Tokyo Travel Diaries: Harry Hedgehog Cafe in Harajuku

Animal cafes are all the rage in Japan, but I've honestly never been interested in visiting one (I'm scared haha). But my friend, who I was with during my last visit to Tokyo, is super into it and made it a point to include this in our itinerary. She dragged me to a regular cat cafe, a Bengal Cat and Owl cafe, and finally to a hedgehog cafe!

Tokyo Travel Diaries: Koishikawa Korakuen Garden

Autumn is definitely my favorite season. I just love how the weather is cold, but not too cold. How the leaves are all red and yellow. How I can finally wear all my coats and sweaters lol! I'm sure Japan is one of the top destinations during fall/winter, and one of the places I visited during my last trip to Tokyo was the Koishikawa Korakuen Garden.

Our stay in APA Hotel (Tokyo, Japan)

I'm back! I know I haven't been blogging as much lately, and it's mainly beacuse I've just been enjoying the summer break with the family. We just came back from Brisbane a few weeks ago and we're actually leaving again in a couple of days to celebrate Sabre's 7th birthday! So I've been really busy packing because I'm so OC and I need to fix all the kids outfits and snacks and everything else in between!

Well if you're following me on Instagram, then you might remember me taking a little trip to Tokyo late last year. I've been actually seeing so many people in Japan right now because of cherry blossom season which is giving me total travel envy!

Anyway, if you're planning a trip to Japan soon, I just want to share where me and my friend stayed in Tokyo. My friend was actually the one who booked in an APA Hotel (via Agoda) which is located in Higashi-Shinjuku Kabukicho.

Tokyo Travel Diaries: Winter Illuminations

It's now the month of September and I'm sure you can already hear Christmas songs and see Christmas decors in malls! Anyway, if you're planning a trip to Japan for the holidays, you should definitely include seeing the Winter Illuminations in your itinerary. These usually start in November and last until January to mid February.

We went to Tokyo last year around the first week of December so we were able to catch a lot of displays. It was my first time to see light displays as extravagant as this, so it really took my breath away. Everything was just so magical and it felt so romantic, especially since I was experiencing it with the hubby (naks!). Anyway, I'll be listing the schedules last year so you can get an idea of when it starts and ends.

Tokyo Travel Diaries: Shibuya (plus our best meal in Tokyo)

We decided to explore Shibuya on our last night in Tokyo. Shibuya is one of Tokyo's most colorful and busy districts, packed with lots of shopping, dining, and entertainment options. Of course, I was really excited to finally see the famous Shibuya Crossing in person!

Tokyo Travel Diaries: Things To Do in Shinjuku

I just watched the closing ceremonies of the 2016 Rio Olympics, and got so excited when I found out the next summer games will be held in Tokyo, Japan! Hubby and I seriously fell in love with this city when we visited last year and can't wait to be back. Anyway, was reminiscing about our vacation and realized I still hadn't posted about some of the places we went to, including Shinjuku.

Tokyo Travel Diaries: Souvenir shopping at Oriental Bazaar

Personally, I think the best place for you to buy souvenirs in Tokyo is the Oriental Bazaar in Harajuku. It's located along Omotesando St. and is just a few steps away from Kiddy Land which I also blogged about HERE.

Tokyo Travel Diaries: KIDDY LAND in Harajuku

I'm back to posting about our Tokyo vacation since I'm currently getting itchy feet again and wanting to travel! Anyway, if you have kids or just simply a kid at heart, a visit to KIDDY LAND in Japan is a must for you. :)

Tokyo Travel Diaries: Shinjuku Gyoen

Since we traveled to Japan in late November last year, I definitely made it a point to visit parks around Tokyo to see the autumn foliage. Shinjuku Gyoen is one of Tokyo's largest and most popular parks and is located just a short walk from Shinjuku Station.

Tokyo Travel Diaries: Nakamise Shopping Street in Asakusa

After visiting the Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, we then moved on to do some shopping in Nakamise Street which was just a few steps away.

Tokyo Travel Diaries: Asakusa & Sensoji Temple

Sharing with you our travel diary from our visit to Asakusa in Japan last fall. What I was excited to see was Sensoji, Tokyo's most famous and popular temple, and also Nakamise, a shopping street where you can buy souvenirs and snacks.

Tokyo Travel Diaries: DISNEYSEA (plus park tips!)

During our trip to Tokyo last year, we decided to just visit DisneySea instead of Disneyland because I'm such a huge Little Mermaid fan. Plus, you can only find DisneySea in Japan. Since I've already been to Disneyland in California and Hong Kong, I wanted to experience something different as well.

Tokyo Travel Diaries: Odaiba

Next stop in our Japan adventure is Odaiba, which is a large artificial island across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo. There's a lot of attractions here but I have to say the main reason hubby and I wanted to go was to see the popular, life-sized Gundam statue.

Tokyo Travel Diaries: Tokyo Skytree

During our visit to Japan, hubby and I were contemplating whether to visit the Tokyo Tower or the Skytree. In the end, we chose the Skytree since it was newer and there seemed to be more things to see and do within the building (like a shopping complex and an aquarium). Anyway, the Tokyo Skytree is the tallest building in Japan and the second tallest structure in the world at the time of its completion with a height of 634 meters.

Tokyo Travel Diaries: Ginza

Whew, it has been a whirlwind past couple of days and it's not slowing down anytime soon. Some of our friends got married so we had lots of reunions and get-togethers to attend. Add to that the kids' school activities, which is also a bit hectic especially since my daughter is graduating from preschool! Then, we have a couple of travels lined up this month too. Anyway, I'm back to blogging about our Japan trip and this time, we're going to Ginza!

Tokyo Travel Diaries: Rikugien Garden

We went to Japan end of November last year which was just in time for the peak of autumn. So it was one of the best times to visit the gardens and parks (aside from the cherry blossom season) because you would get to see all the beautiful fall colors.

Tokyo Travel Diaries: Tsukiji Fish Market

When reading up on where to go in Tokyo, you'll probably see Tsukiji Market on the top of most lists. This fish market consists of an inner market where most of the wholesale business and the famous tuna auctions take place, and an outer market whose retail shops and restaurants cater to the public.

Anyway, hubby and I really wanted to go to the tuna auction, but we heard you need to be there by at least 3AM to 4AM in order to get in. Since the trains are not running during that time, we would need to take a taxi from where we were staying in Shinjuku to Tsukiji. And as you know, taxi rides in Japan cost a fortune.

If you really want to visit the auction, I think the best thing to do would be to book an overnight Airbnb or hotel near the area so you can just walk in the wee hours of the morning (then just transfer na lang to your preferred location after diba?). My friends who took a cab before said that their taxi fare was about P3k which is about the same price of a cheap room. But if you're a group of 4 maybe taking a cab is ok since you can split the fare. But since it was just hubby and I, we didn't want to splurge that much on it. And there was no guarantee that we would actually get in since the number of visitors to the tuna auction is limited to 120 per day. The first group of 60 visitors will be admitted to the auction between 5:25 and 5:50, while a second group of 60 visitors will be admitted between 5:50 and 6:15. This was also in late November so the weather was pretty cold already. The temperature during the day was around 10°C - 14°C and I was already FREEZING. What more if we were lined up outside at 3AM and had to wait for 2 hours??? Pass!

So, we just decided to have brunch there. If you've done any research prior to visiting here, you'll find that the top 2 places to eat would be Daiwa Sushi and Sushi Dai. It's so popular that waiting time would be around 3 hours! Well, we got to Tsukiji at around 10AM and honestly, it was a bit overwhelming at first since there were so many people already lined up everywhere.

Tokyo Travel Diaries: Ueno Park & Tokyo National Museum

We visited Ueno Park during our 2nd day in Tokyo last November. Ueno is a large public park where you can find lots of temples, shrines, and museums like the Tokyo National Museum, the National Museum for Western Art, the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum and the National Science Museum. It is also home to Ueno Zoo, which is Japan's oldest zoo.

To get there, we took a train from Shinjuku to JR Ueno Station, and the park is just next to it right when you exit the station. It was such a perfect day to visit since the weather was nice and sunny. It was about 12°C but I was already freezing my butt off lol. I was also in awe of how beautiful the sky was, since you couldn't even see a single cloud.

Our 1 week Tokyo Itinerary

A lot of people have been asking me for our itinerary when we went to Japan last November so I'll share it here with you. Actually, I also asked some friends for help and also based this on sample itineraries found online like in Japan-guide.com.

But it really depends on your preferences and the season I think. Like we were there during the peak of autumn so I really wanted to go to the parks to see the beautiful fall foliage. And there were also winter illuminations during that time, so we made it a point to visit those attractions. A lot can also depend on the weather and if places are closed on certain days. And of course, if you're with young kids then you'll probably go to more places which will interest them.

We were originally planning a side trip to Osaka and Kyoto at first, but we changed our minds when we saw how many places we can visit in Tokyo alone. Although you most certainly can do a Tokyo-Osaka-Kyoto trip in a week, I personally feel it will be too rushed and tiring. But anyway, hope this still helps those planning a trip to Japan soon. :)

Our Mt. Fuji & Hakone Tour

When we were planning our trip to Tokyo, hubby said that I was in charge of the itinerary but just make sure I allot one day for Mt. Fuji. So we asked some friends who've already done that and they suggested to book through Japanican.com.

I believe you can do this without a tour (like you can just ride a bus going directly to the mountain's 5th Station, or take a day trip to Hakone or Gotemba) but hubby and I wanted the full experience. Besides, this was the only tour we were going to take during our trip so we figured we'll splurge a little.