Oh, Tokyo...

Here is my number one travel tip for Tokyo: Don't go to Tokyo.  Just kidding.  Sort of.  Not really.

I don't know, I just didn't fall in love with Tokyo.  In fact, I have never fallen so not in love with a city.  Probably the closest experience I've had to this was Rome, but I was so in love with all of the history and sights to see that I was able to get past my initial dislike.  I never really got over it with Tokyo, and was so glad to see it whooshing into the distance from the train.

I can't even really put my finger on what it was that I didn't like.  Yes, it was a loud, bustling city.  But so is New York, and I love it there.  It was incredibly clean, though the lack of garbage cans was mystifying.  The metro was overwhelmingly extensive with somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 different lines that all got you where you needed to go with plenty of English language signs--unfortunately, it was rare that you had a clue as to where you needed to go.

There were plenty of sights to see, and yet I didn't feel that we saw very much that made the city special.  There was no awe-inducing moment like standing in the library of Trinity College in Dublin, seeing the Colosseum for the first time in Rome, standing on Tower Green at The Tower of London.  It felt like I could have been in Any City.

One thing that was surprising in a good way was the sheer amount of English spoken and written on signs.  The times when we got miserably and horribly lost had nothing to do with the language and everything to do with the absolutely abysmal address system and horrifically bad maps.  Even lifelong residents of Tokyo have trouble getting around, and asking for directions is an exercise in futility.  There was one day where it felt like we spent the entire day just trying and failing to get somewhere--ANYWHERE.  That was probably the source of most of our frustration and disillusionment with the city.

But as I said in my post yesterday, the people of Japan are just SO NICE.  They may be cursing you behind your back as you walk away, but to your face they are gracious, kind, and frequently amused.  They love any chance to practice their English, which led to a number of Lost in Translation moments based on my very limited knowledge of Japanese and their attempts at English combined with lots of Pointy-Talky.

Anyway, this is all just a preface to my trip report because I don't want to spend the next few posts harping on how much this or that sucked.  As the days pass between then and now, my memories are taking on a much more rosy glow and hopefully I'll grow to remember Tokyo with some sense of fondness.  I did have a wonderful time traveling with my super fantastic friend, Nicole, and if nothing else, I'll always treasure the fact that we got to share in this insane adventure together!

I arrived at Narita airport after a two hour delay in San Francisco that pushed my total travel time to nearly 20 hours.  That is a lot of freaking travel time, so I guess Tokyo and I kind of started off on the wrong foot.  The airport was very easy to navigate and I picked up my train pass and made it to my airport shuttle with no problems.

Tip #1: If you are traveling outside of Tokyo, I highly recommend that you get a JR Pass, if for no other reason than the ease of travel.  Similarly, if you will be in Tokyo for more than a day, get a SUICA card for the metro.  Once we had our train pass, all we had to do was reserve seats on the train we wanted to take and then walk through a manned gate showing our pass.  It was no hassle, and we didn't have to worry about figuring out train fares or buying tickets.  The SUICA is a reloadable card that you can use to ride the metro and even to buy food and drinks from certain vending machines and shops at the metro station.  It requires a 500 yen refundable deposit, and you just add as much money to it as you need.  At the end of your time in Tokyo, you just take it to a travel desk and they give you back any money that is still on your card.  Again, so much easier than figuring out fares and transfers.

I got to the Tokyo Metropolitan Hotel around 8 pm Tokyo time on June 26 after having left my house at 3:30 am Charleston time on June 25.  Once there, I met Nicole and one of her work friends, and we went out to dinner in the Ikebukuro metro station.  The place we picked had vending machines with pictures of all of your different food options.  You inserted your money, pushed the button next to the item you wanted, the machine spit out a ticket and you handed it to a cook.  Is that not just the most Japanese thing ever?  I really had no idea what I was ordering, but it turned out to be some sort of noodle, breaded chicken, and egg concoction. 

On our way back to the hotel, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a Cafe Du Monde?!?  Of course, we had to stop in for beignets, and I was amazed at how big their menu was as compared to the one in New Orleans.  I will say though, New Orleans still wins the prize for most delicious beignets.  The ones in Tokyo were smaller--almost bite sized--and a little tough.  Still, it was a sight for travel weary eyes.

The next day, we woke up early in the morning to pack up and check out of the hotel, then meet our bus for our introductory tour of the city.

Tip #2: Plan as many organized bus and walking tours as possible.  in retrospect, our first day was by far our most successful and enjoyable day in Tokyo.  Because we didn't have to stress about where we were going, and we had a constant narrative as to what we were seeing, we were able to focus on the city and see something other than the inside of a subway car.  It may seem "inauthentic" to some people, but I really felt like that tour was the time when we saw the best side of the city.

After purifying my hands and mouth outside of the Meiji Jingu Shrine.  Yes, I put that water in my mouth.  Yes, I'm still a little afraid of dying from a Japanese parasite.

Wedding procession outside of the shrine.

Our tour took us first to the beautiful Meiji Jingu Shrine where we were lucky enough to see a traditional Japanese wedding procession.  Next was the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace, which honestly, I wouldn't waste my time on if they weren't already part of an organized tour.  We did find ice cream there, which made for a delicious though certainly not terribly filling breakfast as we couldn't find a single eating establishment open prior to the tour.

Tip #3: Pack granola bars, or some sort of moderately healthful snack.  And LOTS OF THEM.  For a city filled with restaurants, there were a shocking number of times when we could not find a single thing to eat other than ice cream or candy.  There were plenty of moments where I seriously considered just eating a small child, I was so hungry.

\

Next up we hit Sensoji Temple to see the Thunder Gate and have our fortunes described to us inside the shrine.  Mine was... not good.  At least from what I can tell.  The English translation was loose at best.  Unfortunately, the main temple was completely covered in scaffolding, which was kind of a bummer, but at least the gate and nearby pagoda were impressive on their own.

We also drove through Harajuku and Roppongi, had some time to walk around Asakusa, and finished up the tour in Ginza.  We were meeting some of Nicole's international students for the afternoon in Ikebukuro, so we made our way back to that side of town and met them near the Sunshine City mall.  We hit the ground running with some major shopping and eating (welcome after our bodies had entered starvation mode for the morning) and then went for shabu-shabu at dinner.  Shabu-shabu, is similar to fondue cooking in that you have a large pot of boiling water at your table and you dip very thinly sliced beef and pork into the water to cook it.  There are also large plates of vegetables to add to the water for flavoring, and dipping sauces for the meat.  This was probably my favorite meal of the whole trip, so definitely try it if you get a chance!

Tip #4: Cash is the main method of payment in Japan, and it can make for some frustrating moments as the only place to withdraw money if you have a MasterCard, is the post office.  I believe if you have a Visa, you can use the ATM at 7-11, but there is currently some sort of dispute going on between them and MasterCard, so the post office is it.  Another note on money:  Tipping is not customary, and can actually be a bit embarrassing if pressed.  If your really feel that someone deserves a tip, have a stash of small gifts from home that you can give instead.

East Garden of the Imperial Palace

After dinner, we headed back to our first hotel to get our belongings from storage, and then transferred to the much less swank, yet still perfectly adequate Monterey Sanno.  That was the only night I felt any sort of jet lag as I was barely able to keep my eyes open after dinner.  The next day was when things started to go pear-shaped, so I'm glad I was at least able to get a good night's sleep...

Comments

[Old Warrior]

Sounds a lot like my impression of Tokyo from 25 years ago. Mildly interesting, incredibly crowded, and happy to bid it adieu. My worst memory was the 4 1/2 hour 55 mile trip from south of the City to the airport to the north. We made our flight with time to spare because the trip was expected to be 5 hours.

I did enjoy the more rural and difficult to get to islands and locations but there was a conspicuous lack of English spoken or written. Plenty of smiles and meaningless head nodding.

[Kate P]

This is definitely sounding like quite the adventure--welcome back! I'm enjoying the storytelling.

[Jessica]

Oh my gosh it look absolutely beautiful! Bummer that you didn't fall in love with the city. Sometimes though, it's just not a fit. Glad English was pretty available though to help you out!

[Mandy]

Glad you made it back in one piece, even if it wasn't the best time.

That's so funny- there is always something to eat in Tokyo. I can read enough to figure out which direction is worth investigating for food, but not enough to always know what I'm ordering. :)