So now we're in Japan, and we have to say, we are in love. With Japan, that is. From the moment we landed, we have been greeted with nothing but an abundance of smiles and sweetness. Our first touch of Japan was at the airport, where we were delighted to discover that toilets come with remote controls - for real!
You can heat the seat, use the toilet as a bidet, have a loud or soft flushing sound, and probably a host of other features that we don't understand cause it was in Japanese. Even though Japan was Rony's dream, Talia got so excited that she couldn't shut up. Like for real couldn't shut up. Like it's a miracle she was able to survive without breathing for so long.
But we digress. We took the train and subway to our hostel, and to our delight, it was really close to the hostel. And our hostel, Khaosan Tokyo Samurai, was the best in the whole wide world. At least of the ones we've been to.
First of all, the people at reception are all adorable, each cuter than the next. There are tons of signs all over with directions (that you can take with you), the common area has a nice sized kitchen with everything you could possibly want, and free origami classes at night! Anyway, it was awesome, and we need to book a room for our last couple of nights in Japan, so we are going to do it once we are sure of how many nights.
Anyway, the hostel has a really cool area map that lists everything important in the area, including restaurants, and we went to eat at this incredible Japanese dish called okonomiyaki, which is kind of a mix between a pizza and a pancake. You get the raw ingredients and put it in a plastic bag where you mix it all up, and then there's a stove in the table between you and you put it on the stove and cook it.
Of course, we had no idea what to do, so the lady there kept coming to help us, and she was so adorable that Talia developed a ginormous crush on her that could only be satisfied by taking a picture with her, which she did. Rony did a really good job of speaking to her in basic Japanese, and even understood most of what she was saying!
The portions were huge, way too big, and since we had ordered one each, we were only able to eat half of each and we ended taking it back to the hostel and having it for lunch the next day. Even though we hadn't ordered dessert, the lady treated us to their crepes, which were really delicious (um, not as good as Rony's mom's crepes, of course), which we made ourselves too. All in all, our first (half) day in Japan was perfect.
The next day, we went to the Senjo-ji and the Five Stories Pagoda. Walking up towards the temple, we walked through the Kaminarimon (where this old guy lay on the ground to take a picture - it was awesome), which led to Nakamise Street, which is a long street full of vendors selling all kinds of items, mostly souvenirs and clothes. We didn't buy anything, but it was loads of fun, please we now have a basis with which to compare various items that we'll be purchasing later.
The experience of the temples in Japan is different than those we've seen before. First of all, at the entrance to each temple, there is a small fountain of water that is like a small waterfall with ladles, where people wash each hand and then drink and spit some of the water before they enter.
Also, the Senjo-ji temple had Omikuji, which is basically a sacred Japanese fortune lottery. People donate 100 Yen (about $1.20), shake a box, and pull out a stick that has a number on it. They then open the drawer with the corresponding number on it and pull out a piece of paper with a fortune on it that can be either good or bad. The English directions said you're supposed to take it home with you, but everyone folded it in a particular way and hung it on special ropes for it.
After walking around the temple and the grounds for quite a long while, we started walking around the streets. We went to a certain store to try to buy Talia tickets for the Taylor Swift concert, but it was sold out. We had originally tried online months ago, but you can't buy the tickets online.
We got back to hostel in the late evening, posted pics and the post about Beijing for you all to see ( :-) ), and Rony did some planning for Japan while Talia took a really fun (and free) origami class. Of course, Talia can't remember most of what she made, but it was tons of fun. She met some really nice people from Korea and Osaka, and we're going to try to meet up with the girl from Osaka while we're there.
On our second full day in Tokyo, we were supposed to go to Nikko, a town about 2.5 hours away from Tokyo, but we got a bit of a late start so it wasn't really worth going to. Instead, we went to Akihabara, which is known for its electronics. Originally the plan was to get a converter for our electronic devices, but as it turns out, all of our stuff actually is OK with 100 watts, so we ended up scouting out computers.
We then went to the museum district in Ueno, a bit north of where we were. We first went to the Tokyo National Museum and spent a few interesting hours there. We then went to the Museum of Nature and Science, which was also very interesting. It was about everything from dinosaurs and other large animals, to bugs to marine life, and all kinds of stuff in between.
The best part was probably the 360 Theater. It features two 5-minute films, which yesterday were about the creation of the universe and the dinosaurs. While these are two topics that most people generally know about, what was special was that you stand in the middle of the theater and hold on to a rail, and the movie screen is literally 360 degrees - that is, on top of you, on the bottom, in front, and behind.
The movies were made so well that not only did you feel like the dinosaurs were actually looking at you, but you could feel yourself moving fast and slow, up and down, and anything else they wanted us to feel. Talia even lost her balance twice! We didn't understand a word, of course, since it was a in Japanese, but it was pretty awesome.
And that was pretty much it. By the time we left the last museum, it was about 7:30 pm, so we headed back to hostel, not before stopping at the 7 Eleven to pick up some dinner (it's cheap and it's fresh and it tastes good, so why not?)
Pics from Tokyo (so far):
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| Remote control for the toilet |
But we digress. We took the train and subway to our hostel, and to our delight, it was really close to the hostel. And our hostel, Khaosan Tokyo Samurai, was the best in the whole wide world. At least of the ones we've been to.
First of all, the people at reception are all adorable, each cuter than the next. There are tons of signs all over with directions (that you can take with you), the common area has a nice sized kitchen with everything you could possibly want, and free origami classes at night! Anyway, it was awesome, and we need to book a room for our last couple of nights in Japan, so we are going to do it once we are sure of how many nights.
Anyway, the hostel has a really cool area map that lists everything important in the area, including restaurants, and we went to eat at this incredible Japanese dish called okonomiyaki, which is kind of a mix between a pizza and a pancake. You get the raw ingredients and put it in a plastic bag where you mix it all up, and then there's a stove in the table between you and you put it on the stove and cook it.
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| The makings of an Okonomiyaki |
The portions were huge, way too big, and since we had ordered one each, we were only able to eat half of each and we ended taking it back to the hostel and having it for lunch the next day. Even though we hadn't ordered dessert, the lady treated us to their crepes, which were really delicious (um, not as good as Rony's mom's crepes, of course), which we made ourselves too. All in all, our first (half) day in Japan was perfect.
The next day, we went to the Senjo-ji and the Five Stories Pagoda. Walking up towards the temple, we walked through the Kaminarimon (where this old guy lay on the ground to take a picture - it was awesome), which led to Nakamise Street, which is a long street full of vendors selling all kinds of items, mostly souvenirs and clothes. We didn't buy anything, but it was loads of fun, please we now have a basis with which to compare various items that we'll be purchasing later.
The experience of the temples in Japan is different than those we've seen before. First of all, at the entrance to each temple, there is a small fountain of water that is like a small waterfall with ladles, where people wash each hand and then drink and spit some of the water before they enter.
Also, the Senjo-ji temple had Omikuji, which is basically a sacred Japanese fortune lottery. People donate 100 Yen (about $1.20), shake a box, and pull out a stick that has a number on it. They then open the drawer with the corresponding number on it and pull out a piece of paper with a fortune on it that can be either good or bad. The English directions said you're supposed to take it home with you, but everyone folded it in a particular way and hung it on special ropes for it.
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| Senjo-ji Temple - Omikuji |
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| Senjo-ji Temple |
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| Orginami class at the hostel |
We then went to the museum district in Ueno, a bit north of where we were. We first went to the Tokyo National Museum and spent a few interesting hours there. We then went to the Museum of Nature and Science, which was also very interesting. It was about everything from dinosaurs and other large animals, to bugs to marine life, and all kinds of stuff in between.
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| Museum of Nature and Science - One of the first calculators |
The movies were made so well that not only did you feel like the dinosaurs were actually looking at you, but you could feel yourself moving fast and slow, up and down, and anything else they wanted us to feel. Talia even lost her balance twice! We didn't understand a word, of course, since it was a in Japanese, but it was pretty awesome.
And that was pretty much it. By the time we left the last museum, it was about 7:30 pm, so we headed back to hostel, not before stopping at the 7 Eleven to pick up some dinner (it's cheap and it's fresh and it tastes good, so why not?)
Pics from Tokyo (so far):
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=605732&id=906005363&l=d144cbc623
So the fountains at the temples are they spitting back into the fountain?
ReplyDeleteYes, they spit back into the fountain :-)
ReplyDeleteI don't know why it took me a year and a half to see your comment. LOL