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Published: October 24th 2008
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Ginza
Me on the streets of Ginza. Ok so it has really been a good couple of weeks since I have taken the time to write in my blog. I apologize for the late delay but a few weekends ago I traveled about 400km (not sure about the distance) Northeast of Kyoto to visit Tokyo for the first time. Of course looking at a map of Japan you wouldn't think it would take that long to get there. The fastest and maybe most efficient way to get to Tokyo would be Shinkansen (Bullet Train to Americans) in which it would only take 2.5 hours to arrive at Tokyo Station, but being the frugal student that I am I decided to go the cheapest route which was to travel by night bus (very similar to Greyhound) I left at around 10:30 PM from Kyoto Station and arrived at Shinjuku Station at around 7AM the next morning and I was still tired so I slept for a couple of more hours and then went out to explore the city for a bit. So for those of you who have heard of the Tokyo Subway system......EVERYTHING YOU HEARD WAS TRUE!!! The subway is the most massive and maybe complicated system I
Chaos
A map of the Tokyo subway system. have ever seen in my entire life.....bigger than New York, Paris, London, and of course Atlanta. I did not take the subway during rush hour so unfortunately I was not able to experience the thrill of being squashed into a subway cart.....I'm sure I will experience that the next time I travel to Tokyo. After leaving the subway it was off to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices which offers a stunning and most of all FREE birds eye view of Tokyo. The building itself is unlike any regional or state govt office in the states. The building is really a staple of Tokyo and the Japanese society itself to me. Modern, simple, and industrial.....it is really quite an impressive structure from far away and close by.
When I got to the top of the building, the view was absolutely stunning. Tokyo is a city of maybe some 20 million people in the metro area. It is the second largest city if not the largest in the world. I couldn't believe that I was actually seeing this! Nearly 8,000 miles away from home....I am atop one of the largest cities in the world!!! Quite a stunning thought if you really
Shinjuku Station
Stepping out into morning around Shinjuku Station. think hard enough about it : ) I know that I can only share pictures with everyone but it is truly an experience that you need to see for yourself. Later on in the day I wondered around the city with my Japanese friend Takeshi who was nice enough to take me to perhaps the largest pedestrian crossing I have ever seen in my life. Of course Americans think New York has the biggest everything, but I know now that we are all wrong. This intersection in Shibuya is pretty popular and can be seen on television in the states from time to time. So instead of crossing one street and then over the next to get diagnally across the street, the Japanese have come up with the method of completely stopping traffic on all sides and allowing pedestrian traffic to cross on all sides! To the average westerner this would look VERY chaotic but to a Nihon-gin (Japanese Person) this is normal. It was pretty fun crossing the street and seeing other tourist like myself taking pictures in the middle of the intersection as everyone crossed : )
Later on that night I went to a club of
Tokyo Metro Govt Offices
The Tokyo Metro Govt Offices Building. course and I had alot of fun and wasted lots of energy dancing into the wee hours of the morning. ------Saturday was spent doing more sightseeing and most of all Krispy Kreme! I really wanted to see what this place looked like! According to my friend Takeshi, the line for the only Krispy Kreme in Tokyo can sometimes have a 2-3 hour wait. Although I did not have to wait for more than 15 minutes.....it was still quite odd to see a line this long at the shop. I guess American culture and junk food is sought out in any part of the world! : ) Another weird thing about the Krispy Kreme in Tokyo is that one of the workers was handing out free samples of doughnuts. Now in the states free samples are maybe a bite size portion of the item you're looking to buy...but here since it is the only Krispy Kreme for 8,000 miles....they were handing out free doughnuts....quite a different concept. I spent the rest of the day after that resting up for another night of going out and experiencing Tokyo nightlife......... on to Sunday.......I woke up and headed to Ginza which is the same
Govt Office
Me in front of the Govt office as Fifth Ave. in NY or Rodeo Drive in LA. Ginza is full of shops in which I cannot even pronounce....a good rule of thumb for me is that if I can't pronounce it....I can't afford to shop there.....LOL....so I walked down this impossibly long street until I reached the H&M with a 3 block long line to get into the store! It was crazy! Japanese people love foreign brand clothes....especially the affordable ones I guess. So my trip to Tokyo seems like a quick blur but it was an experience that I am willing to repeat many times while I am here in Japan. When I arrived at Shinjuku Station to leave Tokyo, me and my friend Takeshi were surprised to see that I needed to be at Tokyo Station instead......BIG MISTAKE....so I had to pay another 3,000Yen ($27.00) to purchase a ticket from Shinjunku Station to Kyoto the next Monday morning so I could make class at 2PM. So the total cost of my bus transportation ended up being around 13,000 YEN ($126.00) which isn't that bad of a price. The mistake of being at the wrong station ended up being worth it because the bus on the
Atop Tokyo
Me on the observatory deck of one of the two towers. way back had a nicer seat which would stack up to be about the same type of seat offered on a first class ticket on a plane. A good sleep back home to Kyoto, a train and then walk back to my dorm in Northwest Kyoto.....slept for a couple more hours.....and then off to school at 2:30PM....what a busy weekend!
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Lindsey
non-member comment
Yay!
That looks and sounds so fun! I'm glad you're seeing the world. Be safe. We miss you... xoxo.