Tokyo (First Round)

This was the first place we visited in Japan. As soon as we landed, we realized - WE WERE IN JAPAN! Haha. I’m sorry, but from Portugal to Tokyo we have to survive 16 hours of flights (Lisbon - Frankfurt - Tokyo), so once you land, you have to be excited!

The first few days were crazy because we were totally jet-lagged and we didn’t know what to do about it. We would go to sleep at what it seemed like a normal time (11, 12 pm) and only slept for 2 or 3 hours. Then, we would wake up at 3 or 4 am or even earlier and couldn’t go back to sleep, so we would start making plans for the next day or something. Obviously, at 6 or 7 pm the next day, we were tired as hell. But oh well, that’s what they call jet-lag.

The first place we stayed, was in Shinjuku, and the hostel name is Book And Bed Tokyo Shinjuku. Really loved this place! Pedro wanted the capsule experience, but I was afraid of feeling claustrophobic, some places are really small and have doors, so he sold me this one by saying there was space for two people to sleep in, and it had curtains instead of a door. The truth is that we “slept” here for two nights, and it didn’t feel weird at all (we stayed in other rooms that were bigger and felt more claustrophobic than this one).

When I saw the pictures on their website, it didn’t look so scary, it seemed a really cozy place with loads of books! Also, I don’t know if we were just lucky with our neighbors, but the place was really quiet, perfect for our jet-lag.

(Watch the video of our little room)

We stayed in total of 6 days in Tokyo (2 days at the beginning of the trip and 4 days at the end), this should seem like a lot of time to visit Tokyo, but to me it seemed too little with all the trips in between and the come and go from one place to another. Also, we took one day to go to Nikko, a 2-hour train distance from Tokyo.

Day 1 - Tokyo

We arrived to Shinjuku, went to the hostel and dropped off our luggage.

One HUGE and important tip that was useful for us, is a service used in Japan to pick up and drop off your luggage so you don’t have to walk around with it! It’s called Takkyubin. Believe me when I say that this is one of the best services in Japan to spend money on!

Because there are so many people on the trains and subway, it's a pain to walk around with backpacks or suitcases. So Takkyubin was a major YES, and also, is not that expensive!

There are a lot of brands with this service, and I think all are good (people in Japan are very efficient and professional). The one we used had a cat on the logo (it's a mom cat carrying a baby kitten), and the name was Yamato Transport.

So, after going to the hostel, we went on a walk around the neighborhood, finding out places like Piss Alley, a busy small alley with lots of street-food-kind-of-restaurants where one of the main specialties served there is yakitori, a kind of skewered chicken, grilled over a charcoal fire. And also, exploring places with arcades and lots of video games!

Later, we went back to the hostel (around 7 or 8 pm) to freshen up before dinner but made the mistake of laying in our bed for a little while and fell asleep until 2 am. That was the first time we said: “welcome into our lives, sweet jet-lag!”

Day 2 - Toyosu, Meiji Shrine and Shibuya

After a long night of not sleeping and acting like we were high, we finally decided to “woke up”, freshen up, get dressed, eat breakfast, and face a new day in Tokyo!

Our plan for the day was to go to the new market “Toyosu Fish Market” for some breakfast/ lunch, yes, we ate sushi at 10 am in the morning, don’t judge us! In Portugal was very late and we didn't have dinner the night before!

And guess what? We had the BEST sushi of our lives in there. I don’t remember the name of the place, only that was inside the market, but it was, can I say perfection? It was perfection.

After breakfast/ lunch, someone recommended the teamLab Borderless Museum, so we decided to go and take a look. The tickets were not cheap, like 20€ each, and I was not expecting much (something you need to know about me is that I expect too much, and it’s a big flaw, cause most times I end up not enjoying things as I should, since I’m too worried about everything being perfect), but it was unexpected, I can't describe how awesome some of the rooms are. If you’re in Tokyo, go there! My tip, wear shorts or pants that you can roll up because it’s going to get wet!

After teamLab Museum, we decided to go to the Meiji Shrine and the nearby Yoyogi Park to see some cherry blossom trees since it was Springtime and what they call, the Sakura Season (Sugoi!) "Sugoi" is a common Japanese word, usually written in kana alone, generally meaning 'great' or 'amazing'. It's often used in phrases such as 'waa! Sugoi ne!', meaning 'Wow!

Later that night, we decided to go to the iconic Shibuya crossing intersection (I never seen anything like it)). We crossed it like 5 times the first time to take pictures and shoot videos, and a few more times on the last days, but just to walk to the other side, I swear! The last time, cause we weren’t distracted shooting or taking pictures, we realized what really goes on in there. You have the people that come from work on their daily routine, then you have tourists trying to take photos of everyone (me!), the ones trying to take selfies, the ones who talk towards the camera while crossing describing what they’re doing, it’s quite a spectacle! If you want to stop and observe what really goes on in there, just go to the Starbucks, one or two floors up, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the show!

After Shibuya, we decided to have dinner at Ichiran Ramen, which apparently, is one of the most popular ramen brands in Japan, so we had to try it!

A tip - In Tokyo, while searching for restaurants and stores, you have to remember to also look up because some of them are inside the buildings and the name is outside on the seventh floor and you won't notice (that happened with the hostel). And google maps isn’t smart enough to tell you to look up!

When we arrived, we were shocked because the line was huge, but we really wanted to try, so we stayed strong. Surprisingly, it was fast, and in 20 min we were choosing in the machine what to eat. Now, the unusual thing about this restaurant is that you never see the waiters face, you only see a glimpse of their hands while serving the food. You have a seat in a booth that has a window where the food comes out! The ramen was really good and the prices were affordable. I think if we had more time we would come back here.

After dinner, we walked around Shinjuku once again, looking for more Arcades and absorbing the nightlife in Tokyo, but it was time to go to bed and congratulate ourselves for making through a whole day without even blinking! Time to go to sleep, next day - OSAKA!