Blogs from Tokyo, Japan, Asia - page 214

I have been relaxing and contemplating. I came to relax and to escape Australia for a while and clear my head at the same time as experiencing a world different to my own yet still one and the same. My self absorbtion (laziness?) was interspersed with a few interesting activities. Shopping. I went to the supermarket to pick up a few things. Who would have considered a supermarket to be an interesting experience? At least when I was in Ecuador you could make an educated guess based on pictures and the words were similar in structure and script. Here I cannot understand the script at all so I have to rely on pictures and hope. There are many products that have English on them so I can use those words as a guide. I was amused ... read more

Safe, but tiring, arrival in Japan. Got to the hotel 23 hours after leaving Cardiff...but well worth the travelling. Hotel is a cracker - check out its website www.parkhoteltokyo.com - and with a room on the 33rd, and penultimate, floor we have an awe-inspiring cityscape view. Can't see how Bill and Scarlett could remain so bored in the film as Tokyo has such attractive architecture and attractions. Spent Sunday fighting off jet-lag and getting our bearings but were up bright and early to eat breakfast with the very many commuters, after which Mr and Mrs T visited Shinjuku and Harajuku where we toured the Meiji-Jingu shrine and temple built to commemorate Emperor Meiji after his death in 1912. With the numbers of Japanese visiting to pray, pen blessings on votive boards, and be generally deferential it's ... read more

After arriving in Narita Airport, I was amazing at how formal everything was. This country loves white gloves. The customs officials wear them, the taxi drivers wear them. Even the train greeters wear them. Narita airport is amazing. Nice, new and of course, very clean. It is, however, not in Tokyo. They may call it 'Tokyo Narita Airport', but that would be the same as calling Portland Oregon's Airport 'Seattle Airport'. Depending on where in Tokyo one is, it can take 2.5 hrs to get to. That aside, it is great. My lodging for the two days was at the Tokyo International Hostel, right in the middle of the city in Iidibashi. Tokyo has a strange layout, for instead of having one core downtown, there are smaller downtown areas that form a ring around the city. ... read more

Tokyo is an amazing city!! It was a whirlwind 2 days spent here but we had a fantastic time!! We definately liked the vibe that Tokyo gave off. It seems to be a city with such life and energy. For me it had a that big city feel like I got while living in London. We took the bullet train from Osaka on Friday afternoon and arrived three hours later at Tokyo Station which is easily the biggest and busiest train station I have ever seen. It was chaos!! But we managed to make our way to where we needed to be ( with the help of a nice Japanese man ). We met up at a tiny little Irish Pub with Lisa's friend Mary Fish. We spent a few hours there with Mary and some ... read more

Well, than 2 weeks left until I go home and so much sushi to eat before then...... Some pictures of Sensoji Temple in Asakusa. It's the oldest temple in Tokyo. I got one of the best fortunes and I tied it to the thing (in picture), it was only after that someone told me you only do that with a bad fortune. So I have probably cancelled it out. Also lots of dressed up buddha statues there too. Thanks to University Founding Day, Labour Thanksgiving Day and Culture Day, we had 3 holidays off in November. Went to Disney Sea and the Indiana Jones ride rocks! It rained in the evening so some things were cancelled and I'm pretty sure the "Cape Cod Step Out" folk (performing in the American Waterfront ) weren't Irish because they ... read more