Blogs from Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, Asia
November 18th 2011
Early start for some of us yesterday but we only just scraped out of the hotel by the 11am check out. Knowing we had until 2pm before we could check into our last minute hotel, we decided on that time-honoured tradition of killing time - SHOPPING! (Aisha: I have to note at this point that Japan is probably the first and only place I have ever ENJOYED shopping). Leaving our bags, we wandered uptown through Shinjuku towards Kabukicho, Tokyo's red light district (although not very obvious during the day); and after finding Don Quixote (spelled Don Quijote here and apparently abbreviated to Donki) we began. Don Quixote is the kind of store where you can buy anything and everything (We're seeing this as a running theme, some stores over here don't care about specialising, they stock ... read more
November 9th 2010
J’ai passé cette journée en solo, plutôt ambitieuse mais au final pas si mal. Je ne sais pas combien de kilomètres j’ai parcouru, mais je peux vous dire que je ne sentais plus mes chevilles une fois rentré à l’auberge.. J’ai quitté Asakusa en prenant le Waterbus jusqu’à Hinode Pier. De là, je suis passé par l’observatoire du World Trade Center Building. Une vue à 360° sur la ville de Tokyo. C’est à se demander si cette ville n’est pas construite à l’infini, un peu comme dans Simcity ! Huge in fact. De là, on peut voir la Tokyo Tower, dont la construction a été inspirée de la Tour Eiffel. Je suis resté un bon moment pour prendre des photos et essayer de distinguer les moindres détails de certains immeubles, routes, voies ferrées, etc. Une ville ... read more
October 23rd 2010
Ik geloof dat de updates nu voortaan toch echt maar gewoon 1x per maand gaan plaatsvinden ipv 1x in de 2 weken zoals in het begin!! Tsja... de gespreksstof wordt dunner en er vinden minder enerverende gebeurtenissen plaats!! De laatste weken was dat wel ff anders, maar doordat ik het zo enorm druk heb gehad ben ik er gewoon niet aan toegekomen om het eea op papier te zetten! Die drukte begon eigenlijk vlak na de vorige update op de site. Dat hele verhaal in Japan begon een beetje op gang te komen op de vrijdag... had eigenlijk afgesproken met John en Diana om die vrijdag middag met hen een kopje koffie te gaan doen. Ze waren de avond ervoor in Melbourne aangekomen, en aangezien het heerlijk weer was hadden ze fietsen gehuurd en lekker door ... read more
August 13th 2010
After a long but smooth flight, I finally arrived in Tokyo. From the airport, I took a one hour bullet train ride into the heart of the city to Shinigawa where my hotel is located. As the lush trees and traditional Japanese buildings flew by in the window, I put on my headphones and listened to some Japanese pop music to get me in the mood. Stepping off the train, I was greeted by a mass of people in a gigantic subway station. I found my way to the beautiful hotel, freshened up, and got ready for a night out on the town. Matt (my co-worker on this trip with me) and I were famished and we headed back to the subway and squeezed ourselves on the train and headed out to Shibuya, the youth district ... read more
June 17th 2010
Back in Tokyo for 2 final days we had a few things left on the list of must see one being the Tsukiji Fish Market for some sushi. I did extensive research on the best sushi in Tokyo and then compared them to how much I was willing to spend on sushi and decided to go with Kiyomura I reccomend doing research before chosing a sushi spot as there are many and I wanted to make sure I was getting quality (which isn't hard to do steps away from the biggest fish market in the world) Anyway, I took a picture of the outside with my camera and asked a few people along the way the direction and we found it. There was a huge group of 30 Japanese tourists going in and the place was ... read more
March 19th 2010
I’m noticing a trend in my sleeping pattern…it doesn’t exist. I went to bed at midnight; by 3 I was awake, largely due to the power boat tester in the bed above me. I have never heard such snoring. I got ready and sat in the lobby using the internet connection while I waited on the others. We made our way to the station and 2 subway trains later we were there. . The tuna auctions are The only auction tourists are permitted to see. I was expecting electricity and bidding but the auction itself was actually really not much to see, you see more bartering and auctioneer energy on bargain hunt. What is interesting is the way they go about it. There are people walking around that use fishhooks to open the gills and poke ... read more
March 16th 2010
With over 2 weeks in Tokyo, I was able to have a really thorough look around. One of my favourite spots was definitely Shibuya as it had the world famous crossing where people cross from all directions at the same time. Aditionally just a bit further into the town, the notorious dogenzaka street is home to all the love hotels in the area. Once you walk around you see how spoilt for choice you really are!! These hotels were expensive to say the least starting at 3000 yen for a 2 hour "Rest" stay. It is also possible to stay overnight but I didn't check these out. In shibuya there is the famous 109 brand shop were teen fashion is all the rage. The stores are crammed full with young girls especially at the weekend! Additionally ... read more
October 25th 2009
Sunday, which means harajuku again to see the goth/lolita doll girls. Tomo was still with us so he decided to come along too. He took us directly to the main exit where they all hang out. Theyre so great. All of them dressed so crazily and no one even batters an eyelid at them. Ive now discovered the reason they do it is because if some of them are bullied at school or very inhibited, sunday is the one day they can come and let loose of all their inhibitions by dressing as insane as possible. We strolled through the streets of harajuku then onto Shibuya. Tomo then decided to take us to this great little town just outside of the main tourist attractions. it's full of second hand shops and a couple of them are ... read more
October 16th 2009
Hello Tokyo. This is our very first stop and im fucking (sorry out that) excited as you don hear that people have gone to Japan on their travels around the world. Lucky for us we have been giving this fantastic oppertunity to stay in Tokyo. After a long restless flight we e here and the weather looks amazing i thought it was autumn but this is great hopefully all the places we go are like this. So we finally get through Passport control where they take you finger prints and photo which was wierd. Also the first thing you see is those surgeon masks everyones got them it takes some getting used to. By the time we get out of the airport to be greeted by John Paul its just gone 10.00. We exchange a few ... read more
3 Day Weekend-Day 3: Japanese Girls Don't Mess Around
Published: September 6th 2009Asia » Japan » Tokyo » Shibuya
July 26th 2009
Read Day 1 activities here. Read Day 2 activities here. This story is continued from Day 3. The “chugging a tall boy of Chu-Hi in front of 7/11” scene in front of me abruptly slams into a raging J-party at a bar. Drunk J-Boys are hopping around, hot J-Girls are posting at the bar, a crazy techno beat was shaking the entire place and all this in a space smaller than most American bathrooms. I’ve blacked out before into crazier situations so I surveyed the scene with an experienced calmness (“John G. Raped and Murdered My Wife”…ok, time to look at the other tattoos). I tried piecing together my night, but couldn’t remember much…why the fuck wa... read more
