Today was one of those long-walking days, but it was sort of by choice! 

In the morning, I got up early at around 7am and headed out at 8am to catch an early morning train to Shinagawa and Hamamatsucho station. The train was extrememly crowded though, as I had boarded during Japan’s rush hour, so we were all packed into the train car like sardines. Why would I do all this, you ask? Well, to see the Tokyo Tower of course!

And climb all 600 flights of stairs. 

Ever since I’d heard from a friend on the trip that you could get a certificate of some kind if you climbed to the top of Tokyo Tower via its stairs, a flame of determination had been lit within me. I had resolved to climb the tower before I left, and obtain that certificate of completion. Plus, it’s just stairs, how hard could it be?

Turns out, not too bad, but not easy either! I started climbing at around 9:15am, and didn’t arrive at the top until about 9:25ish. At flight 350, I began to sweat a bit, and by the time I reached the top at 600 flights, I was pretty sweaty and it was pretty humid. But I did it! 

The view from the observatory floor I was on was incredible, and below each of the cardinal directions there was a “Then and Now” photo comparison of the city skyline, which was cool to see! There was also a video playing that described the history of the Tokyo area and how it came to be as it is now. It was interesting hearing about the philosophy and values of Tokyo, and how it strives to keep tradition while also updating it, and making a  “relaxed cool” atmosphere. I also hadn’t known before that Tokyo had suffered two major destructions, and rebuilt itself twice.

Afterwards, I headed back to the hotel to meet with the group and head out for the day’s activities. The itinerary ended up getting swapped that day, which put a reservation I had made in advance in slight jeopardy, but I was able to switch it around no problem, so all was well! 

We first visited the Imperial Palace grounds/garden, and walked through the outer walls. They were so large, I couldn’t even begin to imagine how large and tall the buildings that used to sit atop them were. The garden was also extremely scenic and tranquil, there was so much green and water! 

After the garden, we took a train to Shibuya to go see the Meiji Shrine, but first things first: food. I hadn’t eaten since this morning before Tokyo Tower (which was only a peanut butter bread roll and green tea), so I was famished. I followed the group like a zombie for a little while, as we went into a nearby mall to find a food court. The group was thinking of going to a diner place on the top floor, but I really wanted to try some more Japanese or Asian style food, as I was in Japan after all. I found a nearby Gyoza/dumpling place on my phone with Google Maps, and so me and Belle decided to break off and head there instead.

The gyozas, I have to say, were absolutely delicious. The place was a sort of local hole-in-the-wall shop, where we sat down at a bar surrounding the steamers and place where they cooked the dumplings, so we could see them make it in real time. And the price was unbeatable! I was hungry, so I ordered 12 dumplings and a side of rice/chicken miso, and my friend ordered her own set of 6 dumplings, and it all only came out to about 1260 yen!

Once we were caloried up, we met up with the group again and went to see the Meiji shrine. It was probably one of the biggest and most regal shrines we’d seen on our visit so far; The walk up to it was filled with trees and a wide open gravel pathway, with huge Tori gates and large walls that separate the grounds of the shrine into sections. It was really stunning, and after cleansing with the water ritual and praying, I got a stamp for my stamp book as well! Once we all had a chance to experience the shrine, we split up into smaller groups and were off on our own the rest of the day. I went with a few other friends to the Pokemon and Nintendo stores in Shibuya, and then afterwards we all went to Shibuya crossing and took the train back to Akihabara. 

Once back, it was time for Monster Hunter Café! This was the reservation I had made in advance for Thursday, but swapped for tonight. Today was also my 21st birthday, so our reservation was for a sort of a celebration as well as for the experience! The props and decor of the bar was really good, and it was cool to see these items I’d only ever seen in-game realized somewhat in real life. They even had 4 switch docks/PS4’s that you could play Monster Hunter on! The PS4’s had Monster Hunter World installed, but since only one machine was in English and the others in Japanese, we couldn’t really figure out how to play together unfortunately. The ordering system for food and drinks was similar to the Pokémon café, as both went through an online order sytem where they bring out the food as you que it up. The food was mostly just ok, and the drinks were pretty good, but we couldn’t really expect much more from a themed café. I had a “Well-Done Steak” which was pretty tasty though!

All in all, quite a jam-packed day!