The Shinjuku District

I think we walked something like 8 miles during our first day in Tokyo…roaming around Arakicho, Takeshita Dori, and Shibuya Crossing. Exhausting, but in the most satisfying way.

By mid-afternoon we were both hitting the jetlag wall, so we decided to walk back to the Airbnb and grab dinner nearby. But first, a pit stop in one of those world-famous, high-quality Japanese electronics stores. I took way more photos than anticipated (story of my life) and was in semi-dire need of an extra battery for my Fuji. Being that Japan is basically the Global Headquarters of Every Awesome Piece of Technology Ever, I had no problems finding a store that sold one.

…after stopping to take pictures of flowers, that is.

We noticed a Laduree while we were walking by Shinjuku Station and HAD to stop for macarons. Last time we were in one of these shops was over a year ago, on Champs-Élysées in Paree!

And look — they had a Flying Tiger store! One of my favorite shops when I was living in Copenhagen.

Korean BBQ, it’s what’s for dinner

That sign up in the right corner? Pretty much the main reason we decided to eat here. I’m an adventurous eater, and I think that’s slowly rubbed off on Mark (who’s now tried everything from rabbit to pigeon!) Unfortunately, though, he’s allergic to shellfish. Not a big deal in the States, but it made things tricky in Japan. Especially since almost every dish here has some kind of sea creature in it. And even more especially cause of the language barrier.

Enter: Korean BBQ. Heavy emphasis on the meaty meat. Equipped with a handy menu in English, complete with cute cartoon pictures, and we were good to go. Anaphylaxis free!

Dinner came with entertainment! They had a couple TV screens spaced throughout the small restaurant, and they were playing the most hilariously awesome KPop music videos. This one featured an oversized banana, and a few videos later we watched a teenage girl serenading a parrot. The best part was that all the singing was in Korean so we got to make up our own narratives.

Obviously, a trip to Korea needs to be up next.

xo