i am a magnet to incredible opportunities {Tokyo}

It was time to say goodbye to Disney in Tokyo and start exploring the city. 

 

Our next morning in Japan, we had checked out of our Disney Celebration hotel and took our bags on a journey over to Ikspiari where we stopped for a Starbucks and some final Disney shopping. 

We all tried the Sakura latte and I also had a strawberry and crème donut. It was dense and not overly sweet but pillowy and light. The drink was a very light on the coffee and mostly milky with a light berry sensation. 

We navigated the trains like pros using Google maps. It was a little hard carrying our giant luggage around with us, but we made it happen. I also found the easiest way to pay for transport was using the Suica tap to go card.  

We dropped our luggage at the Hilton Shinjuku and headed into the city for some adventuring. 

 

 

Our first stop was in Shinjuku, the Disney flagship store, which had arguably more adorable merchandise than even the Disney parks did. 

Lunch time we went to the viral Shin Udon. We waited virtually for about an hour and then like an hour in person at the restaurant. We tried the viral udon carbonara and the hot soy sauce, butter, pepper udon. It was next level warm comfort food, and so worth the wait. This was the best thing we ate in all of Tokyo. 

Next we took the train to Harajuku to explore Takeshita St. Since it was a holiday weekend, it was wildly busy. 

We took some classic sticky pics and did some shopping. 

 We had a crepe from Santa Monica crepe, which was tasty but so messy, and a sugared strawberry and marshmallow, which was good but I’ve had better versions of it. 

A lot of places closed around 7pm, so we took the train back in the direction of our hotel, which was also funny because Meredith made it on to the train and Taylor and I did not. So we waved goodbye to her before meeting up at our station stop.

First we stopped at the congested hallway of a street, Omoide Yokocho, where many tourists find smokey bbq stalls to eat at. I personally found is congested and not my favorite area, but the culture piece was really cool. 

 

We also went to visit the Godzilla head.

We stopped in a Don Don Don Donkeyyy, Don Quijote, which is a store that sells literally everything and it’s wildly packed. 

 

We walked past the Joenji Temple on the way home which looked like a traditional Japanese style home and was quite neat. 

 ....and we just enjoyed the night air walking around the chilly city.

We grabbed another 7/11 dinner before checking in to our hotel. I tried the viral strawberry sandwich, and we’re all confused because it was just white bread with whipped cream and strawberries in it. I really really liked the beef and potato croquette though.

Finally time to settle it in for the night and we were all thrilled, but this hotel had pillows that would actually support our neck at the Hilton Shinjuku.

In the morning, breakfast was included with our hotel stay, and it even had an omelette station.

But we popped over to Saint Marc Café, where their popular chocolate croissant and coffee anyways before some work meetings. 

I also ran to 7/11 to try one of the smoothies from the freezer section.

For lunch, we went to my favorite ramen spot, Ichiran, and had a whipped cream coolish for dessert. 

Then I took the train on my own to Shibuya and wandered around a bit. I even passed Tokyo Tower. 

 I found myself on top of Mayashita roof garden, which felt like a neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY

I went into Tower Records in search of anything K pop for my niece, but didn’t find much. Ended up going to Idol Park for her later. 

Also in Shibuya I stopped by another Disney store. 

 

I passed the greatest crosswalk in the world, Shibuya crosswalk.

I found a gachapon store, which is a popular coin operated vending machine with toys in them. 

Shibuya in general is a very touristy area with lots of shopping.

I had dinner at Katsukura Takashimaya and had delicious pork katsu, and yuzu lemon soda. 

I then wandered back to the hotel for an early evening before an early departure the next day. We would be boarding the ship and it was time to say goodbye to Tokyo. I found myself unexpectedly sad to be leaving the city, but I had such a great visit.

Stay tuned as our greatest adventure is yet to come! 

 

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