Advertisement
Published: August 26th 2014
Edit Blog Post
Japan 2011 After my first taste of Travelling, I couldn't wait to relive my amazing experiences in Japan.
It took awhile for me to save up the money, but in that time I gained a penpal who lived in Tokyo and a friend who taught English on a small island called Shinkamigoto.
I stayed for a full month, in a mixture of couch surfing and hotels. I travelled there alone, having gained bravery from my previous tour trip. Japan itself is very easy to navigate by just English alone, nearly all signs and train stops are written and also annouced in English, making the rail a very relaxed and easy way to get around. (the
Shinkansen/Bullet train is amazing!).
I stayed and explored mainly Tokyo, Nagasaki and Shinkamigoto.
I couldn't believe the kindness I recieved from strangers, no matter the area I visited, people were kind and I often found myself being talked to, a few times from groups of students who would ask if they could practise their English with me. One group I met in Harajuku, all came back over to me awhile later, holding little wrapped gifts.
It might also be worth pointing out that my journey to Japan was in April 2011, not long after the horrible tsunami that ravished the country and caused the nuclear meltdown. So most of the tourists in Japan had left, which resulted in me getting a few comments from strangers, almost thank yous for being there. Which was odd but nice in a way. But of course it would take more then an earthquake to stop me from going to Japan 😉
I visited Akihabara lots of times during the month as its the best place for shopping and of course srangely themed cafes! haha, I went into a Maid cafe, as I was curious, basically they call you master and wear fancy french maid stlye outfits. They also draw cute things on your food or do a little song if you like. Its quite a novelty really but I can see why its so popular, all the girls were beautiful and treat you like you are incredibly important no matter who you were.
I took an unexpected trip to Tokyo DisneyLand one day, as the nice girl who I stayed with while couch surfing wanted
to go, it was amazing! it had also only just reopened after the earthquake so it was very quiet there, meaning we never had to queue for long :D we had a great time!
I tried a Ryokan for a few nights while travelling around, which is a very traditional style hotel with futons. It seemed like no matter the area, style or price of the places I stayed in Japan you just couldnt go wrong. I never had a bad experience with any of them, might go as far as to say some were the best Ive ever been in.
If I had to recommend any things to try while in Japan I would say okonomiyaki :D hehe, you get your choosen ingredients and cook it yourself at your table, so much fun 😊 and tastes great! I always enjoyed this.
Also don't just use the main streets, walk down all the little criss crossy ones, you never know what little gem you're going to find. Spend a day just wandering about these kinda streets, you'll be amazed by what interesting things you stumble upon 😊
PuriKura! what can I say,
its so so soooo addictive. Basically a fully customisable photo booth but not just that, they can give you giant alien eyes, change your hair colour, add in extra things and you write on them etc etc and once you finish playing with the wacky machine it gives you the photos as cute little stickers and emails you the files 😊 so much fun, you'll always want to do just one more 😉
-
This was by far my best adventure. I've travelled many places since, but this was the moment when the travel bug sunk its teeth in me so deep, I knew I'd never be the same again.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.079s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 9; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0458s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
The travel bug bites
Life is short....enjoy and travel.