19 days. 7 cities. 1 Susan.
Here we go!
Aug 1 & 2 - Leaving on a Jetplane
To say I was nervous about this trip would be an understatement. Post-pandemic stress, decision fatigue, solo traveling anxiety... I was overwhelmed (and almost wanted to rage quit after dealing with some challenging train timetables in July). But now that I'm here, I couldn't imagine not going.
One of the big things I've been nervous of is meeting people. If I'm lonely in Toronto, why spend all this money to be lonely in Japan? But when I went to the airport and randomly struck up a conversation with some American teachers also going to Japan, I realized, maybe the outgoing "Travel Susan" is going to come out and kick second-guessing "Toronto Susan" to the back seat.
The flight was long and exhausting, as most 13.5 hour direct flights can be. However, as a treat to myself (and thanks to my tax refund), I splurged and upgraded one class to "Premium Economy". And friends, let me tell you, I felt FANCY.
Some perks included:
- pillow and blankets
- seats recline decently and wider seats
- free tolitres kit (with a reusable bag, eye mask, toothbrush, earplugs in it)
- free bottle of water and sparkling h20 or orange juice prior to take off
- printed out menu
- a remote for the tv
And the best thing of all? NO ONE was beside me. SO FANCY.
So after 13.5 hours of flying, minimal napping, one xanax, two meals and a snack, one "Cocaine Bear" & one "Angels in the Outfield" -- I arrived in Nartia Airport.
I couldn't go straight to my hostel as I had to pick up my JR (Japan Rail) pass. I stood in the queue, made some reservations for future trains, grabbed a snack and headed on into Tokyo.
I stayed in Asakusa in a hostel called Tokyo W-Inn and it was a WIN! My room was large and comfy. Perfect for the 3am jetlag wakeup I kept getting. While it definitely lacked in a social angle, it did have an amazing view of the Tokyo skytree!
Aug 3 - Sensō-ji, Tokyo Skytree & Claw Gamas
Jet lag had me getting waking up twice in the night! First at 1am - which I satisfied with a snack and then again at 5am -- which seems to be reoccurring daily even a week later! God bless Melatonin.
My friend Saya reccomended a restaurant for breakfast that was a cute mix of Western and Japanese food called Cafe Tomorrow Asakusa. For only ¥650 (~$6... Think ¥100 = $1 cdn), I got cheese on toast, scrambled eggs, miso soup, a small salad, and a coffee. The Cafe was filled with Japanese books and old clocks. Very cute and very busy.
After a walk along the souvenir shopping district,
Nakamise-dori Street - where I tried my first strawberry daifuku (mochi wirh a fresh strawbery and red bean paste- yummmm), I headed into Sensō-ji Temple.
Sensō-ji is Tokyo's oldest (completed in 645) Buddhist temple, built to honour Kannon, the goddess of mercy. It's giant red gates were impressive and going at 10am was a good call because an hour later, it was rammed.
I wandered around, reading the very few English signs, but mostly just marveled at how pretty it was. I donated some yen to pull a fortune stick as well. You make your donation, then shake a box with sticks in it while making a wish, pull out a stick which had a number on it, then open the drawer containing the number. Turns out I pulled a BAD fortune! After reading the English translation and feeling quite discouraged, I was told to wrap it around a pole there alongside other bad fortunes. Later on, I learned that this was so the bad fortune could be left behind and not carried with you. Phew! Dodged that bad luck!
Japan is HOT. I'm talking 35 degrees plus humidity bringing it up to the mid to high 40s. So a break in AC was definitely needed. Thank goodness my friend Amy told me about Pocari Sweat - a Japanese ion drink with to replenish lost salt from sweating. I'm actively working hard against heat stroke here!
After a siesta, I headed over to the Tokyo Skytree, which was close by Asakusa. It's the tallest tower in the world (beats the CN tower by an extra 101m at 654m high). It's the 3rd tallest structure in the world. While it provided some great views, I wasn't that blown away. Maybe after climbing the CN Tower (twice! RIP 20 something athletic Susan), I'm just not as impressed with high views anymore.
Enroute home, I checked out Taito Station - a chain of arcades, where I spent about $10 on claw games and ended up winning two little prizes (a kirby figurine and a hippo paper clip).
Aug 4 - Tsukiji Market, Pokemon Cafe & Teamlabs Planets
Tsukiji Market was a must see according to most guides and friends who visited. While it is no longer the main fish market (that moved to Toyosu for wholesale fish selling and tuna auctions at 5am), it was still a great food market to explore. I went for brunch. I tried Tamagoyaki from a street vendor (rolled up sweet omlette) and then ended up going into a conveyor belt sushi restaurant (bless that A/C) hidden in one of the alleys to try some of the famous fatty tuna sashimi. It was the best tuna sushi I've ever had.
After killing time and trying to stay cool, I accidentally on purpose found myself in
Takashimaya - a very fancy department store before going to a late lunch at the Pokemon Cafe!
Now this reservation turned out to be the hardest thing to grab! Daily spots are released 31 days prior at 6pm JPN time and 5am Canada time! Luckily I grabbed one at 530 am after refreshing for 30 mins and navigating website crashes.
Everything is obviously pokemon themed. You can choose a meal that featured Evee, Snorlax or Pikachu as well as themed desserts and a "choose whatever pokemon you want" latte art. None of the meals were vegetarian but the evee plate was the closest (bread roll, salad, French fries, veggie quiche, clam chowder and a potatoe salad thing with chicken which I did not eat). I also got a Magikarp on my latte (bc its so goofy, abundant and ultimately useless so it cracks me up) and a pokeball dessert where you opened it up to reveal a character inside. I quickly realized there are now way more pokemon than my OG knowledge from the red/blue Gameboy games.
But also can't forget a visit from the main man himself, Pikachu! A Pikachu came out and danced and waved to everyone. I had no idea what the host was saying about it (all japanese) but then they danced and sang along to "if you're happy and you know it" in English! My kindergarten skills were suddenly applicable in Japan, hahaha!
After satisfying my inner child, I checked out teamlabs planets, down by the waterfront. It was an immersive art exhibit - kind of like a hopped up Nuit Blanche minus all the drunk teenagers. You had to go barefoot as there was a water portion too. Here are a few highlights.
I was in love with it! You start off by walking up an inclined hill with light and water cascading from above. The first room was called "the soft Black hole" where you had to climb through giant soft beanbags where "your body influences anothers" with each step you take.
The "infinite crystal universe" exhibit was mind blowing and very instagram worthy. You enter a pathway full of hanging twinkly lights and mirrors reflecting them. It was gorgeous.
The room I did not like was the water exhibit. You walk around in ankle-knee deep white murky water while projections of multi-colored koi swim around. The texture of it, the white water, the people -- not my type of sensory enjoyment.
My favourite two exhibits involved flowers. The first had live orchids tied upside down and when you walked through them they rose up to make space for you while the other ones moved down to cover where you were before. It felt like I was in Avatar or a magical fairy land.
The other flower exhibit asked you to go in the middle of a planetarium type room and look up. Hundreds of images of flowers cascaded around you. It reminded me of the Van gogh exhibit in Toronto but 1000x better. I spent a solid 20 minutes just watching, almost meditating and feeling quite peaceful despite the crowds.
Aug 5 - Exploring Shibuya
I quickly learned that Tokyo is so massive that you could easily spend a week or more here and wouldn't see everything, so for my last day, I decided to stick to one neighborhood- Shibuya. I did do a pitstop in Shinjuku to see the 3D cat video billboard, but other than that, today was all about Shibuya!
I met up with a Guru walk hosted by a teenage local, Kosuke, who coincidentally studied in Canada on a high-school exchange!
We started off at the Hachikō statue at Shibuya Crossing/station. This Japanese dog is remembered for his loyalty and how he stayed at the station for 9 years after his owner passed away - becoming a mascot and symbol for the neighborhood. If you've ever seen the Futurama episode where Fry's dog waits around the pizza place not knowing where his owner was, that tearbreaking episode was inspired by this story.
As the tour progressed, he showed us around the streets near the crossing, pointed out landmarks, reccomendations, temples, etc. We also saw a Kendo training session which made me miss fencing!
Kosuke also explained some temple etiquette and traditions which were super helpful to know for future visits. Some of his advice was:
- Always bow before entering and exiting a temple
- When you enter and see a fountain: Wash your left hand first, then right, then take a sip of water with your hands. This cleanses your mouth before you pray
- If you see a path with different coloured stones in the middle, walk on the outer part because the inside is for God.
- To offer a prayer/thanks you need to: throw in a 5¥ coin, bow twice, clap twice, say your prayer/appreciation in your head, and bow again.
I had lunch at a sushi restaurant reccomeneded by our guide, Kura Sushi Shibuya Ekimae. This type of conveyor belt sushi was where you ordered food on a screen and then your food was zipped towards you when ready! They also had a Gashapon (small capsule toys) game where you got to play after every 5 plates. I didn't win and couldn't push myself to eat more than 7, but ended up getting one for filling out a survey anyways.
I refreshed back at my hostel before returning to Shibuya for a dinner/bar hop found via Air Bnb Experiences. Our group was led by the incredible Jenese, a travel influencer and guide (instagram: @flipjapanguide ). She made everyone feel at ease in our group of 3 American, 1 German, 1 Canadian and 1 French traveller. After our shared dinner, we hopped onto two more bars and a club.
The first bar was chic with a cool Japanese nook with cushions to sit on. The next one was a cool rock bar (with a signed shirt from the Interrupters who I just saw a few months ago!). Throughout the night we tried lemon sours, Umeshu, sake and beer. But the highlight was a drink called the "Flaming Lamborghini" which was a shot to split with 5 different alcohols that was set on fire. We ended the night at a club, which although it doesn't get busy til 12am, we made our own little dance floor before I split off from the group to catch the last train home.
And phew! There it is, 4 days in Tokyo. I'm so glad I took the courage to go on this trip, even if I didn't have anyone to go with me. Im having a great mix of solo time and forcing myself outnof my comfort zone to meet people and try new things. Thanks for reading this epic post! I'm off to Hakone next!
