Tokyo/Yokohama's Trips
Hisashiburi ne ! I am back to Osaka this morning. Left from Shinjuku station in Tokyo at 10.40pm last night and arrived early today at 6.15am at Osaka station.
First day
Well, Ken, Henry and I left for Tokyo on 23rd night and arrived at Tokyo station at 5am, then talking JR to Setagaya to meet with Charles and stayed at another friend's room for three nights.
Our first trip started from Ueno Park for sakura viewing, but I guess we saw more people than the flowers. That was my first time seeing sakura; it's beautiful, small with white and pink colors.
Later, we walked to Ueno's Chinatown, then again, full with people, we couldn't see things. Perhaps it was Sunday.
Next stop was Asakusa temple. I can't tell much about this trip since it's just like another temple. Then, we went to Odaiba and Aquacity where you can see lots of unique buildings. We went up to Fuji TV building (that's the television network in Japan). Odaiba also has kind of bridge which looks like Brooklyn Bridge in NY, and the statue of liberty. ( I was wondering why they built that statue there).
Ken's Japanese friend, Koide picked us up from Odaiba to Ginza. I didn't see anything interesting in Ginza except some luxury department stores. Last trip of that day was Shinjuku's nightlife.
Second day
It was a good day for Disney Sea in Chiba. The weather was so nice and it was Monday so we thought it was also a good time and hoped not so many people would go there. But then again, we were wrong. It's crowded with people. We had to queue for 2 hours for each attraction. We tried Indiana Jones "Lost in Delta River", "Storm Rider", "Aquatopia" and "Centre of the Earth". They were great, really something I never tried before even though I still complained much about the waiting time.
In the evening, we watched " Disney Symphony" and fireworks. I can say that Disney sea is great, it's worth the price we paid.
Third day
Three of us separated for different directions. Henry went to Chiba to meet with his host family, while Ken and I went to Yokohama. Yokohama is only 30 minutes from Shinjuku. Ken and I took the rapid train and it's like a bullet train with three decks. Amazing!
First, we went to visit Yokohama's Chinatown, but I don't think it's interesting since we only saw Chinese restaurants than shops. We also took a walk at Yokohama's port. The weather wasn't so nice, it was cloudy and raining in the morning. Later, we separated. Ken went to meet with his friends, while I went to visit my cousin.
I couldn't go anywhere else in Yokohama because of the bad weather, so I just spent time at my cousin's home, talking and eating.
On my way back to Shinjuku, I took the wrong train but it was a good experience I could try another kind of two decks train. Then, changed to ordinary train, which took me 45 minutes to get to Shinjuku to have dinner with Henry and Ken. Henry left for Osaka that night, and I complained he had to go back earlier.
Fourth day
It was raining heavily since morning, but still, Ken and I went outside than just staying in the room doing nothing. We bought umbrellas (it's a good business time to sell umbrellas with higher prices, and we were good targets).
We went to Meijijingu, it's a Japanese temple built in Meiji period. It's said that the temple was built to protect Japan from bad devils.
Later, we took a stroll in Harajuku, Aoyama, and Shibuya. I like these places, wide streets with shops and cafe houses. But it's also another crowded places, even though I think they're better than Shinjuku.
There is one place in Shibuya that has one dog statue. A royal dog's story. Everyday, they dog's owner always took that dog to Shibuya station and then tied it there. Oneday, the owner died of accident, but the dog still came to Shibuya station every day waiting for the owner until it finally died there too.
That was the end of our trips.
Tokyo is nice, but I wouldn't choose it if I have to stay there long. The population is too high and I can't imagine if I have to be like a fish every morning and evening in trains. People just push you inside and you are pressed from each side, it's horrible. I had that twice in rush hours. But, people seem to get used with it and some of them still can read magazines, making calls and even sleeping ( they just put their heads on other people's shoulders) It's really stressing especially when you're already too tired yet can't take a seat, not to mention have to "fight" for a little space on the trains.
I think Tokyo's people are less friendly compared to Osaka's. I also saw less old people living in Tokyo. I don't think they can stand of living in a busy city like Tokyo. There're many foreigners, whether the ones working there or just visiting Tokyo.
