TOKYO DIARIES 2014 - pt. 1: Settling In

I just got back from a five night trip to Tokyo. It's been about two years since my last proper visit there, and was my first time to travel there alone. Part-business, part-fun, part-family visit to my brother, it was exactly what I needed at this point in time.
Travelling alone affords you more time to spend with your camera, I've found. So this trip I focused on and truly enjoyed taking photos around Tokyo. This is the first of seven posts of my Tokyo Diaries 2014, starting off a little slow with a few moments around my first night/day settling into Shinjuku where I was staying, and a brief stopover I made in Shibuya on Friday.

On my first night, my brother and I shared a meal and an apple pie at a great restaurant in Shinjuku's Lumine 1 restaurant floor. Then, on Friday I headed to the office for the morning. I was staying at my brother's apartment in a central location, but was surprised by the peace and quiet of his neighbourhood despite its proximity to busy Shinjuku.

On my way home, I decided to hop off the train at Shibuya for a look around.

Shibuya Crossing as charming and iconic as ever. Although it's such a stereotypical tourist shot of Tokyo, it's too hard to resist taking some variation of this photo every time I visit.

The reason I popped by Shibuya 109 (a noisy, crazy department store for fast teen fashion trends) was to check out the new shops: Punyus and Bubbles (which has its main shop in Harajuku). I picked up a really cute pancake cardigan and shirt from Punyus, and wonderful red velvet hair bows at Bubbles.

Looking forward to sharing more of Tokyo with you !
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