Konichiwa Tokyo
Let’s call a spade a spade ~ Tokyo is big!
This city is big, vast, sprawling, fast-paced, hectic and definitely/probably overwhelming for first time visitors…..
But isn’t that the allure of visiting it?
So we took an afternoon flight across to Japan to go spend a long weekend checking out the sights the city has to offer, eat some tasty Japanese food (especially some Wagyu beef) and possibly shop some new & futuristic technology.
The flight was quick, painless and uneventful - we flew with TransAsia (this airline has closed down since then) - and thankfully the flight was not very full, so we had some empty seats next to us.
Everything was going along smoothly up to the moment we stepped into the arrival/passport control hall at Narita airport ~ one could actually hear wheels screeching to a stop when we witnessed the mass of people waiting in line. All arriving passengers were ordered to stand in line, then to make 3 lines, then no make 2 lines, then no, 3 lines again …. Very effective until in the end they just said ok go - and then it was a mad dash and scramble to be the next in line at the other side of the counter. The line was loooong and all in all took about an hour - thankfully it was not a complete still standing wait and it was constantly shuffling and moving forward.
After that it was baggage claim and then again waiting in line for customs inspection. They check your arrival form and what you declared or did not declare and for some or other reason I always get stopped and have my baggage inspected when I enter Japan. A picture folder was presented to me to make sure I understood what products she was talking about, and I knew what was coming next... A sign was put up for the other people behind us in line to wait and we were asked to open our bags for inspection. I have no idea why but this is always happening to me whenever I visit Japan. Needless to say, my face, body language and just whole demeanor was just not a very friendly nor impressed facade.
When she found nothing in the bags and had no other reason to waste our time, we were allowed to proceed.
Then it was off to the Skyliner train counter to purchase our ticket to downtown Ueno Station. And as soon as that was purchased, immediately off to get some alcoholic beverages and a snack for on the train. Being unimpressed & annoyed is a tiring activity and one does work up an appetite!
Do I need to state the obvious? This train moved! It was racing along towards the city - 41min from the airport to Ueno. It is only 67km but we were downtown in no time! They have some good packages and combo deals including unlimited metro cards - something to consider.
Well now, another thing to keep in mind regarding public transport in Tokyo is that there are different companies and service providers. There is the Skyliner line, the JR lines and then the Metro system - and they all use their own ticketing system and one has to purchase separate tickets for all of them. We arrived at Ueno station and upon exiting the station - had to walk around to the station about 100m down the road - which housed the JR station as well as the Metro station - both with their own ticketing counters and entrances. Yes, it did take us a while to figure where to go and what to do ~ but we persevered and reigned supreme!
Just outside the station we proceeded to our free shuttle bus to our hotel and this was actually a God sent at this stage of the journey. They depart every 30min from the station to hotel, for a few hours in the morning and a few hours at night - not during the day.
And so we arrived at the hotel ~ Toyoko Inn Asakusa Senzoku Tsukuba Express (now isn’t that a mouthful?!)
The check in process was quick, easy and painful - and even a bit entertaining when you look around at what is being displayed & offered on the counter!
Stepping in to our room we just once again had it reconfirmed how small and compact everything in Japan is - especially the cheaper more affordable hotels…
The room was small, and the bathroom unit was even smaller - seriously not even room to swing a cat! I could touch two opposite walls with my hands and the other two opposite walls with my elbows….. yay.
Anyways - it was cheap, affordable and within our budget, so cannot really complain. The room had air conditioning, toiletries and a mini fridge - no room safe though.
And of course, standard procedure when I travel, immediately we set out to the Family Mart convenience store across the street to stock up the fridge with weird, interesting and exciting delights that had to be tried!
Waking up the next morning provided some more entertainment when we walked into the dining area and viewed the breakfast spread…..
Let it be known - I was not a fan. For the rest of our stay there I organized and prepared my own food for the mornings haha.
And so for our first outing, we just headed off to the station to walk around and explore the neighborhood and area around the hotel and station.
What an assault on the senses: things to see, things to hear, things to smell, things to taste and some more things to touch.
One thing one immediately notices is how meticulously clean the streets are ~ no trash, no cigarette butts, no leaves, it was a bit strange and surreal for me - there are designated areas for smoking in public - and of course inside restaurants they still have smoking and non-smoking sections which was something I had to get re-accustomed to. And the other thing that was something to get used to ~ the quietness and lack of noise throughout the city. Even when it was rush hour and people finished work and were on their way home - it was eerily hushed and quiet. Not like one would expect in a big and populated city like Tokyo...
But, let’s get back to where we were - walking around and exploring the area around Ueno station. The station is housed inside a sort of shopping mall called Atre. There are quite a few small little shops and 2 supermarkets (not the cheapest) but selling a good and interesting selection of food.
Another interesting thing that is popular in Japan, when eating at a restaurant - quite a few places have machines at the entrance where patrons choose and pay for their meal upfront and just present their receipt inside.
This brings me onto one of the things that the Japanese does very well: package and display food! Boy oh boy! Even if you are not hungry or looking for food, just walking around and seeing these boxes and packets of food, your mouth starts to water and hands automatically start picking up sushi, beef, deep fried goodies, etc.
They also have some very expensive fruit ~ but I guess it goes without saying that these fruit are expensive for a reason: it is really good quality, bigger than the average size and taste really good! I would recommend to at least once, fork out a small fortune, taste these really delicious fruits and claim the right to say ~ I have tried that!
And I guess at this point I have to admit something... I have a weakness for weird, new, exotic and unfamiliar food products, especially drinks, and will have to try most new things that I come across ~ I can admit though that I did not have the stomach or guts to try the Horse Steaks.....
Across the street from Ueno station, there is a market area with a lot of small lanes and alleys packed with small shops selling anything and everything ~ from flowers to clothes to technology to the kitchen sink! One can easily loose track of time and spend significantly more time than planned just walking around here, sampling food and drinks and browsing in the shops.
It is here where we came across a guy selling candy for a flat rate of 1000yen. What makes this purchase all the more appealing is the entertainment and show that goes along with the transaction…..
We spent quite a bit of time walking & shopping & strolling around this area, and then late afternoon we made our way back to the hotel for a bit of a power nap. Sightseeing is a tiring affair! (wink wink)
So early evening we headed out to get something to eat. There were a few small little restaurants very close to the hotel that we were looking forward to trying out, but none of them were open - probably because it was a Sunday night.
So we decided to walk in the direction of the Tokyo Skytree, a big, tall and well lit tower ~ there is bound to be some restaurant and eateries around there!
And boy did we walk! We saw quite a few places to eat, but being the finicky and picky tourists that we are, we of course kept on walking down just another alley, just around one more corner, just down one more lane ~ all in the search of the best possible restaurant serving the tastiest Japanese food!
And then, turning a corner, we stumbled upon it, purely by chance and very unplanned ~ the Sensoji Temple in Asakusa…!
So of course we had to spend some time walking around here and taking in the sights & sounds. It was surprisingly busy at night - it was actually beautiful to see at night, with the clouds and moon lending it a somewhat eerie & strange hue at night.
We took some selfies and pictures of the temple, and then proceeded on our merry little way, our mission to find some decent dinner.
We ended up in the vicinity of the Asakusa metro station, which was a restaurant haven! Now our job was just to pick out what pulled at our stomach strings ~ which ended up being a sukiyaki restaurant serving prime quality Japanese beef! Restaurant found!
This was by no means a cheap dinner, but the lure of the all-you-can-eat-beef was just too strong. The food was really good & tasty, I was somewhat hesitant of using raw egg as a dip for the cooked beef, but it was surprisingly tasty and an added bonus ~ we thankfully did not eat too much!
After dinner we strolled back to the hotel, along a different route, in order to get a change in scenery ~ this walk was actually very pleasant - the air was cool, our bellies full and we felt happy & content - perfect way to end the day!
We got up early the next morning, finished breakfast quick and set out to one of the well known shopping areas in Tokyo ~ Shinjuku.
We took the metro and I am still impressed how easy & straightforward it was to navigate and travel through the city. The number system of the different lines really helps & makes it pretty easy to know where to change trains and where to get off.
Shinjuku is a shopper’s paradise! Roads and streets are lined with shopping malls, from cheap to expensive to designer brands and shops. I probably don’t need to mention that we were eating and “sampling” our way around this area…
We ended up and a fancy & expensive food court in a shopping mall named Isetan Shinjuku.
Well, first, you need to have some seriously deep pockets to shop here, and secondly, stay away from the food court in the basement, because all the delicious food will inevitably lead to quite a bit of money being spent.
And of course we spent quite a bit of money. We purchased a selection of small portions of various dishes and food in order to try different things - we got some pork with a mustard cream gravy, croquette ( deep fried mashed potato filled bits of meat and a whole soft boiled egg with the yolk still soft and runny), roast beef salad and some drinks.
We then made our way up to the rooftop to go sit in the public garden and enjoy our lunch. It was surprisingly relaxing up there with real grass, and I just couldn’t help it and spread myself out across the lawn - it has been quite some time since I have done that.
For the rest of the afternoon we just strolled around the area and malls, did some shopping and eventually headed back to the hotel for a quick rest and to freshen up.
And guess what? The little restaurant right next to the hotel that we have been dying to try out was finally open - and we had some delicious ramen (noodles) for dinner!
It was one of those small restaurants that only seat a few people along a long bar counter with the chef preparing the food in front of the customers, and also where dishes are ordered and paid for at the vending machine right next to the front door.
The ramen was really good and loaded quite a bit of cheese onto it and then grilled the cheese before adding the meat and the broth. This would be perfect on a cold winter’s night!
After that we headed out for some drinks to round off our second day.
And so our last day in arrived, and they were pretty strict enforcing the 10am check out time - at exactly 10:00 we received a call to remind of the check out time….
We left our bags at the hotel since our flight was only early evening and this time headed to another popular area called Shibuya. This is where the famous “Busiest intersection in the world” is located - who goes to Tokyo and does not go check this out?!
Unfortunately we were there around lunch time, so it wasn’t as hectic nor impressive as I guess it would be during after work rush hour - but it was still busy enough to take a few pics and videos of us crossing the intersection.
The best view of this busy intersection is at the Starbucks in the Shibuya Tsutaya building, perfect for enjoying a coffee and seeing all the pedestrians rushing around like ants across the street.
This area also has quite a bit of shopping malls, shops and restaurants & bars ~ so one can easily spend a few hours wandering around.
We stumbled upon a small little restaurant, tucked into a small little alley nestled in between two big buildings ~ and here we had some delicious curry with deep fried chicken. And it was pretty cheap as well, seemed like they had a simplified lunch menu with cheaper dishes, and more extensive and higher priced for dinner. Nonetheless, it was a tasty and filling lunch ( I can never get enough of Japanese curry).
And so sadly, our time in Tokyo was starting to run out and we made our way back to the hotel via the metro. We had to retrieve our baggage that was still stowed at the hotel and then catch the Skyliner train from Ueno station to Narita airport.
The ride to the airport was quick and uneventful, and thankfully less busy at the check in counters and the security checks and passport control counters.
There was however one last interesting sight to see and experience ~ the public toilets inside the airport!
It was actually pretty different and impressive - a whole layout and design by the brand TOTO - it was like a collection of small little bathrooms, each with their own sink, urinal and toilet - and designed and pictures on the walls. Really cool!
Tokyo will definitely see me again !
