Productive Couple of Days!
We accomplished and explored so much the past couple days! It’s currently 9pm on Sunday night as I’m writing this, and winding down the hours of our 3rd day here. Feeling super sleepy, as the jet lag is hitting me harder than I thought it would. Between a lack of appetite and bad sleep, its been a rough couple first days, but slowly improving!
The Essentials
Woke up super early after not really sleeping our first night here, and went straight to the train station to get Pasmo cards for using the subway, it was actually surprisingly easy to do and straightforward (after looking up everything I could about it, that is). We also had lots of practice and deeply discussed the details of keeping to the left of the sidewalk, but then realized that, while it is a general rule of thumb to keep left, its not really much of a big deal unless there are signs and directions about it (such as in train stations). I also finally went to an ATM to get myself some cash after relying on Cole for the first 24 hours.
Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
Less than a 10 minute walk away from our hotel is a beautiful garden/park that we got to explore quite early in the day. With its winding paths and beautiful trees, it was definitely a good choice to visit, although the heat was really getting to us at this point and I had all but completely soaked through my shirt by the time we got back to our hotel (not a good thing when you only have one shirt to wear).
Sushi, For Real!
Another exciting adventure we found ourselves in on Day 2 was trying sushi for the first time! And oh my gosh, was it ever amazing! All fresh ingredients, ginger and real wasabi made such a difference in the flavour and quality of food. While the portion control is quite a bit smaller than what I am use to (high-metabolism meet mindless gluttony), the taste and atmosphere is really what made it so great! As a personal rule, I never take photos of my food so there will not be any photos of that kind to be shown.
Luggage & Involuntary Zzzs
After sushi we went back to the hotel room where I pretty much just collapsed in bed. I could barely keep my eyes open and kinda went in and out of consciousness over the next couple hours until 7pm when we got a call that my luggage was at the front desk (super excited to have my belongings, but too tired to express it at the time), so I just brought it upstairs and fell back asleep, after which i kinda went in and out of sleep over the course of the rest of the night until morning.
Day 3: Ever-Improving
Today we got up, got ready for the day, and ate breakfast as we shook off the cobwebs of another rough sleep. Everything went uphill after that though, we decided to visit Tokyo tower, had a super successful first trip on the subway to get there, enjoyed the full tour of the top deck where I caught this photo of the Tokyo Sky Tree.
Ginza
Afterwards we jumped back on the subway and went to the huge shopping district of Ginza, which was borderline intimidating to experience. So many stores and people and things to experience, I felt weird having my camera out with all these stores around so I didn’t really get any photos of the area, but I did snap this one before we left! Will definitely go back there before the end of the trip to buy some weird graphic tee’s or get myself a beanie to wear this winter!
The Suburbs
To completely contrast the bustling shopping district of Ginza, we decided to travel out to the suburbs away from the big tourist area and explored Shimokitazawa, a small shopping district filled with thin culture-filled streets with endlessly changing smells of good food and incense, along with the visual aesthetic you’d see in any media about suburban Japan.
Halal Ramen & Arcades
After heading back to the hotel we went to an amazing Halal Ramen place just around the corner called Halal Ramen Ouka and “was the best Ramen I have ever had” as Mr. Cole Brownlee stated with much enthusiasm and satisfaction. After filling up on an amazing dinner we headed over to Taiko Station, a multi-floored arcade filled with more claw games than I’ve ever seen, the entire district surrounding this arcade was incredibly beautiful and I definitely need to go back during the night time to capture all the lights and neon-aesthetic of these streets in the dark. With the sun setting by 7:30pm every night, I can definitely see why Japan has such a lively nightlife. In Canada, during the summer you have to wait until 10pm for it to get dark and light/signs are no where near as impressive (as far as I have experienced)).
All in All
Day 2 and 3 were great, despite lack of sleep and a general feeling of being unwell. Super excited for whats to come tomorrow (other than the heat and humidity), and will be sure to try to capture some of the day within a camera lens. Bring on Day 4!
