I'm gonna summarise the whole of Tokyo in one post because we were doing shopping and being typical otakus throughout the duration we were there so... There really isn't much pictures or tips I can give HAHAHA. Well, other than to avoid all the tourist traps with sushi and souvenirs at exorbitant prices.
Day 10 & 11 (Shinjuku, Shibuya and Harajuku)
While we were at Tokyo, our accommodation was airbnb for four days and a backpacker's inn for the last two! Airbnb is your best bet at getting cheap accommodation around the popular spots in Tokyo, so go for it early. Our apartment, which we shared with our host, was located relatively near the Shinjuku, Shibuya area so it was easy for us to get to the shopping districts, which we spent the two days covering.
You can check out various blogs like ladyironchef on some of the cafes to visit cause there are quite a few quaint cafes around.
For transport, we had to purchase another card (Suica) since the Icoca card is not valid in Tokyo. But it works pretty much the same, like your ezlink but with a deposit of 500¥.
You've probably read about how Harajuku is this street for all the hippies or the young ones. It's practically a street of pop culture with fashion of all sorts - cosplay, goth, lolita and practically everything you can think of. It's such a cool place with people from all walks of life, I was pretty mind blown by the wackiness of it all. It has a completely different air and vibe as compared to Osaka and Kyoto, but I loved it!! It's all about embracing one's individuality here haha.
We did quite some shopping here, and they have really cute clothes!! The Japanese generally has got a lot of cute lingerie so... Hehe ;)
We also tried the crepes that they are so famous for. Even though I hate whipped cream with a passion, their crepes were actually quite nice.
The next day we spent most of our time at Shibuya, and I don't think it's too different from Orchard to be honest. But if you shop at the men's section of Forever21, you can nab a lot nice clothes at a very good deal!! Practically everything I got for Brandon - jeans, a cardigan, a sweater and berms - is practically less than $20 per item?! This is the first time I've heard guys fashion being this cheap HAHAHA.
We also queued for the famous Ichiran Ramen and omg you must try it!! If you are a fan of spicy stuff, you have to try their ramen with four/five times their special sauce (spicy). That's what Trisha and I did and we certainly have no regrets. It was so hard not to overeat.
As for our dinner on the first night, we had sushi at sushitei as recommended on Trip Advisor but it was pretty expensive (compared to the other joints we went thereafter). For most of the time we were in Tokyo, we had really fantastic sushi if not chiraishi/salmon bowls.
I also got myself a new pair of Nikes that night! My previous flyknit was actually stolen at the corrdior (lol I know right how even) but now it's a pair of black flex! And yes it's cheaper in Japan.
We concluded the second night with a game of dota because we haven't been playing in so long... LOL. And yes, staying in an apartment is definitely gonna give you better Internet.
Oh and it was also the first night we met our host since he was away the night before. We had a couple of communication barriers every now and then but it's nothing Google translate can't really solve. And yes I need to mention that he's a cutie. HAHAHA.
Day 12 & 13 (Ikebukuro & Nakano Broadway)
If you are no otaku, these two days are going to bore you to death LOL. Not that I'm an otaku but I do enjoy indulging in some mangas and animes every now and then. Being at Ikebukuro/Nakano gave me my fair share of my handsome 2D eye candies. These two locations are targeted more towards the females.
We were basically looking at a lot manags and merchandises. I spent half of my time there what snapping pictures of the weirdest figurines and toys to Zhiyi and Brandon. And they were pretty entertained by how bizarre their stuff can be.
I also got Zhiyi his overpriced kendama in Japan. I still don't get how those wooden toys can be as expensive as $45.
I love their bookstores too. It's a pity everything is in Japan (who am I kidding) but I still bought (quite a lot of) their mangas anyway. This is my attempt to be better at Japanese. I'm not taking any classes as of yet but I will get better at the language!!
Oh and we Okonomiyaki for one of our lunches since we didn't get to try them while we were in Osaka. And it's really gooooood.
On our last night, we also visited the Aoyama Flower Market (cafe) which everyone on the net said you shouldn't miss so we gave it a go. It was pretty impressive and like everyone else praised, you're eating inside this glass "greenhouse" which has all this whimsical, enchanting vibes that would be really great if you're going there as a couple.
We got ourselves tea and this really photogenic rose parfait. As usual, Japan is doing their parfaits right.
Right after that, we chatted with our host over LINE and decided to have dinner at a cheap sushi joint based on his recommendation! It wasn't exactly cheap since it's sushi, but it's 150¥ to 220¥ per plate depending on what you got. It was pretty worth it if you ask me because their sushis are so fresh!! Sadly though, I didn't take note of the name of the sushi joint LOL and it isn't exactly findable on Trip Advisor cause the only people who reviewed the place were only the Japanese locals.
We got to know our host and his culture better over dinner but it was already going to be the last night. ):
Day 15 (Akihabara)
I left day 14 out because other than travelling from Shibuya to Asakusa where our new stay (Asakusa Hotel Wasou) is located, we didn't do anything else because the weather was incorrigibly cold at 4 degrees. Even the locals themselves hid at home. And so, that's what we did too because we didn't own any winter clothes that could brave the ridiculous cold that day.
On Day 15, we went to the Akihabara Electric town, popular for its many electronic stores and buildings dedicated to selling anime/manga merchandises. It's pretty much another otaku day for us HAHA.
But there were a significant amount of hentai shops LOL. And they are pretty open about it and it isn't illegal in Japan. In fact, you can grab porn magazines in their convenience stores too.
It was funny cause they have some really weird stuff like a boob squeeze ball and of course I took pictures of it to send them to my friends HAHAHA. While I was at Akihabara, there were a lot of things to see but nothing I'd get. Similar to Ikebukuro/Nakano Broadway, they have loads of figurines, posters and keychains etc but they're mostly targeted towards the males.
We also went to a maid cafe!! I believe we were dragged into the cafe by one of the maids and we had instant regrets when we realised they have a fee of 700¥ per person even if we were sharing a table?! What blasphemy?!
Their food was overpriced too. I guess that's what you'd expect from a maid cafe LOL so we each got ourselves a parfait.
And it was sushi for dinner too! This is our third sushi place in Tokyo thus far and it was quite good too!! Prices ranged from 90¥ to 550¥ with most of the sashimi in the 200 range. Love their fat tuna!!
At the end of the day, I realised the bulk of my spendings went to kitkat?? LOL. I spent at least $60 on those chocolates because I just grabbed all the flavours that are not available in Singapore off the shelves. This is why I got fatter while I was still in and after Japan.
Day 16 (Asakusa)
On our last day in Tokyo, we decided to explore Asakusa, where our hotel is located. It's actually one of the places we are most excited to explore because other than the food streets, there is a temple, shrine and amusement park. The only downside of it all was that it was too cold (nine degrees celsius) to actually go for thrill rides so we gave that a pass ):
But it's quite a pretty place with a lot of vintage carousels and what not. I wanted to at least take a couple of photos there but I didn't. You should if you could.
While we were at the temple, we paid 100¥ to have our fortunes told HAHAH. I got regular fortune, but the description is in broken English so I couldn't barely decipher what it's trying to foretell...
Just a street away from the temple, we arrived at this kaiten sushi joint for our lunch! The sushi was ranging from 180¥ to 550¥ but it's the best sushi I had ever!!! They have the best salmon (which was 200¥) and the best unagi omg I am really craving for some.
The chef tried talking to us and I would say we did fairly well in holding a conversation LOL. This is the fruit of our labour after being stranded in a country, just the two of us, without much knowledge about the Japanese language.
After we checked out in the afternoon, we made way for the Edo-Tokyo museum! We were quite interested in Japan's history, especially the Edo period while it was still the shogunate rule and so we went for it. Plus, it's a pretty good way to spend our last few hours in Tokyo.
Before we boarded the overnight bus back to Osaka and then the Kansai airport, we bought ourselves some other Japanese snacks and Tokyo Banana haha.
If you ever think of going to Japan, rather than visiting the touristy places or hunting for places recommended on Trip Advisor, I would really recommend you try immersing yourself with into their culture. Learn some Japanese, talk to the locals, stay in quieter districts and live the way they do and get lost a couple of times. You'll sometimes find yourself a gem, and I think that makes travels the most meaningful of all. We often found ourselves some really good bookstores, food place or candy/craft store when we got lost, and believe me we got lost a lot LOL.
That's pretty much it for our 17 days in Japan!
Day 10 & 11 (Shinjuku, Shibuya and Harajuku)
While we were at Tokyo, our accommodation was airbnb for four days and a backpacker's inn for the last two! Airbnb is your best bet at getting cheap accommodation around the popular spots in Tokyo, so go for it early. Our apartment, which we shared with our host, was located relatively near the Shinjuku, Shibuya area so it was easy for us to get to the shopping districts, which we spent the two days covering.
You can check out various blogs like ladyironchef on some of the cafes to visit cause there are quite a few quaint cafes around.
For transport, we had to purchase another card (Suica) since the Icoca card is not valid in Tokyo. But it works pretty much the same, like your ezlink but with a deposit of 500¥.
You've probably read about how Harajuku is this street for all the hippies or the young ones. It's practically a street of pop culture with fashion of all sorts - cosplay, goth, lolita and practically everything you can think of. It's such a cool place with people from all walks of life, I was pretty mind blown by the wackiness of it all. It has a completely different air and vibe as compared to Osaka and Kyoto, but I loved it!! It's all about embracing one's individuality here haha.
We did quite some shopping here, and they have really cute clothes!! The Japanese generally has got a lot of cute lingerie so... Hehe ;)
We also tried the crepes that they are so famous for. Even though I hate whipped cream with a passion, their crepes were actually quite nice.
The next day we spent most of our time at Shibuya, and I don't think it's too different from Orchard to be honest. But if you shop at the men's section of Forever21, you can nab a lot nice clothes at a very good deal!! Practically everything I got for Brandon - jeans, a cardigan, a sweater and berms - is practically less than $20 per item?! This is the first time I've heard guys fashion being this cheap HAHAHA.
We also queued for the famous Ichiran Ramen and omg you must try it!! If you are a fan of spicy stuff, you have to try their ramen with four/five times their special sauce (spicy). That's what Trisha and I did and we certainly have no regrets. It was so hard not to overeat.
As for our dinner on the first night, we had sushi at sushitei as recommended on Trip Advisor but it was pretty expensive (compared to the other joints we went thereafter). For most of the time we were in Tokyo, we had really fantastic sushi if not chiraishi/salmon bowls.
I also got myself a new pair of Nikes that night! My previous flyknit was actually stolen at the corrdior (lol I know right how even) but now it's a pair of black flex! And yes it's cheaper in Japan.
We concluded the second night with a game of dota because we haven't been playing in so long... LOL. And yes, staying in an apartment is definitely gonna give you better Internet.
Oh and it was also the first night we met our host since he was away the night before. We had a couple of communication barriers every now and then but it's nothing Google translate can't really solve. And yes I need to mention that he's a cutie. HAHAHA.
Day 10 & 11 spending:
Suica card - 2000¥
Breakfast - 710¥
Film rolls - 1580¥
Salmon bowl & karaage - 1183¥
Crepe - 810¥
Bubbletea - 420¥
Calbee chips - 115¥
Calbee souvenirs - 1739¥
Apparels - 4320¥
Accessories - 2366¥
Ebi burger set - 699¥
Ichiran ramen - 1020¥
Forever21 - 7753¥
Yogurt - 212¥
Nike - 8482¥
Curry rice - 610¥
TOTAL: 34933¥
Day 12 & 13 (Ikebukuro & Nakano Broadway)
If you are no otaku, these two days are going to bore you to death LOL. Not that I'm an otaku but I do enjoy indulging in some mangas and animes every now and then. Being at Ikebukuro/Nakano gave me my fair share of my handsome 2D eye candies. These two locations are targeted more towards the females.
We were basically looking at a lot manags and merchandises. I spent half of my time there what snapping pictures of the weirdest figurines and toys to Zhiyi and Brandon. And they were pretty entertained by how bizarre their stuff can be.
I also got Zhiyi his overpriced kendama in Japan. I still don't get how those wooden toys can be as expensive as $45.
I love their bookstores too. It's a pity everything is in Japan (who am I kidding) but I still bought (quite a lot of) their mangas anyway. This is my attempt to be better at Japanese. I'm not taking any classes as of yet but I will get better at the language!!
Oh and we Okonomiyaki for one of our lunches since we didn't get to try them while we were in Osaka. And it's really gooooood.
On our last night, we also visited the Aoyama Flower Market (cafe) which everyone on the net said you shouldn't miss so we gave it a go. It was pretty impressive and like everyone else praised, you're eating inside this glass "greenhouse" which has all this whimsical, enchanting vibes that would be really great if you're going there as a couple.
We got ourselves tea and this really photogenic rose parfait. As usual, Japan is doing their parfaits right.
Right after that, we chatted with our host over LINE and decided to have dinner at a cheap sushi joint based on his recommendation! It wasn't exactly cheap since it's sushi, but it's 150¥ to 220¥ per plate depending on what you got. It was pretty worth it if you ask me because their sushis are so fresh!! Sadly though, I didn't take note of the name of the sushi joint LOL and it isn't exactly findable on Trip Advisor cause the only people who reviewed the place were only the Japanese locals.
We got to know our host and his culture better over dinner but it was already going to be the last night. ):
Day 12 & 13 spending:
Transport - 2000¥
Smoothie - 350¥
Apparel - 980¥
Okonomiyaki - 1382¥
Doujinshi - 5508¥
Godiva - 590¥
Dinner (kfc) - 835¥
Ichigo milk - 324¥
Lunch (soba) - 370¥
Meiji chocolates - 192¥
Merchandise - 630¥
Zhiyi's kendama - 4104¥
Doujinshi - 700¥
Aoyama flower marker (parfait & tea) - 1107¥
Dinner (sushi) - 8183¥
TOTAL: 20152¥
Day 15 (Akihabara)
I left day 14 out because other than travelling from Shibuya to Asakusa where our new stay (Asakusa Hotel Wasou) is located, we didn't do anything else because the weather was incorrigibly cold at 4 degrees. Even the locals themselves hid at home. And so, that's what we did too because we didn't own any winter clothes that could brave the ridiculous cold that day.
On Day 15, we went to the Akihabara Electric town, popular for its many electronic stores and buildings dedicated to selling anime/manga merchandises. It's pretty much another otaku day for us HAHA.
But there were a significant amount of hentai shops LOL. And they are pretty open about it and it isn't illegal in Japan. In fact, you can grab porn magazines in their convenience stores too.
It was funny cause they have some really weird stuff like a boob squeeze ball and of course I took pictures of it to send them to my friends HAHAHA. While I was at Akihabara, there were a lot of things to see but nothing I'd get. Similar to Ikebukuro/Nakano Broadway, they have loads of figurines, posters and keychains etc but they're mostly targeted towards the males.
We also went to a maid cafe!! I believe we were dragged into the cafe by one of the maids and we had instant regrets when we realised they have a fee of 700¥ per person even if we were sharing a table?! What blasphemy?!
Their food was overpriced too. I guess that's what you'd expect from a maid cafe LOL so we each got ourselves a parfait.
And it was sushi for dinner too! This is our third sushi place in Tokyo thus far and it was quite good too!! Prices ranged from 90¥ to 550¥ with most of the sashimi in the 200 range. Love their fat tuna!!
At the end of the day, I realised the bulk of my spendings went to kitkat?? LOL. I spent at least $60 on those chocolates because I just grabbed all the flavours that are not available in Singapore off the shelves. This is why I got fatter while I was still in and after Japan.
Transport - 1210¥
Taiyaki - 175¥
Souvenirs - 350¥
Kit kat - 5219¥
Maid cafe - 1587¥
Takoyaki - 300¥
Dinner (sushi) - 1490¥
Audio Technica Earpiece - 1340¥
Ribbon - 540¥
TOTAL: 10871¥
Day 16 (Asakusa)
On our last day in Tokyo, we decided to explore Asakusa, where our hotel is located. It's actually one of the places we are most excited to explore because other than the food streets, there is a temple, shrine and amusement park. The only downside of it all was that it was too cold (nine degrees celsius) to actually go for thrill rides so we gave that a pass ):
But it's quite a pretty place with a lot of vintage carousels and what not. I wanted to at least take a couple of photos there but I didn't. You should if you could.
While we were at the temple, we paid 100¥ to have our fortunes told HAHAH. I got regular fortune, but the description is in broken English so I couldn't barely decipher what it's trying to foretell...
Just a street away from the temple, we arrived at this kaiten sushi joint for our lunch! The sushi was ranging from 180¥ to 550¥ but it's the best sushi I had ever!!! They have the best salmon (which was 200¥) and the best unagi omg I am really craving for some.
The chef tried talking to us and I would say we did fairly well in holding a conversation LOL. This is the fruit of our labour after being stranded in a country, just the two of us, without much knowledge about the Japanese language.
After we checked out in the afternoon, we made way for the Edo-Tokyo museum! We were quite interested in Japan's history, especially the Edo period while it was still the shogunate rule and so we went for it. Plus, it's a pretty good way to spend our last few hours in Tokyo.
Before we boarded the overnight bus back to Osaka and then the Kansai airport, we bought ourselves some other Japanese snacks and Tokyo Banana haha.
If you ever think of going to Japan, rather than visiting the touristy places or hunting for places recommended on Trip Advisor, I would really recommend you try immersing yourself with into their culture. Learn some Japanese, talk to the locals, stay in quieter districts and live the way they do and get lost a couple of times. You'll sometimes find yourself a gem, and I think that makes travels the most meaningful of all. We often found ourselves some really good bookstores, food place or candy/craft store when we got lost, and believe me we got lost a lot LOL.
Temple fortune - 100¥
Drink - 150¥
Lunch (sushi) - 2280¥
Museum entrance fee - 650¥
Tokyo Banana - 4800¥
Dinner (chiraishi bowl & karaage) - 2010¥
TOTAL: 9990¥
That's pretty much it for our 17 days in Japan!
Check out my other posts on Japan:
▶ #TRIPPinJAPAN (part 1) - Japan tips
▶ #TRIPPinJAPAN (part 2) - Osaka Day 1, 2 & 3
▶ #TRIPPinJAPAN (part 3) - Kyoto Day 5, 6 & 7
▶ #TRIPPinJAPAN (part 4) - Kyoto Day 8 & 9
▶ #TRIPPinJAPAN (part 5) - Tokyo Day 10 to 17
▶ #TRIPPinJAPAN - iPhone Visuals #1
▶ #TRIPPinJAPAN - iPhone Visuals #2
