It has been a very long time since I last uploaded a blog post, but with good reason. Since visiting our final destination of Tokyo… we have returned home! After being away for a year, it is so nice to be back in England; back with our friends and family and back in our flat. Travelling and exploring the world is amazing but so, it turns out, is coming home again. We have been back home for a couple of months now and it has been a hectic two month of surprising family; seeing friends; long days spent redecorating our flat from scratch and finally moving back in; job hunting; starting back at work and just generally piecing our life back together. Hence the reason why it has taken me this long to put fingers to keyboard and update you on the final stop of our trip. Now that we are finally settled and I have a relatively open Sunday ahead of me, I thought it would be a good time to sit down and catch up on my blogging. Unfortunately, the time that has lapsed since being in Tokyo may mean that my memory is now a little hazy and I might not be able to do the trip justice in words, but I will do my very best to piece it back together again through diary entries, photographs and memories of a time that was just over a couple of months ago but feels like a different lifetime!
Welcome to the future
One of the most impressive and notable things about Japan is the technology. There are very few places in Tokyo where you can’t get a really good, fast and free Wi-Fi connection. After coming from Fiji, where we could barely even get Wi-Fi in our hotel room, having a full Wi-Fi service on the bus from the airport felt like we had arrived in the future. The only place where Wi-Fi wasn’t available was Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea, which I thought was really odd and I’m still not sure of the reason behind.
The subway is also very impressive. Much sleeker and smoother than back home. The kind of underground train system you tell the London Underground not to worry about… Although they do have female only carriages in operation due to there being a big problem with up-skirting. So, maybe not that far in the future after all.
Now you’re (not) speaking my language
One thing to bear in mind when planning a trip to Japan is that hardly anyone speaks any English. Rightfully so, seeing as it’s their country and we’re just tourists in it. As English is so widely spoken, and a lot of countries that rely heavily on tourism learn to speak fluent English in order to accommodate us, native English speakers (ourselves included) have become very lazy in just expecting everyone to speak our language, even when we’re in their home. Japan doesn’t depend on our tourism to keep their economy thriving; so, if you’re in their country and you’re not going to bother to learn their language, you can very well navigate their Japanese street signs and order food by pointing at pictures on a laminated menu. Quite right. But it does make getting around that little bit more challenging. Be prepared for lots of communication via sign language; ordering food by pointing at a picture menu (if you’re lucky; just guessing and hoping for the best if not) and thank goodness you have such good Wi-Fi in order to find your way around!
Staying in Tokyo
Whilst in Tokyo, we stayed at the Hotel MONday in Nishikasai. This is far enough out from central Tokyo so as to not be extortionately expensive, but situated just opposite Nishikasai underground station and therefore really easy to get around from. Like every hotel in Japan, Hotel MONday has small rooms. This is generally just the way things are expected to work there due to the city being so built up. So, if you’re planning a trip to Tokyo, expect your hotel room to be very small. Or you could even book to stay in one of those cool capsule hotels! After spending a lot of time over the past year living in campervans, the size of the room didn’t bother us at all.
The most exciting thing about the room was the bathroom, which came with the traditional Japanese high-tech toilet that I had been so excited to try! It was heated and had buttons and everything! After staying there, I may or may not have looked up how much it would cost to get a heated toilet installed in our flat. Seriously, why are they not a standard thing over here? We’re living in the past! (Side note: Japanese high-tech toilets aren’t quite as fun when you’re in a public bathroom, there are about a million more buttons than you’re used to and they’re all written in Japanese. Before going, perhaps consider learning the Japanese symbol for “flush”).
The bathroom also had the standard Japanese baths, which are much shorter and a lot deeper than your average English bathtub and actually surprisingly nice to use. (In case you don’t want to take my tiny-ass word for it, my 6’2” boyfriend was also pleasantly surprised. Give the tiny bath a chance!)
The room also came equipped with a mobile phone for us to use during our stay, which had unlimited internet and calls and came in extremely handy. (Especially in Disneyland where the ever-present public Wi-Fi mysteriously disappears.)
They also offered an environmental cleaning service where, in exchange for choosing not to get your sheets and towels changed every day, they would reward you with two plastic bottles of water. I’m not quite sure the logic on that has been entirely thought through, but at least they had good intentions.
Nishikasai is located conveniently close to Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea and so our hotel also offered free shuttle buses to the parks every day which was amazing!
Overall, our stay at Hotel MONday in Nishikasai was one of the best hotel experiences we’d had whilst travelling, and I would definitely recommend staying there if you are visiting Tokyo.
Eating and drinking
Before I went to Tokyo, one of the things I was most excited about was the food. I absolutely love Japanese food and would probably say that it is one of my all-time favourite cuisines. Back at home, Wagamama is my favourite chain restaurant and I’ve been known to accidentally spend a small fortune in Yo! Sushi (those plates just keep adding up!) I was so excited to spend ten days just eating nothing but sushi, noodles and katsu curry. However, it turns out that I haven’t been harbouring a life-long love affair with Japanese food after all… I’d simply fallen in love with the westernised version of it. Real Japanese food is a whole other ball game and something that we found very difficult to navigate during our stay. Especially since Nick isn’t even fond of westernised Japanese food (it’s probably one of his all-time least favourite cuisines, along with seafood of any kind that isn’t battered and deep fried). Add into the mix that we’re ordering off people who speak very little English and, oh boy, that’s a whole lot of mysterious raw fish we have on our plate!
There are two things that the majority of Japanese eating establishments have in common. The first is that they will always greet you with a mysterious drink as they sit you down. I still don’t know what this drink is, all I know is that everywhere has it; it doesn’t taste very nice, and I’ve drunk far too much of it through fear of being considered rude. The second, is that everything comes with a bowl of onion soup. And I mean everything. Whether you’re having ramen, a curry or a grilled sandwich first thing in the morning: onion soup, onion soup and, you guessed it, breakfast onion soup. I don’t know why this is either. All I know is that the Japanese are big fans of onion soup whilst I, unfortunately, am decidedly not.
One thing that I really wanted to do whilst in Japan was to go to a sushi train restaurant. Even though Nick hates sushi, he decided we had better experience it whilst in Japan, and so he indulged me. The sushi restaurant we went to was in Shibuya and, as well as offering a train of sushi, it also had iPads that you could use to order sushi directly to your seat from a virtual menu. Very high tech and very Japanese. The restaurant smelled very potently of raw fish (think Morrisons fish aisle) and the smell alone was making Nick feel queasy. I was so proud of him for going to this restaurant with me and trying lots of different types of sushi, as it is something very far out of his comfort zone. One of my favourite photos from travelling is the one below of Nick eating sushi in this restaurant and looking as though he is re-evaluating all of his life choices.
That’s not to say that we hated all of the food we ate in Japan. Simply that, towards the end, we started to play it a lot safer with our ordering choices. We did, in fact, end up eating a lot of noodles, katsu curries and so many gyozas we started to look like one. The best meal I had in Japan was on our very last night at a restaurant in Nishikasai station called Nikujiru Gyoza Seisakujo Dandadan Sakaba. (You might want to write that one down.) They served the most delicious and juicy gyozas that I have ever tasted in my life, which Nick and I both ate alongside their meat noodles, which were unbelievably delicious and like nothing else I have ever eaten before. It’s a very small and unassuming restaurant, hidden away in an underground station, but if you’re looking for a delicious and tourist-friendly place to eat in Tokyo, I would definitely recommend giving it a visit!
There is also a Japanese BBQ restaurant right next door to Hotel MONday called (have you got your pen and paper ready?) Genki Shichirin Yakiniku Gyu Shige Kasai. Much like the Korean BBQ restaurant we visited in Fiji, this restaurant allows you to order plates of uncooked meat and BBQ it yourself at your table. It is a lot of fun as well as being delicious and something worth trying if you want to do something a bit different.
One of our favourite food and drink establishments we visited in Japan (and somewhere we visited more than once) was the seventh floor of a shopping mall in Shibuya, called Magnet by Shibuya 109. The reason we loved this place so much is that it overlooks Shibuya Crossing, and so you can enjoy the amazing, iconic views whilst also enjoying your food and drink. This is the place where I first tried the Japanese delicacy, plum wine. Plum wine is absolutely amazing and I have no idea why we don’t have it over here in England. Misleadingly, plum wine isn’t actually wine at all, but a liqueur. You can either drink it straight, with soda or on the rocks. It tastes kind of like one of those kids’ party drinks where you stick a plastic straw through a film lid… except alcoholic. Definitely give it a try if you’re in Japan!
There are two other notable Japanese foods I tried that I want to give mention to. The first is a dish called Doria that I tried in an American diner in Odaiba. Doria is a Japanese comfort food consisting of rice and a creamy white sauce cooked in a casserole dish with various toppings. (I had a seafood one.) The dish itself looks and tastes very western but it was actually invented in Japan. So, if you’re wanting to be cultural but also craving a taste of home, it’s the perfect dish to try.
The second food that I wanted to mention is steamed pork buns. The 7/11s in Japan have an amazing array of ready-to-eat Japanese food, including steamed buns that look like something straight out of a Studio Ghibli film. If you’ve ever seen a Studio Ghibli film, you’ll know how delicious I’m talking. I simply had to try one. My verdict… unfortunately, I was very disappointed. They are very sweet and not all that nice. That’s what I get for buying food because it looked delicious in a cartoon.
Overall, the food in Japan had its ups and downs. It could be amazing, provided you know where to look and what you’re ordering.
Food and drink related attractions
If you’re thinking “well, all of that food and drink advice is all well and good, but I don’t just want to have something to eat or drink in Tokyo, I want to have a full tourist experience whilst doing it!” then, oh man, is this the section of the blog for you! Here are some food and drink related tourist attractions that we visited in Tokyo:
Have a cup of coffee at the world's largest Starbucks
The world’s largest Starbucks Reserve Roastery (at the time of writing) can be found in Tokyo. When you get there, you’ll be directed to the building next door, which serves as a waiting room, and issued with a ticket. When your ticket number is called, you’re able to enter the roastery. Luckily, we only waited for about ten minutes but we had read reviews online from people who said that they waited for over an hour and it was still worth it. My advice if you’re faced with an hour wait… don’t do it. It won’t be worth it. Seriously, how good can coffee be?
Once you’re inside, you’ll be given the most overwhelming coffee menu you have ever seen, where you are asked to choose the blend, strength, temperature and roasting style of your coffee. As Nick and I know virtually nothing about coffee, this was a very difficult task. When ordering, we pointed blindly at the menu as though it was all written in Japanese (which it wasn’t, they also have English menus). The result was two steaming mugs of extremely bitter, pretentious coffee, that we sweetened with two overpriced cakes. The roastery itself is spread over multiple floors and is definitely very impressive, especially if you’re a coffee lover. They also have a bakery selling various artisan breads and bread-based snacks that looked absolutely delicious. Unfortunately, we had dinner plans shortly afterwards and so I was unable to sample any of their selection, but it’s something I would recommend doing if you’re there. Let me know how it tastes! (I was particularly intrigued by the pizzas.)
Get an animal ice cream in Harajuku
Harajuku is a very famous area of Tokyo, known for its alternative style and vintage shops, which we had a lot of fun exploring. Whilst in Harajuku, we found a little ice cream shop called Doubutsuen, which is Japanese for “Zoo”. Living up to its namesake, Doubutsuen is famous for creating very insta-worthy ice creams shaped like zoo animals. We got the ‘Three Little Piggy’ one and it genuinely was the best tasting ice cream I’ve ever had. I’m not a big ice cream fan but this was honestly so delicious (if a little difficult to eat). If you’re going there, my advice would be to pick up an empty ice cream pot to take with you. Trust me, you’re gonna need it.
Have tea with a hedgehog in Shibuya
You’ve probably heard of kitty cafés in England; they’ve become a pretty big thing over recent years. Like most things, Tokyo has taken this idea and put it on steroids. In Tokyo, you can find any animal café you can imagine, from cats, dogs and rabbits to snakes, owls and penguins. The one that we chose to visit was a hedgehog café in Shibuya called ChikuChikuCAFE, where we got to hang out with a hedgehog called Hachi for half an hour whilst drinking unlimited tea and coffee.
The hedgehogs in ChikuChikuCAFE live in glass enclosures decorated with cute dollhouse-like furniture. Each guest gets to spend time with their own individual hedgehog for the allotted time they have paid for and you can pay extra to feed them. The hedgehogs are put out in shifts to avoid them being over-handled and no hedgehog is used for more than a day in a row. One thing that I will say about hedgehog cafés is this… they don’t really work. Hedgehogs are nocturnal animals and therefore sleep during the day. So, you’re essentially paying to sit and watch a hedgehog sleeping for half an hour whilst feeling guilty about wanting to wake it up. Hachi was really cute and did let us hold him and feed him a few times, but, really, he just wanted us to go away so he could sleep. (I've been there, buddy!) I’m also not entirely sure how I feel about animal cafés from an ethical standpoint. I can see valid points from both side of the argument and it’s definitely something I’d like to educate myself on more since visiting the hedgehog café. But if you’re wanting to have a cup of tea with cute animals, Tokyo has you covered.
Visit the Robot Restaurant
The Robot Restaurant in Shinjuku is a tourist must-do whilst in Tokyo. However, putting it under this category is almost as misleading as its name because… it definitely is not a restaurant. When you arrive, you will be put in a lift that will take you up to a bar/waiting room. This very kitschly-decorated bar will leave you wondering whether you have landed in the past or the future. A robot plays eighties songs on the guitar whilst you stock up on drinks and snacks before the show begins.
You will then be led down to a small basement theatre and seated in rows either side of a small stretch of performance space, where robots will sing and dance for you in a very futuristic, technological, surreal and Japanese performance (that is all in English). Each seat has a small table and you are able to purchase drinks, snacks or a meal option that will be served to you in the interval. However, after reading loads of reviews online saying that the food is overpriced, not very nice and definitely not worth it, we opted not to get the meal. As did the vast majority of the other people there. If you’re going to the Robot Restaurant, instead of getting a meal plan, I would recommend either buying some of the available snacks, like popcorn or tater tots, or simply eating before or after the show. And if you drink alcohol, you’re definitely going to want to buy a drink in the bar to take in with you. Trust me on this one.
My top 10 things to do in Tokyo
This is the longest blog post I've ever written and we’ve barely even broached the subject of tourist attractions yet – sorry about that. Clearly, I’ve missed blogging and have a lot of thoughts to share about our time in Japan! If you've read this far, maybe now would be a good time to take a little break; make yourself a cup of tea and have a rest before carrying on. I'll wait. ... Are you back with me? Okay, then without any further ado, here are my top 10 recommendations of things to do whilst in Tokyo:
1. Treat yourself at Ginza Six
Ginza Six is a very famous and fancy shopping centre located in Ginza where you can go for all your designer needs. If, like us, designer goods aren’t factored into your travelling budget, it’s still a really lovely building to have a wander around and the fanciest shopping centre I have ever been to. On the top floor is a really cool bookshop called Ginza Tsutaya Book Store where we managed to find an English copy of Lethal White by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) which I was absolutely thrilled about!
2. Walk around the Imperial Palace gardens
Imperial Palace is where the Emperor of Japan and the Imperial Family live and tourists are invited to visit the gardens. Entrance is free but in order to control crowds, you will be provided with an admission ticket that you will have to hand back as you leave. Make sure not to lose this ticket or you may be charged. In the gardens themselves, you can download an app to your phone in order to participate in a walking tour or simply walk around and take in the sights at your own leisure. The gardens are supposed to be especially impressive in cherry blossom season, which, unfortunately, we weren’t there for.
3. Browse the market stalls on Nakamise shopping street
Nakamise shopping street can be found in an area of Tokyo called Asakusa. It's full of traditional craft shops and places to eat; so, it's a great place to go souvenir shopping or sample some Japanese street food. Just be prepared for it to be very busy!
4. Have your fortune read at Senso-ji temple
Whilst in Asakusa, make sure to check out Tokyo’s oldest temple, Senso-ji. Senso-ji is an ancient Buddhist temple and one of Tokyo’s most famous landmarks.
Whilst there, you can take part in a purification ritual which involves cleaning your hands and mouth using a ladle and a fountain. There are also big incense burners where you are encouraged to light incense and fan the smoke towards yourself, as it is believed to have healing powers. You can also have your fortune read using the Omikuji Paper Fortunes. You place 100 yen into a money collection box; shake an omikuji box and pull out a rod with a number on. You then find the corresponding number on a wooden drawer and, from that drawer, pull out an omikuji slip which will reveal your fortune. You can either get a good or a bad fortune. If you draw a good fortune, you are supposed to take it with you. If you draw a bad one, you tie it to a rack and leave it there. I drew a bad fortune.
Nick and I don’t believe in fortune telling but it was still a lot of fun.
5. Check out the Tokyo Skytree and Asahi Beer Hall
At 634 metres high, the Tokyo Skytree is the tallest building in Japan. Meanwhile, the Asahi Beer Hall (one of the Asahi Breweries headquarters) is very impressive as it is shaped like a glass of beer. Nick and I saw both of these buildings from a distance whilst in Asakusa, but if you’re particularly interested in either them, you can visit them as tourist attractions in their own right.
6. Cross Shibuya Crossing
Shibuya Crossing is, without a doubt, my favourite area of Tokyo. It is Tokyo’s version of Times Square or Piccadilly Circus and I just absolutely loved it. There is something about the hustle and bustle and bright lights of a busy city that I just find so magical and breathtaking. We came back to Shibuya several times during our stay in Tokyo and I would say that it is a definite must-do whilst there.
7. Immerse yourself in a teamLab museum
teamLab offer immersive art museums that are really impressive and so much fun. There are loads of different exhibits all over Tokyo and the world, but we went to the Planets one. We both had such an amazing time there, walking through and enjoying all the different rooms; some of which were absolutely mind blowing. You can also download an app to your phone in order to interact with the installations even more. I can’t recommend their museums highly enough if you find yourself in Tokyo or anywhere else that has an exhibition on. Hands down the best museum I have ever been to.
8. Cross the Rainbow Bridge to Odaiba
Odaiba is a high-tech entertainment hub on an artificial island in Tokyo Bay. There is a replica of the Statue of Liberty; a Venice themed mall called VenusFort which is (almost) as good as The Venetian in Vegas, and you can even see Mount Fuji from the Daikanransha Ferris wheel. Although, we didn’t do this as it was really foggy on the day we went. teamLab’s Borderless exhibit is also located in Odaiba but, although we had planned to go after falling in love with the Planets exhibit the previous day, we called that plan off after seeing the queues that stretched all the way down the street. It is a great place to spend a touristy afternoon, with plenty of places to shop and eat.
9. Visit Shinjuku
Shinjuku is the area where we spent our final day in Tokyo. It is a great place to go if you want to experience the high-tech, bright light busyness of Tokyo. Famous for its clubs and karaoke bars, I can imagine it would make for a very bustling and lively night out. As we visited during the day, we didn’t get to experience this side of it, but did enjoy having a play in some of its many arcades.
10. Make a wish at Meiji Jingu shrine
Meiji Jingu is Tokyo’s largest Shinto shrine. On your way to the shrine, you will come across a wall of sake barrels which are donated by sake brewers from around Japan as an offering to the gods.
Entry to the shrine is through the largest torii gate in the world, which symbolically represents the transition from the mundane to the sacred.
The shrine itself has the same purification fountains and other sacred rituals found at Senso-ji and other Japanese temples. Outside the shrine, you are able to purchase little wooden tags which you are encouraged to write your wishes or hopes for the future on. You then stick your tag to a wall and ask the gods to make your wishes come true. It was really interesting and heart warming getting to read what everyone had written on their tags.
Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea
Being the big Disney fans that we are, we couldn’t go to Tokyo without visiting Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea. However, I’m not going to go into our experience there right now as I’m going to write a separate blog post dedicated entirely to the parks, which will be coming soon!
Going home
Japan was the last stop on our year of travelling and so we decided to go out in style by ticking one last huge thing off both of our bucket lists… we treated ourselves to a business class flight home!
Flying business class was obviously amazing, and definitely worth the investment for such a long journey. We were treated to a constant stream of delicious food and champagne (all served on real crockery and in real glasses!) by people who referred to us as “Miss Reeves” and “Mr Egan”. The airport lounges were incredible, with all the amazing and delicious "free" food and drink you can imagine. The first class Golden Lounge in Kuala Lumpur airport (where we had our stopover) was particularly impressive! I had an amazing nap in our own lounge area, whilst Nick had a shower to freshen up before our flight to London. But by far the best thing about flying business class was the adjustable massaging chair and getting to lie down! What a dream!
I’m really glad that we decided to fly home business class as it was such an amazing and memorable experience to round off our year of adventures.
What happens now?
And, just like that, the plane touched down in London and our year of travelling came to an end. And what a crazy and wonderful year it was. It had lots of ups and downs but I’m so happy that we were lucky enough to have this experience together and to have made so many amazing memories to bring home with us.
Thank you to everyone who has read this blog and come along with us for the ride. It means a lot that so many people have shown such an interest in our travels and that I’ve been able to offer some advice and recommendations to people setting off on their own adventures. As for what will happen to this travel blog now, I still have a few more travel related post ideas that I want to share with you and that will be coming soon. After that, let’s just say that this definitely isn’t the end of Our Shoes Full of Feet... maybe just as you know it!
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