but I actually stayed in bed til 10am and didn’t leave the
hostel until 11. This always happens when I stay in a dorm
with other people, because I think that while ever other
people are having lie ins, it’s okay for me to have one too.
If I was sleeping in a room by myself, I can guarantee I’d be
up, dressed and showered by 8am. I kind of thought it’d be
the other way around, but if I’m on my own I’m in a constant
state of panic that I’m going to miss something interesting
that’s happening outside.
I arrived in Toyko at 4pmish yesterday, and zoomed through
security. My bag was already getting dizzy on the conveyor
belt by the time I reached baggage claim, I was impressed!
To reach the hostel, I needed to take a train to somewhere,
then another train to somewhere else. I was expecting to
get totally confused and end up forking out for a taxi, but
it was all pretty simple really.
The whole thing took almost 2 hours, including a small
detour when I realised the little map I’d drawn on the back
of an old receipt didn’t correspond to the directions I’d wrote
on the front of the receipt. The map said left but my directions
said right. I figured I’m way better at writing than drawing, so
I took a righty, but it was a wrongy. In future, I won’t spend the
last 10 minutes of my flight scrabbling for a pen and paper
because I‘ve just realised I have no idea where to head when
I get off the train.
The hostel I’m staying in is called K’s House, which is in Asakusa,
the oldest geisha district in Tokyo. It’s a pretty nice hostel, with
the best showers I’ve ever had, and a kitchen with bottomless
cups of lovely tea. Last night, the whole room was taken over
by a group of lads, and no one else seemed to be socialising at
all. I bagged a corner of a sofa and kept my head buried in my
laptop. If you can’t beat em, join em.
So this morning I took the 15 minute walk down Edo-dori,
which brings you to Thunder Gate, the entrance to Senso-ji,
Tokyo’s oldest and most famous Buddhist temple.
The road between the gate and the temple is filled with cute
little shops and stalls selling all the Japanese kitschy tack I could
ever dream of. It was absolutely buzzing with people, probably
because the sun was out, and it made for picture perfect views
down the cherry blossom lined street to the gate of the temple.
I wandered around for ages, it was absolutely beautiful. I think
it would have been a little less special without the cherry blossom,
so I am super happy I picked these weeks to come. I didn’t even
realise until a couple of days before I booked my flight that I
was hitting Japan at exactly the right time for the blossoms.
The whole thing only lasts a couple of weeks, from beginning
to end, and it truly is completely stunning.
I bought some yummy biscuit/bun type things, that are filled
with a creamy centre of chocolate or custard, or some other
delicious but strange tasting thing. I seriously want to try
everything I see. It all looks awesome; I never realised Japanese
people had such a sweet tooth.
After Senso-ji, I headed for Shibuya, which is famous for its
crazy zebra crossing system. I made a beeline for a Starbucks,
the only sign I recognised, on the corner of the crossing. I bought
a caramel frappachino and sat by the window to watch the
action. Seriously, I could’ve sat there all day watching the street
below. The moment when the lights turn red and the road is
suddenly swarmed by hundreds of people is properly awesome.
The people watching is also probably some of the best in the world,
if you can think of people watching as being a contestable event.
Shibuya is where all the Japanese youth congregates, and you can
glimpse all the different tribes passing by. The Japanese girls are
HOT, and it made me realise that finding a Japanese husband is
going to be basically impossible. Unless the girls are actually as
mental as they dress, in which case I may have a slight chance.
Anyways, I finished my drink and headed down to join the masses
waiting for the green man, before flooding onto the street and
getting swept up in the tidal wave of people.
On a more important note, this city has absolutely no bins. I
literally had to carry all my rubbish around with me for the
whole day! The only explanation I can think of is that the bins
are futuristic to the point where they look nothing like normal
bins.
I wandered off the main street and down some funky alleyways
full of vintage shops and thrift stores, and eventually realised I
was most probably completely lost. Over an hour later, I
stumbled upon a metro station, which didn’t run to anywhere
I wanted to be. I played Eeny Meeny Miney Mo with the subway
map, and found myself at Ueno Park, which happened to be in
the midst of a cherry blossom festival!
The park was gorgeous, the cherry blossom trees lined a pink
petal-covered path and drooped over into a boating lake,
creating reflections and shadows that made me think I’d
stepped right into a stereotype of springtime in Japan. I could
see little swan peddle boats drifting by between the branches
of the trees, and there were groups of people picnicking in the
shade. There were petals floating around in the air, and I felt
like I was caught up in a magical fairytale wedding. There were
rows of little market stalls all sorts of food. I bought some sweet
potato chips covered in sugar, and a banana dipped in chocolate!
Nom nom nom.
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