Mr. & Mrs. Vandebilt + kids

We spent a long weekend in Tokyo, Japan. We were there for 4 days and 3 nights. This is a recap of what we did.

Day 1 – Traveling

The day started off early as we left for the airport at about 7:45 am (yes, I know this isn’t really early). But in true typical Korean fashion, it was a headache. We got in the cab after telling him where we wanted to go only to find out that he didn’t really know what we were talking about. So after repeating Taehwae Rotary 16 times in as many variations as I could think of he pulled over and asked at the fire station. They thankfully spoke English, and I explained to them where we were trying to go. They told the cab driver Taehwae Rotary (in what I’m sure is the exact same pronunciation as I was using) and we set off.

The airport was no less of a hassle, they gave Jacob a hard time about not proving to them that he had onward travel when initially coming into the country saying he shouldn’t have been allowed in. They didn’t seem to understand that we were attempting to make that onward travel now but he eventually just confused them enough that they let him through.

We landed in Tokyo and made it to our hotel without any problems. We stayed at the Hotel New Koyo in Taito (one of the 23 wards of Tokyo). It was a decent spot for the price. We slept in a Japanese style room which really just means you sleep on a thin mattress on the floor and use small beans as your pillow, but it did the trick. Plus it was cheap, and easy to find and the guy spoke English, so it’s all that really matters.

We dropped our bags off and headed into Tokyo. Not really knowing where we were going, but figured we’d find something we headed to Ginza. We really just wandered around for awhile, had some Wendy’s (yay!) and then went home to rest up for the next day.

Day 2 – Garden and Temple

We got up early Saturday morning to head down to the Tsukiji Fish Market. There is a huge fish auction here in the morning where all of the restaurants come in to get their fish for that day’s sushi. We were a little late arriving and missed out on most of the action but it was still interesting to see.

From there we picked up some breakfast and headed to Hami-rikyu gardens. We wandered around, had green tea and a Japanese cake in a traditional tea house, and enjoyed the fresh air and peace and quiet before we boarded a boat to travel up the Sumida river to Asakusa.

Asakusa was probably my favourite part of Tokyo. It was a brilliant mixture of old Tokyo and new Tokyo. We had lunch in this cute little restaurant where we had Miso flavoured meat and rice with dumplings. Nakamise is the name of this type of market in Asakusa where we picked up some souvenirs – we got ourselves a sake set and some things to send home. The market empties into Sensoji, the largest Buddhist temple in Tokyo. The entire place was full of people with this great atmosphere.

We left Asakusa after a few hours to set off for the future. Odaiba is the name of a of an artificial island connected to mainland Tokyo by Rainbow bridge. To get to the island we took the new train (Yurikamome) which is driverless. The whole thing is controlled by computers – see I told you were were going to the future. On the island is Fuji TV headquarters in a building that makes the whole place look like Gotham. It also has Venus Fort where the entire inside is modeled after Venice and the ceiling looks like the sky and has a sunset every 30 minutes. From the island we got a really great view of the Tokyo skyline at night

Day 3 – Palace and People

We started the day off at the Imperial Palace, the home of the emperor of Japan. We toured the East Gardens and then headed down to see the main bridge and gates. The entire complex was beautiful with lovely green grass and trees and of course spotless. There were virtually no people around and sometimes felt like you had the whole place to yourself.

After the palace we set off to Akihabara – the electronics mecca of the world I’m sure. This whole section of town is devoted to selling and using electronics. They have streets after streets of multi-level buildings selling everything from cameras to computers and printers to microwaves. (Tim I’m pretty sure this is what your heaven looks like – they had entire buildings devoted to electronic parts). We picked up a few things, I got a new sleeve for my camera, Jacob got a new harddrive.

We also got a taste of the wacky side of Tokyo. On Sunday’s these people dress up in what I assume are comic book character outfits and rope off a section of the city. They just walk around in their costumes and take pictures of one another. You aren’t allowed to photograph them though, it’s just for themselves. For a good mental image think Star Trek Convention meets Hello Kitty.

Next is Shibuya. I loved Shibuya. It was exactly what I thought Tokyo would be like. For those of you that watch the Amazing Race, this is where the crazy intersection was. There were thousands and thousands of people here with huge buildings and a ton of lights. It’s a really great atmosphere with a ton of energy and really trendy vibe. I could have just sat there for hours soaking it all in.

We walked from Shibuya to Harajuku via Yoyogi Park. We didn’t really mean to go this way but it ended up being worth it. Apparently on Sundays Yoyogi Park turns into a sort of busker festival where all of these hippie-esque people fill the park and perform. They aren’t doing it for money (that’s illegal in Japan) but just for the hell of it. I don’t think I’d like to stumble across it at night but in the afternoon it was pretty cool.

Harajuku was more or less the same as Shibuya, a lot of people, they were just a lot younger. We definitely saw the “Harajuku girls” with their pink and orange hair with their Hello Kitty backpacks and fishnet stockings. We even saw people asking to photograph them like they were animals at the zoo. We had a great sushi dinner here and headed back to Shibuya to enjoy some more lights and crepes.

Day 4 – Tower and Market

Our last day in Tokyo 😦

We decided that we should probably check out Tokyo Tower before leaving (it looks almost exactly like the Eiffel Tower it’s just a few meters taller). We quickly popped downtown, looked at the tower, went inside to the insanely tacky gift stores and then left. We didn’t bother going up because you can get the same view for free at the Metropolitan Government Buildings. So that’s where we went next. The view was ok from the buildings, but it was a really cloudy, dreary day so you couldn’t see that far. That kind of view is always interesting as it gives you a good feel for just how big and busy the city is. We walked from the Metro Gov’t Buildings to Shinjuku for some lunch and wandering around. We had some great Indian food.

Our last stop before heading out was Ueno. Ameyoko is the name of a market in Ueno that sells everything from used clothing, to electronics to handguns to $15000 pearls to dried fish. We wandered around there for an hour or so, had some soft serve ice cream (delicious!) and headed to the airport.