Day 3 Shibuya and Hibiya Park

Great day today :) I went to Shibuya in the morning and had a picture with Hachiko the dog, and with the guy that took that picture:

The famous Shibuya crossing was very cool, I'm going to go back later on to see it at night, with all the lights, but I got some good pictures today, and I used the panorama feature on my camera for the first time:

I was quite hungry by this point, so I talked to the lady at tourist information, and she pointed me towards this sushi place called Uobei. I had to asked for directions on the way, and a helpful guy walked me all the way! Everyone is so nice here. At this sushi place everything is ordered on a touch screen, and then your sushi comes to you down a chute! I got so excited (after I figured out ow to order). 

I still can't believe how cheap it was, I only needed 4 dishes to fill me up, and it cost me less than 3 pounds :D

Anyway, after that, I went back to Hachiko, trying to think of something to do, when I met this couple who were sort of my age! (19) and we got into a conversation and I told them about my sushi place because they said they were looking for a cafe. Then I said that I was going that way so I'd be happy to show them. They were enthusiastic, so we went. It was good, until about halfway up the street, after I had made them cross the road, then recross immediately, when I realised that none of the buildings looked familiar, and I had no idea where I was taking them. It was extremely embarrassing. I ended up having to ask for directions, and a Japanese lady led us all to the right place (which turned out to be just across the road, so we needn't have recrossed in the first place). I felt very silly, but oh well.

 I made myself scarce quickly after that, in desperate need of some air conditioning, and managed to find some buildings to wander round in till 1pm.

Then I made my way to a company in Tokyo and opened up the possibility of an internship there next summer for 3 months (fingers crossed that works out).

I didn't spend long at the office, maybe an hour tops, so afterwards I started to wander down towards the Imperial palace. Bearing in mind I was wearing skinny jeans today because I wanted to look smarter for the office, this walk was not a very pleasant one. It's been so hot today, my jeans were damp and sticky (had to peel them off later) I was ready to go home. I walked till I could see the palace walls, but I couldn't see an entrance close by, so I spent a bit of time in Hibiya park, which was just opposite:

I spotted a water fountain at some point, and literally ran towards it. I had some difficulty actually drinking from it though (kept shooting water into my own face) and a girl standing nearby showed me the tap next to it. She was English! We walked further into the park and sat on a bench and chatted for about 45 mins, which was really nice, and she will be in Kyoto for the first 2 days that I'm in Kyoto, so we exchanged phone numbers and hopefully we can meet up over there. 

I headed home after that, arriving at about 7. Thankfully, I managed to avoid rush hour on the Tozai line today, as I experienced that yesterday and it was SO busy, as in I didn't have to hold onto anything because there were so many people. I stopped to get some food on the way, and when I was back home, the mum gave me this really nice jelly dessert. I think it tasted vaguely caramelly....maybe.

So I had fun today :)

Feeling quite tired now though, so I think I'll go to bed. 

Day 2 - Akihabara and Asakusa

I slept late today. Well, till about 10am, and I woke up really hot and sticky. Somehow, I made my way to Akihabara at around 11, and had a look around. It was hot and sunny and humid and I was sweaty and disgusting, but it was still pretty cool, so I walked up and down for a couple of hours, stopping for some ramen on the way.

I got bored pretty quickly in Akihabara, there was only so much to do, so I hopped back on the metro to get to Asakusa. I was just walking down the street of shops, when I heard a girl ask for her photo to be taken, and she said 'I'm travelling alone.'

Immediately I introduced myself, and we went around Asakusa together.

We wandered around Asakusa for a while, then got some sushi, before going on a walk to Tokyo Skytree tower. On the way, however, it started to rain, and I mean torrential rain, so we ran into the nearest building, which was some kind of beer brewey, and there were a lot of serious men in suits walking around. They didn't chuck us out, to our relief, so we stayed indoors for about half an hour, waiting for the rain to abate.

Unfotunately, it was Magda's last day in Tokyo for a while, as she has left for Kyoto earlier today, but she was great company for the day. 

We parted ways at the metro station, and I made my way home. Tomorrow, I'm going to Shibuya and meeting people at my friends' office, which should be fun, but I've just discovered a blister on my foot from my flip flops, so I wont be wearing them for a few days at least :(

Never mind eh. I'm in Japan, life is good.

On that note, I think I'll say goodnight :)

Day 1 - Harajuku and Yoyogi Park

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.

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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.