Planning the Trip

I thought I’d add something into the blog as a sort of first entry before I leave. Ok, so it’s now about 4 weeks until I leave, and I’m just reading up about Tokyo and working out things I want to do when I’m there.

The thing with somewhere as large as Tokyo, is that I could end up not actually getting much done as I could gets swamped with the size of it all, so I asked some people about places to visit.

They suggested:

For the ultimate cliche, head straight over (tired, jetlagged and all) to Shibuya.

Yoyogi and Harajuku are nice and draw weird people, esp. on Sundays (when streets are given to pedestrians in many places). The areas south of Shibuya (forgot the names) are more laid back but just as funky.

Akihabara is Blade Runner territory, go after dark. The robot shop is my favorite. Some really weird anime shops there as well.

Go to Tsukiji fish market as early as possible, like 5 or 6 AM. It’s worth it.

During rush hour, get a ticket on the Yamanote-line and head to Shinjuku station. Stay in the station and find the busiest spot and stand there for a couple of minutes. Now try to stay sane.

Nearby, there is a nice view from the top of the city hall and old fashioned bars on the other side of the tracks.

The Roppongi Hills shopping center is nice, good view also. The Roppongi nightlife center is a bid dodgy to my taste.

There’s great, great food in the street next to the main shopping street in Ginza. But then, you can’t really go wrong anywhere when it comes to food…

If you’re into game arcades, check them out. I like the Taiko No Tatsujin series a lot, and they’re not available in Europe.

Best stay I had was in Cerulean Tower, Shibuya. 40th floor room including a bathroom with panoramic view over Shibuya square towards Shinjuku, Lost in Translation style. Not cheap though.

I like the Shiba Park Hotel as well, more affordable and in a nice quite part of the city, some rooms have free broadband internet.

In Tokyo, don’t forget Asakusa area for a taste of traditional Japan.There are neat things waiting around every corner. And Omotesando is great for chic coffee shops, cafes and people watching. You’ll have a great time. As was already mentioned, Kamakura is a great place to spend a day.

I’m actually staying in the Shiba Park Hotel, so I’m happy that I’ve found somewhere decent. The first time I went to NY, I booked into a reasonably priced hotel, but it was a little strange, and the room was so small you had to climb over the bed to get to the bathroom – which was a triangular room made out of the corner of the bedroom. The strangest thing was that someone lived in the next door room, which was the same size – but crammed with stuff too. Oh, and the lift gave you massive electric shocks too!