Spending a day on my own was a great way to decompress, so I was mentally ready to spend another day socializing with my mom and her partner in Tokyo!

And I was really excited to spend some time in Shinjuku together.

The first adventure was literally just getting to Shinjuku. We made the mistake of taking the metro to Shinjuku Station directly. It’s known as being the world’s most notoriously confusing metro station, and it definitely was stressful to navigate.

*Omoide Yokocho and the cat billboard (March 2025)*

We managed to find an exit and walk from there to some of the spots we wanted to visit. Like Omoide Yokocho aka. Memory Lane, the Godzilla Head and the 3D cat billboard!

It was interesting to me how different parts of Tokyo felt totally unique from each other.

Some areas feel like stepping back in time. Some areas feel like travelling to the future. Shinkuku during the day felt, to me, like other big cities I’ve visited like Toronto or New York.

So we ended up visiting Game Panic for something that was totally Japan: arcade games!

*Playing Mario Kart at the arcade and visiting Godzilla (March 2025)*

I tried my hand at some Pokémon claw machines, and after losing a handful of times, we found a Mario Kart arcade game. My mom and her partner played on one and I faced off against a fellow Karter on another.

I played as Toad and ended up winning the race! It was fun to play against a stranger, give each other a run for our money and have a fun time.

One of the things that was non-negotiable for me to do in Japan was to visit a theme cafe. I was able to convince my family to come with me to the cafe dedicated to my favourite Sanrio character — the Cinnamoroll Cafe! 🥰

It was so cute to see my guy all over the decorations in the cafe. And it was pretty cool, this was the first time I ordered from the server in Japanese!

I ordered strawberry tiramisu and a latte. As expected, the food was pretty mid but the point of a theme cafe is the vibes. And I’m glad we made the time to visit such a kawaii Sanrio cafe!

*Manneken waffles in Ginza (March 2025)*

We hopped back on a train to the Ginza area to wander a bit and ended up grabbing a fresh waffle to warm us up on the chilly day. I chose a matcha waffle at Manneken, and it was incredible. Crispy on the outside and fresh and chewy on the inside.

Then it was time for me to go on a solo mission to the restaurant I’d wanted to try since arriving in Tokyo: Ichiran Ramen.

*Ichiran Ramen to warm up after a cold day (March 2025)*

Ichiran Ramen is the perfect spot for introverted and anxious travellers like myself.

You punch your order and pay with a machine that gives you an order ticket, then staff sit you at a solo spot with privacy walls along a bar. The wall in front of you opens up and someone takes your order ticket, no talking required.

Then before you know it, the privacy wall opens one more time as they place your bowl of delicious ramen on the table in front of you and leave you to eat.

Not only was the ramen delicious, after a week of being social with my family, it was really nice to sit in silence and enjoy a warm meal on my own. It may be a chain restaurant, but it’s totally worth a visit.

It was so hard to believe that our incredible Tokyo adventure was shortly coming to an end.