national garden

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I was fortunate enough to have spent 7 full days in Tokyo. To some it may seem like a lot, but each day was a new adventure to me. There’s so much to do in this city. It can be a little overwhelming to figure out what’s what, so I thought it’d be helpful to create a guide for those who have never been and highlight some of my favorite things to do in this huge city.

So here’s a guide to maximize your 3 days in Tokyo.

Day 1: Shinjuku

You could spend a whole day in just this ward. Tons of shopping, eating and sight seeing all in one place. This is the best place to just wonder without a map and enjoy the sights and sounds of this great neighborhood. Here are my favorites…

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
The best time to visit this garden is definietly cherry blossom season but it’s super hard to plan for. But even if it’s not spring, this garden is BEAUTIFUL all on it’s on. Everything is so well manicured and clean. It’s a great to grab a picnic basket, your best friend and spend a lovely afternoon in the garden.

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just a couple of girlfriends chit chatting

Food
Especially if you’re jet lagged, this Ichiran is the perfect ramen spot because its open 24 hours. You even sit in these little divided tables (think DMV type testing seats). Once you’ve been served, they’ll close the curtain in front of you so you have total privacy and can enjoy the full flavor of your noodle soup.

Din Tai Feng for some serious yums. A taiwanese restaurant transplanted in Tokyo known for their soup dumplings. Theres usually a wait, but its totally worth it. Located on one of the top floors of Takashimaya Times Square, which is cool all on it’s own. Each floor is dedicated to a certain department (women, men, homeware, kimonos, etc.) so work your way though times square and then have Din Tai Feng as a reward.

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For dinner or some evening entertainment, you gotta check out the Robot Restaurant.  It’s kind of hard to describe. Imagine a super trippy drug experience summarized in song, dance, color and lights.

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Day 2: Tokyo Skytree, Akihabara, Night Photography Tour

Located in Sumida, it’s a bit of a hike to make it to Tokyo Skytree but it brings an interesting perspective to Tokyo that makes it worth it. I’d try to go early as possible to avoid lines or evening time to see the city light up.

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Taken in the middle of the day, Tokyo skytree created a cool shadow over the city.

On your way back to the hotel, stop by the Akihabara ward. Known for all things electronic, anime and manga, it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen. The heart of the city has tall buildings all covered by anime and manga posters. Pretty cool to see in a city. My favorite part was the electronic store, Yodabashi. For example, the first floor was everything cell phone related, the second floor was all computers, etc, etc, etc. If you’re like me, you’ll want to head to the fifth floor for the camera equipment. It’s like photo heaven.

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This is just the escalators to get in between the floors. Yea, it’s pretty awesome.

Our absolute favorite dessert in Tokyo were these mini cheese tarts from Pablo. They’re sooooo good and the ones from Akihabara were baked fresh on the premises so they’re warm when we ate them. They came in three different flavors and in order of my favorite to least is cheese, green tea, chocolate.  I can’t emphasize enough how good they were. I wish I had one now.

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And if you’re not too tired, check out EYExplore Tokyo photo tours. I highly, highly recommend the veritgo tour but they also offer some cool night time tours in Shinjuku and Shibuya. This is a totally unique experience and its super fun to bring home images you’d be proud of at the end of your whole Tokyo experience.

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One of the cool views you could see on the Vertigo Tour Photo Tour from EYExplore Tokyo

Day 3: Harajuku and Shibuya

Before leaving on the trip, I knew I wanted to go to Harajuku. I heard so much about the girls, fashion and street style that it seemed like a super hip place. It definietly did not disappoint. A great place to go to pick up some unique gifts for friends and family but also people watch.

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It can get pretty crowded, so be prepared for that.

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Last but not least, Shibuya is a place that should not be missed. Home to the busiest crosswalk ever, it’s a sight to see! You’ll be amazed. This short video clip was taken at 11p at night. Can you imagine what it’s like during rush hour? My head still can’t wrap around how many people there are in this tiny space.


Video taken from the the walkway between the Keio Station (Inokashira Line).

But Shibuya has plenty of restaurants and stores to walk around and see. Our favorite place to eat was Joto Curry. It was so good we ate there twice. My favorite part was watching the food being prepared. My mouth is watering just thinking about it again.

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So there it is! 3 days in Tokyo! My favorite things to do and eat. Hope you enjoyed. If you feel like I missed something, please let me know in the comments. Or if you’ve been to any of these places, let me know too so we can reminisce on how fun everything is 🙂

Safe travels!!

* All food images taken with my iphone 6.

All photos available for print and licensing >

Visiting Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden on a rainy day isn’t too bad if you have an umbrella. There are barely any people and its like you have the whole place to yourself. It’s a great time to throw the umbrella and run around the place with your hands in the air like Phoebe from Friends.

All photos available for print and licensing >

Shinjuku Gyoen park is the perfect place to view the cherry blossoms. The first time we tried to go, it was closed. We only had an hour the second time we went. And this was taken on the third attempt. But somehow we’d still get lost whenever we tried to go. I’d put it into our GPS and Shinjuku Gyoen sounded like Shinjuku”jail”. I was startled me every time I heard it.