Travelogue: Tokyo Travel Guide 2015 (Places To Go, Things To Do)

Having been to Japan 5 times in the past 2 years. I've finally got down to doing travel guide for one of my favourite country in the world! Here's a general idea of what to do in Tokyo, Japan if you have less than a week to explore. Maybe I'll do a budget Japan post in future. Just maybe. Hah.

Tokyo Travel Guide

• Asakusa*
  -See the famous Senso-Ji (Asakusa Kannon Temple)
  -Eat street food along Nakamise-Dori
  -Rent kimono and take lots of photos there
  -Have fun pretending to be a Japanese

• Shinjuku*
  -Lots of food and shopping malls
  -Exit at Central exit to start exploring the intersections
  -Picnic at Shinjuku Gyoen during sakura season

• Harajuku*
  -See the Meiji Shrine (Meiji Jingu)
  -Walk from Shibuya if time permits
  -Explore the very crowded Takeshita-Dori
  -Eat plenty of street snacks
  -Try freshly fried potato crisps from Calbee
  -Try the crepes from the famous Angel Hearts (personal preference) or Marion Crepes
  -Go to DIASO (4 levels high)
  -Walk straight through Takeshita-Dori to find plenty of sneaker stores (Try ATMOS)

• Shibuya*
  -Shop at the many shopping malls there
  -Eat at Ichiran Ramen (2 locations)
  -Cross the Shibuya Crossing
  -Chill by the window seat at L'Occitane Cafe facing the famous crossing

• Ueno*
  -Walk through Ameyoko Street
  -Buy cheap snacks from Niki no Kashi (二木の菓子)
  -Visit Ueno Park during sakura season 

• Odaiba*
  -See the huge Gundam at DiverCity
  -Shop and Eat among the many stores in DiverCity
  -Shop at Kura Chika at Aquacity (Porter products)
  -Chill/Play/Eat at Oedo Onsen Monogatari (Onsen themepark)

• Tsukiji/Tsukiji Shijo*
  -Queue at the famous sushi joints (Sushi Dai or Sushi Daiwa)
  -Eat at any stores if you're short of time
  -Eat really fresh sushi with entertaining chefs (if you're lucky)

• Maihama*
  -Visit Disneyland and Disneysea
  -Eat yummy themed food
  -Shop for adorable Disney merchandise 

• Hamamatsucho/Daimon
  -See the sunset and Tokyo Tower at Tokyo World Trade Center
  -Chill and eat while watching the gorgeous sight before you 

• Akihabara
  -Visit here for electronics, otaku and anime stuff
  -Play at the many arcade stores here

• Mitaka
  -Visit the famous Studio Ghibli
  -Get tickets from Lawson convenience store or your local JTB outlet

• Roppongi
  -See one of the best Christmas illumination area in Tokyo

*must go

-updated oct 2015

PS will be updating this travel guide with pictures later on! also more details if possible.
ask.fm/nsofina for questions if you have any!

Photos of the areas I mentioned below.

Hello Japan! (Day 1)

Day 1

A must to have my wifi on the go! Collected it at Narita Terminal 2. Very fast process!

First Train via JR Pass.

Reached Narita at 10.30am and it takes about an hour over to exchange the JR pass from the exchange office. The queue is too long! I guess it's peak season hence there's a flood of tourist eh? Last summer wasn't this bad.

By the way, the JR Pass is so amazing. The convenience of it is worth the money. No need to buy tickets for every single trip, Going pass the gates fast. Cutting through the terminals is a breeze. Except you'll have to reserve seats for NEX and the Shinkansen to guarantee a seat! I got it from JTB over at Singapore. Oh yes, I missed my train before and all I did was to present my JR Pass and they issue me the next available ticket. 

Welcome to Takeshita-Dori!

Onward from Narita - Harajuku for my first stop. (approx 90mins) Deposited my luggage at the station. Small lockers are 300yen and big ones are 500yen.

Ahhh my beloved crepe! I'm not exaggerating that one of the reason why I'm at Japan is just to eat crepe. Yupp, it is THAT awesome. Mixed berries cheesecake crepe (400+yen) from Angel Hearts.

SO YUMMY! LOOKS GOOD TOO!

Rushed over to Ueno. Seriously, it's like the opposite of the line from Harajuku. But I really wanted to see sakura! Hence, how even though it's a hassle to travel to and fro. All is worth it! Check out the photos.

Strong winds and a split fringe. Haha.
All bundled up! Tokyo is really cold with harsh sunlight though. Sort of a good weather!?

Jammed packed with humans and trees with the whitest and pinkest flowers. Mind-blowing actually. I never actually thought I'll be very much interested in sakura. Because mainly I'm not a nature-nature person. After this trip, it's safe to say I love sakuras!

Hello, a bit too many people okay.

So so gorgeous.
*faints*

Little did I know that these are the full bloom everyone is talking about! So lucky to catch it!
_

Manage to snap a couple of photos and gotta rush to catch the Shinkansen to Kyoto. It takes about 2-3hrs. Reached around 8pm and found my ryokan. It's not memorable enough to talk about it. So I'll skip it. It's better in hotels and backpackers. 

Oh by the way, Japan is really cold this season. I have to put on 2 jackets and even so, it's still freezing!

_

Day 2 in Kyoto soon!