I am in disbelief. Even as I walk through the bright streets of Tokyo, I still can't comprehend that I am actually here. It all feels like a dream.
The first night out consisted of walking through Ikebukuro and grabbing some ramen for dinner. Initially, we planned to go to a famous ramen shop in Ikebukuro, but the line was so long that we decided to find somewhere else to eat. We ended up stumbling upon Komen Ramen, a delightful ramen place with decent prices. 




And, holy moly, their regular ramen was sooooo delicious. I'm not sure if it was because I was really hungry or because it was just damn good. It was one of the best ramen's I've had. It had a rich thick both and the noodles were perfectly cooked (in my opinion.) For some reason, the eggs in Japan seem to taste different (in a good way) than the ones in America.
We also ordered some gyoza (pot stickers) and they were yummy as well. I thought they complimented the meal nicely.


All in all, the whole meal was very satisfying, especially since it was a cold night. They even had a special going on where you get a free add-on to your meal. I chose a sweet almond jello with milk and strawberry jelly. (I ate it too fast to take a photo. Haha!) It was a pleasant way to finish off the meal.
After dinner, we explored Ikebukuro a little bit and went to Don Quijote and peeked into a pachinko center. The pachinko place was surprisingly loud. It sounded like people were firing machine guns at each other. The machines were also very colorful and eye-catching.

the pachinko machines

Lastly, we headed back to our hotel in Shinokubo to go to sleep after a very long, tiring, but also exciting and fun day. Of course, I stopped to snap a couple pictures before we turned in.


I can honestly say that, as much as the flight, finding our way through the subway, and the train ride to our hotel were exhausting, the little outing to Ikebukuro really brought my excitement and vitality back. I also feel as though I've been in Japan for a lot longer than one day. I can already tell that this trip is going to be one of the most memorable ones yet.