Shin Ōhashi

We arrived at Narita airport at 6am this morning. We were exhausted but couldn’t check in until 3pm. We were also freezing and needed some new clothes urgently!
We walked about half an hour up the road from our accomodation to a place called Ueno, where I had researched a second hand shop called Mode Off. There, we were able to pick up all our jackets and jumpers for about $25. I got a coat and a few jumpers, plus a neck warmer. We also popped in UniClo to grab some thermals.

On the way back, we found a local market in Ueno called, which sold heaps of cheap brand name clothes and shoes. There was also plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, including the most perfect strawberries in the world which sell for around $50 each!!! Alex had Takoyaki for lunch from a stall in the market. He got 6 balls for $3, which is very cheap for Tokyo!

We checked into our hotel, which was located right beside the subway and up the road from the famous temples of Asakusa. Our beds were traditional Japanese futons, which are simple thin mattresses on top of bamboo mats. They are quite hard but are fine for a couple night sleep.

In the evening, we met up with Junko to see the illuminations in Shinjuku. We strolled through the lit up streets looking for options for dinner. We finally settled on a coin restaurant, which is where you order your food on a vending machine. It is then cooked for you and served in a small restaurant.

For our second day in Tokyo, we met up with Junko and headed to the imperial palace to explore the palace gardens. Since it’s winter, most trees and flowers were not blooming but we were able to see the Kaki tree with fruit.

After lunch we headed out on the monorail to Odaibo, to see the rainbow bridge as the sun was setting. We aimed to walk home afterward but it was freezing, so we caught the train back to Shinjuku for dinner.

For dinner, we tried a seafood hot pot. The pot of seafood was delivered to our table on a gas stove and we cooked it before eating. We were extremely tired tonight after the last few days of travel, so we headed back to the accomodation straight after dinner for bed.

Today, our third day in Tokyo, was a big day of exploring Tokyo. We met Junko in Harajuku to wander through Yoyogi park. Today, there was a flea market, which had lots of second hand clothes. We had a quick look through there, before heading over to Takeshita Street. This street is famous for its quirky clothes, toys and food. Alex and I tried crepes from the famous Marion Crepes, which is the original Crepe shop of Harajuku. We had Gyoza for lunch before heading over to see the Shinjuku crossing.

We have both seen the crossing before, so after a couple laps of the intersection, we popped back on the subway and headed to Shinjuku.

When we got to Shinjuku, we found Golden Guy, which is a labyrinth of tiny alleyways. There are plenty of miniature bars which sell alcohol and kebabs. We stopped by one of the bars for some plum wine and a kebab.

For dinner, Junko took us to a lovely restaurant in one of the skyscrapers of Tokyo. We we had a course meal. We tried all sorts of sushimi, duck and beef all with a beautiful view of Tokyo city!Leer más