Tokyo

Cam did all the planning for this trip, so I put myself in charge of documenting it. The first thing we did when we got to Tokyo was eat. We went to a chain restaurant called Sushiro which has “express lane” conveyor belt sushi. Everything is either self serve or done by machines or screens until you pay at the end. When you get to the restaurant, you get a waiting number from a machine (pretty standard). But then to get your table, you scan the QR code on your waiting number to get your table number. Then you order everything on a screen and it comes on a conveyor belt that stops at your table for you to grab it. It makes ordering sushi feel like a game. We even ordered a beer that was delivered on the conveyor belt.

After a little walk around the river in Azakusa, we took the subway 6 minutes to Ueno park. It’s apparently lotus flower season and it was sooo pretty. I don’t even know if I’ve seen a lotus flower in a pond before, nevermind a pond covered in the lotus leaves and flowers. There was also some kind of festival happening. From there we walked back towards our hotel and went for ramen.

Day two, we had tickets to go to TeamLab - an immersive art gallery that is very famous. We went for breakfast at an Australian style brunch place where you ordered your food using QR codes at your table. We got fluffy souffle style ricotta pancakes, delicious cappuccinos, and a smoothie bowl. It cost 6000 yen (around $60 Canadian) and we joked that we were getting a taste of Canadian prices back home. We had some time to kill before our entry time so from there we walked to Hamarikyu gardens. It was so green and nice but we missed the hydrangea season so there weren’t many flowers.

Since it was 32 degrees out by that point, we went to another cafe to enjoy some AC.  Cam got a hot mocha and I got an affogato.  At this point, I realized we only had international food that day but what can I say… we miss home. And Japan does International food well!

TeamLabs was as busy as I expected. The whole thing is barefoot and you start by walking up a ramp of water. Then you go through a room of pillows and through a dark hallway to the infinite universe room. It feels pretty magical when you first walk in but I was quickly tired of the crowds and the mirrors made it difficult to orient yourself and find the exit. There were a few more cool rooms but the most memorable were the infinite room and the flower room.

That night we went to an Izakaya bar for yakitori (skewers), takoyaki (fried dough balls with octopus inside), noodles and beer.

Day three, we went to this delicious coffee stand called Little Nap and brought our coffees and snacks to Yoyogi park. We found a nice park bench and listened to the cicadas and birds and fountain (but mostly the cicadas). Then we visited Meiji Jingu shrine nearby. The paths are super wide and the trees are huge and give lots of shade. Such a cool place in the middle of the city.

For lunch, we had delicious curries at a place in Nakameguro and then walked towards the Shibuya scramble. We stopped at the fancy Starbucks reserve (4 floors and a giant coffee roaster and the most Starbucks menu items I’ve ever seen). We didn’t buy anything though, just looked around.

In Shibuya, we went to Don Quijote to buy souvenirs and then took the train to Shinjuku to go up to the Metropolitan Government free observatory deck. Wow. It was such a clear day and you could just faintly see the outline of Mount Fuji 100 km away. The city is impressively huge. Just wow.

Day four, I insisted on visiting Ueno park in the morning because that’s when the lotus flowers open. I’m glad we went back. It was even cooler with the giant flowers open to the size of my face. There were lots of serious photographers there with big lenses.

Then we went to Shinjuku park where we found some more beautiful green grass. Cam and I walked barefoot through the giant field then lay down in the shade of a giant oak tree. I think we might have spent a couple hours laying in the grass then wandering around the park.

From there we wandered North in Shinjuku to see the weirdness of the red light district. As we arrived, there was an announcement on the street speakers to avoid following random people and falling for scams. Then you see giant billboards advertising the men and women at the host and hostess clubs.

We took a much needed rest and shower at the hotel before going out for dinner that night in Kanda. We went to a family run okonomayaki restaurant. They didn’t really speak any English. As soon as we sat down at the counter around the grill, the older man started cooking for us, holding up the options and waiting for us to nod before he added it. Once it was ready, we were given a tool to cut it ourself and serve ourselves off the grill. The man had to correct us several times as we were cutting it wrong. And the lady beside us wouldn’t let me pour my own beer and took the bottle from me so she could pour it for me.

Then we walked to Akihabara to see the crazy tech and anime neighborhood. But we were very tired and it was a lot of bright lights especially inside the 7 floor game buildings, so we didn’t stay too long.

Our last day, we chilled in Asakusa. We finally checked out the temple near us, Senso-ji, during the day (we saw it once at night all lit up). It was big. It looks pristine. It was at least 34 degrees out. So we went to air conditioned cafés and shops and back to the sushi conveyor belt restaurant.  Then we spent almost two hours at the Asahi Sky Room enjoying a view and beers before it was time to leave for our flight.