Tokyo, Japan: DisneySea, Shibuya, and Tokyo Tower

This is probably going to be my last post about my trip to Japan in 2016. Thank goodness I finally reached the end of this series! I have been writing posts about this for nearly 2 years! But no regrets, I am actually doing this because I told myself when I started this blog that I will document everything here, especially my travels. By the way, if you missed my other posts of all things Japan, you can find them here!

Okay, let me tell you the story of how Kevin and I travelled to Tokyo from Osaka via the bullet train, went to DisneySea, saw the famous Hachiko statue, crossed the crazy Shibuya crossing, went up to Tokyo Tower, and took pictures in a park to have an autumn themed photos! We all did these in two days!

From Osaka, we took the earliest bullet train to Tokyo. The distance is more than 500 km but the travel only took almost 4 hours. Riding the bullet train or Shinkansen is such a delightful experience. The interiors are similar to a plane's, and although it is travelling in a speed of 320 km/h, you won't feel anything! This is the closest thing to an F1 car in terms of speed that I can ride. Lol.

We arrived in Tokyo just before lunchtime. Our Airbnb is just a stone's throw away from the nearest JR station, so we quickly checked-in, and then we ate lunch at a nearby hole-in-a-wall restaurant.

Tokyo DisneySea

After lunch, we travelled to our first agenda in Tokyo — DisneySea! When we were planning the trip, we were so torn between Disneyland and DisneySea. Who wouldn’t, right? They are, after all, the happiest places in the world! We would have gone to both, but sadly, we don’t have the luxury of time, so we needed to only choose one. If you are torn like us, maybe our decision can help you: we chose DisneySea because it’s the only one in the world. And we have read that Tokyo Disneyland is similar to Disneyland in Hong Kong, which we have been to before. I hope this will give you some perspective!

Anyway, both Disneyland and DisneySea are located in the Tokyo Disney Resort in Chiba Prefecture. It’s quite a far travel from our Airbnb, which is in Kichijoji. Like in other countries, the trains going to the Disney Resort are Disney-themed. By the way, we booked our tickets from Klook. The tickets are flexible — you can use it either in Disneyland or DisneySea. This ticket is perfect if up to the last minute, you still couldn't decide where to go!

Entering a Disney theme park always feels magical! Since this is DisneySea, most of the characters, rides, and decorations in the theme park are water-related. Before going in, it’s a must to take picture of Mickey’s ship!

Similar to our experience in USJ, the queues to the rides are extremely long. But as it became late, the queues started to become shorter so we were able to ride most of the rides. The park closes at 10pm. Let me share some of our photos from our visit!

Shibuya

The next day was a long day for us. We woke up early and went to the first place in our itinerary — Shibuya! Before crossing the crazy pedestrian crossing, we went to take pictures with Hachikō's statue, the world's most famous dog. If you don't know his story, read it up! It's a touching one.

Then it's time to cross Shibuya crossing! It's really crazy how many people cross this pedestrian crossing. We crossed it multiple to get the perfect photos. Good thing the Japanese didn't mind when we blocked their ways sometimes. I think they are so used to it already. Haha!

Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Tower is one of the most famous observatory towers in Tokyo. We were choosing between Tokyo Tower and Tokyo Skytree, but obviously, we ended up going to Tokyo Tower as we wanted to also visit the Tokyo One Piece Tower.

Related Post: Tokyo, Japan: Tokyo One Piece Tower + Gundam Front Tokyo

On our way to the Tokyo Tower, we saw a small park, and we took lots of photos there. Haha! Parks are absolutely beautiful during the autumn season — the combination of red, green, and yellow hues from the trees is such a delight to see. I think our photos came out well, aren't they? 

The Tokyo Tower is the second-tallest structure in Japan after the Tokyo Skytree standing at 333 metres. It was modelled after and inspired by the Eiffel Tower, and it is one of the most iconic and prominent landmarks in Tokyo. If you watch a lot of anime, I'm pretty sure you have seen this one way or another.

Despite being just relatively high compared to the Skytree, the view from the observation deck of Tokyo Tower is breathtaking. Tokyo's skyline is the perfect definition of an urban city! There is no shortage of buildings in this city, that's for sure!

And that's how we explored Tokyo for almost two days! Those two days were extremely hectic and exhausting, but it was sure worth it! I hope to be back again to see the rest of what this city has to offer! 

Have you been to Tokyo? What are your favourite places to visit in this beautiful city?