UWC Day 122 – Tokyo, Japan – Unexpected Extra Day in Tokyo and Teddy Bear Hotpot

Unplanned day in Tokyo which turned into a chill day wandering around Tokyo, while abandoning plans to go to Nagasaki and Kagoshima with the ship.

Photo Gallery: https://pics.mattichan.com/-uwc122

Haneda Airport Viewing Deck

Woke up and headed out to the Viewing Deck to watch planes for a bit and enjoy the morning.

Change in Plans

Got word right before flight to Nagasaki that I didn’t have to go to Kagoshima to get the tickets, and instead I could have Nate and / or mom pick up the tickets instead.

Instead I got to just stay and spend an extra night in Tokyo instead.

Jumped on Agoda and booked a hotel for the night then headed in toward Tokyo.

Heading to Tokyo

Got a quick JR and Subway Pass on Klook and then headed into Tokyo using the passes.

Found a fresh orange juice vending machine and was tempted to almost try some.

At the platform, there was a nice viewing station as well to watch the trains come in as well.

Hotel

Traveled slowly toward the hotel, taking the JR line and subway to get into the city then to the hotel. Having the passes was very nice and made it easy to just travel and hop from line to line.

Eventually I made it to the hotel with all my luggage and dropped everything off, before heading back into the city to see what was around since the last time I was here and explore.

Shibuya

Headed into Shibuya and just wandered. Found a TON of Lotso claw machines and watched some folks try. He’s a star over here in asia and it fills my heart :D.

Thought I was walking to a park, but it turned out to be a mall of sorts with a couple green spaces on the roof. Still some fun scenes and enjoyed just walking around and people watching as the sun came down.

Ran into a store called b8ta which was pretty cool too. All merch inside is from start ups and they’re early investments / products. Assuming that they turn over inventory pretty frequently but it was a cool space.

Also was super tempted by a sign for a hedgehog cafe, but didn’t really want to sit for a bunch of time.

Kumachan Onsen

Kumachan Onsen is the Teddy Bear Hotspring that my cruise friends told me about (via tiktoks). Seeing how I love me a bear, and I love hotpot, how could I pass up the opportunity to have some teddy bear hotpot?

Wandered over since I couldn’t get a reservation and just tried to see if I could do a walk in. They were a little confused, but when I said it was just me, they looked and found me a spot (so lucky!).

Got to the top floor where all the food was to find my little burner with a bear, and all the bear ambiance everywhere which was a ton of fun. Vibes everywhere.

Thought about getting all dressed up as well, but didn’t want to keep getting up and sitting down to get dressed.

Hot Pot

The Teddy Bear Gelatin is SO cute, took a couple photos of other peoples hotpots, but went with the sakura flavored one for myself, since its cherry blossom season and have seen so many the last week, I thought it was fitting.

Look how cute my cherry blossom one is!

Cooking / Hot Spring

Turned on the heat, and let my teddy soak in his hot spring. Then cooked the ramen, beef, fishcakes and veggies and it was SOOOO good. So delicious.

Atmosphere

After dinner, took a bit of time just wandering around the place as I left to go back downstairs. This place is so cute, vibes are immaculate.

Dessert

Got some dessert after, and got the shaved ice. The guy was skeptical that I could finish it by myself, but little did he know :). It wasn’t just shave ice, each layer had more stuff to uncover, and underneath the pudding head, was delicious strawberries (the best season), shaved ice with condensed milk, then under the shaved ice, was some hokkaido ice cream and under all of that, some additional fruits (lychee and jellies). Could’ve had another if I wasn’t getting cold :D.

Gatcha Toys

Stopped and used some spare change to get a tiny gatcha as well. All the color combinations, and I was so lucky to get a semi-lotso / semi-sakura colored one. It’s like the universe just knew…

Night Views

After dinner, walked around Shibuya for a bit taking in the nightscape before heading back to the hotel on the subway. Right before heading down to the subway, saw the go karts and people dressed up (pikachu!) driving down the road as well.

Vibe Check

5 parts joy – awesome day!

Feedback

Leave a comment or question if you have any thoughts! Anything you want to know about as we go around the world? Any things you want to share as feedback, or any images that particularly spoke to you. I’ll try to read all of them as time permits!