Shinjuku and surroundings

Landed at 8am local time.

Got our Japanese SIM set up to be able to use data and maps here. Got our public transport card set up. Loved the random Hello Kitty theme.

Got on the metro which was surprisingly easy to navigate. 50 minutes later, we're at the hotel.

First stop:
Shinjuku Gyoen national Garden.
Lovely traditional Japanese garden with carps, bridges, pavilions, the works. Surrounded by skyscrapers on all sides.

Second stop:
Shin Udon.
This restaurant is all over the internet! It specialises in udon noodles which are thick and chewy. The come in all sorts of dishes. You can get them cold and dry, cold and in sauce, warm and dry, warm and in broth, warm and buttered. My tip: get the hot buttery ones with beef and a raw egg. Trust me.
To get in, you show up early and get a ticket saying your wait time to be seated is approximately 3.5 hours. You then go check out the local area for said amount of time before coming back to wait for a table open up.
Once you get in, the restaurant is tiny. About 14 diners can squeeze in there on tiny chairs around tiny tables. I must've knocked into every single person in there causing spilled udon noodles and general awkwardness. Being 182cm, 93kg in Japan is impractical.
Were the noodles good? Meh. The cold ones weren't. The brothy ones weren't. The buttery ones on the other hand were. The tempura was amazing, though. For 3.5 hours wait and a €40 total bill, you'd expect a bit more. The locals don't seem to go here, and it feels a bit touristy.

General impression of Tokyo:
Massive and busy. Many impressions for a simple boy from Vestby. It is, however, very orderly with security guards on every corner making sure people aren't walking in bike tracks or blocking entrances etc. There are practically no bins around, but still super clean. People often dress a bit quirky with anime themed clothing and hair.

Went to bed at 4pm local time and slept until 11pm. The jet lag is real.Read more