I woke up this morning at 4:30am, so at least it was an extra two hours of sleep compared to the night before. I took my computer down to the lobby of the hotel at 5:30am and worked on the blog and some Inspire Travel Designers tasks while the city outside slowly woke up.

As a group we didn’t get started until 10:30am, but once everyone was ready, we took the subway to Shinjuku. We were all pretty hungry, so we started looking for breakfast and ended up at a place called Eggslut. Even though the name is ridiculous, the food was great. It was a casual spot serving egg sandwiches and hashbrowns, and it hit the spot perfectly.

After breakfast, the girls did a bit of shopping in a beauty store, and then we headed to Meiji Jingu Shrine. It’s located inside a massive park in the middle of the city, larger than Central Park in New York, and it’s absolutely beautiful. It felt great to get away from the hustle and noise of Tokyo (even though Tokyo is much quieter than I anticipated) for a while and just enjoy the peaceful atmosphere of the shrine. We took in the calm surroundings, made a few wishes for the future, and then moved on.

By then we had already done quite a bit of walking and were ready for lunch, so we took the subway one stop to Shibuya. We arrived right at Shibuya Sky, the observation deck overlooking the famous Shibuya Crossing. If you’ve ever seen a movie or TV show set in Tokyo, you’ve probably seen this intersection. It’s like the Japanese version of Times Square, with thousands of people crossing in every direction at once.

Before heading up to the top, we found a dim sum restaurant on the floor below and quickly ordered dumplings and fried rice. We ate faster than anyone in history and made it to the Shibuya Sky entrance at 3:19pm, the final minute we were allowed to enter with our tickets. They are very punctual here, and if you’re even one minute late, they won’t let you in, so that was a little hectic.

We spent about two hours up in Shibuya Sky, mostly lining up to take photos at the designated photo corner. It was busy but not quite as chaotic as I expected. The views over the city were spectacular, and it was one of those moments that really makes you feel like you’re in the heart of Tokyo.

By the time we came down, we were all exhausted from standing for so long. We found a restaurant called Mom’s Touch, which served fried chicken and burgers. The food was good, but the best part was just sitting down for thirty minutes to rest. It gave us all a little second wind.

After dinner, we grabbed a beer in this tiny little alley bar, before the girls ran around Shibuya Crossing taking the obligatory photos and videos. Once the photo session was completed, we all agreed it was time to head back to the hotel. We caught the subway to the Edition and made it just in time for our 8pm booking for the pool and jacuzzi.

Vivi, Ale, and I went down for a soak while Bart stayed up in the room and took a bath to relax. We spent about an hour unwinding in the pool area, which was quiet and peaceful, before heading back to the room to shower and change.

Later we all met in the lobby bar for a drink. We each had just one, but sat there for over an hour chatting and taking in the beautiful view of the city at night. Around 11:30pm we went back to our rooms and fell asleep after another long, but lovely, day exploring Tokyo.