I just realized how bad of a speller I am. Thank god for the person whoever created spell check because my blogs would be non-comprehensible without it. Tokyo is not hard to spell and I somehow keep spelling it Tokoyo. It is now 7 am in Singapore on Saturday the 28th and have a splitting caffeine-related headache. My body is craving caffeine so I took medication that had some to knock it out. Grant is next to me snoring his heart out so going back to sleep is a bit of a challenge. He’s finally catching up on sleep, which is good because we have been running ragged on this crazy whirlwind Asia trip.
We woke up at 4:15 am in San Diego on Christmas morning. Tip: if you want to avoid any traffic in LA leave on Christmas Day as it was wonderful. We checked in, got situated in the American Airlines Lounge and eat breakfast at their buffet. It wouldn’t be LA if you didn’t spot a celebrity so on this trip we ran into Aunt Jackie or Laurie Metcalf from Roseanne/Conners fame. Both of them were getting food from the lounge buffet when I spotted her. I yelled “Grant” pretty loud and both of them looked at me like I was crazy. But, I got his attention and he saw her too. We then played a silly game of guess the celebrity with the rest of the Botoxed LA people in the lounge.
Our first leg of the flight was LA to Tokyo with a long layover. We purchased business class back in May so we could sleep and that’s what we did for the majority of the flight. We landed in Haneda Airport, which was much closer to the city than the larger/more common airport Narita. This helped us get out of the airport faster and let us see more.
All of Tokyo is connected with super intricate subway lines that run throughout the city. Grant and I are used to subways in New York and San Francisco, but this was something else. Fortunately and unfortunately they have an app JapanTravel, which is somewhat useful, but still didn’t tell you which line to try and where it was at.
We had three spots in mind, but after realizing how complicated the subway was we narrowed it down to two. I wanted to see Asakusa, which housed Sensoji, the famous Buddhist Temple and Nakamise shopping center, a street lined with shops, cafes and other random oddities. After running around the sites and hitting up a few stalls we made our way to an owl cafe.
Animal cafes are all the rage and there was a variety of different options. We saw teacup puppies, bunnies and even a cafe dedicated to owls. Even though Grant and I have no particular fascination with owls we were drawn to it because of the crowd that had formed outside its door. We were initially hesitant to waste our money but were drawn in when an American suggest we try it. He told us that these cafes are a bit odd, that they legally can’t charge you for seeing the animals, but can charge you a high price for a “drink,” which is essentially your admission ticket. We paid our admission ticket and walked into what can best be described as a tropical apartment with over 30 owls just hanging out all around you. Definitely, something to see, but next time we should probably do something cutter like puppies rather than owls. Lol.
The next stop was Shibuya, which is home to the famous Shibuya crossing. To both Grant and I this is Tokyo’s version of Times Square with lights, crowds, shops, and restaurants. I do need to point out unlike Times Square, which can be filled with “city farts” and other unpleasantries— Tokyo is clean and very pleasant considering its vast size and crowdedness.
What makes this area special is the crossing. At various points on the same street, the roadway is cut off for cars and passengers go crazy crossing in all directions. It’s a free for all with people zig-zagging for about a minute between each other trying to make it to the corner of their choosing. It also is challenging as many people have just gotten off the subway, are a bit disoriented and are quickly trying to figure out where to go amongst hundreds of locals and tourists. Pure chaos!
Surprising, Grant was the one that was inquisitive about the food. We didn’t have time for a full meal, but we did make a stop at a few stalls. When we were walking down a street we smelled something delicious, which could only be compared to the states when someone is making waffle cones. We walked down to Shibuya Square and saw the lights and bells of good fortune. On the way back we found the smell, which was a melon pan. It is a form of bread that is a combination of dough and cookie dough. So we, of course, had to try sweet strawberry bread and a savory cheese and mayo bread. Both were inhaled in a matter of seconds.
Nervous about the commute and missing our flight we went back to hang out at the Japan Airlines lounge. On our way back we realized that the Shibuya station was home to the famous Akita statue memorializing Hachiko the loyal dog so that was a fun surprise to see. This station is absolutely massive and this time we were a bit stumped as to how to return to the airport. Unfortunately, tourist information closes at 8 pm so we were on our own looking for a way back. I eventually spotted a stop that we used previously and thought it would be wise to at least make it somewhere we had been previously to get to go where we needed too. It worked out and we made our way to the lounge.
Before each trip, I try and pull out local currency so that way we don’t have to worry about exchanging anything in the country. Japan is very expensive, but I pulled out enough to make it work and had some cash leftover. The airport had a few random souvenirs, but anything we wanted including a rice bowl was out of our price range. I settled for a 3D Pikachu puzzle, which seemed appropriate considering Japan's fascination with anime. The other option was flavored KitKat bars, but the price for 8 miniature pack...like the size that is handed out without pause in Halloween (2 sticks) was 8 dollars and I refused. Back at the lounge, they had canisters full of regular bars so I routinely would go up and take a handful of these free ones so I have something to bring back to coworkers.
The flight departed at 1:30 am and mind you...we had not slept anywhere but on the plane out to Tokyo so we were ready for this flight just to sleep. We got on the plane and after take-off immediately went to bed. If we had known what we know now about our next destination, Manilla, I think Grant and I would have chosen to miss the flight and got a good night's rest. To be continued...
Ps. The Toilets in Japan are AMAZING!
