The public transportation system and amount of people was quite overwhelming. I'm usually great with the public transportation systems and I've used them in many countries for quite sometime and never had any issues. In Tokyo, the system is next level. Took me few days to figure it out but by the end of the week everything made sense. It's always a challenge to travel somewhere where people don't really speak english. Every time I would ask people, if it's the right train they would agree and that's how I got lost few times. The info desks however had people with really good English.
First few days me and my friend spent with this lovely American girl we met on the plane. She had done her research and always had great suggestions of what to do. With her, we went to see multiple temples and markets, and just walked around a lot. I Loved walking around. (till your steps are over 20k or so.) But I reckon walking is the best way to get to know a city.
I wanna say something about the temples. I've seen temples in every Asian country I've ever been to, but their always so different. That's probably the reason why they have a certain appeal to me. I love the tradition they have and do in there. For example, in japan they bow before entering. Another fact about the temples was their locations, in the middle of the city, but still surrounded by woods or bush. And it's not just the temple, it's the surrounding area too, with ponds and smaller buildings. When the sunlight hit's the temple area through the trees it's absolutely beautiful. One of the good temples was close to the Harajuku district and another one was called the Nezu shrine.
I've grown up hearing about these ladies that dress and look like dolls. And their called Harajuku's. So naturally, I was very keen on going to the harajuku district to see all these doll people. I was a little disappointed. Not so much of the place, it was great with lots of shops everywhere with goofy stuff. But barely any Harajuku people. Around the area there was also a street named 'Cat street', and obviously mistaken again I thought all the shops would have crazy cat stuff. It was a great shopping street with all the good brands, but nothing too crazy I was looking for.
We also went to few big botanic gardens/ parks. It was actually amazing. In Japan, people truly love parks. There were people there dancing, joggling, playing with different toys, having a pick nick and taking out their pets. It was beautiful and the weather was really great for all that. One of the parks had a Spanish food festival. It was super popular and the lines for the food were enormous. We managed to get some good sangria and food anyway and ate it with hundredths of other people at the park.
Other cool things along the way were the never ending vending machines, a man made island and crazy 15- story high malls for Anime stuff etc.
Oh yeah, in Japan, there's pork in everything. Seriously it was annoying. I haven't eaten pork for about 6 years, I even hate the smell of it. 5 out of 6 ramen places had menu of 3, all pork options. Pork broth. Pork slices. Few times I would order something from the menu that says ''fried noodles with omelette.'' And when I would get my dish, underneath the omelette there were thick slices of pork. The absolutely best ramen I had was Veggie ramen. It was the best ramen I've ever had.
Next time i'm definitely going to Hiroshima and Kyoto.
#TOKYO
First few days me and my friend spent with this lovely American girl we met on the plane. She had done her research and always had great suggestions of what to do. With her, we went to see multiple temples and markets, and just walked around a lot. I Loved walking around. (till your steps are over 20k or so.) But I reckon walking is the best way to get to know a city.
I wanna say something about the temples. I've seen temples in every Asian country I've ever been to, but their always so different. That's probably the reason why they have a certain appeal to me. I love the tradition they have and do in there. For example, in japan they bow before entering. Another fact about the temples was their locations, in the middle of the city, but still surrounded by woods or bush. And it's not just the temple, it's the surrounding area too, with ponds and smaller buildings. When the sunlight hit's the temple area through the trees it's absolutely beautiful. One of the good temples was close to the Harajuku district and another one was called the Nezu shrine.
I've grown up hearing about these ladies that dress and look like dolls. And their called Harajuku's. So naturally, I was very keen on going to the harajuku district to see all these doll people. I was a little disappointed. Not so much of the place, it was great with lots of shops everywhere with goofy stuff. But barely any Harajuku people. Around the area there was also a street named 'Cat street', and obviously mistaken again I thought all the shops would have crazy cat stuff. It was a great shopping street with all the good brands, but nothing too crazy I was looking for.
We also went to few big botanic gardens/ parks. It was actually amazing. In Japan, people truly love parks. There were people there dancing, joggling, playing with different toys, having a pick nick and taking out their pets. It was beautiful and the weather was really great for all that. One of the parks had a Spanish food festival. It was super popular and the lines for the food were enormous. We managed to get some good sangria and food anyway and ate it with hundredths of other people at the park.
Other cool things along the way were the never ending vending machines, a man made island and crazy 15- story high malls for Anime stuff etc.
Oh yeah, in Japan, there's pork in everything. Seriously it was annoying. I haven't eaten pork for about 6 years, I even hate the smell of it. 5 out of 6 ramen places had menu of 3, all pork options. Pork broth. Pork slices. Few times I would order something from the menu that says ''fried noodles with omelette.'' And when I would get my dish, underneath the omelette there were thick slices of pork. The absolutely best ramen I had was Veggie ramen. It was the best ramen I've ever had.
Next time i'm definitely going to Hiroshima and Kyoto.
#TOKYO
