3 days in TOKYO, JAPAN

to read my post about all 13 days I spent in Japan this trip, click here!

for my full Japan photo gallery, click here

To say I was like a kid in a candy store in all of Japan would be an understatement. I was blown away by the depth of the culture, the kindness of the people, and how different it felt from everywhere else I had been before. I realized after writing about three days in Tokyo alone (the trip altogether was thirteen days), that I needed to make this it's own post. So, without further adieu...

Wednesday:

My friend, colleague, and perpetual travel partner Georgie and I flew a red-eye from Hong Kong which landed us in a frigid Tokyo around 4:00am. At the train

station in the airport I bought, and topped up, a Pasmo (Japan's subway card). I'm so glad I did because I was able to use this all over Japan, not just in Tokyo. We took the train to our first stay, Hikari House, a cozy guesthouse with a very welcoming older gentleman at reception. While check-in was at 2:00pm (and we didn't have the energy we thought we would to go out and explore right away) we were able to leave our luggage in the hallway and hangout in the common area where there were couches, a table, a mini kitchen area, and a KOTATSU. I was so excited to learn what a kotatsu was - a short table you sit on the floor at with blankets attached to the edges and a heating mechanism attached to the underside of the table. You sit on the floor with your legs inside as it heats you up. It's the most incredible invention I've seen anywhere. I loved it so much. I sat under the kotatsu until I was warm and comfortable enough with my new surroundings to go sleep on the tiny couch, next to a curled-up Georgie.

Once we had slept enough to have energy, we headed out in search of Georgie's favorite (completely) vegan ramen spot T's Tan Tan. They have a couple locations inside train stations (you do end up paying a small fee to the station if you go in for the food without going anywhere (150Y =$1.50) but it's worth it). Over our entire time in Japan, I think we ate this ramen on three different occasions. I once got the black sesame and twice got the golden sesame ramen. This dish is so delicious and hits all the flavor points. Creamy, crunchy (sprouts), mix of veggies, and delicious and perfectly cooked ramen noodles. It's good 'til the last drop of broth. I added some gyoza on the side which were also delicious. Everything on the menu here is vegan! a major ++

After this, we visited Ueno Park and wandered around until we could go back and check-in to our room. Once inside, we had a very tiny room with two twin beds and an excellent heater. There wasn't much space left for our bags, but we did have a window that made it feel less boxed-in. The bathrooms and shower rooms were down the hall and shared. Neither a small room nor separate bathrooms bothers me, especially when I'm traveling with friends, because we spend minimal time in the room (really only use it to sleep). The shower rooms had a separate vanity area that made it easy to shower and get ready in a well-heated space. This is key for me when traveling in cold weather.

For dinner we stumbled on another vegan cafe, called Ain Soph, that we also returned to many times! The mac n cheese was sooo creamy (box Kraft mac n cheese style but WAY tastier). Over three visits we had mac n cheese three times, a "burger", a "chkn" sandwich, and burrito bowl. ALL delicious and nutritious. This place has many locations so it's worth looking up. I would go back in a heartbeat (and did a few times).

We had booked a reservation for a show this night at Kawaii Monster Cafe, a trippy Harajuku cafe, where we met our roommates from Hong Kong and sat under giant mushrooms watching women dressed in full harajuku styled outfits dance on top of a giant rotating cupcake. Oh but if you think the fun stops there, just wait. At the end of the show, we were given shots and invited to dance on top of the cupcake. Do you think I said no!? It's a very enthusiastic yes from me dawg. AND they gave us churros. CHURROS. This became the unexpected pregame to hype us up for a night of drinking sake and romping around Tokyo bars. Where we went from here, I couldn't tell you. But it was fun.

Thursday:

The next day we had booked tickets to go to the teamLab Borderless museum. Again, anther trippy museum with interactive pictures projected onto the walls, floors, and ceilings. We spent hours inside here (three and a half to be exact), and had we not both been very hungry and thirsty, we could have stayed longer. There is a cafe inside, however, we locked everything in lockers before entering, only bringing our phones and cameras... and didn't think to grab our wallets. derp.

TIPS for teamLab Borderless: we went late because we were feeling the big night we had. Go when they open if you want to avoid crowds. If you want to see the famous lantern room, and you want no people in your pictures, go early and immediately to that room. The museum will fill quickly. We had to wait in line 20 minutes for the lantern room, and spent all of 2 minutes inside. It's over in a flash, so go with a strategy if you care about having no people in your pictures.

After the museum, we headed to what became one of my favorite areas in Tokyo, Yurakucho. Walking around the streets here I saw so so so many restaurants and bars I wanted to explore. This ranged from higher-end, to grungier gyoza bars, local noodle spots nestled underneath the train tracks and everything in between. My eyes were in oggle mode and we wandered until we settled on a spot where I could get some sushi and Georgie could get some sake. This was a place underneath the train tracks called Shushizanmai. It was a packed restaurant with a big sushi bar and lots to observe. I had my fill of sushi, maki, sake, and ginger. A first for me was fermented soy (in maki, which I thought was absolutely disgusting. It tasted like a slimy foot and I was glad to know to steer clear of it, as I saw it many more times throughout the trip. I rarely don't like food and this is something I hope I never eat on accident again.

Friday:

Friday we walked around the Meiji Jingu shrine, a park that felt as regal and wonderful as Madrid's very own Retiro. From here we walked to Takeashita, the Harajuku pedestrain shopping street with enough to keep me entertained for a very long time. We walked in and out of shops, buying snacks and accessories, looking at all the fun fashion and people walking by. The second I saw someone holding a giant cotton-candy, I knew I had to have one too. Up we went into a little cotton-candy shop. Watching the colorful fluff growing and growing as it was spun was incredibly satisfying and relaxing. I headed out onto the (less relaxing - it's very busy) street, sporting my new poofy dangling earrings and a giant poofy edible accessory with a bigger smile on my face than any child would have had.

After the sugar rush, we headed to Brown Rice, an aesthetically pleasing organic vegan restaurant to get some power-food in our stomachs. I loved everything about this space. The neutral tones were welcoming and the food was delicious. From here we trained over to Shimo-Kitazawa, a neighborhood with a chill-trendy artistic vibe. We popped in and out of the many vintage clothing stores that exist here, bakeries, tiny sake bars, and unique cafes. I admired the streets made of low and colorful buildings and the street art.

Soon, we headed back to Shinjuku where our hotel was, for one last Tokyo novelty that I just had to indulge: a 2D cafe. When I realized there was one right near where we were staying, I added it to our list. It was fun for photos, but would have been better at a slow time. There were lots of people inside at 5:00pm. Normally, I would go somewhere like this at an off-peak time, but I ran out of time to do so. The tea itself was not my favorite here. There were cakes and desserts too but, I wasn't coming for any of that anyways, let's be honest.

We had time to get one more vegan burger/mac n cheese at Ain Soph before it was time to join our ski trip booked through Tokyo Gaigens. We headed to the meet up area and waited for fellow skiers and snowboarders to join. We packed into the bus, which took us the 3-4 hours to our first ski destination: Myoko!

Saturday/Sunday:

I'm not going to get in-depth on the ski trips here because the skiing could be it's whole own post, BUT... read (and laugh) about my first experience in a Japanese Onsen (natural-hot-spring nude spa) HERE.

photos from elsewhere in Japan are below, or you can read about the other 10 days (including ski trips!) here.