Today turned out to be a great day in Tokyo—partly because I felt noticeably better, which changes everything, and partly because it was packed with new experiences and small discoveries that quietly stack up—new flavours, new streets, new sensations. The kind that reminds me why I keep travelling to Japan.
Exploring Tokyo neighbourhoods. A cooking class. The Harry Potter store in Harajuku. Coach Café. Okinawan cuisine and other delicious bites along the food tour. And a lot of sake. which was followed by more sake in the Tachinomi sake bar in Gotanda.
You see, I have been doing everything humanly possible to recover from a low-key sickness I’ve been carrying with me since Melbourne. I tried it all: ArmaForce, behind-the-counter meds, soup, garlic pills, vitamin C tablets, orange juice, Tolak Angin, and an entire box of Cordial. I prayed. I WHF-ed. I slept deeply and often. I took power naps at 7. Vicks. Thick clothes. Hot showers. I even planned a soaking session in a steaming bathtub, sweating the illness out of my system.
For the record, fried garlic at Gyokaku—eaten last night happily —was part of the treatment plan.
What I didn’t expect was that sake might be the missing cure.
I’ve been avoiding alcohol for weeks, terrified it would push me from “slightly unwell” to fully sick. But somehow, it was the sake that I drank tonight that saved me. I know—I sound like an alcoholic. But hear me out. Sake is made purely from rice. Rice. My favourite thing in the world. Naturally, my body understood the assignment.
I hope all these new and interesting experiences don’t just enrich the trip, but also expand me. Make life fuller. More interesting. Slightly better. And, thankfully, me much less sick.
Tokyo day one—done right. 🍶🇯🇵
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Sake never fails
Iya… 2026 is the year of Sake!