Tokyo - Day 1

After an all nighter spent packing, I squeezed in a 2 hour nap before Jason picked me up for the airport. I find managing jet lag whenever travelling East is quite easy; I just need to stay up really late and sleep on the plane!

It started to hit me that I was about to leave for a far away land once I got to the airport. It seems like the more I travel, the more "routine" the process becomes. As the novelty wears off so does the pre-journey excitement, which isn't bad, it's just different. 

Ikebukuro in the evening

The flight was amazing! This is probably one of the first direct flights I've ever taken to get to my final destination. I was able to fall asleep as soon as we took off (around 12pm) and woke up about 8 hours later, with just enough time to watch a movie before landing.

Navigating the public transport system in Tokyo is not as easy as I thought it would be. When compared with London or Beijing, things seem just a bit more confusing. There are actually a couple different companies that own the railway systems, so you sometimes need to buy two separate tickets to get somewhere. I also found there aren't a lot of maps showing the entire transit system. Maybe that's because it's so big...

The case I'm using for my skis is a monster. It's a full 2m long and has two sets of enormous skis in it... Not the most nimble of travelling companions, but thankfully I wasn't in transit during rush hour!

Tokyo seems like a really clean and efficient version of the big cities in China or India I've been to. I mean it's really clean... it's the first thing I noticed. There is not a single piece of trash on the floor. Which is ironic, because the second thing I noticed is how there are no trash cans anywhere. I walked around the metro station for a solid 10 minutes before finding a tiny trash can tucked away in a little shop. Weird...

After checking into my hostel, I went to explore a bit of the city. Stopped in to 7-11 and grabbed an almond matcha chocolate ice cream bar before going to a small restaurant nearby. Had some miso soup, raw fish (not sure what kind), fried chicken and green tea. Hopped on the metro to go to Ikebukuro where there were supposedly ramen noodle dives everywhere. I ended up diving into a place that does NOT serve noodles, and seemed pretty fancy. I had an Oyster (which was enormous) and some mystery food.

I always find it interesting how McDonald's changes it's menu up to cater to the local population, so I popped my head in to see what they were offering. I thoroughly enjoyed my milk tea Oreo McFlurry on the way back to the metro to go to Shibuya, where the cool kids hang out. They had one of those giant crosswalks (Tokyo Drift style) and neon lights everywhere. It doesn't really get dark downtown, it's just no longer daytime. My jet-lag was starting to hit me a couple hours back so I booked it back to the metro to get to the hostel. I started chatting with a guy on the train that was making funny noises (WASTED!), and he tried to help me get on the right train. Oddly enough he was heading in my direction, and I ended up helping him get to the right platform.

Stopped in at a local fast food joint and met a guy named Yuto. We chatted for a bit and made plans to go to the fish market in the morning (leaving at 4:40am!) to see the fish auction.

My goals for this trip are pretty simple and all-encompassing. Whenever I think about doing something, and I get an uncomfortable feeling that pulls me away from doing it because of what people might think about me, I will push through and do it anyway. This is exactly where I was at with the portrait photography when in Myanmar, and looking at my pictures now, I'm glad I stopped worrying about what people think. I also want to be taking pictures of every single meal I eat. Food is such a huge part of the culture of a place, that it doesn't make sense not to document it.

I'm really looking forward to NOT exploring Japan and just staying in one place. I will actually be able to get to know the vibe of a place and get some routines down, and that is what I always remember and look back on fondly after a trip. Part of me really wants to fall in love with Japan and be able to call it a second home. I'm not sure why I have that feeling... Perhaps it's all the preconceived notions I have about Japan and it's rich culture, efficiencies and eccentricity...

Oh, did I mention they have animal cafe's here (cat, dog, owl, snake...). I hit one of those up too!