So, I'm actually writing this on my second night, but I was just so shattered last night that I didn't have the energy to write anything then, and below you shall ready why (among other, more interesting things, I hope)
My flight was at 11:25am from Birmingham, which was great - I didn't have to wake up ridiculously early. Took about 50mins to get to Amsterdam, which is an hour ahead, time difference-wise. I had about an hour and a half wait till my next flight, which was great - not too long. Our plane took off late by about half an hour, which was fine, but then the flight was 10hours and 40mins long, which is my whole daytime, so I could only fall asleep for about 2 hours, and then as soon as we landed in Tokyo, it was about the time I should be going to bed. But I managed to stay awake and make my way to the bus stop, from which I took a bus to Kasai station, and then the metro to Minami Gyotoku station. The mum of the family I am staying with met me there, ad she and her family are so lovely, athough they don't speak any English, which makes things interesting. Thankfully, their daughter speaks English, and they have a Singaporean girl living with them (for over a year now) who is studying Japanese and speaks perfect English, so I have lots of company at home.
Anyway, after some ramen at home, I headed out to Shinjuku Station to meet my friend, at 1 o clock, and when I arrived and got confused by what seemed like a million different exits when I had been told there were only 2, I phoned up and was told I was supposed to go to Harajuku, not Shinjuku. Great. Luckily, Harajuku was not far, so I was not too late.
But, just to summarise the journeys I had made up till now, here is what I did on my first day in Tokyo.
- Plane from Birmingham to Amsterdam
- Plane from Amsterdam to Narita Airport
- Bus from Narita to Kasai
- Metro train to Minami Gyotoku
- Metro again to Monzen Nakacho
- Toei subway to Shinjuku
- Toei to Yoyogi
- JR to Harajuku.
It was long and hard, but eventually I met my friend and his family, and we relaxed in Yoyogi park for a while, which was nice, but it was so hot that we (or at least I) did not have enought energy to move for about 20 mins. After that we went to the Shrine near Yoyogi park (seeing a couple of Harajuku girls on the way), and had a nice, shaded walk around there, and then we went to Takeshita Dori street, which is basically a street of shops and, more importantly, crepe shops. Of course, I indulged in a crepe, and it was delicious, although maybe in retrospect an ice-cold green tea or pocari sweat would have been a better idea.
\
My flight was at 11:25am from Birmingham, which was great - I didn't have to wake up ridiculously early. Took about 50mins to get to Amsterdam, which is an hour ahead, time difference-wise. I had about an hour and a half wait till my next flight, which was great - not too long. Our plane took off late by about half an hour, which was fine, but then the flight was 10hours and 40mins long, which is my whole daytime, so I could only fall asleep for about 2 hours, and then as soon as we landed in Tokyo, it was about the time I should be going to bed. But I managed to stay awake and make my way to the bus stop, from which I took a bus to Kasai station, and then the metro to Minami Gyotoku station. The mum of the family I am staying with met me there, ad she and her family are so lovely, athough they don't speak any English, which makes things interesting. Thankfully, their daughter speaks English, and they have a Singaporean girl living with them (for over a year now) who is studying Japanese and speaks perfect English, so I have lots of company at home.
Anyway, after some ramen at home, I headed out to Shinjuku Station to meet my friend, at 1 o clock, and when I arrived and got confused by what seemed like a million different exits when I had been told there were only 2, I phoned up and was told I was supposed to go to Harajuku, not Shinjuku. Great. Luckily, Harajuku was not far, so I was not too late.
But, just to summarise the journeys I had made up till now, here is what I did on my first day in Tokyo.
- Plane from Birmingham to Amsterdam
- Plane from Amsterdam to Narita Airport
- Bus from Narita to Kasai
- Metro train to Minami Gyotoku
- Metro again to Monzen Nakacho
- Toei subway to Shinjuku
- Toei to Yoyogi
- JR to Harajuku.
It was long and hard, but eventually I met my friend and his family, and we relaxed in Yoyogi park for a while, which was nice, but it was so hot that we (or at least I) did not have enought energy to move for about 20 mins. After that we went to the Shrine near Yoyogi park (seeing a couple of Harajuku girls on the way), and had a nice, shaded walk around there, and then we went to Takeshita Dori street, which is basically a street of shops and, more importantly, crepe shops. Of course, I indulged in a crepe, and it was delicious, although maybe in retrospect an ice-cold green tea or pocari sweat would have been a better idea.
\
For dinner, we went to this cool, tiny restaurant with teppenyaki-like hot plates, and we were given the raw ingredients all chopped up in bowls. I let my friend do all the hard work, chopping the ingredients further on the hot plate, and making a strange, sticky paste, which had a strange consistency, but was really tasty. There was also another dish made, which was in the shape of a thick pancake. Unfortunately, I've completely forgotten the names of the dishes, so here are some pictures:
After dinner, I went home, skyped with my sister, and slept for a long time.
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