Japan – Episode 3 (Tokyo)

Today was yet again, another great day. Yesterday was a great first date but today might be even better. We started off at a French bakery called Aux Bachanalles, a small, friendly neighborhood breakfast spot. We ordered 4 pastries because that’s how we roll. We then headed to the Meiji Shrine which is significant to me because Emperor Meiji was enshrined there. Emperor Meiji was the first modern Emperor who pushed Japan out of Feudalism and helped westernize much of the country. He’s also the guy that Tom Cruise hands the sword to at the end of the movie, The Last Samurai. In all seriousness, though, the Meiji Shrine is an absolute must do if you visit Japan. When we were there, perhaps because it was a Saturday, we were lucky enough to see a traditional, Japanese wedding processional occur. It was breathtaking and oddly intimate.

After, seeing some Japanese old school culture, we visited the Harajuku district which I suppose depicts a more modern, weird teenager culture . We made sure to stop and get a crepe which are known in this area and strolled down Takeshita st to hunt for interestingly dressed “Harajuku” style fashion. It is best described as Sailor Moon meets Hot Topic.

As lunch nears, we wander over to the Tsukiji Fish Market. We missed the morning fish auctions but we were still able to eat at one of the nearby restaurants. We picked Sushi Zanmai, a restaurant that had a line going out that door. We sat at the sushi bar which I would highly recommend because you get your food more immediately. Plus, the sushi chefs are very busy and you don’t have to worry about making small talk. The sashimi was amazing. The best I have ever had. The fatty tuna literally melts in your mouth!!

After lunch, we headed over to Shibuya to watch the famous 5 lane cross walk. Our good friends Marcus and Kristen, recommended going to the Starbucks across the street where you can get a great view from above. It was perfect for some time lapse photography.

There is a consistent theme of “wow, I can live in Tokyo” but I think it’s a false sense of reality that vacation can bring. It has definitely changed from just a bucket list item to we must visit again kind of place. Just a mere 10 hour flight from Denver to Tokyo direct!

Japan – Episode 1 (Tokyo)

We left Taiwan this morning a little sad saying goodbye to our Taiwanese family and apprehensive about diving into one of the largest cities in the world. The flight from Taiwan to Japan was just 2.5 hours. After we landed, we bought train tickets (Tokyo is about an hour away from the airport) with surprising ease. As we were heading towards the train station, David gets stopped by a camera man, reporter and reporter’s translator. David quickly pulled me into the “news piece” and in a daze we are asked questions such as “why are you here in Japan” and “what do you want to do here?” We tried to answer as best we could and then we were on our way to our rented flat from AirBnB.

We knew that we would be living near Shibuya, an area that is often viewed as the epicenter of Tokyo. If we felt overwhelmed in Taipei, we felt for sure we’d lose our senses in Shibuya. Much to our delight, our flat is in a quiet but upscale neighborhood (Meguro) about 15 minutes from Shibuya. There are several coffee shops, restaurants and a local grocery store nearby. Realizing that we hadn’t eaten in awhile and that dinner was approaching, we walked a few short blocks to a restaurant called Alaska which was recommended by our host. We felt the restaurant selection might have been an unwise decision given its a vegetarian restaurant but out of sheer hunger went in. Inside, the restaurant had a nice homey feel, with a bit of hipster flare. English indie music was playing, the wait staff did not speak English but they were very nice with big, bright smiles. We ordered a vermicelli salad, margarita pizza and 2 soups to share, all of which hit the spot. After dinner, we walked to a liquor store to buy some beer and then to the local grocery store to buy some items for our little home – coffee, snacks, fruit, etc. We headed back “home” and dropped off our bags and were on our way again, walking a bit to explore our neighborhood. We walked over to the Daikanayama area, which is a funky district that has art galleries, clothing stores and other shops. We stopped in the Daikanayama Tsutaya bookstore which is open until 2am. It has multiple interlocking stores featuring different genres in their separate pods. One could easily spend hours here. I even stopped by the magazine section and caught some US magazines headlines such as who the sexiest man alive is according to People magazine!

We are now calling it an early night at home, trying Japanese beer and planning for tomorrow’s day!