Tokyo

We just got back from Tokyo and I already miss the food! The plane ride was only 4 hours but it took a good 10 hours from our place in HK to checking in to our hotel thanks to Tokyo's efficient but very confusing train system:



The sad thing is that picture only shows the railway system and not the subway system, which connects some of the existing stations. We were advised to stay in Shinjuku because of the infamous red light district. (See how long it takes for you to find the station on the map!) There were always these anime guys on the streets giving out flyers to locals but we couldn't figure out what they were soliciting.

On the second day we went to Asakusa (north east of Tokyo) to check out the famous Senso-ji Temple. We learned that before entering the temple you have to wash your hands (left and then right) and rinse your mouth with water.




Outside of the temple there were tons of food and souvenir vendors. We snacked a bit and headed to a tempura restaurant. Japanese tempura is distinctively different from Toronto's - it's a smooth, thing layer of batter instead of flakey. After lunch we headed to Akihabara, known as Electric Town. We walked the streets, checked out an enormous 7-storey electronics store that has an area for DSi players to play together, saw a Gundam Cafe with a huge line-up, played TYPING OF THE DEAD, and went to dinner at a tapas restauarant.



On the third day, we started the day off like every other: a quick breakfast at the local convenient store before we headed to Harajuku to visit the Meiji shrine and Harajuku girls! The Meiji shrine is inside Yoyogi Park, the largest park in Tokyo.



It was a great change of scenery since Tokyo like Hong Kong is full of skyscrapers. Unfortunately, I think we entered/exited through the wrong exit and missed the Harajuku girls =( We did a bit of shopping before we went to lunch at a burger joint. According to Norm it was the best burger he ever ate!



After we re-fueled we walked to Shibuya and witnessed the most busy intersection crossing in the world. It was scary to see how many people cross every single light change.



We didn't do too much shopping because the Japanese are crazy! Each store delegates one employee (sometimes two) to stand on a chair and yell in a high-pitched voice to attract customers. It's too chaotic for me to even browse. Eeeeek

For dinner we went to a revolving sushi restaurant for the first time. The sushi wasn't amazing but it's cool to pick and choose exactly what you want. For those of you who haven't tried it basically you grab the dishes you want off the conveyor belt. At the end of your meal the cashier counts your number of dirty dishes. Different coloured dishes represents different prices.



My overall impression of Tokyo is that the girls wear way too much make up and feet crushing high heels but the people are super nice and the food is amazing!! That's it for now... Norm will continue with the rest of the trip.

-M