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Published: August 25th 2008
Shinjuku
the menu..Konichiwa!
Our adventure continues! We‘ve now sadly left Tassie to carry on with our ‘round the world‘ tour. First stop was Tokyo, which was the perfect place to start! This place is buzzing, it gave us a real charge and brought back our enthusiasm for travelling again! Things got a bit too comfortable for us in Tassie… but we are certainly more upbeat now. Tokyo is such a crazy city, but extremely well executed at the same time. It’s undoubtedly the cleanest city I have ever been to …everything is presented to absolute perfection, nothing less. The streets…where no smoking is allowed, except for designated smoking areas, were spotless. The food….incredible, mostly displayed outside the restaurants in glass casings…real food is not displayed but plastic models of the real stuff…even drinks are on display (without missing a nice head on a beer!)…we loved it! It is especially good for tourists who are not sure what is what, as there are virtually no English menus, at least you can see what the food is and then point to it to order …and you can be sure it is served up identical to the model aesthetically! Even people here present themselves as
Shinjuku
No smoking on the streets... nothing short of perfection. They dress and groom themselves so amazingly and to such fine detail and style…no wonder it is the emerging fashion capital of the world! I had to go and buy a funky hat just so I could at least try and fit in!
We stayed in a place called Akebonobashi (near Shinjuku) at the Ace Inn…which was targeted towards backpackers. No shoes allowed inside…they provided slippers for you instead! You sleep in these cubicle bunks which were small but comfortable…a common form of budget accommodation here…28 bunks per dorm with a shared bathroom and lockers for your gear. Very small but everything here is tight on space.
There was plenty of exploring to be done…and five days was just enough to get around to see and do all of the main things. We were staying just two stops from Shinjuku station, the busiest station in Tokyo, and you could do just about anything there…eat, drink, shop, people watch, visit a Starbucks…marvel at the masses of people, neon flashing lights and skyscrapers.
The food there was surprisingly good for us. I wasn’t sure how we would go but the first day we had sushi
Shinjuku
Typical side street in Shinjuku for breakfast, lunch and dinner, it was great! There was a bustling place called Roppongi which is known for having some great bars and restaurants…we had a few drinks at some different places (very cool bars) and tried some sushi at this pretty slick sushi bar where the chef prepares the sushi right in front of you! We were too cautious tho and only tried the squid and prawn selection rather than normal fish sushi, like raw tuna - no thanks. Anyway, we looked forward to our eating sessions and selected each restaurant carefully, even though it would be near impossible to find something inadequate, everything is prepared with such precision it almost doesn’t look real - fit for any king.
The toilets in Tokyo can even be a talking point…a lot of the sit downs have a digital panel control where you can warm your seat, or squirt some water for washing underneath…or even play the sound of running water so no one can hear you do your business! They have nice, clean public toilets everywhere, not usual for a big city…some you just drop a few yen into a machine and the door will open for you.
Yoyogi Park
Was beautiful.. On the Sunday we ventured down to the areas Harajuku and Shibuya, it is like the ’west end’ of London where there are designer shops and shopping malls…it also sits right next to a large park. We loved it here…it was the weekend so it was extremely busy. The people, mostly the younger, wealthier and trendiest of the city got around in some very cool outfits, to go with their funky haircuts…being a weekend I think there was an extra effort given to their appearance so as to be seen by more observing eyes. Something else….unlike a lot of western people who stare at someone they may be taken by, the Japanese don’t stare…one of their many respectful qualities. They may look, but only once and only in the blink of an eye.
Over at the park there was a lot going on...somewhere to hang out whilst being entertained all day, it was such a great atmosphere with all the exhibitionists wielding their talents. It is a place where you can see all the 60’s rockers (think Grease) come and dance rock’n’roll to favourite tunes. These guys and gals take it all very seriously too, nothing is done
Yoyogi Park
Traditional dress at a temple in the park in halves for these people. Another unique Japanese quality, no matter what people are in to they give 100% without fail, total commitment. These people dress up in their 60’s clothes…the guys have the long greased up hair and leather pants and jackets (even though it is 35 degrees), and most have their “gang sign” (dance group) emblazoned on their backs…the girls even had little “pink lady” style jackets! There were hundreds of them, carving it up. No animosity here between the different gangs/groups either…they were just there to look cool and be cool, for the enjoyment of the gazing crowd and themselves!
There were tonnes of other performers as well…none of them busking, just there to display their talents…or lack thereof…but this applies to just a few. There were loads of musicians, bands, people on bongos…all of who had plenty of talent…there were jugglers, acrobats, frisby experts, karate people, others fighting with sticks…even actors putting on a small show for anyone who was interested. It was an incredible place, so much going on…just because…an unofficial, unorganised gathering of talents, for fun only - we‘ve not seen anything like it anywhere before! And it is like this every weekend!
Yoyogi Park
Prayers to be offered at the temple On our third day, we took a train to get out of the city, just for something different, another perspective. We went to a place called Ome which is on the outskirts of Tokyo. We found some info on the lonely planet website which gave us the idea for this place, which has some great walks. Ome is surrounded by hills that have walking tracks all thru them… it was great to get active and the walk was fun, the forest had a nice feel to it. You can even see Mt Fuji from here…not that we did, because you can only see it on a clear day and ours was a bit cloudy…or it may have been haze from the city, I can’t remember.
There was a very cool market that we visited in Asakusa. Well, we actually went there to visit a temple but we found the market right next to it.. It housed some pretty cool ornaments and souvenirs.. and sweets. We tried some melon and green tea ice creams, very nice. We then made a donation at the temple in order to get a fortune, which we selected randomly from the wall.. Sarah’s fortune
Shibuya
Pets are big business in Tokyo...we also saw some people feeding icecream to the dogs they had in their bags! was all good…but mine wasn’t…I had bad fortune. I thought what it said was pretty funny, and I started writing it out for you.. But then decided it was bad karma and it may come true so I deleted it, sorry for not sharing.
We explored some more around the city, it seemed to be endless. We took a super fast lift to an observation deck on the 50th floor of this building causing our ears to pop .. Some great views were had but we didn’t stay long, we headed back down to where the ground beneath your feet didn’t sway in the wind.
Being such an enormous city and forever growing, you have to be extremely creative with space here.. You see and appreciate the design of many structures all over the city. Space is extremely precious, which is why most building go up and up. But there are also loads that go underground as well, mainly around the subway lines, there are shopping complexes and restaurants that extend for streets on end, sometimes 4 stories below. I reckon Tokyo, underground alone, is a city unto itself.
So, that’s it, just a short visit but
enough to tempt the taste buds to want some more.. Another time perhaps if we’re lucky.
Sayonara!
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