I lived in Japan a few years back and consider Tokyo to be a home base of sorts. My father and stepmom have an apartment in the outskirts of the city, so I find myself doing extended layovers here on most of my adventures to Asia. This time I met up with my dear friend Lauren, who had never been to the city before. We had a lot of fun visiting some of my favorite places in the city and checking out her list of recommendations from friends.
Tokyo on a clear day, if you are lucky you will be able to see Mount Fuji. Unfortunately, this view from the Mori museum room is facing Tokyo Tower and not the direction of Fuji. It wouldn't matter though, it was too overcast to see Fuji on that day.
On this trip, I was obsessed with finding old school Japanese snack shops, which led us on a treasure hunt through the side streets of Tokyo. This place is called Takemura and it has been around since the 1930s, they specialize in ice cream sweets like the anmitsu pictured above. Super yummy!
Sake is my favorite drink in Japan. Their whiskey is good and so is the Chu-hi, but on a cold winter day there is nothing I'd prefer than a bottle of hot sake.
New Year's Day, we visited a local shrine to get our blessings and pick out our fortunes. If you hate your fortune you can fold it up and tie it a tree then try again. Luckily, I got a great fortune!
Lauren wanted to visit the Robot Restaurant, which I was unfamiliar with, but I'm so glad we went. It was an epic event of color, light, lasers, dancing girls and of course Robots.
My favorite thing in Japan, besides the toys and the food, and the overall cuteness of everything, are the amazing metro signs that are changed monthly....the danger is palpable in some of these examples!
Happy New Year Tokyo. We spent our New Years eve at an expat party with embassy and military folks. The theme was Carnival and they gave everyone masks to wear.