught in english. most of the students in my class were japanese and about fifteen percent were foreigners. in case you didn't know, japanese students have to take an entrance exam for each university they apply to which is why it is so important for students to study really hard to get into the specific school they want. of course, there are always other ways of getting into top universities, but the entrance exam is the most common way. another thing, waseda is known to be one of the most prestigious universities in japan, which was kind of intimidating to me. when i would tell people i was studying at waseda, people would automatically say, "wow, you must be a genius!" and trust me, i'm far from that. all my classes were graded on a curve -- the top five percent (i forgot the exact percentage) would get A+'s, the next fifteen percent would get A's, and so on, but no one would get lower than a C unless they just didn't show up for class. luckily for me (again), once the students get into university, their grades don't matter as much. i ended up getting straight A's the whole year, all counting towards my gpa. also, it helps that most students in their junior year are so busy job hunting that by the time they're seniors, they already have a job and really stop caring. this is not to say the japanese students didn't study at all and i didn't have any competition, but i'm pretty sure if grades mattered to my japanese classmates, they would've kicked my booty. all in all, i had great classes and was happy to learn about japanese history & japan foreign policy in japan. i highly recommend waseda university to anyone interested in studying abroad in tokyo or japan in general.
okay, now on to the photos!
statue of okuma shigenobu - the founder of waseda university and former prime minister of japan.
wasedasai - fall festival where circles/clubs sell food.
a notecard i used for an open note exam. the course was called international organizations and japan and my professor used to work for the UN and has written a few books on love which is why they call him the "love" doctor. haha. anyways, both sides of the notecard looked like this and i didn't even get all the answers correct on the exam. haha.
sorry this isn't the tastiest looking food porn, but i warned you guys i wasn't the best cook (wait, i still suck). i loved cooking with japanese eggplant. i also loved all the lipton teas, especially apple tea, which was only available during the fall -- curse japan and their seasonal drinks! haha jk. kinda. the cheese i had to buy in a department store -- usually in the basement floor you can find all different kinds of foods.
this delicious naan place was located right on campus next to where my japanese classes were. you can get one to three curries with yogurt and all-you-can-eat naan. they also had other dishes but i would always get the naan. i normally would eat about one and a half pieces of naan. it's hard to tell in the photo but the pieces were huge. this was about 700 yen.
abura soba aka oil noodles. this place was right next to my dorm. to be honest, i didn't like it that much when i first tried it, but once i went a second time, i was hooked. at this location, it's literally two different kinds of oil and noodles (and toppings, obviously). the regular dish comes in two different sizes for the same price. you can also add chili oil and red pepper paste once they serve you your bowl. it's about a ten seat restaurant with two guys working. most of the time i would only see guys eating here, but that obviously didn't stop me. i have yet to find anything like this in the states. i tried remaking it and it was a total fail. please open a store in the u.s.!!
tom yum ramen from my favorite thai place in tokyo. i'm not sure how my friends and i stumbled upon this place, but they literally have the best tom yum and pad thai i've ever had. it might've been because it was ramen and not just regular soup, but the broth was so rich and flavorful. the entire staff was super friendly and they were either from thailand or nepal. my friend destiny and i were regulars and became friends with all the workers. one day of the month, they have 490 yen specials for the whole day. destiny and i loved this place so much we gave them a goodbye card with our photo before we left. when i visited the restaurant a year later, the staff still remembered me and they still had our card! check it out if you're ever in the waseda area -- it's called tokyo tom yam tinun.
this one man ramen shop called ganko was about a little over ten minute walk from my dorm. it's not an easy place to find though. it's off of the main street down an small alleyway and has no sign -- just covered in black fabric with a huge bone and chain hanging from the top. literally this place has only four seats and i'm pretty he operates it out of his home. the first time i ate there, he was just watching tv, saw us come in, and waited for our order in the kitchen -- all without saying a word. he has monthly specials, but i would always order the original. the broth was really salty, the noodles weren't too soft, and the pork was perfect. no added sauces or spices necessary. i highly recommend trying to find these hidden gems like ganku while you're in tokyo. new york times even wrote an article about ganku, so you know it's legit. you can read the article here.
i can't remember the name of this place but it was close to my dorm and school. it had such a mom & pop feel as most restaurants in japan feel like. this would totally violate all health codes in the u.s. but they even had their cat in the restaurant which usually was sleeping on the chair at the doorway. i would get the oyakodon with soba or udon depending if it was hot or cold that day.
the famous ippudo ramen! this place isn't special to waseda and can be found in many different parts tokyo and japan. even though it wasn't "special," i would still eat here sometimes. for some reason though, i wasn't a huge fan of it while i was in japan. it wasn't until i had it again in new york that i really liked it. maybe the broth is different? not sure, but it's definitely worth a try since clearly all of japan seems to like it.
people from la might be familiar with shinsengumi restaurant group. they have different japanese restaurants around la -- their most famous being hakata ramen. well, they only have a few locations in tokyo and they all specialize is the korean dish, soondubu. the front of the restaurant draws you in because it's more modern looking and advertises that they're from la. my friends and i would frequently go to this place since 1. it was close to where we lived 2. it's from la! 3. it's only about 600 yen and 4. they had free topping selections for students. this was the first time i ever had soondubu and it was so delicious. i don't want to hype it up too much, but i've had soondubu several other times in la and none of it compares to this place (even though i know it originates from la). if you love shinsengumi restaurants then this is must try while you're in tokyo! and if you're in la then check out their other restaurants -- you won't be disappointed.
sam, destiny, and i are our closing ceremony where we received our certificate of completion. i wouldn't have survived my year at waseda without these two girls and also shelly and azusa. from all of the late night study sessions to eating out all the time around waseda, these girls always had my back. you'll be seeing them a lot in my other #tbt japan posts.
sorry for the extremely long post, but i hope you enjoyed my first throwback thursday! since i love tokyo so much and was able to explore different parts of the city, i plan on doing multiple tbt's just for tokyo. if you have any questions related to any of the restaurants or about studying abroad at waseda university, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me a message and i'll be happy to help you.
xoxo
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