After leaving South Korea, I went to Japan! I couldn’t resist with Japan being so close and this time, I would get to visit places other than Kyoto. First stop, the big city of Tokyo.
Day 1
On my first full day, I started off with a walking tour in Shibuya to get my bearings. It was great to be pointed out some places to come back to and eat at and safer for me walking in a group as I walk with my eyes looking above at all the signs and places.
THE Shibuya crossing famed for having thousands of people cross at the same time during peak hours.
One of the places that was recommended was a standing sushi place. Some other tour friends that I had made and I lined up. The restaurant had about 12 standing spots but the line moved fast and we were shortly “standed” (instead of seated). They had some lunch plates on offer and I decided to go for one of them rather than ordering a la carte. The nigiri are all made in front of you and the seafood was oh so fresh. A miso soup (with prawn heads in the stock) was served and you could even help yourself to green tea powder and make yourself a hot drink at the standing bar.
After being well fed, I went a station away to Harajuku to go and see the Meiji Jingu– a shinto shrine. It’s located in a big park and it was nice to walk through past the sake barrels snaking through with everyone else going to the shinto shrine.
A 250 year old Chinese Juniper bonsai
Inside the grounds of the shrine was a bonsai display. In my life, I’ve only seen the bonsai’s at the local garden centre but these were 100-500 year old bonsai’s. They were so beautiful (and completely impressed me compared to the garden centre ones) and I couldn’t believe that they were so old (and so tiny).
Wooden plaques called Ema at Shinto shrines and temples where people can write their prayers and wishes
Next, was to check out the nearby Takeshita Street in Harajuku which was just opposite the Harajuku station and definitely a tourist destination. It’s a street lined with stores, souvenir stores and waffle ice-cream places. I was actually disappointed that it wasn’t the Harajuku I had heard so much about- the kawaii items and the Harajuku street fashion was not really on the street. One place that got me was the gacha ball place. It’s a “store” lined floor to ceiling with these gacha ball machines selling assorted figurines, keyrings, magnets, rings and bags. They make a great small souvenir if you can find ones you like.
I also went roaming around the back streets to look at some vintage stores but they were so expensive. A retro style t-shirt (I’m talking about cartoon characters from the 90s) were selling at prices up to $50! Vintage stores I guess have become “cool” now.
Gacha ball machines
Day 2
The next morning I tried to start “early” by going to the Sensoji Temple at 9:30am by it was not early enough. It was already packed with tourists, locals and school groups. It’s so funny that we find it hard to peel ourselves out from bed for work but everyone is up at the crack of dawn when on holidays.
The Buddhist temple is beautiful with the vibrant red and gold and bigger than life lanterns. It is the oldest temple in Tokyo with the first temple being built in 645 AD. Like many popular structures in Japan, the existing one was rebuilt after WWII after being destroyed in an air raid.
I then caught the metro to Tokyo station and found some lunch (I was too hungry to even take a picture) ready for my afternoon at the Imperial Palace. Or so I thought. By the time I had wandered in, all the onsite ticket passes that you have to queue up for, were gone. I could’ve known this if I had googled earlier and planned better! Still, I got to admire the views walking there and back to Tokyo station.
Under Tokyo Station is an underground shopping strip and within it is a cartoon street. So I thought I’d check it out whilst I’m there. I don’t know much about anime but there were other stores for San Rio and even Harry Potter.
Afternoon tea was then calling after having been walking so much (why are there no seats or benches in Japan?). I tried a Japanese dessert place and this was when I fell in love with anmitsu. On top, you are seeing red bean paste, mandarins, mochi and green tea ice cream. Underneath is agar jelly, red beans and a sweet syrup. Yuuuuuuuuum!
I continued to wonder around the station and then decided to head back to eat dinner near my hotel.
Stay tuned for the rest of the trip!
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