Even though I’ve never lived in Tokyo, coming here gives me a strange sense of familiarity. I’m glad I got to revisit a few of my favorite spots in my few days here.
{ Yoyogi Park }
Yoyogi Park is pretty much the equivalent of Central Park in New York. It’s where the locals like to hang out on the weekends. Did you know that it was the site for the main Olympic athletes village of the 1964 Summer Olympics and the swimming, diving, and basketball venues?
On the weekends you can also find the Rockabillies, a group of middle aged men (and a few women) dressed up as characters from Grease dance and sing and just hang out.
{ Meiji Shrine }
Right next to Yoyogi Park is the Meiji Shrine, “the Shinto shrine dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shōken.”
Even though it’s too early for the 7-5-3 festival, a day where 3 and 7 year old girls and 3 and 5 year old boys go through a rite of passage, we saw a few kids dressed up to the nines at the shrine.
We were also super lucky to witness a traditional wedding procession led by Shinto priests.
Meiji Shrine is a popular place to make a wish. As long as you don’t mind it being read by random strangers!
{ Harajuku }
The world famous Harajuku girls who dress up as dolls usually congregate right outside the entrance to Meiji Shrine. But we didn’t find a single one! We did find this guy tho:
{ Asakusa }
Unlike the hip Harajuku area, Asakusa is where you go if you need to buy any souvenirs to bring home.
Since I have to travel light, I didn’t buy anything, but just walking through the giant market is interesting enough.
Asakusa is also home to one of the biggest Buddhist temples.
We stopped by one of the fortune stations to see what the future holds. Here’s how the process works. Don’t forget to put in some money before you do it though (I did, I swear!).
{ Ueno Park }
We got to Ueno Park on a cloudy morning. There’s some green festival going on and there were all these colorful wishes flying over us.
Then there were these creepy cute things.
We made an attempt at the temple, which was of course, under renovation. So we made a brief stop at the Hiroshima – Nagasaki fire, that has been kept burning since the atomic bombing.
{ Shinjuku }
We wandered here on accident as I actually wanted to go to Shibuya crossing, so we went to the Shinjuku Metropolitan Office Buidling observatory to see a bit of Tokyo from high above.
And since we were sort of in the area, we also dropped by the infamous red light district of Kabuki Cho. Being a couple, no one really solicited us for anything, but we were quite amused at the number of pimps on the street and their ridiculous hairstyles.
We then perused through Golden Gai (新宿ゴールデン街), where small bars that sit about 6 people each are cramped into six narrow alleys.
{ Shibuya }
Then we finally found our original destination, Shibuya crossing.
As we crossed the busy intersection we ran into some Ganguro (ガングロ) girls – who take tanning to a whole different level! I’m pretty sure this fad is no longer popular, but I guess there are still some die hard fans 🙂
{ Azabujuban }
Last but not least, the swanky expat filled Azabujuban/Roppongi area. This is the giant spider at Roppongi station.
And here’s the gorgeous view of Tokyo Tower from my friend Dru’s apartment building!
Here’s the view from Google Tokyo’s cafe.
So Dru took us to this store that’s just sort of amazing. The stuff it sells is… probably unique to Japan. Like this razor that comes with a cute anime girl keychain.
Or these Halloween (or not) girl costumes for MEN.
There were other less appropriate pictures. But the people photographed would like to remain anonymous and I’m too lazy to Photoshop 😛
{ また今度ね }
I hate to say goodbye, but Tokyo is too expensive to live when I’m unemployed! T_T But it’s been a short but sweet trip, and I look forward to seeing you again soon!
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