TOKYO WITH CHLOE HILL

NAME: Chloe Hill WHAT YOU DO: Stylist slash occasional photo taker! STAR SIGN: Virgo SOCIALS: @chloechill LIVING: Sydney for at least another month or two! LOCATION: Tokyo

SLEEP

Mustard Hotel in Shibuya. They have both hostel and private hotel rooms available, it’s a totally stripped back set up. Rooms are small and super minimal, the corridors make you feel like you’re in a dream sequence set in an insane asylum! But it’s a great location, quiet but only a 10 minute walk from the busy part of Shibuya. They have a great cafe downstairs which has great coffee (the cappuccino is like a flat white) and breakfast options like wholewheat pancakes and granola.

EAT

Near Mustard hotel I also loved Garden House Crafts for breakfast. For lunch head to a sushi train like Uobei Shibuya Dogenzaka. Then for Dinner book a table at Tofu restaurant Sorano Shibuya where every dish incorporates tofu. They can even make fresh tofu in front of you! Or for a fun and colourful experience go to Sanagi Shinjuku for asian fusion and great cocktails!

Afuri ramen is great for lunch or dinner too as they have a vegan ramen option at some locations (a huge thanks to Tara Morris for the original recommendation).

For coffee, there are Blue Bottle locations all over Tokyo where you can also grab a waffle or granola for breakfast.

Madosh! An Avocado Cafe in Omotesando. We sat opposite Yui from Terrace House!

DO

First and foremost visit Tokyo’s gardens! It’s amazing there are such peaceful spaces in the middle of such a bustling city, I love Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. I also stumbled upon Kiyosumi Garden which is a bit out of town, it was the cutest surprise!

Pay a small fee to enter and you’ll find a little paradise with turtles, herrons and Koi fish everywhere. For art head up to the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi where they also have an amazing viewing platform of the city.

teamLab Planets, an immersive Modern Art Museum

SHOP

The best things about shopping in Tokyo is the camera district in Shinjuku and the plethora of vintage clothing shops. If you’re in the market for an old school film camera head to Lemon Camera or Shinjuku Used Camera Market, for film development I used National Photo near Harajuku but it’s pretty expensive.

For vintage clothes Ragtag has consignment stores all over town, I loved the Omotesando location best, and near by Kinji used clothing has such cheap bargains if you put time into searching through the massive store.

Also make sure you make a stop at Dover Street Market in Ginza, it’s always got such cool displays and merchandising!

PACK

Pack good walking shoes as the best thing about Tokyo is all the hidden spots you will discover as you walk around the city. The best time of year to visit is definitely spring (March/April) as it’s still cool enough to be out and about all day but not so cold you need heavy coats. Cherry blossom season is of course super cute but don’t stress about getting to Tokyo for these exact dates as you never know exactly when they will bloom, and there is so much more to Tokyo anyway!