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Published: June 20th 2015
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So Matt and I have come to the conclusion that we want to live in Japan at some point... We love this place!
In Vietnam, my sense of smell in particular was tested significantly as I smelt things I never knew existed, but here in Japan my sense of sight is being tested with so much happening in my visual field at one time it is hard to focus on any one thing. There are so many flashing lights and bright billboards, even on the trains there are TVs with advertisements playing constantly. I love it!
Everyone is so polite - even more than in Vietnam - people bow to say thank you which is a very common occurrence. If you smile at someone they will bow their head in recognition. I also love how everything is so clean and well organised, even though it is very hard to find a bin.. The technology is outstanding and so smart, making a lot of things ten times quicker and easier. Everyone is so patient and wary of everyone else, and the fashion is incredible - the girls always look so classy (9/10 wearing heels) and the men's suits are so
funky and styley. I also love the architecture here- the train stations and malls are so complex and professional and are so nicely designed. There are escalators wherever there are stairs and everyone stays to the left of the escalator so as people who need to rush up can go up the right hand side- very logical. The written language is read from the back of the book and/or page to the front, as well as top to bottom (not side to side like us) and from right to left!!- crazy!!
I also find it interesting how people can smoke inside in most places here, but often on the street smoking is prohibited.
The transport system here is so easy and so efficient - they are in time to the second at each stop. It has made it very easy for us to explore Tokyo via the underground, which is exactly what we did on our first two days here. We made our way to Ueno on our first afternoon where we entered these funky little markets which were inter-twined between restaurants and shops. We made our first stop at a sushi train which was a great decision- this
sushi is like no sushi I have ever eaten- it is so fresh and well prepared, with so many different seafood options.
We also did a bit of shopping because we were both so overwhelmed with the amount of intriguing and enticing shops. The shopping is amazing, and the shops and products are laid out in such a classy way - it was really hard for both of us to have constraint and not buy everything we saw! Another great attraction of Ueno is the beautiful park there which is a massive lake area covered by water lilies and exotic looking fish, with a little temple in the middle.
Our second day in Tokyo we trained to the central city where we browsed the shops and had an incredible lunch in this big business/ shopping complex. In the rain, we made our way across to Imperial palace where the Emperor lived around 300 years ago. We weren't allowed in the palace but we could walk through the gardens which were really nice. One area had massive crows all over the buildings and surrounding gardens which was really creepy and created such an eerie feeling - I have never seen
so many crows before, especially none this big!
We took another train to Shinjuku which is a great part of the city, it has amazing looking restaurants and more classy shops! We chose a random place to have dinner which had pictures on the menu (most places don't have English translations so we have to stick to pictures!) - it was a Japanese tapas styled bar/restaurant. I thought it was going to be quite empty as it was down this stairwell on a side street, but it was very busy - which is always a great sign. The food we had was absolutely incredible - our favourite being rare-cooked beef sushi which just melted in our mouths. We also loved these Japanese style mince meat balls which was were very rich but so tasty!
After two exciting days in Tokyo, we took a bullet train to Kyoto, passing Mt Fuji on the way, although It was difficult to see as the clouds were so low. It only takes 2.5 hours to get to Kyoto on the bullet train as it goes more than 200km an hour.
Over our two days in Kyoto we explored a few temples and went
to a few scenic parks and ate at some delicious, cute little cafes (I tried octopus for the first time which was really nice!). The first temple we went to was a Buddhist temple which held 1001 human size statues of the Mother Buddha's children, and the heavenly figures and the Devils. We weren't allowed to take photos but it was incredible to see.
We hired bikes yesterday and started off cycling to Rokuon-Ji Temple which also has the Kinkaku (Golden Pavilion). The Golden Pavilion is a Buddhist hall containing relics of Buddhas and the gardens and buildings were said to represent the Pure Land of Buddha in this world. The site is a so tranquil and serene, even when it is packed with school kids and tourists. The gardens and lake surrounding the Pavilion are beautiful, with colourful fish swimming and waterlilies too. I didn't want to leave this temple- I would love to come back during winter to see it covered in snow! Our next stop was Tenryuji Temple - a 45 minute bike away- which was another beautiful and scenic area with a lake and gardens. The pathway around the temple and gardens leads to the
bamboo gardens which is a large area filled with tall bamboo trees and is really amazing to walk through. We stopped in the cute town that this temple was located, where we had delicious beef and duck Udon noodles. We then cycled our way to the Arashiyama Monkey Park where we had to hike up a steep hill for 20 minutes to reach the top where the monkeys playground and chill out area was. The views from the top of this hill were so picturesque - we could see all of Kyoto and the hilly mountains behind it! The Macaque monkeys were sooooo cute, especially the baby ones. They are such intelligent animals and so fascinating to watch. We bought some food (apples) to feed them which I was a little bit sceptical about because I didn't want one to accidentally bite me, but they knew we were about to give them food so they held out their hand and they nicely took the piece of apple out of our hands, ate it and then held out their hand again for more! I could've watched them all day!
Unfortunately it was getting late and dark so we had to cycle
back home (about 12km) to our cute Japanese style house called Nagomi where we were sleeping on a thin mattress on the floor- which was actually really comfy!
We now have two more days in Tokyo where we have so much more to see! I can't wait!
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