Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo, Japan

So here's my rendition of Tokyo, mostly seen through the eyes of my camera. What an awesome city. Very clean, super modern, and the people were very friendly. I haven't traveled to any other place in Japan besides Tokyo but from what I saw in that one city, lots of people spoke English. Much more than in Korea, I noticed. As I said, the people were also very friendly. If we ever looked lost, a stranger would usually stop and ask us if we needed help. If we ever approached a stranger for help, they'd be more than accommodating and guided us to where we needed to be.

We traveled to several different areas. There's Asakusa (pronounced Asaksa) where our hostel was located. For anybody who's wondering... the hostel was amazing. Clean facilities, tons of people and a very helpful staff. It's called the Sakura Hostel. This area was loaded with Japanese and foreigners alike... from tourists, students, business workers... you name it. From what I saw, this place had the best souvenir shopping. You could get anything from Yukata's (Japanese style robes), masks, and saki sets to crazy weapons like ninja stars, torture devices and beautiful swords. If I had more money, I would have invested into a sword but yea, can't have it all. Asakusa also had this really beautiful temple near the shopping area and luckily, we were able to enjoy some heavy snowfall that made the whole area look all that more beautiful at night.

Another area we spent some time in was Ginza. From what I saw, this was the place to be if you wanted to check out all the big name department stores like Chanel (probably spelt wrong), Dolce and Gabana, The Gap, etc. I found an Apple Store in this area and I was in heaven... bought a really nice leather case for my iPod touch. There were stores and Starbucks galore... all of which we enjoyed. Somewhere near Ginza (I believe) was the very famous fish market... sometime during the morning (we were too late to witness it) there's a giant auction in the area where tons of giant fish are auctioned off to nearby shops... it's apparently a sight to see but yea, couldn't make it in time. However, we did check out the fish market, enjoyed some delicious (and not-so-delicious) sushi and I can say with all certainty that it was the freshest sushi I've ever had. The animal which was served on top of my rice was most certainly alive a few minutes before it was on my plate.

Then there's Roppongi... an area loaded with foreigners and tons of clubs/bars. It's apparently the place to be if you're looking for a good bar/club. I'm sure it wouldn't disappoint... although we only hit up one club while we were there... we still had a lot of fun. To be honest, if you're not planning on clubbing/bar hopping, this place can give off a sleezy kind of feel... there's tons of guys standing outside their bars trying to offer you free shots and other great deals in order to get you to go inside. They don't leave you alone and it is quite pushy. However, like I said, the place to be if you want to party.

We also went to Shinjuku... an area loaded with tons of skyscrapers - all of which look different from the other. The architecture is really beautiful and all the buildings give off a different feel. In and around the subway station is where you can find tons of shopping. Again, giant department stores and everything. I finally got some Bubble Tea in that area which was really nice... can't find a Bubble Tea shop anywhere in Korea. We also hit up this giant goverment building and the top floor (48th or something) gave us a really beautiful view of the city.

Harajuku was another area we visited. If you get there on the right day (Sunday, I believe), you can see the Harajuku girls (and maybe guys)... basically people who dress like Anime characters... with crazy clothes, make-up and hair. However, we were there on Saturday and didn't quite see any Harajuku people... don't know if it was because it was a Sunday or because the rain scared them away, but no such luck. Anyway, this area also has tons of shopping... tons and tons of shopping. It was here (and within 2 hours) that Dawna and I enjoyed some things we have no luck finding in Korea... things like gingerale, Wendy's, crepes and shawarmas.

Finally, and my favourite area of them all, was Shibuya. This area also has tons of shopping... most notably a giant HMV, Tower Records, and other giant department stores. But it's also this area where there's that famous intersection/crosswalk where hundreds of people cross the street at the same time. Dawna and I were lucky to find a Starbucks (with a great window seat) overlooking the crosswalk and we sat there for over an hour in awe of what we were seeing. This area was beautiful, busy, clean and happening. I also ran into Danny G (of WLU/Radio Laurier/King Street residence fame) while down here as he arranged to meet up with Alex and I only found out a few minutes before he showed up that he was the "Dan" Alex was talking about. Quite a nice surprise to see a familiar face.

So yea, those are the areas. I can't really describe it into words. Tokyo is amazing... it absolutely deserves all the hype that it gets and it is as amazing as it's made out to be. I was sad to leave... I really wish I could somehow find a way to make it back there one day and for longer... but who knows with it being so far away from anything outside of Asia. I loved it there... hopefully I'll find my way back.

Anyway, here are the pictures and videos to further describe/show what I just talked about. Enjoy.


In the airplane.


The beautiful temple outside our hostel in the Asakusa area.


Dawna in Asakusa at night.


Alex and Dawna in Asakusa.


Look what we found!


Now in the Roppongi (clubbing) area.


Dimita and Dawna


After searching for six months, I finally found GingerAle... and it was in another country..


Ah, nice... at least a county here does care...


Inside a tiny bar at Roppongi... it was probably 20 feet long and 7 feet wide.


Inside the second bar.


Cheers to our $8 beers.


Back in Asakusa, this is the shopping area... but it's closed now. These are kids on their way to school. Crazy how they have to wear skirts (guys wear shorts) in the middle of the winter.


I like this picture. Alex in front of a closed shop.


Some of the art on the garages of the closed shops in Asakusa.


A packed Tokyo subway.


Outside one of the many sushi restaurants in the fish-market area of Tokyo.


Inside a sushi place.


Alex ordering.


What did I decide to order? Ah yes, how about some raw horse meat sushi?


And there she is on the right.


And here I am wondering what I'm getting myself into. Aside from it tasting like an old baseball glove, it wasn't that bad.


And then there's the other, more normal sushi that we got. Some of it was the best we've ever had... while others were the worst. Definitely the freshest though.


Dawna loving the fish egg.


Around the Ginza area.


Some of the buildings on the outskirts of Ginza.


Visited a garden... I'm sure it'd be nicer in the spring or summer... or even fall.. but we didn't quite have that luxury.


A view of some Ginza buildings from the garden.


In the garden.


Garden.


Another view of the buildings.


A sign explaining what has become of an old tea-shop.


What's left of that old tea shop.


And now we're in the downtown area of Ginza. Really beautiful buildings everywhere and tons of shopping to do.


Ginza. Is that an ECC I see? NOOOOOO!!


Ginza.


Heaveeeennnnn!


Drew, here you go. A shot of a Nissan Skyliner on the road.


Ginza I think?


Awesome.


Even more awesome.


Now we're in the Shinjuku area and we're about to enter this government building where we'll go to the top and catch a view of Tokyo.


A view of the city.


Another view.


And another view.


And yet another view. Really beautiful architecture.


Enjoying the view.


Shinjuku area.


A building in Shinjuku.


Last shot of Shinjuku.


And now in my favourite area... Shibuya.


This place was really cool... really beautiful.


Waiting for Danny G and Dawna's friends to arrive.


Hanging outside Shibuya station... waiting for Danny G.


And now that we've found everybody, we're crossing that famous (humongous) crosswalk in Shibuya.


Toast!


Look who I'm with!


That guy beside Alex had the worst hair I've ever seen.


I had to zoom in.


Back in Asakusa, enjoying the warmer weather that day.


Off to take the subway for the millionth time.


Back in Ginza to enjoy an all you can eat vegetarian Indian buffet for just $10.


Back in Shibuya during the day. I love this place. This building looks really cool.


At the Starbucks in Shibuya that I mentioned earlier... Dawna and I were lucky to find good seats overlooking the crosswalk. We were people watching in awe for over an hour.


No luck for those cars trying to get through.


The crosswalk at Shibuya in real time.


Back in Asakusa yet again... one of the statues by that beautiful temple.


And now we're back to Roppongi (clubbing area), but not to club... but to see an art exhibit and catch a beautiful view of Tokyo at night.


A shot of the building where the exhibit is. Saw some really nice art but weren't allowed to take pictures.


A view of Tokyo at night. It was incredible to see.


Another view of Tokyo... that's Tokyo tower in the middle of the picture.


Out of 100 attempts, this is the best picture I could get.


A video of the view we got to see.


Back in Asakusa by the temple (it's actually open on this day).


Some people circling around a bunch of incense burning.


The Starbucks in Asakusa.


A view from the bridge in the Harajuku area.


Harajuku.


An awesome crepe we had. We also had a really good Shawarma but I forgot to take a picture of it. It still wasn't as good as the ones back home though.


And on our last night (where we pulled an all-nighter before our flight), we met up with Dawna's friend Jess and her friends who were also visiting from South Korea.


The crew we were partying with!


"Are you really a sumo wrestler?" "Yes." "Awesome, picture time."


Inside a club in Roppongi... Heineken in a vending machine.


Dawna dancing it up.


Not quite sure what's happening here.


Dawna and Jess.


A shot of the club.


Alex having (too much) fun.


Me showing off my drink, MY hat and my new (and awesome) jacket.


Dawna misses dancing a lot.


A video of the inside of the club. It was awesome there.


And now that we're done with the club and it's 6am, we head to 7-11 where I see a bag of wasabi flavored Doritos. This was before we stayed awake for 5 more hours, took a 2 hour flight, and had a hell of a long day in Korea.


So yea, wow, that took a while to put together. Tokyo was amazing. Really hope I can get back there one day.

- Gilad