When I visit Tokyo, it’s about going home to spend time with my family and friends since I was born and raised there. Especially this visit, I went back feeling really homesick and wasn’t thinking too much about planning blog posts or interesting content. But, my BFF Christine had a brilliant idea of a Tokyo post through Snapchat! It shows a little bit more behind-the-scenes of my life which I’ve been wanting to do for this blog, so it was perfect!
If you’re looking for guides of Tokyo or other areas of Japan, scroll to the very bottom of this post where I’ve supplied links to all the posts I’ve done of Japan!
Starting with the 3 snaps above, from left to right…
1. Does anyone else feel me in this snap? I try not to fly out of LAX whenever possible. I think LAX is the worst airport but unfortunately for international trips, I have no choice. From the freeway exit to Tom Bradley Terminal, it took 1.5 hours!!!
2. Landed in Tokyo and exploring the cute geo filters of Snapchat! Riding my cab from Haneda International Airport to my parent’s house! Yay!
3. Landed at 5AM and by 5:40AM I was back home. The best part? My Mom’s cooking. I was greeted with this when I got back – doesn’t it look like restaurant material?! Yum!
1. I grew up with a lot of animals in our house albeit living in Tokyo. When my brother graduated college and moved out, my parents bought this little budgie. His name is Lucky and he’s pretty much the most adorable thing in the world. He hates being in his cage and always wants to be on someone’s shoulder!
2. Tokyo loves holiday lights. Of course my Mom and I Googled the best spots for them and ended up near Tokyo Station. It’s hard to see how beautiful it was in real life through Snapchat or even a photo which I have on Instagram. The chilly air, beautiful lights and Mom? Love, love, love.
3. In my opinion, Tokyo is one of the most culinary-rich cities in the world. Did you know Japan overthrew France for the most Michelin Star restaurants in the world? Asterisque is a very popular cake shop and conveniently only about 10 minutes away from my house! My Mom brought these home because she thought it would look good on Instagram 🙂 Gotta love a supportive Instagram fan Mom!
1. One of my closest friends from high school, Eri and I had our annual date at one of my favorite cake shops in Shimokitazawa. Had such a fun time catching up on life. She’s planning on moving to NYC in 2017 so I can’t wait for that!
2. Do you sense a food pattern here? This is a sushi place I actually DO NOT recommend in Shibuya called Kappa Sushi. It’s a rip off of Uobei (which I introduced in this Tokyo post) and their quality is absolutely terrible. My Mom and I had only had a few before going home to eat better food, haha!
3. My parents & I stopped to get some coffee & cake at their favorite spot, Tsudoi Cafe. Despite the fact that it’s located in Shibuya, it’s a quiet, peaceful spot to take a breather from the crowds. Their female patissier is obviously SO talented! #GirlBossAlert
1. If you like sponge cake, you HAVE to take my word and go to Shoto Cafe. Also introduced in one of my Tokyo posts right here.
2. Not to toot my own horn but I think this photo of Lucky is so stinkin’ cute! He loves mirrors and is always chatting with his reflection. Hee hee!
3. People asked me on Snapchat after this snap, “what does standing steak mean?”. It’s literally steak you eat standing! The concept is that if you’re standing, you don’t stay for a long time, which makes it easier to sell larger quantities per day, which then lowers steak prices. Crazy, right? This chunky rib-eye steak was only $10!!!! If you’re interested, the place is called Ikinari Steak.
1. Speaking of dates with Mom, here’s my Mom’s Snapchat debut! Haha! She saw my brother and I opening our mouths and raising our eyebrows (#snapchatproblems); it intrigued her too much 🙂
2. This is in Suwa, a short family trip we took to Nagano. The hotel we stayed at only had lake views, which I was so impressed by! No one in our family had even heard of this sleepy town before but there were almost no tourists, the best hot-springs and we fell in love. Post coming soon!
3. Yes, yes, another Mom date 🙂 One of our favorite Japanese restaurants in Tokyo is Mimyu. They have a couple of locations, one in Shinjuku and one in Shibuya. I wanted to make a point to eat here and my wish was granted! I had a tempura donburi (tempura atop a bowl of rice) and yuba udon (tofu curd shavings and noodles). Yum!
1. One cannot go to Japan and not have Japanese BBQ. To me, it doesn’t matter where you end up for Japanese BBQ, it’s always good. I know my classy parents would beg to differ, haha.
2. Thanks to Grandpa’s insanely smart real estate purchase back in the day, we’re lucky enough to own a home in Shibuya, not a cramped apartment living. We have a full blown yard complete with a huge persimmon tree, tons of greenery and a yuzu tree. Since the yuzu tree produces hundreds each season, my Dad started making Yuzu Peels. This is us helping him out with the process. They taste so good and professional!
3. A little snack amidst an intense shopping session with my Mom. Have you ever had takoyaki? They’re piping hot flavored flour balls with pieces of octopus in it and is very classic Japanese. They make it right in front of you at these stands and oh so yummy!
1. Stand down, Krispy Kreme, Welcher’s and Dunkin Donuts! Mister Donut is the BEST! If you’re unfamiliar, Mister Donuts is a donut shop in Japan (read more on my Tokyo post). Supposedly they’re in other areas of Asia too! Affordable, delicious donuts and good coffee. Their collaborations with Disney, Sanrio, Peanuts and other brands make for adorable limited edition treats too!
2. This is in Shinjuku near the station where they burst with pink holiday lights. Again, it’s better to see it in person but I thought it turned out pretty well on snapchat!
3. Now this is sushi I approve. Standing sushi in Shibuya called Uogashi! Always REALLY fresh and insanely affordable for the quality. You can check it out on my previous Tokyo post right here.
I hope you enjoyed my Tokyo trip through the lens of Snapchat! On Instagram, everything tends to be more polished so I enjoyed sharing a more personal, behind-the-scenes of my life. Let me know if this style is interesting and I’ll start doing more snapchat posts of trips!
Want more Japan posts?
Kyoto, Japan
Suwa, Japan (Coming soon!)
♡♡♡
Scan the above image on Snapchat or find me: lifeinwanderlst
Your budgie is adoooooorable! So great to see you had such a wonderful time with your family. I have to check out that standing steak AND the sponge cake place, yum! Love the snaps, you are right, it makes it look more real. xoxo, nano | travelwithnanob.com
Hi Nano! Aww, thank you – we LOVE our little budgie…a little too much, haha! Yes you definitely should check out Ikinari Steak (they have several different locations) and the Shoto Cafe (they have great food too, not just the cake). Hope you had a wonderful holiday too!!!! xo
Snapchat gives a BTS look into someone's life so I enjoyed this very much. Non-prim and proper in a good way. Tokyo looks awesome! – Ryan
Definitely! Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed a different style this time 🙂 Thanks for stopping by Ryan! xo
Gosh I so want to go to Tokyo ! I bet it's gorgeous there now!