I’ve always wanted to visit Japan at least once because of its culture and art. Luckily, the timing worked out and I could travel this month with my brother for vacation.
The first thing we did in Japan was visit the convenience stores. All the food and drinks here are very good! I really like the onigiri and sandwiches.
I tried out this pudding dessert that you recommended a while ago. It has a strong milky taste with a hint of almond, and the texture is very creamy. I like it!!
The weather on the first day was sunny and warm. We visited Sensoji Temple. On the way there is Nakamise-dori street. It was packed with people. There were a lot of souvenir shops and food stalls. I got a few keychains and a magnet.
My brother and I stopped by a fruits and sweets stall and bought a strawberry skewer. Though it was a little pricey at 800 yen, it was worth it because the strawberries are very fresh and sweet like candy. The red one is a little sweeter than the white one.
We eventually got to the temple. There were a lot of cool activities that you could do there, such as places where you can test out your luck by drawing a stick from a box or standing by a large burning pot of incense to air the smoke onto you for good fortune.
The inside of the temple was crowded too so we couldn’t see much. But we bought a few lucky charms there, one for wishes coming true and the other for good health.
On our way back to the street, there were a lot of cool restaurants, and all the food looked so good. I wanted to try all of them!! But I had to hold myself back since we had to go to our next destination.
We were originally going to go to an animal cafe, but it was fully booked when we got there. We then decided to go to Tokyo Skytree. There is a huge mall below the tower that is full of clothing stores and food shops. We didn’t have enough time to fully explore the mall, so we’re definitely going to come back another day.
We found this Studio Ghibli merchandise store there. Everything in here looked so cute! There were all sorts of things that you could buy, like homeware, stationary, clothing, toys, gifts, and more.
I got a handkerchief, a few pins, and some washi tape.
We made our way to Tokyo Skytree and reserved a ticket for the 350 meter observation deck.
We had to wait about 40 minutes until we could go up, so we went to a McDonald’s in the mall. I wanted to try the menu items that are exclusive to Japan. We got a shrimp burger, Belgian chocolate pie, yogurt, and corn and edamame beans. The burger was okay, but it didn’t have much shrimp flavor in my opinion. The chocolate pie is really good though. I recommend it!
It was eventually time to go up to the Skytree observation deck. Though the wait time was really long, it was worth it for the view. I saw this stand there and just knew that I had to take a picture ㅋㅋ Here, you can buy a ribbon, write your wish on it, and then tie it to the stand. Supposedly your wish will come true if you do this. I wanted to try it but I didn’t have any coins on me at the time to buy the ribbon, so I couldn’t.
The view of Tokyo is really pretty at night. It’s cool seeing the city from above and noticing things that you wouldn’t have on the street level. We could see Tokyo Tower in the distance.
On our way out, there was a glass floor that you could stand on. Since I’m afraid of heights, I was really scared by it! Someone in front of me tried jumping on it, which scared me even more, even though I know it won’t break.
That was the end of my first day in Japan. It’s been really fun so far! Everything is so different from what I’m used to. I experienced a few culture shocks, but I think that’s a good thing. It’s exciting learning about a new culture. I’ll share more about my trip as it happens. That’s it for now! Bye bye~