Tokyo, like many other capitals, really has a "big city feeling" to it...I mean it´s busy, crowded and good place for shopping and visiting museums. Here are all my recommendations on what to do and eat;
Me VS little boy, lol
What to do in Tokyo?
Shibuya district (Shibuya Crossing street and shopping)
Asakusa area (market and temple)
Tsutaya Bookstore in Daikanyama
Museums (See the list below)
Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo
Sumo Wrestling Show!
Shibuya - A shopping district
Shibuya Crossing street
Actually, I thought it would be sooo much bigger. When I arrived in Shibuya I was thinking "okkk let´s find the famous crossing street" "oh wait..is it just this one...?"
Famous Shibuya Crossing street.
Shibuya 109 - a department store
Shibuya 109 - When I was there, this kind of printed pants/skirts seemed to be in fashion. Also, long skirts, long jackets,...everything long. I really love their style. I got the impression that japanese people in general dress fashionable.
Diana shop!!!!! - my name :P
I was sooo amazed by seeing a shop called Diana. so cool! It was an expensive shoe shop. I had to go inside. While inside a staff asked me "Do you need any help?" I was like "No thank you, I´m just looking around...actually my name is Diana" :PP
I found an interesting bag....
Line shop!!
Chibi Maruko Chan
The Line shop and the little Chibi Maruko Chan shop was a little walk away from the main Shibuya. It was in Jingumae area.
Asakusa area
Nakamise Shopping Street (Orange Street)
Nakamise Shopping Street (Orange Street) - However, I don´t remember finding something special there. There were more like tourist shops, where they have small souvenirs. However, you could always find something to eat, such as a fresh-made Japanese snack. See below!
Onigiri - Japanese snacks
I was recommended the shop Onigiri (japanese rice ball) from my Japanese friend. There you can try the local sweet Onigiri, which is like a rice ball!
Sensō-ji Temple
Sensō-ji - Walking through Nakamise Shopping Street, you will eventually reach this beautiful temple. It´s actually very close to the Japanese snack shop in the above pic!
I love how this picture turned out:P
Tsutaya Bookstore in Daikanyama!!!
Tsutaya Bookstore in Daikanyama. I´m not the biggest book-lover in the world, however, what I love about this bookstore is the concept behind the store. The idea is not to be a normal bookstore with only books, but instead, they have much more to offer. Like a music section, movies, magazines, stationery, a café, and a restaurant. It´s fun to notice how the noise around you changes - imaging walking from a quiet room with only books, to the music section with light music in the background to a stationary room with the sound of ppl in the background. The restaurant here was amazing too!! I strongly recommend you to eat lunch here!
Btw I actually came across a very cool book! "Big meets Little" by Yang Liu.
Museums!!
Unfortunately, all museums in Tokyo were closed during my stay, because I was there close to the New year (27 December - 31 December). Otherwise, I would have checked out these museums (especially the first three);
Tokyo National Museum. (Ameya Yokocho Market and Ueno Park are in the area too)
Edo-Tokyo Museum
The National Art Center
TeamLab Borderless
Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum
What to eat
Whenever I get hungry during my solo trips, I usually just search on Google Maps "Food", then all the places nearby comes up. From there I compare their ratings and decide which restaurant to go to. This is the restaurants my Google maps brought me;
This is in Tsutaya Bookstore (Daikanyama)! Very good Japanese food! Strongly recommend! One of the dishes was to pour the tea inside the rice, see picture below;
Tsutaya Bookstore in Daikanyama.
Yayoiken Asakusa Tawaramachi. Very good restaurant!! Very Cozy and delicious food!! It was in Asakusa area where I lived. Loved it a lot.
Tendon Tenya in Asakusa area - I became a big fan of the beef bowls in Japan. It´s very delicious and affordable, but mostly I love the feeling of the restaurant, it´s very casual and you see workers strolling in one by one after work. So you get to experience a bit of a local´s life.
Genki Sushi in Shibuya. no wasabi inside the sushi which I like ;))
I tried a mochi with strawberry inside! Surprisingly I liked it!
Accommodation
I stayed at Khaosan Tokyo Samurai hostel. It was really good! I was in a Deluxe 6 Bed Female Dorm Ensuite. I really liked the kitchen area, it was calm and a bit of a traditional Japanese style. I met 2 good friends here. I remember asking one of them about the cultural differences between Tokyo and Kyoto/Osaka, and she said in Tokyo she had noticed that people are more stressed and you can sometimes smell beer in the tubes at night. This could be due to some people working many hours and don´t get to have a good work-life balance. This was an interesting talk as tourists often just get to experience the surface of a country and culture.
Bye Asia! Bye solo trip!
End of my trip to Asia. I had a good time exploring by myself :))) At the end of the trip I got some back pain, as I was carrying a looooot of things in my handbag every single day....therefore remember to have a backpack and don´t fill it up so much! Stay healthy is number 1. :***
Let me know if you have any questions about solo travel!! I would be more than happy to help!//Diana
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