On Saturday (August 9th) around 7pm we left for Tokyo. The train ride is about 3 hours from Ken’s house, so we arrived around 10pm.
Our plan for the night was to go to the dance club Womb and then stay at a Love Hotel. Love Hotels are used primarily for unmarried Japanese couples as a private place to spend some “quality alone” time together, as most Japanese live with their parents until they are married. The rooms come in different themes and can be rented for a few hours or a full night. The lobby of the hotel contains photos of the different available rooms with buttons where you can book the room you want. There is also sometimes someone at the reception, but they are covered to provide more privacy for the couple. We wanted to stay in a love hotel because they are cheaper than regular hotels, and because we thought it would be more interesting than staying at a hostel.
When we arrived in Tokyo we went straight to the love hotel district to find somewhere to sleep for the night and leave our bags while we went dancing. We had absolutely no luck whatsoever. We went into every single love hotel in the area and were rejected from all of them! Some of them did not allow 4 people in a single room, so we split up into two and two. When we looked for two rooms we were told by some that no foreigners were allowed, at other places no women were allowed, and another place told us that two women were not allowed to be in a room together and the rest of them were full.
We gave up on love hotels and split up. Fieke and Ken went to Womb (the dance club) and Steph and I checked into a regular hotel. We decided on a meeting spot for 8am the next morning, and then Steph and I went out for food and a few drinks at a different bar. The next morning when we met back up with Fieke and Ken they told us about their adventurous night. After dancing at Womb they couldn’t find a hostel or love hotel to sleep in so they took a nap on the street and then went to a karaoke bar to eat breakfast before meeting up with us.
Together we all started exploring Tokyo together! First we went to the Yoyogi-Koen Park and walked around there. It’s quite large and very pretty. There are some fountains in it, and there were a lot of people running and exercising.
Attached to the park is the Meiji Jingu Temple. It is also very pretty. This temple was very similar to other ones we’ve seen on the trip so far, except that since we were in Tokyo, it was packed with other tourists.
The Jingubashi bridge is right next to the park and temple, and it is famous for being the hangout spot for some interesting Japanese characters.
We were pretty hungry after walking all morning, so we stopped to have some Om-rice, which is a Japanese dish of an omelet filled with rice with sauce on top. We didn’t do too much the rest of the day. Ken and Fieke were so tired they kept falling asleep. We walked around Harajuku (a shopping district), and then we took the subway to the Tokyo Tower.
The Tokyo Tower was pretty cool, it looks similar to the Eifel Tower, but it’s orange, and it’s a bit taller (the Eifel tower is 320m high while the Tokyo tower is 333m). We took the elevator to the main observatory so we could see the view of the city.
We were supposed to be meeting Ken’s friend Miyuki, who works at the tower at 5pm, and had about an hour to kill. We took a walk in the area and visited to Zojoji Temple.
With Ken’s friend Miyuki we took the subway to Tsurukawa station and ate dinner at a Japanese curry restaurant called CoCo Curry House. It was pretty good, it tasted different than other curries I’ve had. We then waited for almost two hours at Starbucks while Miyuki went to her apartment to clean up before having us over to sleep. Ken and Fieke were half asleep while Steph’s stomach was hurting. We amused ourselves by checking out the Pachinko hall down the street. Pachinko is a mix between pinball and slot machines, and the hall is setup like a casino. There were rows and rows of Japanese playing on these machines, and winning small shiny balls. When you are finished playing, one of the security guards pours all the balls into a counting machine and gives you a ticket. You can then exchange your ticket for one of many prizes like snack food, household products, cheap watches and beer.
When we finally arrived at her apartment we were all in shock. Papers, bottles, clothes and garbage covered the entire apartment. There was not one area where the floor or countertop could be seen. We spent the next hour or two helping her clean her apartment so we could make room for a mattress for us to sleep on. Needless to say we were all absolutely exhausted when we finally got into bed!
We woke up early the next morning so we could go to the Tsukiji Fish market in Tokyo. It is the worlds largest wholesale fish market. It was set up with rows and rows of vendors selling different types of fish. The area was huge, and very busy and full of life!
Once we fully explored the fish market we took a break at the Marunouchi Shopping Center Building and had a drink at a restaurant on the top floor called So Tired, before continuing on to the Imperial (Emperor’s) Palace. This is where the Emperor currently lives. It is surrounded by large walls, and no one is allowed within the walls. We walked around and also saw a very nice fountain display.
We then proceeded to the electronic district and spent about an hour exploring Bic Camera, which is a very large electronics store. We also had a chance to explore the Sony Aquarium, which didn’t actually contain any fish. It was a display of TV screens and 3D videos of exotic fish. After the full day of exploring we decided to make our way back to Ken’s house to prepare for our backpacking trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment