Ahhhhh Japan! The Land of the Rising Sun! We took a vacation to Japan a few years ago with really no expectations. Japan blew our mind! It was like nothing we had ever seen or experienced. To say we absolutely love Japan is an understatement. When we found out some of our best friends would be taking their honeymoon in Japan, we knew we had to sync up with them. They would be skiing during the first part of their trip in northern Japan, and during their last two days, they would be in Tokyo. How convenient! The flight from Korea to Japan is about 3 hours gate to gate, so there was no way we were going to pass up this opportunity to see some of our friends from Seattle! We got up at 4 AM so we could get to Gimpo Airport on time for our flight. We had to drive to the airport since none of the trains were running yet. It was our first driving experience in Korea and Casey did great! The navigation app we have only talks to us in Korean, but between my awesome navigation skills ;) and Casey’s flawless driving ;), we easily made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. By the way we flew Japan Air and OMG what a great airline! We got food, movies, and in flight beverages! The flight was short and great (and I am really no fan of flying). So for me to say that, it’s legit. Anyway, when we got to Japan, we had to go through immigration. Clearly we don’t look Korean, but our country of origin is Korea. So when the immigration guy saw that I was only going to be in Japan for only a little over 24 hours, and he didn’t see that I lived in Korea, he became very skeptical of why I was visiting Japan. He kept asking why I was only staying for 24 hours and I just kept telling him we had friends from Seattle who were in Japan. After a bunch of back and forth, and a second glance at my card, he realized I lived in Korea (and I realized he didn’t realize I lived in Korea) and it was no big deal and we were on our way! Kristen and Connor’s flight came in about a half hour after ours, and since their flight was a domestic flight they were at a different terminal. So, unable to wait any longer, we jumped the train to their terminal and waited. We attempted to make a welcome sign for them, but it turned out pretty rough, but hey the effort was there. After hugs, story swapping, and ticket purchasing we all hopped on a train headed for Ueno Station. Connor had found a hotel in an area Casey recommended, and Connor did all the booking for us. It was cheaper when Connor booked the hotel in America, so we just paid him back in Japan. The hotel was legit! We usually just stay at Air BNBs, so this was such a treat! Casey and I stayed in the Ueno area before. We were all starving (because in Japan, your life revolves around food) and Casey and I knew a really good place to get legit Japanese Ramen (the kind you order from a machine and then the cook makes it). Casey, who has a memory like an elephant, remembered where this ramen spot was. It’s a true ramen bar, so you just take a seat when somebody gets up. We all couldn’t sit together, but hey there is really no time to talk when you are inhaling your scrumptious bowl of ramen. Of course, after something salty you gotta have something sweet! Japan is the green tea capital of the world, so when we passed an ice cream shop that was selling green tea ice cream, it seemed foolish to say no. Next, we headed over to one of my favorite places on earth, Akihabara! It’s pretty much a big arcade. We went into the Sega Building where we showed all the people around us how subpar our videogame abilities really were. After successfully completing a drum game (on medium) and a hand eye coordination game (on medium, I must add), we decided it was time to enter a Japanese photo booth. All I can say is Connor and Casey look great with dolled up eyes and rosy cheeks :) Being limited on time, we sadly said goodbye to Akihabara, and headed over to the famous Senso-ji Temple. This temple is located in Asakusa, and it is Tokyo’s oldest Temple. After picture taking and getting our fortunes, we started our walk over to the Tokyo Skytree! Just as the sun was going down! Perfect! Upon arrival to the Skytree, Kristen and I bought the fast pass. Before we knew it, we were all on t top of the world. The Skytree is 634 meters high (2,080 ft.), and as a spectator you can get to the top floor, which is 451 meters high (1,480 feet). When you look down this seems extremely high! The elevator we rode up in was insane. There are two observation decks in the Skytree. We paid to go to both, cuz hey, when in Tokyo right? Anyway, the first observation deck is 350 meters high and the elevator gets you there in 50 seconds. That’s crazy fast! You have to take a second elevator to get to the second observation deck, but that just feels like a normal elevator after you experience the jet packed ride of the first elevator. We took a billion pictures and decided it was time to go back down and continue our adventure. Of course, on our way to the train station, we weaved through a market with cute bread, so we all loaded up! We hopped a train, (which is so easy to do in Japan) and headed over to the Shiodome Illumination Christmas Show. This event has over 250,000 LED lights and shows take place every 20 minutes. Casey and I had been there before but it actually took us quite some time to find it. We couldn’t remember where it was. Kristen and Connor were troopers though and we walked around the area until we saw the glow of the lights. We made it just in time for a show. The light show incorporated the songs from Beauty and the Beast. For anybody who loves Christmas lights, Japan is a must during Christmas. We all had had an early morning, and it wasn’t that late, but we were all beat. We headed to dinner (a chain restaurant in Tokyo called CoCo curry), where you can make your own curry. It really hit the spot, and really, you can’t go wrong with Japanese curry. Ok let's get real, you can't go wrong with any type of Japanese food. Earlier in the day, I told Casey, Connor and Kristen about the new Peach Coke that only came out in Japan. It had literally come out a day before our arrival and I made sure everybody knew to keep a look out for it. We had found a vending machine earlier in the day that had the Peach Coke, but it was sold out. Bummer deal :( On our walk back to the hotel, Kristen spotted a vending machine and it had the Peach Coke! OMG! Of course we bought it and all took a drink. Surprisingly, it was way better than I expected. After that, I felt like our day was a total success! Shout out to Kristen for keeping her eyes open, when the rest of us clearly had them closed. The next morning it was time to get our sushi on! Going to Japan and not enjoying their amazing sushi is a crime. Like, if you have been to Japan, and didn’t eat the sushi there, I don’t know if we can be friends. All four of us jumped the train and headed to the magical Tsukiji Market. This is a place where all your sushi dreams come true. You can get anything your little sushi loving heart desires! We ordered, and ordered and ordered. Yummy, yummy, yummy! Afterwards, we wandered around the area where Connor somehow could eat other various treats. He tried a huge oysters and a $20.00 (or was it $40.00) piece of beef. Regardless of the price, he let us all try a bite. I have never tasted such buttery meat. I really am not a huge fan of beef, but dang man, this beef would be a beef lovers fantasy! Connor seemed to enjoy it immensely, so it must have been good. There are so many little treats around Tsukiji it would take days to get through. We were down to our final six hours with Kristen and Connor so we had to get going! We headed over to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku. It’s a really neat building, and what is even better, is that you can go up to both the North and South Observatory Decks…for free! Who doesn’t like free stuff!? It was a really clear day, so we got some great views from the top! We looked down at our watches are knew our time was coming to an end. We had time to wander our way through Yoyogi Park and the Meiji Shrine while we closed in on our last destination. Yoyogi Park is a huge park in the middle of Tokyo that offers some greenery in the hustle and bustle of the city. The Meiji Shrine, which was built for Emperor Meiji, is in the middle of the park. It is always really busy but definitely worth stopping at. Our final stop was the Harajuku area, specifically Takeshita Street. It’s a pretty crazy area. Shops are filed with vintage clothing, cosplay costumes, there’s food galore, and not to mention the areas awesome fashion scene. It is a super crowded area, but we were able to navigate through it. Kristen became the proud owner of a huge cotton candy, and we all indulged ourselves with a distinguished Harajuku scone. After a walk through, it was time to head back to Ueno to grab our bags and get back to Korea. We are so happy we got to see our friends (and even more happy they had a great time on their honeymoon)! Until next time Tokyo! In honor of Japan we figured we would post a Japanese song this week. We really like this girl. She is called Lefty Hand Cream. She does covers of songs. Here is one of her songs. Another good band is RADWIMPS, so here is one of their songs too! Oh, and here is a trailer to a good Japanese film. If you haven’t seen it, see it! Enjoy!
0 Comments
|
Archives
April 2022
Categories
All
|