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Published: October 10th 2008
So you live in South Korea and you want to go on a trip for a long weekend but you don't know where to go. Seoul is going to be busy because it's well...Seoul! Busan is going to be busy because the Busan International Film Festival is taking place and Daegu is well...Daegu and not exactly a well known vacation spot! So how about jumping on a plane and jetting off to exciting Tokyo for the weekend. That's right Tokyo...FOR THE WEEKEND! Sure living near the American border in Canada allowed me to go to another country whenever I felt the need to do so but saying you're planning on doing Buffalo for the weekend just doesn't have the same ring to it unless you're really craving some Buffalo wings then doing Buffalo for the weekend sounds heavenly!
Mike, Tash, the baby and I decided (and yes the baby was included in the decision making process!) about 2 months ago that staying in Daegu for this last long weekend was not really on our list of things to do and they wanted to experience Tokyo before heading home in a few months for good. Naturally I jumped at the opportunity
to go explore a new city with a couple people I get along with famously! After being told by a travel agent that finding tickets for under $750 would be impossible I came through and found some for $540! I seem to have inherited my mothers talent for finding cheap flights.
When the last class finished on October 2nd I ran out of the building jumped into a cab said "Goo Byung Won chuseyo" and I was off in a flash to shower and finish packing for the excitement that awaited me! I met Mike and Tash on the subway and we arrived with a couple minutes to spare for our train to Busan where we would catch our flight to Narita International airport the next morning. We had an eventful train ride as we are already quite a sight being white without a baby but with a baby and a big bald white guy children especially flock in our direction. 2 kids happened to flock on that train and it got to the point where I called Aurora to ask if she would tell them to go away. When the kids finally handed me back the phone she
said that she had told them that she was going to call their father and the one kid replied "you don't know his number" and she then told him that she was going to have us follow them and get it! She finished by telling me that she thought they were just a$$holes and the classic Aurora line "UGH! What's the matter with them?" The kids eventually left the car and we were left in peace for the remainder of the trip.
We arrived in Busan and eventually found our hotel which happened to be somewhere close to where the directions told us to go but at the same time no where near where the directions told us to go...are you confused because than you'll have some clue as to how we were feeling! Busan is a fun city but when you are there for the night and headed out to a far more exciting place all you want to do is go to bed so tomorrow will come faster! We were a little hungry though so bed would have to wait a couple hours as we found a small hole in the wall (as many Korean restaurants are!)
restaurant and ordered WAY too much food! How were we supposed to know that the $3.50 kalguksu (noodle soup) was going to have an entire bag of noodles per serving! We had enough food to feed a small army of sumo wrestlers who have been fasting for days. I felt so bad leaving so much in my bowl but holy moly sometimes you've just got to say no more noodles!
I ended up turning on the TV in my room and watching an episode of House before I fell asleep for a couple hours. I woke up super excited to get going but first things first breakfast had to be found! We found a Paris Baguette cafe that sold unbelievable toasted sandwiches and sat and at them enjoying every bit of our first real sandwich in months! Then it was off to wait for the airport bus which arrived almost on time and had us sitting next to a family from Finland.
Busan's airport is so much smaller than all of the other international airports I've graced in the past 7.5 months. I almost felt like I was flying out of some small town grass runway place...compared to Incheon,
Hong Kong and Toronto that is! We waited in line for a bit but when we got to the desk to check in were we ever treated well! Let me tell you, traveling with an infant is a swell idea! We all got priority stickers on our luggage and when it came time to board we boarded first and got those seats at the front of the section where you can actually stretch your legs. You know the ones you walk by on your way to window seat 47F and you look at those peoples smug faces as they test the leg room out physically gloating and all you can think is "lucky bastards!" Well we were those lucky bastards! I was almost upset that the flight was only 1.5 hours because if you're going to fly coach you may as well fly coach that way!
Now what would you expect as a snack on a pretty short flight? I expected absolutely nothing. When you fly domestically across Canada lets say from Toronto to Calgary or from Ottawa from Vancouver getting a complimentary sip of water is a treat. So when they came around with snack boxes FOR FREE
I was slightly surprised and let me tell you it was a good thing I was still wearing my seatbelt because I almost slid off my chair from shock at what was inside. I say it's a good thing I was wearing my seatbelt because with all the room I had I could have been sliding for days! The boxes contained SUSHI! It was so wonderfully stereotypical! We were also given free beverages including alcohol...I've had it with Western airlines I'm only flying Eastern airlines from now on! They treat you like you would expect to be treated after shelling out a small fortune!
When we arrived in Narita we were greated by yet another wonderful surprise. Baby's equal no customs line. That's right we lucky bastards got to skip right on over to the diplomat line...which in fact was not a line but a glorious straight through passage way to our luggage...naturally we had to stop and hand over our passports, have our fingerprints taken as well as our photo but it was a quick process that went nicely with the digital body temperature scan we all passed through on our way into the customs section! They are
so advanced in Japan! Our bags were also first off the plane as they were marked "priority" so we didn't even have to wait for them. We headed out to the bus area and bought tickets to Shibuya where we would be staying for the next 2 nights.
The bus ride was somewhat long and cramped which made me wish I was on a Korean Airport bus but alas we arrived and began our trek to where our hotel was. We arrived at this dingy looking building that made me wonder why I was spending $55 a night to stay. However when we walked around the corner to the entrance it suddenly dawned on me why I was spending that! Tash had booked us into a quaint traditional Japanese inn and it was absolutely gorgeous! Our room had bamboo flooring and floor mats similar to Korean ones although they were far more comfortable. We also had our own bathroom and dressing area.
We didn't spend much time in our room as we had a lot to see in only about a day and a half.
We first headed down to Shibuya Crossing which is one of the craziest
things I've ever seen! 5 roads meet and pedestrians wait while all roads have their turn and then ALL the little green men appear and hundreds of people take off in all directions across the street. I took some pictures and video of it but they don't do it justice at all. It's the most chaotic thing yet at the same time so organized...I believe that the term organized chaos was coined as someone watched the crossing unfold!
From there we walked around to some stores and browsed and then it was off for dinner at this AWESOME little Indian restaurant. Now what you have to realize about Japan is they do things a bit differently when it comes to ordering things. In the restaurant we walked up to this machine with all the options, inserted our money and pressed what we wanted. A tiny slip of paper came out and we gave it to the waitress. It's strange yet very efficient. Our food was fabulous and there wasn't a drop of curry or a crumb of nan bread left anywhere on any of our plates!
The next day we headed out early and stopped at Denny's for
breakfast. I know what you are thinking DENNY's really why, why would you eat there! Well let me tell you! We were all horribly deprived of a good Western style breakfast so we got lost in our thoughts as visions of eggs and bacon danced in our heads! After eating a decent breakfast we set out for the Shibuya crossing area again. By the time we got there we were hankering for some coffee or rather Mike and I were hankering for some coffee and Daniel was hankering for second breakfast. We found this Irish Pub which enticed us by displaying about 20 different kinds of scones. Mike got a barinese coffee which is the thickest coffee I have ever seen although quite delicious and a chocolate scone and a caramel scone. I got some blood orange juice (not to be confused with orange juice with blood) and a rum raisin scone. They warmed the scones and put fresh whipped cream on the side. It was such a great treat and I wish they had places like that in Korea!
From the pub we walked and walked and walked and walked some more! We of course did a bit
of shopping on the way to the other side of the "community". By the time we reached the other side we were ready for lunch. First we tried to get into this little noodle restaurant but apparently everyone else in the city was trying to get in so after being sent up an elevator to the second floor which was just as busy as the first we decided to just keep on walking until we found something else that tickled our fancy! We eventually found this AMAZING Thai restaurant. Whoever designed it was a genius! Our meals were delicious and we headed out on the town again with full stomachs.
We headed down a nice little street where there were cute little boutiques and a very artsy buildings. From there we found a Kamono seller and I purchased a beautiful black one with a colourful scene on the bottom. There was no way I was leaving Japan without a kamono!
After kamono shopping we walked to an amazing park in the middle of the city. Amazing is probably an understatement! It was like walking into a gorgeous rain forest without the humidity and poisonous animals! The trees were
gigantic and they stretched over the lane creating a magical canopy overhead. We eventually came to a massive temple where there were many women in kamono's and a wedding happening. It was very interesting to get to see a traditional Japanese wedding ceremony...or at least some of it! It didn't really look like a joyous occasion though and that was either because it was not actually a wedding ceremony but a funeral march or because what is supposed to be one of the greatest days of ones life turned into a tourist attraction! Either way I was right there with all the others snapping some photos as they walked by!
When we eventually pulled ourselves away from the park it was time to find some dinner. We headed back down the street to where we had tried to get in for lunch. This time we got seated right away. The noodles were pretty good but I wasn't that hungry. Mike and Tash said it was the travelers appetite that got to me! Apparently when they were in Thailand they barely ate anything. I guess it could have been that and the fact that I was getting sick.
After our
early dinner we headed back out on the town and started for "home". On our way we decided that it would be a good idea to grab some sushi at a standing sushi bar because when in Tokyo do as the Japanese do, eat some freaking sushi! The chefs...um...sushi artists were pretty friendly and were lightning quick with our orders! I got prawns an salmon and for 2 of each it was only $3. Fresh made sushi for $3! When we arrived I was pretty tired and had a headache that made the idea of being home seem far superior than being in Japan. Mike and Tash decided to head out again and I decided to shower and have a nap before we'd meet up for a late dinner at the Indian restaurant.
Following our second awesome meal at the restaurant it was off to bed to prepare for our trip home.
We took a subway...although I don't think it can be classified as a subway if the train is not below ground so lets call it a commuter train for the sake of my sanity. Anyway we took the train to another section of Tokyo. We walked around
the area for a bit including walking through another beautiful park and then we bought tickets for the train to Narita Airport.
On the flight home we were treated the same way which was again very nice! We had the same seats and this time got to watch as we took off on the screen from the pilots perspective! It is quite an interesting view seeing a takeoff like that and also very nauseating!
We arrived back in Busan to the same speedy customs treatment which unfortunately didn't help us make the bus back to Daegu. We ended up waiting for the bus to Busan Station and upon arrival realized that finding tickets home may be challenging as the station was busier than Shibuya! Mike and Tash decided that they weren't ready to call the long weekend quits so they booked a later train and I booked the first available first class ticket on the KTX because after the flight my sinus's had entered the "I Hate Megan" zone. First class on the KTX is a bit nicer than economy, there was a lot more room and free things! I didn't really take advantage of them though. I
instead turned on my iPod to Corner Gas and messaged my temples the entire way home! Had the weekend itself not been a blast I do believe that the pain that was present in my head would not have been worth it but because Tokyo has now overtaken Hong Kong as one of my favourite places I'd say it was most certainly worth it!
Tokyo has so much to offer. If you like green space check it out, if you like fashion check it out, if you like lots of people check it out, if you like international cities DEFINITELY check it out! If I had to describe Tokyo in one word that word would be AWESOME!
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aunt mj
non-member comment
Hi Meg, sounds like Tokyo was a blast. We were in the Narita Airport on our way to the Phillipines, but we didn't have time to leave the airport (we didn't want to leave Rudy and Purita alone - and we knew they would be worried that we would miss the connecting flight, but it was sooo hard to be right there! and not able to see Japan!!) Regarding the intersections, Toronto has joined the other cosmopolitan, pedestrian friendly cities, and there are now several of these in the downtown core! Anyway, glad to hear it was a great trip - I hope you are feeling better. Love Aunt MJ