Good Morning from Japan!
After a wonderful day in Kobe, it was off to Tokyo.
One recommendation I have is to buy a Japan Rail Pass if you plan on traveling to many places across Japan. My friends and I had bought this pass prior to arriving in Japan. It is $300 USD but so worth it if you are moving around a lot like my friends and I. (We went from Kobe to Tokyo to Kyoto to Osaka and then back to Kobe) The pass was so helpful because when you get to the train station instead of buying a $100 train ticket for a 3-hour ride you show your pass and they give you a ticket. The other perk of this pass is that it works on all JR lines throughout the city, which you will find out that you can get 90% of places on the JR lines. The best way to determine if this pass is right for you is to think about where you all want to go and if you will need more than 2 train tickets (of about 3 hours away) it will be worth it! In my mind, it was also so worth it for the ease of showing up to the metro and just showing your pass rather than having to worry about buying the right ticket for where you want to go.
One thing to keep in mind when you are on the trains and subways is that it is extremely disrespectful to talk on them. You may find you get dirty looks if you are talking so keep this in mind and be respectful of their culture.
Anyhooo back to Tokyo…
The train from Kobe to Tokyo was about 3 hours but went super fast. When we arrived in Toyko we went to our Airbnb which was one of the funkiest places I’ve ever stayed in but it was so much fun and in our price range. It was quite late when we got there so we stopped at 7 eleven and got some snacks then it was off to bed.
The next morning we woke up and went to Teamlab Borderless. This was the coolest place I had ever been in my life. It is a digital art museum and the things you see are way beyond your wildest imagination. I barely have words to describe this place, it is something you truly need to check out for yourself! If you do go be sure to plan a large chunk of time to explore everything there. We spent 2.5 hours there and I felt like I didn’t even fully see everything.
After this, we headed to the Monster Cafe for lunch. One of the most popular things I saw when looking up things in Tokyo was the Robot Restaurant. While the Robot Restaurant is very expensive and more of a show than a place to eat from many reviews of the food being terrible, the Monster Cafe was half the price and just as much fun. From the moment we walked in it was such fun and the funky Tokyo you may have pictured. Not only was the place funky but the food was too. From colorful animal burgers to rainbow pasta and hedgehog cakes. Not to mention their amazing cocktails and milkshakes. Everything about this place just makes you smile.
Next, it was off to the Harajuku region for some shopping and to snag some of the giant rainbow cotton candy. The cotton candy was from the Totti Candy Factory and let me tell you it was soo good. My friends and I bought 1 to share but don’t be fooled I could have eaten the whole thing myself. Best cotton candy ever despite its price tag.
Then we headed back to our Airbnb to get ready for the clubs! My friends and I all wore colorful wigs which was so much fun! The party scene doesn’t start till 11 or midnight unlike in the USA and we didn’t go home till about 5:30 am, which we could have stayed longer if we wanted to.
We started our night out at Womb which I do not recommend. It is a very popular place and it was all people from Semester at Sea. Not to mention it was $35 USD to get in and drinks were an additional $7 USD or more. We only ended up being there for an hour before we went to another club. This time we went to one that we didn’t even know the name of and honestly not even sure if I know the name of it now because it doesn’t come up on google maps. It was $10 to get in and you get 2 free drink tickets with the entrance fee. The music was so much fun and it was less crowded which was awesome to just dance with my girls. So if you are going to participate in the bar scene I highly recommend going off the beaten path and trying some places that aren’t tourist clubs.
Although there is so much to do in Tokyo we only had 5 days in Japan and wanted to catch some of the culture too so one day in the big city was enough for us!
See you in Kyoto!
xoxo Gina