March Part 2: Tokyo!

March 14-17 Nick & I took a long weekend to meet up with a college friend in Tokyo. It was our first first time in Tokyo so it was fun to discover it together. It's an incredible city!

But first, a little background: Since Tokyo is so large, it is broken down into many neighborhoods based on where train stations. The Yamanote loop line encircles the core of Tokyo and then a maze of below ground subways and above ground railways connect all these neighborhoods through a seemingly complex spider web but remember people, this is Japan, thus it is amazingly easy to navigate. Plus, the Japanese are so nice if you stare at the rail map long enough or look confused enough, someone will stop to help you figure it out. That being said, some of the most famous districts are: Ginza, Roppongi, Tsukiji, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Harajuku, Ikebukuro, Akihabara, Ueno, and Tokyo Bay.

 If you want a quick and dirty of the trip I put together a little movie slideshow here. Otherwise, keep scrolling down for more detailed explanation!

DAY 1:

Nick and I arrived early on Thursday but Zach's plane didn't get in from Korea until that afternoon so we checked in to the hostel and then spent the morning planning the trip and taking it all in. There was SO much to take in.

Exhibit A:

This was a random  sign we saw near our hostel. The picture on the left is a close-up of the bottom right corner of the right picture. So many questions, no answers...

We stayed at Yadoya Guesethouse for Backpackers in Nakano. It was a great little hostel with lots of fun character but all in all, it had a pretty poor location for getting out to the sights and stuff.

This is Yadoya's lil logo guy

The stairway up to our room.

We stayed in the Mt Fuji room.

Scoping out Akihabara- the mecca for nerds because it's full of girls in cosplay outfits, maid cafes, 5 story buildings of video-arcade games and card shops.

Zach flew into Narita which was quite a ways out of the city center and inconvenient for Nick and I to meet him at. So, before he left, I sent him some very specific directions on where and how to meet us at a certain train station. Nick and I showed up that afternoon at the arranged location and crossed our fingers that he was able to figure it out. And he did. Phew! It's such a big city it would have been hard to track him down!

Yes, it was Zach's first meal in Japan but we took him to a burger joint. Supposedly the best burgers in Tokyo. Our verdict? Lots of Mayo, per usual (see March Part 1).

Saw this amazing jacket at a crosswalk. Of all the people in Tokyo and all the colleges in the world, we 3 UMN grads see the guy wearing a UMN jacket- that's almost right ;)

One of the "Club Segas" in Akihabara- a 5 story building with each floor filled with arcade games! People will literally spend hours and hours at these each day so they become AMAZING at these games!

Nick and Zach killing some Zombies.

I literally try my hand at some sort of hand version of DDR. We saw people wearing special gloves so their hands slide across the screen better.

Then this happened. They had a whole section of instant photo booths with photo editors- absolutely hilarious!!!

When Nick and I checked into the hostel, we ended up chatting with this middle aged Japanese man and his Japanese-American son and they invited us out for dinner later. So, once we had collected Zach and got the video gaming out of us for a while, we headed to Nakano where our hostel was located to meet up with Aki and David. They took us first to this restaurant called Sakura- which refers to the cherry blossoms. We learned that it also means 'horse meat.' So this restaurant was all decked out in cherry blossoms and served nothing but horse meat- including (especially) RAW horsemeat! No sweat though, it turned out to be incredibly delicious!

Cheers to new friends!

There it is! Horse sashimi...

Zach tries it...

Nick has a go...

...and me! It was surprisingly tender and really delicious!

Then we tried some cooked horse meat.

It was only after we'd all tried a few bites of this that they told us it was (cooked) horse heart, liver, kidney, and intestine! Whoa! Definitely edible but gross to think about.

Oustide Sakura. David is on the far left and Aki, his father, is in the middle.

Then they took us to another restaurant in Nakano. I don't think they ever told us the name of it. I guess they serve Sashimi chicken (!) here but we didn't end up ordering any.

Instead we had pig temple...

...Squid lips (sans beak)...

Chicken heart...

and ginko bean...

After dinner our new friends went to bed but we wanted to try some more arcade games. Luckily this was Tokyo and we didn't have to go back to Akihabara to do so- there was a 3 story arcade right in Nakano!

Found this guy at a 7/11- I thought they stopped making these!

The Taiko drum game- classic!

Day 2:

The next morning we set off for Tokyo Bay and Oedo onsen. The island that makes up Tokyo Bay is a man made island made entirely from garbage! With so many people in such a small space, it is a pretty ingenious idea.

One of these things is not like the other one.... ha, sorry Zach!

Train ride on Rainbow Bridge to the Bay

Rainbow Bridge

Successful arrival at destination: Oedo Onsen!

Those are all lockers in which to store your shoes

Picking out a yukata

Super helpful guide in the locker room

There was this whole restaurant and souvenir area before you got in to the actual spa area. So first, it was lunch time!

Then we were ready to relax and soak in the tubs so I said good bye to the boys and went to the girls' tub area. There were over 15 tubs filled with different types of natural mineral waters and heated to about 40*C. There was also a steam shower and sauna. This is done in the nude, thus the seperation of males and females.

And there you have it folks- the mysterious, alluring UNDERWEAR vending machine.

After reaching full relaxation  we set out to explore the city! After crossing back to the main land from the bay, we found ourselves in Ginza- the ritzy and glamorous district filled with high-end and designer stores. We had a fun time with the staircase at Abercrombie & Fitch.

We ended up walking from Ginza to the Imperial Palace gardens and these are some of the sights we saw along the way...

No, we didn't eat there.

Imperial Palace Gardens! The palace itself is only open two times per year so we couldn't get much closer than this.

No, these aren't Sakura. I think they're plum blossoms?

So beautiful!

You can't tell in this picture but these trees are completely full of purple blossoms!

Huge torii gate

CoCo's Curry house for supper!

And then it was back to Akihabara. We just couldn't stay away- we must be nerds! haha 

We wanted to catch an AKB48 concert that plays daily in Akihabara...

But we got there late (didn't actually know when it started) and so it ended up being:

us, watching a bunch of dudes, watching other dudes on the screen there, watch an AKB48 concert. It turned out to be OK though becasue after about 5 minutes we had had our fill.

So we went to a maid cafe!

Back out on the streets, some Giant Fem-bots drove past. Of course they did. This is Akihabara after all!

Then we took the train to Shinjuku to get to the top of the Metropolitan Government Offices to see Tokyo from above.

So many lights!

Fun at the 7/11.

It was a short walk back to Nakano after that and when we got there- more arcade!!

Day 3:

The next morning, Zach and I got up REALLY early at 5 am to get out to Tsukiji to see the Fish Market. It was AMAZING and totally worth every moment of lost sleep. We missed the actual auction because the trains weren't running yet but there was still plenty of action to see!

When we first got there, we saw people standing in line a sushi restaurants but not much else going on and I was about to be really really disappointed.

So much Nori!

But then! Hey, we say, what's back there in the warehouse? I dunno, let's go see...

OH MY GOSH!!!

And it just keeps on going!!

We were wondering, how long does it take to get a giant tuna frozen solid like this?

There were sea creatures of every shape and size in all stages of dying and being prepared for human consumption- including this guy (above). This is that fish you read about in books that lives at the bottom of the ocean and so both his eyes have moved to the top of his head and he is only colored on one side. Amazing!!

Since we'd had such an early start, by 8am it was time for a nap. We went back to the hostel and slept. A few hours later, feeling refreshed, we caught a train to the outskirts of Tokyo to watch some baseball!

Pretty good seats for last minute, eh?

Again with the phallic shaped balloons after the 7th inning?

Oh no! The Lions were losing! Rally glasses, rally glasses!

Unfortunately the lions lost :( Oh well. After the game we headed back into the city and got off the train at the world's busiest train station and intersection- Shinbuya! (a la Lost in Translation)

Incredible!!

Of course, it was about time for more video games! This was a really, really fun version of air hockey where, every 3 minutes or so, the slots there on the side would shoot out a whole bunch of miniature pucks to also try and score in addition to the regular sized puck already in play! SO SO fun- plus, I took on the boys and won!

Karaoke, anyone?

I loved Shibuya. Loved it!

Then we took another short walk up to Harajuku (a la Gwen Steffani). This is where girls come dressed up in the highest of fashion to walk around and strut their stuff. Imagine a Zombie Lil Bo Beep. Yes.

Unfortunately, all the girls had gone home and it was just cold.

Found this funny store on our way back to the train station. Yup, you guessed it, condoms!

Harajuku Station.

Day 4:

Day 4 was kind of a wash. We had had 2 extremely long days and the boys slept in until check-out time. We had to be at the airport shortly after that so we got one last photo outside the hostel and got on the train to head back to real life.

For the perfect ending to this great trip, Nick and I got home and watched Lost in Translation. 

I can't wait to go back to Tokyo again soon!