Saturday, 13 April 2024
In the morning, we had breakfast at the hotel. We chose this hotel due to its breakfast option and I was glad it didn’t disappoint.
They served a decent size buffet with a mix of Japanese and western food.
The plan for today is to visit Shinjuku Park to see sakura flowers. From the hotel, we walked to Hamamatsucho Station and took the train to Shinjuku.
Shinjuku Gyoen (Park) park was a short walk from Shinjuku station. There were 3 entrances and we went in via the Shinjuku Gate. Given that my parents are seniors, we get to skip the line and went straight to the ticket counter. It was ¥500 for adults and ¥250 for seniors.
We were given a printed map that had information on the various types of sakura (with photos) and where they are located.
We took our time to stroll through the park. The weather was amazing and the flowers were fantastic. We stopped by one of the cafes for coffee before continuing even deeper into the park.
There was an intersection in the middle of the park where the view was absolutely gorgeous.
There was a large kids area (near Sendagaya gate in the map above). We sat there while the kids ran around the park.
We exited the park from the south gate (called Sendagaya gate) and walked towards Shinjuku station.
It was a bit of a walk through the neighbourhood but it’s the shortest train ride to Shibuya.
I wanted to bring everyone to experience the Shibuya crossing, but since everyone was hungry, we headed to lunch first.
As we exited Shibuya station, I saw a JR Tourist Centre. I took that opportunity to buy Suica cards for my parents (you can only buy it at major train stations).
From the station, we walked to Tokyu Shibuya Plaza. It’s one of the malls within Shibuya City. We took the lift up to the restaurant floor and after looking around, we decided to eat at Teuchi Soba Takenouchi Restaurant.
The restaurant had enough seats for all of us and the food was good too.
After lunch, we made our way to the Shibuya Crossing. It was the first time for my family members and they were thrilled.
We crossed towards the train station and visited the Hachiko statue. The place was packed with people.
From the Hachiko Statue, we crossed again and headed along one of the alleys towards Tokyu Hands.
Along the way, we came across a gashapon arcade and the kids insisted to go in.
After exploring Tokyu Hands, everyone was quite tired and hungry. We did a quick search and decided to have dinner at Kebab Cafe Shibuya, which was opposite Mega Don Quijote.
After that, the rest of the family took the cab back while we went to Mega Don Quijote across the street. It was a really busy place with narrow aisles, packed with tourist and locals alike. The store seems to have something for everyone. Highly recommended if you haven’t been to one in Japan.
Related posts: Tokyo 2024 part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6
Imran Jaafar 