Dates: May 23 - May 26
Tokyo was the first time this trip where I really felt rushed somewhere, and didn't feel like I got to do everything I wanted to. The city is huge, there's tons of things to do, and everything is pretty spread out. Also, coordinating with three other people (since my parents and sister were also there) makes it a bit more difficult and takes up a lot more time. On the bright side though, seeing my family on the trip made it a lot better.
Accommodation: The Westin Tokyo
I almost forgot how awesome hotels were. Ok, not really, but it was nice change from the hostel life. The Westin Tokyo was also the first Westin I've been to with a lounge for breakfast and hors d'oeuvres (with free alcohol, including liquor!).
Itinerary:
Day 1
- Arrive at airport, meet up with parents and sister
- Get to hotel, walk around the nearby vicinity
Day 2
- Meiji Shrine - A shrine dedicated to Emperor Meiji, who moved Japan from a feudalistic society to a capitalist one (think of The Last Samurai)
- Shibuya - a district in Tokyo; also famous for being a crazier version of Times Square
- Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden - garden area with three different landscape designs: British, French, and Japanese
- Government Building Observation Deck - highest point in Tokyo
Selected pics:
One entrance to the Meiji Shrine.
Artistic shot 1
Artistic shot 2
Shibuya at night. For those of you who have seen Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, I think this is the place Han died when drifting through all those people.
Day 3
- Senso-ji - Oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo, with a huge market right outside
- Akihabara - An area where you can buy lots of electronics, appliances, etc.
- Cruise down the Sumida river to Odaiba, an artificial island in Tokyo Bay
Selected pics:
View from the hotel.
Senso-ji in the morning.
Ferris wheel on Odaiba.
This station's name is "Tokyo Teleport Station". I think this proves that Japanese people are masters of efficiency.
Day 4
- Early train to airport
- Fly out
Random Tidbits:
- Tokyo is probably the most efficient city I've ever been to. Everything is pretty much optimized as much as it can be - they have markings for the subway where people should stand to optimize flow and speed of the trains, almost every ticket counter everywhere is a machine (with one person helping if necessary), etc.
- Japanese people are really, really nice. Despite not necessarily knowing much English, they're extremely willing to help.
- Japanese sounds like the coolest language ever, but unless I lived there, it wouldn't be worth learning.
- Why is it the coolest? Here are the names of some stations within 3 stops of the station our hotel was at (which was called Ebisu): Shinjuku, Shibuya, Roppongi. How fun is it to say these names?
- Why isn't it worth learning unless I lived there? According to Wikipedia, it's only the 14th most spoken language. Side note: Apparently the top 5 are Mandarin, English, Spanish, Hindi, Arabic. After looking that up, I realized that I can somewhat get 3/5 of those. Kinda cool.
- The subway system is very well orchestrated and relatively easy to use as a tourist, but they have weird restrictions, such as if you buy a ticket (for example, for 150 yen), you can only use it on the day you buy it. Not realizing this almost made me miss my return flight.
- Japanese/Eastern architecture in general is very cool. See images above.
- Only certain ATMs let you withdraw cash from international bank accounts. I thought this was especially weird.
- Ramen is still delicious.
