Day 1 – Shinjinku, Shibuya & Tokyo

After a 9hr flight, customs and a train ride from Narita Airport to Tokyo, we met our Air BnB host Keiko in the evening and were shown to our accoms in Ningyocho, Chūō. We ventured out and had a midnight dinner of ramen and stir fry at a restaurant in the area before crashing for the night.

Today we had brekky at a lovely cafe and then started on our way, with one thing on our minds; cats. The Cat Cafe Calico in Shinjinku to be more specific. Getting there through Tokyo Metro is a matter of common sense and the rainy weather made it a purrfect day to meet Tokyo’s felines.  You pay by the hour to socialise with the cats, and we soon learnt that you have to buy the cats’ affections via chicken treats to get attention (drinks for humans on offer as well)!

Calico Cat Cafe: Same place, same expression. Right: Caitlin AKA Hermione Granger and her BFF “Crookshanks”.

Next we walked to the Shibuya district which is hipster shopping mecca and had lunch at Genko a sushi train restaurant, with an actual automatic monorail-like food delivery system. We ordered through an iPad and got our meals delivered stopping at our platform (table)! Definitely a must for anyone visiting the district! Its like fast food and technology had a love child.

Next was the Shibuya Pedestrian Scramble. We got prime position sitting in the double story Starbucks and invented a new game; Where’s Amira!

Before and After – not even peak hour

We caught a train to Ogawamachi and decided to find somewhere for dinner in the direction of Tokyo Station, but obliviously headed toward a restaurant on the way to our apartment instead! (Perhaps the Hestonesque-Gastronmic, one michelin star restuarant we were misguided to try and find was a blessing in disguise.) This area of Tokyo was like that one hole in a wall restaurant you find at the end of a quirky alley, only it was endless rows or quirky alleys full of places to eat. After dinner of legit chicken noodle soup, beef stir fry and beer we walked back to home base and had a final beer at our local the Garage Pub. I corrected an oversight and added a AUD$10 note to the other currencies decorating the bar (Aussies represent!).

Tomorrow we plan to be up bright and very early for the tuna sales at the Tsukiji Fish Market, then onto explore the Imperial Palace and finally end the day in the neon district of Akihabara (hopefully some karaoke!).

Oyasumi!

Steps (day total): 25,000+, 1st sighting of a geisha!