To be honest, we (almost) had nothing on our itinerary. This was just going to be a “do-whatever-we-want-to-do” trip, except for one or two which Hannah wanted to visit. One of these is a store with 7 floors of anything you can put your hands on (to do creative work, I mean) – Tokyu Hands in Shibuya.

Before that, we stopped for breakfast at one of my favorite “fast food” restaurants in Japan (if you can call it that). Sukiya is a competitor to Yoshinoya in terms of affordable and delicious Japanese food (you can already get a nice set meal for 600 JPY).

We walked down the street to Tokyu Hands and took our sweet time looking at colored pencils, art materials, different kinds of pens and paper, and other cool things. I had to stop by the Gunpla section to look for a model my brother wants (RG Wing Zero).

Tokyu Hands is really a must-visit for creative people. There’s a lot of things you can buy that’s not really available outside Japan (or if they are, for a hefty price).  I wanted to get some colored pencils but I know I’ll only be slacking so I decided not to. Next time, when I do get the passion to draw and make art again – I will definitely buy some good stuff!

We spent over an hour inside Tokyu Hands, so we were tired when we got out. I spotted a Doutor coffee shop nearby so we stopped over for some coffee and a mille crepe cake.

Our itinerary as mentioned was sort of blank, so while I was browsing through Instagram – I saw a post from a friend living in Japan of pictures of plum blossoms, almost in full bloom! We couldn’t hope for cherry blossoms at the time of our visit, so this was like an unexpected surprise. We had to go! This was at Shinjuku Gyoen. On the way to the train station, we stopped by a few stores to look for bargain deals – and snagged a few at Bershka.

It was a very windy walk to Shinjuku Gyoen from the nearest train station. But the moment we got there, we were just taking photos non-stop! Hannah and I got our old “photographer” hats on and just shot away!

Of course, we had to take some “model” shots – which was a lot of fun to do! If only I could show you blooper pics, which is around 90% of the shots.

Photo shoots are tiring! We realized after this that we can’t be models! After laughing so much, we got so tired that we spent a good 30 minutes lying under a tree in the park.

As the sun was about to set, it was also time for us to go to our next destination. We had a really good time in Shinjuku Gyoen – it’s a very nice place to relax, maybe read a book on the weekend – I was thinking scenarios in my head for when I will live in Tokyo (wishful thinking). Anyhow, after all the day dreaming, we wiped the grass of our behinds and headed off to Harajuku!

It was already dark when we got to Takeshita street in Harajuku. The place was packed. We just walked around the area until I stumbled upon my favorite ramen shop in Tokyo! Yokohama style Ramen!

At the other end of Takeshita street (the one without the JR Station), sits my favorite ramen place in all of Tokyo. On my first time in Tokyo, our Airbnb host brought us to a ramen place in Ikebukuro where I had my first “authentic” ramen moment. It was the best broth my tongue tasted and I have been craving for that taste ever since. We didn’t go to Ikebukuro this time, but we stumbled upon a branch of the same ramen place in Harajuku! What luck!

I couldn’t read the kanji, so I took a photo of the front of the store and asked my Japanese friend to read the name to me. This is for me to search for it next time, wherever in Japan I may be.

After eating, we didn’t go back to Takeshita street, but explored the alleys near this ramen place, and we ended up in Omotesando!

This was our route in Harajuku/Omotesando.

After Omotesando, we found our way back to the other end of Takeshita street and had a crepe. We were already so tired at this point.

While walking back to the train station, we passed by Daiso and did a shopping spree of gifts to bring back home (omiyage) as everything was for 100 yen!  Our feet were at the point of giving up already and the nearest train station was a JR station, which is not covered by our Tokyo Metro All Day pass. We didn’t want to walk any further so we took the JR train back to Shibuya!

When we got home, we slept for an hour. At around 10 PM, we decided to go out because it’s such a waste to be sleeping in Tokyo! After walking around our neighborhood, we stumbled upon another chicken place that served drinks!

We had a few more drinks after these photos. In short, we went home buzzed enough to get a good night’s sleep! It was indeed a long day, by the time I was about to sleep, I had already forgotten what we did in the morning!

Check out the rest of our trip here!