Shinjuku

What happens if you are jetlagged and stay up late? You are jetlagged the following day as well! It was a sunny and clear morning so the Meiji Shrine in Shinjuku was the perfect place to go and wake up. For breakfast we stopped at one of the many Starbucks shops for a Matcha Frappuccino.

Starbucks Matcha Frappuccino

To get to the Shrine we took the Yamanote Line and got off at Harajuku station. Until a few years ago all the cosplayers used to meet here. We didn't meet a single one though. 

Harajuku station

The Yoyogi Park around the Meiji Shrine is huge with old and tall trees. Although we were not the only visitors it wasn't busy at all. Taking it slow you can easily spend a few hours in this green paradise in the middle of Tokyo.

One of many gates leading to the Meiji Shrine

Sake barrels given to the Meiji Shrine as donation

Meiji Shrine main courtyard

Meiji Shrine entrance

Meiji Shrine entrance area

We left the Meiji Shrine and headed towards Shinjuku station to catch the metro. For a good value for money lunch in Tokyo you should take the lift to the top floor of one of the many department stores (we went to Keio). Here you will find lots of different restaurants displaying their delicious meals at the entrance.

Shinjuku seen from Yoyogi Park

NTT Docomo Yoyogi Building

We chose Tonkatsu, a Japanese dish consisting of breaded and deep-fried pork cutlet served with shredded cabbage, rice, miso soup and the tasty Tonkatsu sauce.

Dishes on display

Tonkatsu

Next was Shinjuku where we went up the Toho Building to come face to face with Godzilla and to catch a nice and free view of the area from the visitor terrace.

Toho Building

Godzilla head

Shinjuku seen from the visitor terrace

Shinjuku is colourful and crazy, already during the day. From there we wanted to go to the Tokyo Government Building, that has a free observation deck, too. We couldn't find the accessible entrance to the metro but once again a friendly young Japanese lady helped us, and searched the accessible entrance with us. She told us that she needed to go this direction, too. Did she really or was she just polite?

Skyscrapers in Shinjuku

Advertisements in Shinjuku

The visitor terrace was closed that day so we left again. A lot of Japanese are crazy about toys and merchandise and so is my friend. The best place for high-end toys in Tokyo is the Toy Sapiens shop in Shibuya. I didn't care about it much at first, but I have to admit that the man-size action figures were quite cool.

Batman action figure at the Toy Sapiens Shop

Harry Potter merchandise at the Toy Sapiens shop

To get back to Harajuku station we strolled through small alleys just two or three backstreets away from busy main streets packed with skyscrapers. I am still fascinated by Japanese urban planning.

Harajuku backstreet

Cemetery  in Harajuku

Since we had planned to leave Tokyo for Kyoto the next morning we decided to relax in the hotel for the rest of the afternoon before heading out for another Japanese specialty in the evening. Ramen noodles in a neighbourhood ramen shop. We couldn't read the buttons on the ticket machine so the beer we wanted to drink turned into a Japanese Highball. We couldn't care less and had a blast trying to slurp hot ramen. Continue here.

Bowl of  ramen