July 19-20, Tokyo
Kat and I had taken the train in from Taebaek to Seoul at around 1am the previous night, as our flight was leaving quite early in the morning. We caught a cab from the love motel in Incheon that I'm sure my parents would have cringed at to the airport, and in less than five hours we were hunting for our hostel in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The first thing to strike me after the initial shock of arriving was the heat. It was +35 degrees Celsius or higher the whole two weeks with a humidity that made the air so thick it felt more like swimming than walking. The subway was not as terrifying to navigate as I had initially feared, and it would be our main mode of transportation. Taxis in Japan start at around 650yen or $6.50, and quickly climbing in value. We found our hostel without too much trouble, as it was very near the subway station and we checked in. We were staying in a dorm-style room with around 60 capsule style beds. We didn't hang around and started out and about to explore the city a little bit. Our first stop was Shinjuku, the business type district with a bunch of massive buildings (probably more floors in one building than all of Regina's "skyscrapers" combined). A short wander through the park and the heat already was overbearing, so we looked for shelter in the Tokyo Metropolitan Building, a 60-some story building with a free observation deck. The view was spectacular, offering us a good chance to view the architecture and cityscape.
We found a place to eat, a fast food place that sold different types of crepe-type sandwiches. I was fascinated by the server's voice, like mickey mouse on helium, and how it seemed to be very natural ("Arigoto, gozaimasse!"). Later on in the evening we went to Shibuya, the young fashion district of Tokyo. To say it was only overwhelming is a great understatement, there were thousands of people crossing the street at the same time, and tens of thousands in the area. We found a Tower Records with a selection of music that I had never seen before, there were special editions of albums from Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, QOTSA, and unreleased (likely bootlegged) copies with songs I didn't even know existed. In the end I think I spent more money here than in any one place the rest of the trip. We were a little braver this time around and found a Japanese style pub to get a bite and a beer. I settled for some Okinawa-style Yaki-Suba (fried noodles), and Kat got a veggie stirfry. However, we were so beat, that after only 8 hours of sightseeing, we decided to head back and get a rest. Sleeping in the hostel wasn't so bad, with earplugs and an eyemask, though people were up and making noise at all hours of the night. The next day, we got up and went to Harajuku. This area is famous for the clothes and the girls. However, it also has two of the most beautiful parks in Tokyo, Harajuku-koen, and Meiji-jingu. Both are large parks with lots of trees and places to hang out and people watch. We finally found some Harajuku girls, who are famous for the extravagant costumes and fashion they wear (see cosplay).
After a long outing there, we went to a small area south of Roppongi Hills (where we would visit yet that night) called Azabu-Juban Shopping District, an area renowned for artists and its shopping (and it is the home of Sailor Moon in the anime series). Although we never bought anything, and we didn't see Sailor Moon, we found an awesome (and air-conditioned) vegetarian restaurant. Roppongi Hills was only a short distance away, so we hopped on a train and went there for the evening. Mori Tower is the centerpiece to the district, a cool 60-some stories tall. There was lots of cool public art ("Maman" by Bourgeois) and a generally fascinating layout that kept us intrigued for a few hours. Also it was here that we experimented (the only time!) with the sushi, and it was delicious of course.
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