Spring Break in Japan: SHIBUYA + GOLDEN GAI

Well, hey, hey, hey…it’s another TRAVEL TUESDAY!

Speaking of travel, we are home from our fun little Bahamian cruise, all of the kiddos are back in school, and I have a few more recaps from our Spring Break trip to Japan to share with you.  I am also sharing a second travel post on WHAT WE PACKED FOR OUR CRUISE if you want an extra dose of vacay this Tuesday.

As a reminder…

I first shared OUR ARRIVAL AND DAY ONE.

Then I shared OUR EPIC DAY IN KYOTO.

After that, I shared our day that included PUNCH THE MONKEY + ST. PADDY’S DAY + A DINNER FOOD TOUR.

From there, I shared about how the four Shull girls had an AMAZING DAY AT TOKYO DISNEY while the boys WENT SNOWBOARDING.

And then that takes us to today 🙂 .

After an EPIC day snowboarding and visiting Disney, the Shulls opted for a slow start to this day…

…after sleeping in, I found myself back enjoying the gorgeous views with my Kindle and coffee after my workout.

From there, we were off to check out some “must see” things on the kids’ list.

First up…

…these three wanted to head back to the Shibuya area for another trip through the wild and zany world of Mega Don Quijote.

Our hotel was in the business district right by the Imperial Palace, so it was very calm and quiet.  This Shibuya area was quite the opposite.  It was peppy and energetic and had a really “fun” vibe…

…it doesn’t take much to entertain us.

For lunch…

…we ate our way through Shibuya stopping for bites and nibbles…

…at every turn.

Next stop on the teenagers’ “must do” list was visiting…

…Brandy Melville.  My three girls LOVE Brandy Melville, but they especially love it when it’s outside of Texas because the merch always has local items.  They all three came home with a lot of pieces that say “Tokyo” on them.

That being said, sometimes, even in Tokyo, you find nuggets of home…

…how fun is that?

And after some shopping, we were back off and walking…

…mama duck was at the back of the line…

…I just can’t say this enough, Tokyo was beautiful in mid-March.  The weather, the flowers…it was gorgeous.

Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the hotel.  I mentioned this before, but the lobby is on the 39th floor, so the views were spectacular.  Gorgeous, right?

That evening…

…we had another wonderful guide meet us in the lobby with a car to take us for another fun dinner food tour.  This time, we toured Shinjuku’s Golden Gai District.

One of the things I loved the most about Tokyo was how vast and diverse it was.  There were just so many unique and different areas to explore.  This Golden Gai District was certainly special.  The neon lights were brilliant but then tucked away in the heart of the district were six little streets that had over 200 tiny little restaurants and bars tucked away.  The juxtaposition was really quite special.

Take a look…

This is the famous cat billboard.  We waited a few minutes (along with a lot of other people) and all of a sudden the animated cat “comes to life” on the screen and starts playing with a ball.  The special effects were really fun.

Take a look down this little street…

We stopped here for a bite to eat…

We ordered skewers, and she grilled them right there in front of us…

Everything we had was delicious.

Then, we kept exploring.  Our guide shared so many stories about the history, culture and traditions surrounding this area…

We headed back out to the bright lights…

See who is behind us?

It’s Godzilla!  On the hour, he roars and comes to life.  Of course, we had to watch that.

Our guide wove us back down into the tiny streets…

Look at all the little pubs and eateries tucked in here…

We stopped at this one and went up the little staircase…

…there was a big bar right on the second floor…

…never in a million years would we have ventured up there if it hadn’t have been for our guide.  It was such a fun experience.

And then down the narrow little stairs we went 😉 .

Found a little slice of America in Japan 🙂 .

Our last stop of the night was…

…traditional ramen.  It was DELICIOUS!

And that was our day 🙂 .

Don’t forget to check out WHAT WE PACKED FOR OUR CRUISE on this Tuesday too.

As always, my travel agency would love to send you to Asia or a cruise…or Africa or Australia or Antarctica or Europe or South America or North America…we want to send you to Disney, to the beach, the mountains, and more.  We love planning luxury vacations, but we also know how to get the biggest bang for your buck.  Whether you need a lot of hand holding or only the bones of your trip booked, we’re your travel team.  Connect with us today!

I hope you all have the BEST day!  I’ll see you tomorrow. xx