Monday, March 8, 2010
LOVING Japan! What a cool city Tokyo is.
I arrived yesterday afternoon at 4pm and had to make my way via railway to my hotel....approx 1hour by skyliner train from the airport. It wasn't too painful finding my way around the train station but they sure are a labyrinth like I have never seen before. Thankfully most things are in english as well as Japanese and labelled pretty well for the uninitiated. I'm staying in a Ryokan which is a traditional Japanese inn. The rooms are covered with tatami mats and you sleep on a futon on the floor. It is in an older quiet area that is simply lovely. The walk from the train station was about 10 minutes and even though it was pouring rain on me and I was exhausted I was just so enchanted by the pretty streets and shops I didn't even mind. I tried to take some Yen out of 3 different bank machine at the airport and my debit card was declined with error messages at all of them....thankfully, I had about $40 worth of Thai Baht and Canadian dollars in my wallet which I used at the money exchange so I at least had a little yen on me for metro tickets and food. I was rather anxious about my chances of getting any more cash here but after a little Internet recon I discovered that almost all ATM's in Japan won't accept foreign bank cards and my best bet was at a post office ATM. So this morning the first order of business was to go to a post office and attempt to take out cash. Success! I was holding my breath the whole time. So I have Yen to spend and I bundled up against the cold and ventured into Tokyo to jam in as much as I could for my one whole day here. I was out for 8 hours pounding the pavement! I saw half of what I want to see before I leave and will see the rest when I return from Kyoto.
STREETS NEAR MY RYOKAN
CUTE LITTLE ALLEYS
ALL THE HOUSES HAVE LITTLE POTTED PLANT GARDENS
JAPAN IS A VERY HELPFUL CITY! EVERY WHERE YOU TURN THERE ARE MAPS TELLING YOU EXACTLY WHERE YOU ARE! THAT AND PUBLIC TOILETS EVERYWHERE!...A NICE CHANGE FROM S.E.ASIA WHERE YOU HAVE TO KEEP YOURSELF IN A CONSTANT STATE OF DEHYDRATION WHEN GOING OUT ALL DAY DUE TO THE LACK OF BATHROOMS...AND IF YOU FIND ONE YOU HAVE TO PAY TO USE IT.
JAPAN LOVES IT'S VENDING MACHINES!!! THEY'RE EVERYWHERE, SELLING EVERYTHING.
PRETTY LANDSCAPING EVERYWHERE.
LOT'S OF BICYCLES WITH BASKETS...I COVET ONE.
5 PILLAR PAGODA IN UENO PARK
UENO PARK
STILL A COUPLE WEEKS AWAY FROM CHERRY BLOSSOM SEASON BUT A FEW ARE POKING THEIR HEADS OUT IN ANTICIPATION FOR SPRING!
SHIBUYA CROSSING. HUGE INTERSECTION WHERE THE ROADS MEET IN AN OCTAGON. THE TRAFFIC LIGHTS STOPS ALL THE LANES AT THE SAME TIME AND A MILLION PEOPLE POUR INTO THE ROAD TO CROSS IN EVERY DIRECTION!
SHIBUYA AREA SHOPPING
ASAKUSA STREETS
ALL THE RESTAURANTS HAVE A FRONT WINDOW WITH PLASTIC MODELS OF ALL THE FOOD ON THE MENU FOR YOU TO DROOL OVER AND IN CASE IF YOU CAN'T READ A JAPANESE MENU YOU CAN POINT TO WHAT YOU WANT!
MARKET STREETS ON THE WAY INTO THE SENSO-JI TEMPLE - TOKYO'S OLDEST BUILT IN 645AD.
SENSO-JI TEMPLE
SENSO-JI TEMPLE
It was a busy day. I walked a million miles, ate a ton of sushi and am exhausted. Tomorrow morning I take a bullet train to Kyoto where I will stay for 2 nights before heading back to Tokyo. I'm done, goodnight.
