Sabbatical 2025

Our last stop in Japan is Tokyo, one of the most populated cities in the world with over 37 million people in the metro area 😱

We took it easy on our first day, walking around Shinjuku district, visiting a few shopping centers and heading towards the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building for the stunning 360-degree views from its observation decks on the 45th floor 🏙️

In the evening we joined a free walking tour with special focus on the “dark side” of Tokyo.
Our guide told us a lot about Kabukicho district, Japan’s largest entertainment district with bustling nightlife, adult entertainment services, host clubs, and hidden businesses run by the Yakuza. We had a great time, the guide was good and it was only the two of us participating, so it felt more like we were friends walking around the city 😍

The day after we went to TeamLab Borderless, a famous interactive digital art museum. The art moves and interacts with visitors, creating an immersive experience. It is a cool place for making nice pictures 😎
Our afternoon was busy visiting Akihabara district, which is filled with stores dedicated to anime, manga, video games, and maid cafes.

The next morning we went to Gotokuji temple, considered the origin of the lucky cat figurine, with thousands of these statues displayed on the temple grounds. It was the perfect spot for our stuffed cat to make a family picture 😂
In the afternoon we went to the Shibuya scramble crossing. It is crazy how many people cross this intersection every two minutes!

Odaiba, a large artificial island in the bay that is connected to central Tokyo by the rainbow bridge was next on our itinerary. On our way to Odaiba, we stopped at Tsukiji fish market, where you can eat and buy fresh seafood and Japanese delicacies 🍣🍤
On the island it was very nice to have a more quiet time, walking around parks, the beach and enjoying the views over the city by night 🌉

Our Sunday plan was watching a baseball game: Tokyo Yomiuri Giants VS Yokohama BayStars in the Tokyo dome ⚾️
Baseball is the most popular sport in Japan so it was a really nice experience, we even saw a home run! Also, the Tokyo team won! 🥳
In the evening we had booked a restaurant offering an Omakase course. It literally translates to “I leave it up to you”, which means the chef is selecting the dishes, in our case 22 dishes 🤗 He is cooking behind the bar and providing explanations at the same time. There were many interesting combinations of flavors like the appetizer "Grilled Lobster with Sea Urchin" or various kinds of sushi 🤤

On our last day we visited Senso-ji temple, Japan's oldest temple. It was impressive and beautiful but also way too crowded so we did not stay long. We ended our day buying souvenirs and sweets 🍫

We also tried two famous chain restaurants during our stay, one for ramen called Ichiran. Each customer has a little ramen compartment to themselves and the staff interacts with customers on the other side of this compartment. The food was tasty but it was a bit weird to eat in this tiny box.
The second one is Kura Sushi, a conveyor belt sushi restaurant. Here we could enjoy lots of delicious sushi and sashimi at very affordable prices, and it was fun to get our orders delivered on the rack. Something typical Japanese: you were able to join a game. By returning 5 empty plates, you had a chance of winning a sushi figurine 😅

Tokyo was a great experience. It is such a huge and crowded city, and has so much to offer. We both liked it a lot but we also said that we rather enjoy more quiet cities 🤗Baca lagi