Trip Report – 4 days Tokyo end Oct

We spent 29 Oct-2 Nov in Tokyo, am in Osaka next but would like to share our experience in Tokyo:

29 Oct

Reached Tokyo 6am, immigration was a breeze (do remember to register your trip via Visit Japan web before hand, it’ll make things go faster) The immigration queue was the same whether you use QR code or not though.

Got our bags, booked the next available bus to Shinjuku. I’d highly recommend booking a bus to your hotel, it’s much better than getting your luggage through a crowded train and STAIRS. In the meantime while waiting we got a Pasmo card. Most people would be queuing for Welcome Suica cards, the Pasmo counter had no line at all. (Plus Pasmo has a way cuter Sanrio design fyi)

Explored Shinjuku since we had way too much time before check in. Our hotel was in Kabuki-cho, so it was interesting seeing drunk people in the streets at 8am lol. Watch out for vomit puddles and crows having a feast. The streets are cleaned up by 9ish to prepare for the next night…

The whole time in Kabukicho despite being in the red light district I felt pretty safe, there were touts around for sure but they weren’t pushy about their approach, if barely at all.

Total steps clocked: 40,000

30 Oct

Got up early to the JR Service Center to exchange our passes and book seats for Tokyo-Osaka. Make sure to book early as they may get full later on. The Mount Fuji view seats (seat E) are all taken up way in advance. Not a big issue though, when nearing Mt Fuji you can walk to the area near the toilets in between carriages, they have windows there too.

Walked from Shinjuku – Meiji-Jingu – Harajuku – Shibuya.

Book Shibuya Sky tickets before hand online as they do get sold out day of! I got the 4.20pm-4.40pm slot in time for sunset. Check weather forecasts for sunset times, when we were there it was around 4.49pm.

Sadly they blocked off Hachiko’s statue due to Halloween 🙁

Went to Maguro Mart at Nakano for dinner. Highly recommend trying to get a reservation, they had to turn away walk ins due to being fully booked. Which they usually are every day. The 8 course dinner was good, but the highlight was the 5 kinds of sashimi from different cuts of the tuna. For about 4000Y, I’d say just this course alone was worth it. We also enjoyed exploring Nakano area, and Nakano Broadway.

Walked back to Kabukicho from Nakano. My legs were screaming. Honestly don’t know where we got the energy from, because next day was DisneySea…

Total steps: 38,000

31 Oct
DisneySea day!!! We got there early and joined the queue around 7.30am. The park supposedly opens at 9, but Cast members were hyping us up at 8.30am, entered around 8.45am.

I think most people went to Disneyland instead as there was a huge queue there when the train went by.

TBH I hated the feeling of having to rush to buy Premier Access passes the moment we entered the park. It felt like everyone was engrossed in their phones, not taking in the sights and magic of first entering the park. I guess that’s the route Disney is going these days.

Anyway we rope dropped to Toy Story Mania first, while trying to register my credit card to get Premier Access for Tower of Terror. Card didnt work, tried 4 different cards and the one that finally worked, was a debit card that required SMS verification which I don’t have mobile roaming! Take note if your card requires this. Turns out we didn’t even need Premier Access at all.

Total queue time for Toy Story Mania: <20mins

Next we hopped over to Tower of Terror, my fav ride 🙂
Total queue time: 25mins

Rest of the day was exploring the food and rides, not sure if it was due to Halloween, but all the rides were less than 25mins, 30mins max. We didn’t take Soaring as I hated it at California Disney, it gives me terrible motion sickness. But from what I saw queue time was 35mins. Way less than what I expected!

If you’re tall/bigger you may get size checked at Raging Spirits. The seats are pretty small and they need to ensure you can get the shoulder harness down to your thighs properly. Husband just barely managed to get through, and was given a lanyard to show he was checked and all cleared to ride.

Make sure you make full use of the 40th Anniversary passes. Look for Cast Members standing around waving carrying a small pouch. I told the CM it’s our first visit and we got a First Visit sticker with our name and date 🙂 I believe they also have ones for Birthdays. I also shamelessly asked for their 40th anniversary sticker haha, and got the Halloween version. Some food booths automatically give them out with your purchase.

We saw everything by 4pm and was totally tired out. Still waited for the night time show, it was magical :’)

Shinjuku started to get super crowded when we went back probably due to the party goers moving from Shibuya?

Total steps: 34,000

1st Nov

Decided to take a rest and sleep in a bit later. Skipped Tsukiji for a nice walk in Tokyo Imperial Palace Gardens. Headed to Asakusa, found a nice little place for monjayaki and okonomiyaki. Husband wanted to get a knife so we shopped around in Kappabashi. He noticed many of the knives are made in Osaka so we decided not to buy and wait for later in our trip. Writing this in Osaka now, I do notice the knives are cheaper. Shop in Kitchenware Street/Doguyasuji if you’re looking for kitchen stuff.

Walked to Akihabara since it was ‘just’ ~40 mins. Wasn’t wearing the best shoes for walking that day and my feet paid the price. Not really into anime and stuff but I did pick up a second hand LoZ Tears of the Kingdom game.

Dinner back at Shinjuku area for Udon Mandajiro. Great tasting udon, perfectly chewy and the texture is just ~different~. Pleasantly surprised! Go in the evening for less queues.

Total steps: 30,000

2nd Nov

Train to Osaka

It’s my husband’s first time to Japan and he really enjoyed it so far. We tried to go to smaller eateries where the locals go and all the food has been amazing.

Be prepared to walk a lot and eat a lot! 🙂 we had the egg sandwich from Family Mart practically every night lol.