Day 1 : Airport - Shinjuku
- Flights from Hong Kong to Tokyo normally arrive around mid-day, so by the time you arrive your hotel, it will be early evening.
- So first thing first – let’s feed your stomach with sushi! A good place to see and try a variety of sushi and rolls is in any big department stores’ supermarkets usually located in the basement level. For example, Isetan in Shinjuku is always a good start as Shinjuku is a very busy area at night. All fresh food is sold with big discount just before the department stores close so it’s a good place if you are budget-conscious.
[ Yummy rolls! ]
- After a wander around Shinjuku, where would be the best place to experience the true Tokyo nightlife on your first night? Motsunikomisenmonten Numata - a yakitori bar located just outside Metro Shinjuku Sanchome C3 Exit is a great place to see the locals. ‘Stand-up’ bars and restaurants are very popular with business(wo)men in Tokyo. This bar is very small but has a great atmosphere. Skewers are prepared by experienced chefs in the middle of the bar. It’s smoky, noisy and super busy. Needless to say there is no English menu so be adventurous and let the waiter decides for you (At the time I went, there was an English speaking waiter). However be prepared that they will bring you a selection of unrecognizable offal as that’s what most yakitori bars serve - not one bit of an animal is wasted here! For the less adventurous, they also serve meat and vegetable skewers such as green peppers or mushrooms. My advice is just try to enjoy it. All dishes are very small and a cold Japanese draught beer probably helps. (Note: Tipping is not a norm in Japan. The Japanese are very proud of providing a good service and think it's an insult if you try to tip them. )
[ Shinjuku at night ] 
[ Numata Motsunikomisenmonten ]
[ We had lots of skewers! ] 
[ Beef tripe ] 
[ The yakitori bar ] 
[ Bright neon lights in Shinjuku ]
Day 2 : Shibuya – Daikanyama – Jiyungaoka - Omotesando
- Shibuya: Unless you love Japanese fashion labels and shopping for music, there really isn’t much to see in Shibuya apart from the people. Shibuya is full of trendy youngsters, DJs and ‘love hotels’. The first thing you will see when you come out of Shibuya Metro Hachiko exit is the famous cross-section. Fashionistas will enjoy shopping in PARCO and Seibu. DJs flying from all over the world and come to Disk Union to search for rare groove. It’s a 3-storey music shop sells both used and new CDs, vinyl records and DJ equipments. Shibuya comes alive at night as it’s packed with restaurants and bars, so it’s where I enjoy staying when I come to Tokyo.
[ Busy cross road in Shibuya ] 
[ DJ Heaven - Disk Union ] 
[ Interesting building in Shibuya ] - Daikanyama: A beautiful and relaxing suburb next to Shibuya. It’s scattered with many great independent shops and it’s a very pleasant neighbourhood just to wander around.
[ Shopping in Daikanyama ] - Jiyungaoka: Apart from Daikanyama, Jiyugaoka is also my favourite suburb in Tokyo. Both can be reached by the Toyoku Line operated by Tokyu Railway, a few stops interchanging at JR Shibuya station. Jiyungaoka is a small neighbourhood full of young moms with their young child shopping for home ware and kitchenware.
[ Jiyungaoka ] 
- Recommended by the assistant from the small privately-run Tourist Information Centre near the train station, we had lunch in an old-looking ramen (noodles) shop a minute walk away from the train station. Like most ramen shops, you place your order with their vending machine. The challenge is all the characters are in Japanese. So to make your order successfully, it’s like a memory game! First look at the photos/plastic food displays at the entrance, try to remember the name of the items you would like to order (a camera should be handy in this situation!), then look for the same characters on the vending machine. Additional items such as dumplings, raw eggs (a great complement for udon) are not on display but usually are listed at the bottom of the vending machine. Put your money in the slot and then press the button, you will be given a ticket. If you fail to do these simple steps, don’t bother to ask for help if you don’t speak Japanese. Japanese are very polite but are very shy with foreigners. They will just ignore you even you stand there helplessly. When you got your ticket from the machine, just give it to the shop assistant and voila, your hot bowl of noodles will be served in a minute and hopefully it is what you intended to order! Sometimes they may ask you the type of noodles you would prefer. You have two choices – either ramen (egg noodles) or udon (thick wheat-flour noodles).
[ Ramen shop ] 
[ mm.... yummy bowl of ramen ]
It is etiquette to slurp your noodles as it means you are enjoying your food. I have attempted to do this ‘act’ but failed every time I tried. Slurping probably has a ‘cooling’ effect but I can eat really hot food I don’t think they will take it as an insult if you don’t slurp but make sure you take up the bowl and drink every drop of your soup!
[ Pan-fried dumplings ]
Ramen shops specialize in different broth from all over Japan e.g. slightly brown broth is miso (usually very salty), milky colour is pork-based soup, orange colour is broth with chilli oil. More refreshing choice for summertime is cold ramen/udon which is served with a cold cup of ramen broth, shredded seaweed, chopped spring onion, wasabi and sometimes with a quail egg. What you do is to mix all the ingredients in the cup and dip your ramen/udon in the broth to eat. - There is another reason for visiting Jiyungaoka. It’s the home of a rare find traditional teahouse - Ko So An. I could just sit in the tatami-lined room looking out at the beautiful Japanese garden for hours. Although I won’t be able to walk sitting cross-legged after hours! The teahouse serves matcha tea (strong foamy green tea) and traditional Japanese sweets. The menu is in Japanese only and the owner only speaks Japanese, they don’t serve a wide selection of tea/cakes so not to worry. Everyone orders ice/hot matcha tea here with dessert like mochi with red beans or traditional red bean sweet. The tea was rich and bitter which complemented the sweets very well. Around us were locals only, in fact, I didn’t see any other tourists in Jiyugaoka….now I am a bit worried that tourists may start crowding this precious teahouse, so forgive me, I am not disclosing the address of this teahouse but if you really want to go there, do email me!
[ Ko So An ] 
[ Tea house overlooking at the courtyard ] 
[ Matcha tea and traditional Japanese red bean sweet ] - In Tokyo, you are always spoiled with good choices of restaurants. You just need to know where to go don’t you? Don’t limit your choices just because you can’t speak/read Japanese. Most restaurant menus show pictures so you just need to point. When in Japan, there are two types of restaurants you must try. One is Izakaya (居酒屋) – they serve small dishes from sashimi to tonkichi (deep-fried pork chop) which complement a huge drink list (both alcohol and non-alcohol). Another one is Yakiniku BBQ restaurant (日式燒肉店) which serves high quality marbled beef/pork. The meat is thinly sliced to bite-size and cooked on a hot charcoaled stove. You can find both types of restaurants in every corner in any busy areas.
Try Toraji (near Metro Omotesando A3 Exit). It’s also a yakiniku chain. The restaurant is tucked away from Omotesando and is in the basement but it's not that difficult to find.
[ Toraji in Omotesando ]
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