First Stop - Tokyo

Well we had an incredible time in Tokyo to start our trip. It really is a fascinating place. We got off the plane with no hassles, and went straight through customs and onto the train in such an orderly and organised fashion, which is what Tokyo is like even though it is such a busy/big city. We got to our accommodation (which is very typical of Tokyo and is about the size of a shoebox where the double bed is only just bigger than a single) and had about 2mins in our room before the phone rang - it was Aniel and he was waiting downstairs to take us out. We went and met his 2 Japanese friends Miki and Kotaro, and made our way along the awesome underground transport system to Shibuya for dinner. Shibuya is a pretty bustling little district that has the Shibuya crossing, which you would have seen on the TV with all the thousands of people crossing on the street with the big screen TVs surrounding (a lot like times square).

We went to this awesome restaurant overlooking the crossing where we downed plenty of Japanese beer, and tried some awesome food: Fried chicken with egg sauce, veges with a tasty fish paste, beef cutlets, a soupy both with some chewy innards in (the only dish that I didn’t particularly like), and believe it or not - lightly seared raw chicken! We were a bit hesitant about the raw chicken, but it was super tasty, and mustve been the way that they prepared it to make it taste like sashimi. Miki, Kotaro, and Aniel really looked after us and wanted us to try everything, but the best part of the night was the banter from the restaurant staff. They were really surprised and happy to see foreigners at the restaurant so much that they went out of their way and gave us lots of tasters and free dishes. Once they learned we were from NZ they made a little rice dish with a sheep on it, and a plate with Thank You NZ on it. One of the waiters was bantering with Kotaro, but Kotaro called his bluff on the story he was telling, so he called him James Bond in jest (Japanese humour is a pretty different from kiwi sense of humour, but they have been amazing people so far), so the next beer he had they had written ‘For James Bond’ in the beer froth. The funniest thing was I went to go to the bathroom and they were so overwhelmingly helpful they showed me right to the door of the toilet, and I was a bit worried that they were going to basically offer to come in with me or show me how to use it! The toilets are pretty funny here, but will save that for another day.

This morning we got straight back out onto the streets, even after having not the best sleep, and headed to the Tsujiki fish market. It really was incredible to witness, but also pretty sad to see at the same time. This place is massive! About the size of west city mall, with wholesalers and small shops selling fish and veges. We wandered through the fish section for ages, and saw just about every creature in the ocean (no whales though…probably a bit harder to hide! ha). There was snapper, kingfish, wahoo, flounder, eels, shrimps, and the most impressive of all was the bluefin tuna. They have an auction early morning where they sell of the big bluefin carcasses, and we saw them after they had been prepared and were being sold by the wholesalers. Sadly though, we did see so many undersized fish (by our standards) including 10cm snapper, 50cm kingfish etc, so you can see why the worlds fish stocks are taking such a hit. Its probably made me more conscious to eat more sustainably sourced products when I get home. But in the meantime in Tokyo I’m just going to have to live with it and try a few new things.

After the fish market we went and had a peek at the imperial palace, but from so far away we couldn’t see a hell of a lot, but just relaxed in the park before having sushi for lunch. The sushi was amazing for 10NZD - salmon, tuna, shrimp, squid, salmon roe, egg roll, and miso soup - Yum! Finally we finished the afternoon at Asakusa shrine, which was pretty impressive to see too. Sadly though, after trying my luck with the fortune lottery at the temple for 100Y (about a 1NZD), I was told I would have bad fortune…which Louise has preceded to remind me of.

To finish off our first 24hrs in Tokyo we went out for one last dinner again with Aniel, and Kotaro. We went Shinjuku this time, and found a restaurant that did all you can eat and drink in under 75mins. It was a great option as time was short as we had to try get to Karaoke and on the last train home. Again the food was incredible, this time with a variety of small meats being placed on the hot plate in front of us this time including chicken cartilage. Soon enough the 75mins was up and we headed out to sing Karaoke for an hour. It was good fun although our group of four were/are horrendous singers!

For our second and last full day in Tokyo we met up with Aniel and another friend of his, Yumi, to go check out Harajuku district and Yoyogi park. Yoyogi park had some more really nice shrines, and these amazing sake barrels that were gifts to the district. The sake barrels had unique and distinctive designs on them representing the area that they have been gifted from. Harajuku itself is a shopping district known for its subcultures of people that hang out there. We were expecting to see heaps of different kinds of people hanging out there. but to be honest although there were a few skaters and a few odd fashion choices, it was pretty normal comparative to NZ. I just think Japan is so uniform with how people dress and act, to them Harajuku seems really out of the box.

After Harajuku we went back to Shinjuku to go up to the 43rd floor of a government building to see a view of the city from 200+m up. It was a great vantage point to see what the city is like from above, and give you a clear understanding at how huge and condense the city really is. I was able to make out one major sight that I unfortunately wasnt able to visit - Tokyo National Stadium, which was where the 1964 Olympics were held where Peter Snell won double gold.

As we were leaving the next day, we thanked Aniel for all his help before he headed home and went out for one last meal. This time we went to a little local Izakaya bar which served our final Japanese beers and small dishes. I couldnt help but feel a bit antsy as I wanted to get enough time to take some final night shots of the local shrine and gangway with the evening lights on. I went out at about 11pm and just as I was setting up for a shot of the main shot, they turned the lights off. Ah well, I perserved and was able to get some unique shots. This was enough to satisfy my curiosity before I headed home to pack for our flight out to Roma, Italy.

We really had a great couple of days in Tokyo and would love to go back for more time in Japan. Aniel really went out of his way to show us around and meet his local friends who were all great people as well. The food was a highlight for me, as everything we ate seemed so unique but fresh and tasty too. Time to look forward to a change in scenery and cuisine in Italy...