I was rather happy I decided not to sleep in the plane when I woke up on that day; no jet lag whatsoever. Woke up on Japanese time around 7h00 which is what I wanted. Took a shower (I had to bend in order to have my entire head under the water !) and painfully shaved myself with the provided 2 blades disposable razor... oh the pain. Drank one of those “coffee in a can”, then I left.
I initially wanted to visit the Tsukiji Fish Market on that morning, but I preferred to get some rest instead. I wasn't thrilled at the idea of waking up at 5h in order to catch the market action. Even though I was pretty sure everything would be over, I decided to go take a look anyway. It was indeed pretty empty, but was still pleasant to look around and due to the fact that Nov. 3 is a national holiday over there (Bunka no hi, Culture's Day), the restaurants were closed.
It was time to head for the Tokyo Tower. Navigating through the Tokyo metro system was much simpler than I taught it would be; despite the maze looking map of the metro, each station are equipped with useful maps of the station and each exits and lines are well indicated everywhere. I guess it can get a little more complicated when you need to buy tickets each time, but with my SUICA card (a rechargeable IR card), everything was as simple as swiping my wallet at the gates. Note that the Tokyo transportation system doesn't use flat rate for transportation. You swipe your card when entering the gate; it tells you how much money you have left on it and then you swipe it out at the exit gate of whatever station you went to, then money is deducted from your card.
Tokyo Tower was pretty impressive, a Japanese version of the Eiffel Tower but just a few meters taller. I went to the top floor observatory for the expensive sum of 1400 Yen (yeah I know I was getting ripped off, but I wanted to go anyway). After visiting the tower and eating my first Japanese ramen, I took a walk to the near Zozoji Buddhist Temple. Wonderful architecture and relaxing atmosphere despite being in the middle of Tokyo. I even gave the prayer a try by tossing a coin and praying Buddhist style.
Then I departed for Shibuya, one of Tokyo's biggest shopping district with many 7 stories and more shopping mall. I exited the station by the Hachiko exit to witness the world known Hachiko Crossing. I wasn't during the rush hours so the streets weren't that packed, but it was still a lot considering what I'm used to. Then I hang around visiting some shops, but didn’t buy anything really; I looked some for some CDs, but found nothing that interested me enough to pay the exorbitant price of Japanese media (a new DVD released can easily be in the 30$-40$ mark if you do the conversion).
Next was Harajuku, just one station after Shibuya. The place is pretty popular among teens for its twisted fashion and among older ones, trendy shops (Dior, Louis Vison, etc). The main reason for my stop at Harajuku was the Meiji Shrine, a Shinto shrine, where festivities for the Culture Day were
Last stop of the day was Shinjuku, my hotel's station, and all its skyscraper. Again, orientation proved to be much simpler; not only in the stations but also on the streets, maps are conveniently placed and I often see locals looking at them, just to show how huge the city is. I made my way to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office Building in order to get to the - free – observation point located on the 45th floor of the building. I'm not sure if it was my first time taking an elevator so high, but it was clearly the first time I felt the pressure change in my hears during an elevator ride. Again, the view was pretty breath taking, and best of all, it was free ! Afterward, I hanged around the skyscrapers and admired the Japanese architecture, which is simply amazing if you ask me, starting from traditional architecture to modern one, I simply couldn't get enough of it. I soon returned at my hotel, passing by one of the bes tplace in the world, the Japanese konbini (convenience store) which was 2 min from my hotel. It was a Lawson for konbini savvy. Bought the most efficient looking razor I could find along with my first bento (Japanese lunch). Relaxed a bit in my room while waiting for the sun to set and then visiting the much less intimidating Kabuchiko now that I knew where I was and that I had some good sleep. Beside the 2000 yen I burned in a game arcade (I have never seen so much cane machine at the same place), I didn't do anything beside walking. Ended the night in Golden Gai with its charming backstreets and its relaxing atmosphere.
This turned out to be a rather long post. But so far it was my busiest day so don't expect all the other post to be that long.
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