After our time in Thailand we flew from Bangkok to Tokyo leaving at 10:00 pm and arriving in to Tokyo at 5:30am. Japan is efficient towards all things we were able to ship our luggage from the airport to our hotel, since we were not able to check into our hotel until 3:00pm.
So what to do inTokyo on a rainy cool day (8 degrees C) a temperature change from 38 degrees in Thailand. Japans transit and rail system is phenomenal with Google maps you can seamlessly travel throughout out this city of 37 million people. I would expect less than 10% of population owns a car so the transit system is the way ever gets around. We hit the morning rush hour on the metro and it was absolutely pack its chaotic in an organized way. It’s my second time here and I find it absolutely amazing how things function so well with so many people.
We had expected to see the cheery blooms in full bloom so we headed to a famous park area and saw a total of two blossoms, apparently the abnormally weather has delayed the big bloom. Tokyo is absolutely packed with visitors from afar and all parts of Japan to experience the great Sakura (bloom). After visiting a couple of museums and getting absolutely drenched and cold we headed toward our hotel to get some rest and dry out.
Japan is an absolutely amazing country and Tokyo is even more amazing! There is so much order to everything, no litter any where if you have anything like a coffee cup or pop can you will challenged to find a garbage can anywhere. No graffiti or any type of social disorder that we are seeing in Canada. With a huge population and trying to keep things working efficiently everyone buys in to creating a society that is based upon respect. It’s a busy city that doesn’t sleep but doesn’t overwhelm you with exception of a few areas of the city.
Great food is abundant throughout the city we went to restaurants ranging from McDonald’s for breakfast and Ramen restaurants that seat only 6-10 people. Breakfast in Japan usually includes rice a salad, vegetables and maybe a soup so McDonald’s for an egg muffin and drip coffee was our choice. One thing we loved is the vending machines that are located everywhere from street fronts to back alleys they offer all kinds of drinks including really good hot coffee in a can , I don’t understand why coffee crazy Canada doesn’t have this yet.
Our second day the the sun came out and we went on a diner cruise through the river system within Tokyo of course we booked expecting to see all the cherry blossoms but no luck. The tour included a great 5 course meal and unlimited drinks. The Japanese like their alcohol but there intake tolerance is quite low so about after 2-3 drinks the normally quiet and polite Japanese turn into a loud laughing individual. Karen met this inhibriated lady called Yuko who became her best friend for about an hour and a half on this 3 hour tour. It was a great tour and being able to see the city from a different type of view. We’re not sure if Yuko will remember the cruise.
After the tour and leaving Yuko with her embarrassed daughter we went up the top of one of the highest building’s in Tokyo to see the great expanse of the city. As far as you can see is nothing but building and a scattering of small parks and green space. On the evening we went to Shibuya crossing which is like Japan’s version of Times Square large electronic billboards and all the flash and glitz plus thousands of people taking it all in.
Day three took us to some of the more out of the ways places in Tokyo where we experienced normal day to day living of the people in the city. Small markets with great bakeries and small restaurants and more amazing food with no tourist type vibe. People are always friendly to non Asians usually asking where we’re from and more than helpful in giving you directions and assisting you with the language barrier. (Goggle translate is another great tool)
On Friday it was again another cold and rainy day we headed to Yokohama about 1.5 hours from Tokyo by metro. The sun started to come out and the weather started to warm up. We had booked two days in Yokohama prior to our cruise as it was planned to be our departure point but was changed a couple weeks ago to depart from Tokyo. Yokohama is a large harbour city and still big and busy but it doesn’t seem as busy as Tokyo, lots to see and do with a large entertainment/shopping district. Our first day we walked along the harbour front went to the Cup of Noodles Museum (yes it really is a museum about cup of noodles) and went out for diner at a great restaurant and wondered around the entertainment area.
Saturday was baseball day in Yokohama, baseball is huge in Japan and Yokohama is home of the Baystars. Friday was opening day of the new season so we headed over to the stadium which is about a 20 minute walk from our hotel. Not thinking we would be able to get any tickets as the game wasapparently sold out but we found a ticket office that had limited game day sales tickets and were able to score two great seats on the second deck behind home plate. Two hours before game time the place is buzzing with lots of vendors selling stuff outside the stadium and pre game activities. The stadium was sold out to capacity of 43,000 against the Hiroshima Carps, a lot like European hockey the cheering and singing of team songs was non stop but in the Japanese way very polite. The visiting team has there own section and would cheer and sing and bang drums when there team was up to bat and then the home team would do the same when it was there turn to bat. It was a great way to spend a warm sunny day enjoying what the locals love to do. Post games activities took us over to the largest China Town in Japan with more great food and then back to our hotel.
Tomorrow we head back to Tokyo to board our cruise to the southern parts of Japan and to South Korea, maybe we will head over to North Korea and get thing squared away with Mr. Kim Jung-un.
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