We enjoyed our first day in Tokyo today with good food, some weird things and spralling views.

We started the day with breakfast at the hostel. They have a ¥390 special with soup, toast and drinks so we always start the day at the hostel when we stay at Sakura because it is such good value. We spent a bit of time researching whilst eating then headed out into the brisk air. It's colder than Townsville but not uncomfortable.

Our first stop of the day was one train ride away, Tokyo Tower. I had been here before on my first trip but Shannon hadn't so it was good to check it out again. We got there close to opening time so there was no line and we got some great views of the city and Mt Fuji in the distance. I think the view at the Tokyo Metropolitan Building is just as good though (and free) so I would very much recommend that over anything else.

Once we left the tower we went for a walk in the Shiba Koen (park) located at the base before hopping onto the subway and making our way to Yoyogi Koen. Yoyogi Koen is located near Harajuku and there are supposed to be all those anime dressed up people there on Sunday's. We strolled through a good amount of the park but didn't spot any dressed up teens. We did however see: a dog in a stroller, a girl dancing enthusiastically (not for money), two groups of people sword fighting, a tricycle with a cart full of poodles, and many joggers and picnickers. It was a lovely day today so I guess most people wanted to take advantage of it.

On the other side of the park was Harajuku and we found some lunch at a place called Ootoya. They do set meals (miso, rice, cabbage salad and meat) and it was fairly tasty and affordable.

We spent a few hours strolling around Harajuku looking through shops before deciding to go to Shibuya. Shibuya has a lot of great shops which was good because I wanted to get a new jacket. It was a bit of a mission to find one I liked but after a few hours I found one in H&M. Fortunately they also had a "hand in second hand clothes" discount coupon promotion running. So I handed in my jacket (one I borrowed from mum especially for the first few days of the trip, teal in colour and fur rimmed) at the checkout and received a 10% off coupon which I was able to use immediately on my new jacket. Quite the success!

We stopped for an iced coffee and to rest our feet and decided to go to Ikebukuro next. We stayed at Ikebukuro last trip and it has a lively main strip with a lot of eating places. I also wanted to buy the pusses some new collars from a shop there called Nekobukuro so it worked out well. After we picked out the cat's collars, we went across to an arcade and Shannon tried to win a few prizes with no luck. For dinner we had some delicious ramen, much better than last night's, in my opinion.

On the way home we bought some delicious custard buns for dessert from a stall at the station. Shannon fell in love with them last time we were here so he was pleased as punch to have some more.

We are now back at the hostel resting up. Tomorrow we are going to the Ghibli Museum. I think it's going to be awesome. Phew, walking around all day really takes it out of your feet.