Tokyo, March 29

10:16PM EST – “Nakano Broadway and unusual dinner plans”

So it’s been a while since I’ve updated. I apologize XD I didn’t really feel like writing the last few days in Tokyo and now that I’m back in the Netherlands and I took a break from everything (which isn’t hard considering the precaution here) I’m ready to finally finish writing about our last few days in Japan! I’ll still upload them in separate logs as not to cause confusion and as that’s better to read :) Since it’s been a while I might’ve forgotten some detail here and there but we’ll deal with it

So today I woke up quite early. I was even awake earlier than my alarm! Benefit of not writing until 3AM and actually sleeping well for once XD Anyway I got out of bed and couldn’t believe my eyes. It was snowing. It was legit snowing outside. Can you believe that? A few days ago it was above 20 degrees and now it was so cold that actual snow was falling. It was a sight to see though. I chilled in bed for a bit more until Jo-Anne also woke up and then we got ready to head outside. We didn’t really have any plans so we first had to figure out where we wanted to go. Since it was cold and wet outside something indoors would be nice so we decided to visit Nakano Broadway! Supposedly a very big and nice indoor shopping centre with shops ranging from Anime merchandise to high-end fashion brands and food courts XD

So as the name suggests, we went on our way to Nakano. It was quite icy outside and we really had to adapt to the sudden temperature change. Though it snowed, it wasn’t cold enough for the snow to actually keep its solid form on the streets so it was a lot of wet drab you walked through. It did fall on the tracks of the railway though and I got a really pretty picture from that!
So once arrived we entered the broadway. First we walked through a street which wasn’t quite inside yet it only had a roof over it. There were some nice shops here and there but not really eye catching stuff. Then we entered the big main building and inside it was nice and warm~ We walked a lot through all the floors and halls but Nakano Broadway wasn’t super busy and a lot of shops were closed actually. We entered a few anime merchandise shops and Jo-Anne found a Pokémon Rowlett plushie for a really low price so of course she bought it.
We didn’t know back then but the reason so many shops we’re closed inside Nakano Broadway was because it was Sunday, the weekend, and the government had apparently asked to stay home as much as possible during the weekends. We didn’t know this as this didn’t apply to neither Osaka or Kyoto and we also didn’t notice it our first weekend in Tokyo. Well despite this we still spent quite some time just exploring Nakano Broadway :)

When we were done we roamed Nakano’s streets a bit a saw very pretty Cherry Blossoms which were in full bloom by now together with snowfall. That way quite a pretty sight. Well since we couldn’t find any dinner spots that looked nice to us in Nakano we decided to travel back to Shibuya and look around there.
We also wanted to visit a sticker shop named ‘B-side label’ which we have also visited in Kyoto! We bought Osaka and Kyoto related stickers there which we had put on our suitcases and we really wanted another sticker to represent Tokyo! But once we arrived we noticed that here too it was awfully quiet in the streets and so B-side label was also closed today. A pity but we decided to come back the next day as it would be a Monday and the shops should be open again.

So now we really went ahead and tried to search for some dinner. And as you can guess it, same problem. Everything was closed. At some point we stumbled upon a crêpe stand which wasn’t closed and we just promptly decided to have desert first XD We were done walking around and not being able to find anything. Maybe you’re thinking ‘How can you not find one dinner spot in such a big city as Tokyo?’ and maybe you’re right. If we put in a little more effort we maybe would’ve found a nice restaurant. But it’s really discouraging seeing the main shopping street being devoid of light and music and basically having half of it’s stores already closed when it’s not even half past 6 and the street is normally supposed to stay open until 9 ‘o clock. So we ate a deliciously filled crêpe! Mine was filled with strawberries, whipped cream, chocolate sauce and a whole brownie XD

When we finished that we decided to just buy some food from the convenience store and eat it at our hotel room. So we went on our way to the hotel since there are like 3 convenience stores near by so we had quite some choice XD We entered the wrong station though and when we wanted to go back out again our Suica card declined and we had to get help. The man who helped us asked why we wanted to go out again – I think since I obviously didn’t understand him – and I kept saying we entered the wrong station. I don’t think he understood and in the end just scanned our cards and let us through as he didn’t seem to think he would understand XD I guess they’re a little bit more lenient with foreigners when it comes to trivial stuff like that. Anyway we arrived in Akasaka safe and well and went to the Family Mart.
In the end we both just got instant noodles XD We couldn’t read what kind of flavours we got but we just took it and prepared it in our hotel room. Jo-Annes’ noodles tasted a bit like octopus. It was a bit of a weird taste to me but luckily Jo-Anne liked it so it was a good meal. I honestly don’t remember what mine tasted like but I ate it and I liked it and that’s what matters in the end XD

So yeah that’s what we got for dinner. A bit of a weird day since it was a lot less busy on the streets than normal and since a lot of shops were closed and we had not witnessed that before. Another experience to add at least so it wasn’t a bad day in all. Just a little cold hahaha~

I’ll see you in the next log! That will already be the second to last log of our trip.
Byebye

- Yaru