A very late Tokyo photo dump

Day 1

Day 1 was only half a day since I landed at 2pm, so I just stayed in Ginza

Glitch Coffee in Ginza

Makiyaki Ginza Onodera: Japanese-French wood fired grill. My favorite was the seaweed waffle that started dinner

Day 2: Ueno, Kappabashi, Senso-ji

Went to see the tail end of the cherry blossoms at Ueno Park, stopped by a Miro exhibit at a museum, walked to Kappabashi to buy a knife, had ramen at an Ichiran, and walked to Senso-ji. I also probably went to like three coffee shops to stay awake/ alive.

Dinner: Shizen in Shibuya. Also Frenchy Japanese wood-fired cuisine.

Day 3: An Instagram trap, Tokyo Tower, Solo Birthday Dinner

Do not go to the TeamLab museums. It's fun for like five minutes then it's kind of annoying and it's hard to get out.

Tokyo Tower also low-key sucks. They try to upsell you on too many things and it's a lot of waiting. I went to Mori Art Museum after, and it's a much better experience (and you get to check out cool art).

Dinner this evening was at Hakunei, a fancy also French/Japanese place that seats 8, but I was the only one in there so I had a whole army of chefs cooking just for me. Top 10 life experience tbh

Day 4: So much sushi, more coffee

I impulsively signed up for a Tsukiji tour/ sushi making, and I was the only one again, so I got a solo tour of the fish market and a personal sushi making class. Then in the afternoon I went to Kuramae to check out some coffee shops and impulsively buy fountain pens.

Dinner was more sushi at Sushi Yuu. Apparently Drew Barrymore went there a few weeks before I did? Also, I couldn't finish the last six rolls in the last photo, I was so full.

Day 5: Meguro, Shimokitazawa

More cherry blossoms at Meguro!

Then Shimokitazawa for ramen and coffee and weird vintage shirts

Dinner at Ukiyo, where I was at a counter with four dudes who were also from the Bay Area because I can't get away. Anyway this place had a fantastic non-alcoholic pairing and they gave me extra dessert because I said it was my birthday.

Day 6: Skytree, but otherwise a chill day

Tokyo Skytree is better than Tokyo Tower if the goal is a view and to not feel like you're trapped in a confined space. Then I had duck ramen after.

The best espresso martini I've had in my life at Unlimited Coffee Bar

Dinner was at Cocon in Kanimeguro. Counter seats seven and one chef does everything. He's cooking in front of you, he's doing all the prep, he's serving the drinks, he's making the coffee, and I don't think he stopped moving until he served the last dessert. This might be one of my favorite meals, from the kangaroo tartare to perfectly cooked lamb to the two desserts (which were both excellent). Also surprisingly reasonably priced? Except for the drinks.

Then we made the mistake of going to the Shibuya Don Quijote, which was … a lot.

Day 7: A half day in Tsukiji, then flying back

Went with my sister to have breakfast in Tsukiji and grab some coffee before I headed to the airport.

And that was Tokyo. Very low key trip, had a lot of good food, walked around a lot, had some alone time but got to meet up with my sister for a bit, which was nice. I came home with too much specialty coffee that will probably take me months to finish. I also got waylaid at a soy sauce store and bought way too much soy sauce. They had a clear one that I couldn't not get.

I'd love to go back and visit other cities next time — I definitely want to go to Hokkaido.

Now I gotta plan the next trip so I can have something to look forward to.