Flowing Asia: Japan - Tokyo

Hello, this is the surprise country! It wasn't in the plan but it happened!


Yo, I'm in Tokyo! It's crazy around here! And the worst thing is that I have no internet access... WHAT?!? I'm in Japan, the most technological country ever with no internet access, WEIRD!


My first impressions of Japan:
-So clean!!! Seriously the cleanest place I've ever been to! There is no rubbish on the floor, nada! The people also look spotless!
-Japanese people are pretty reserved and organised, they just do their thing. The legend is true.
-Most Japanese youngsters are mega stylish. They're all very trendy in their own ways.
-Some very techy toilets.
-Transport system is mega reliable.
-Unlike all other megalopolis, there's no nutters.
-It's very safe. I've never felt that safe in my life!


Before you read the rest, click this link!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0arOhTI2MkI


DAY 1
So the first thing I did when arriving to Tokyo is try to go to the most important places. But I got lost! Tokyo is massive. The subway system is a little more complicated, there are loads of lines and when it's written in Kanji, forget about it!!! So I first ended up in Shinagawa (South of the centre).
There is a mix of old and new, it's pretty quiet. I first checked out to the Sengajuki Temple:
-The main man:

-Loyal Retainers tombstones in Sengakuji Temple, I read these guys went to revenge their masters and killed loads of fools before getting slaughtered, respect!



Then I had a walk around the business centre in Shinagawa:
-Japanese street:
 
-Sushi lunch:

And another temple for the road:



After that I moved on to Marunuchi, West of the centre. I don't know why but they LOVE the Tokyo train station. It's European style (based on the Amsterdam station) and you see loads of people taking pictures in front of the building.
-This is it:

-The ceiling inside (I only took that picture because other people were doing it):
 
 

And then, I walked to the Imperial Palace, you can't get in because the Emperor likes his quality time. The park outside is nice though!
-New:

-Old:

-Beautiful Japanese trees:
-This statue is gangsta, let me introduce you to Masashige Kusunoki. The horse looks high on crack!



In Ginza, they have a great Tourist Information Centre: very friendly staff, free wifi and cheeky workshops!


-Ginza's famous zebra crossing, some ladies crossed when we weren't allowed and they got told off on the mic in front of hundreds, "name and shame":
 



In other news:
-I guess because of tsunamis, we need to know how high above sea level we are:

-Dance promotion in town, go on son:
 
-Fireman manga for the pipes:
 
-Godzilla and Godzilla Jnr:
-On the escalators, unlike London, you stand on the left. O.M.G babes, the culture shock is too strong!!!
 
-Some techy toilet indeed, bidet incorporated: pressure, position, temperature... Too much choice!



I crammed quite a lot on the 1st day, get in!



DAY 2
We are staying in Kyodo, in the West suburbs of the city. The street we live on seriously looks like a place taken out of Street Fighter II: people on bikes, little shops, all sort of Japanese signs... Where is Chun Li at?

(even though Chun Li is Chinese, thanks Will!)


Today, we went to Shibuya, on the west of town, a massive commercial area, full of shops, restaurants and clubs!
-The Hachi-Ko statue, dog that is said to have been waiting for its dead master for 10 years at the train station. This is THE meeting point of the place.
 
-People playing "pachinko", like a gambling flipper game, the equivalent of the coin machines in Blackpool haha:
-Another nice floor sign, you have to look everywhere to spot the interesting things!
-Shibuya, by night:


We also had a quick look in Shinjuku. We found THE training spot at Yasuda but it was way too cold to practice, maybe another time:


This is Kabukicho, one of the evil areas of Tokyo, with people harassing you to go to their strip joint... Just like Thailand:




DAY 3
Nothing much has happened in the day. We just bought some food, cooked and chilled a little!

In the evening we went to a battle. I will sum it up quickly:
GOOD POINTS:
-Good atmosphere
-Nice people (there was only a couple of douchebags)
-A lot of people danced very well!
-Some pretty original shiz happening
-Underground jam

BAD POINTS:
-Very pricey for European standards! (the most expensive jam I've been to!)
-Smoky environment
-The funk band didn't play long enough!

This is what it looked like:
 

In the end, we didn't even go past the first round (I am to blame, I'm too old and too fat!) BUT I had the best time in the circles!
The funny thing is that the qualifiers started at midnight and the whole jam finished at 5.30am. Some guys called out a judge at that point, we left!



Day 4
In spite of going to bed late, I promised myself to go visit the city the next day.

I started in the afternoon by going to the Tokyo Government Building in Shinjuku where they have a FREE observatory! It's when you get up there you realise how vast the city is!
This is it:





Then I had a walk around Ueno whose park is full of museums (I only go to museums when they're free, so not this time!). It was getting late and all my pictures look too dark. This is the only one I could use. It's night time at 5pm here, way too early!
 


AndI walked to Asakusa which is said to retain some of the original flavor from the Edo era. They have a good temple there called Sensoji, quite busy even at night.

 


Next door to that, there is a spot where you can see the Asahi brewery (with the strange gold statue) and the Tokyo Skytree, the brand new landmark of Tokyo!

Hello there:
 
Samurai:
 


On the way back home from karaoke (when in Rome...), I was glad I could experience the life of a true Tokyo suburban on the last train on saturday night! I couldn't stop laughing in there, people must have thought I was a nutter!




That's it for Tokyo!. I'll keep you posted about the rest of the trip! I hope you enjoyed that entry,I like it.



ps: Old English font to Japanese font, bridging the gap!