I travel to immerse myself in different cultures and see other versions of the 'world' that I know. And modern cities everywhere are, in principle, very similar - yes, some might be nicer, cleaner, have higher sky scrapers but I don't see how one is much different from the other. So I prefer visiting undeveloped areas so that I can learn more about history, culture and see new things (and also because they're much cheaper haha)
Although I enjoyed Tokyo more than I expected. It's a quirky city and is extremely beautiful. I spent 3 days in the there and it was just enough. The first day was packed! I don't even know how we visited so many places in one day. The second was for Disneyland and on the third day, we visited Shibuya, Harajuku and the Meiji Temple.
Day 1:
1. Asakusa (and Skytree)
Asakusa is probably the most touristy place I visited in my whole stay in Japan. It was crawling with tourists-but with very good reason. The road leading to the Kannon temple is lined with vendors offering souvenirs and local delicacies so it's a good way to break into their culture - by trying their food and looking through the shops for local items (fans, dolls, etc).
The Skytree is near Kannon but we no longer went up because it was pretty cloudy.
While walking out of Kannon temple, I was lucky to have chanced upon a wedding that was just about to start! Being the giddy, insensitive tourist that I was, I took some photos. The bride and the groom was being brought to the event place in a rickshaw and both were wearing traditional Kimonos. It seemed like a very simple celebration unlike most weddings in the Philippines.
Asakusa is lined with tons of restaurants. all of them serves raw stuff, we randomly choose a traditional restaurant and ordered sashimi, jellyfish and some tempura. The jellyfish and sashimi were pretty good, although my tongue started to get itchy halfway through the dish. It was nice to have tried it tho!
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| Jellyfish! |
I have never seen pandas before this. sooo adooorableee! oh my goodness. The Tokyo National Museum was nearby too though it was already closed by that time.
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| well. haha |
5. Ameyayokocho
The last major activity for the day was... wait for it... shopping! They said that this is the 'cheap' shopping place in Japan. Liars. While the stuff are significantly cheaper than the malls, they are by no means cheap. It's a nice place to visit though and buy pasalubong.
Passed by this view of the city. So beautiful :) I wish I had clearer photos.
7. Drop by an izakaya
Dinner! (that's cold tea, not beer btw. they serve tea everywhere!) And those chicken wings- called tebasaki - are the best. I ate several servings of it. :)
Day 2:
8. Disneyland and Blue Bayou Restaurant
Happiest place on earth! Of course, we spent a whole day here. It was pretty fun and when you buy popcorn, choose the stand with the cute popcorn containers. ;)
DisneySea is right next to it, kinda wish I could've visited it also. Although we did not have time as it will require another full day.
Blue Bayou is an indoor-pretending-to-be-outdoor restaurant and it was so nice. At some point, I actually thought that it was already evening (it was lunch time) and I was at an outdoor restaurant beside a lake! haha The food were okay but I felt like you really pay for the ambiance.
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| Appetizer |
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| dessert! |
The electrical parade started around 7pm. It was very nice too and afterwards, there was the fireworks and then the castle was projected with different lights and Disney characters.
Day 3:
Interestingly, the day I went to Shibuya was also the first game of Japan in the World Cup. Apparently people go crazy along the scramble (crossing) after the games and thus, a very strong presence of the police. They were everywhere!
I remember watching the movie Hachiko and crying. It was very cool to have seen his statue outside of the Shibuya train station!
I had Akihabra in mind when I thought of Harajuku. I was expecting people in costumes, anime stores and maid cafes! But it was just a shopping district. But the whole street was packed! It's a nice place for shopping. I think clothes are in the mid price range (Japanese standard - just to be clear) . Although I was lucky that H& M was on sale that time and so we were able to buy some stuff. It's also worth the time to visit all the other shops as well. They have some stores that only sell socks (all types of cute socks! it seems to be a big thing over there) but generally, all types of clothes were just everywhere - from costumes to Forever 21.
It's also very touristy, it's a very big place full of trees - which I did not expect to see in the middle of Tokyo. The place is dedicated to Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shoken who were dearly loved by their people and who had shaped Japan's history significantly.
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| Sake Offerings |
I honestly wish I had at least two more days in Tokyo, I would love to visit Akihabara next time and try the rides in DisneySea. Or even try a Michelin star restaurant (if my budget would permit it haha) Oh! and watch sumo wrestling :)
Hands down, it's an amazing city. But a more complete Japanese experience would call for a visit to Kyoto! :)
