Showtunes Abroad: Return to Tokyo

May 30, 2014

Ah it feels so good to be back in Tokyo! I’m not sure what it is about this city… it’s just got a great vibe!

We arrived in Toyko early this afternoon, and I set out exploring straight away with Viet and Kirby.

One really nice thing about Japan: restaurants are big on using pictures to show off their offerings (and the plastic food industry is huge here, plates of plastic food are featured in the windows of every restaurant you pass!) which makes life much easier for foreigners who don’t speak Japanese! We found a spot with pictures of curry and rice, so we ducked in there.

It feels great to have independence like that! And our food was delicious.

Dr. Baba requested that we all return to the hotel by 2 so that he could give us subway passes and take a group around Tokyo. Viet, Kirby, and I joined the group at first, heading to a big park by the zoo and a museum (EDIT: It's called Ueno park, the most popular park in Japan!) but, when the rest of the group went into the museum, we decided to do our own thing. I love museums, but there was just too much going on outside for me to head in!

There were tons of people in the park and stands where vendors sold flowers, knickknacks, and snacks.

The last time we were in Tokyo, it still felt like spring! Warm in the sun, but still breezy and almost uncomfortably cool in the morning and at night. I’m not sure what happened but, all of a sudden, it’s summer in Tokyo!
I didn’t mind the heat too much; I lathered myself up with sunscreen, got an ice cream cone, and was perfectly happy!

(Side note: Below you'll see me with red bean paste man. He's my favorite super hero. He is basically a pancake stuffed with bean paste- cause everything in Japan in stuffed with bean paste- whose power is feeding children with bits of his head. He is everywhere in Japan!)

When we’d finished exploring the area around the museum, the three of us went to Ameyayokocho for some more wandering (I really like to wander in case you haven’t noticed)!

Ameyayokocho (is a pain to pronounce) is a tucked-away alley and outdoor market, primarily for fish and dried goods. So many fun things to see! So many funky things to smell!

Walking down the street, in an ocean of sea food, veggies, and fruits, the last thing you would expect to see is a pet store! But there it was. In the middle of the fish/dried food market, there was a tiny store full of puppies and kittens! Of course we went in and played with them. I came close to stealing one, but I don’t think it would’ve made it through customs.

Last summer, Kirby went to South Korea with a group from Furman. Another Furman student on her trip, Lauren, is now living in Tokyo, studying here for an entire year. We met up with her and a friend of hers in Shibuya, another pocket of Tokyo.

Shibuya is such a cool place! You know the famous image of a ton of Japanese people walking through a giant crosswalk? Seen Lost in Translation? That’s from Shibuya. So, naturally, the first thing we did in Shibuya was walk the crosswalk. I have never seen so many people at once. I felt like all of Japan was going through the crosswalk with me! I found this youtube time lapse to give you an idea of what it's like, but its way cooler in real life/at night!

Lauren and her friend, Allison, took us out to see a couple of shopping malls (I seriously don’t understand how it’s even possible for one city to have so many malls. How do they stay in business?) and a store called “Exciting Book Store.”

I always love seeing crazy Tokyo fashion and looking at the fun items sold in these malls and shops.

Finally it was dinnertime!

The style of the restaurant we went to is called Izakaya. It’s really fun, a lot like Japanese tapas! We got a ton of small plates and each tried a bite of a bunch of things, which is the best way to eat, in my opinion!

Like a good blogger, I took pictures of several of the things I tried…

Bibimbap

Nigiri

Fried Mochi

Fried Avocado

They were all so tasty! We also got some gyoza, edamame, yaki soba, and fried chicken. Yum!

It was a great time! The girls were so sweet to show us around and take us out. It was really cool having two semi-locals with us (they’d both been living there for about 9 months)!

Plus, I discovered Lauren is a fellow Dallasite, so I automatically love her.