Good Finds

Finding ourselves very tired after our long but full day, we went back to our hotel for a quick nap...which lasted 3 hours! We decided to travel to Akihabara to see the popular electronics district but when we arrived, all the stores were closed...booo! Luckily, neither of us had to buy anything but it would've been cool to see floor after floor of fun technology!

We ended up going back to our own neighbourhood where we stumbled upon this restaurant that we both fell in love with. Everything in the restaurant is equivalent to $2.70 each. And by everything...I mean everything! Beer, wine and other alcohol are included too :) The challenge: the menu was a touch-screen computer...written in Japanese. THANK GOODNESS for pictures!

egg-omlette with a salad underneath, marinated Japanese cucumbers, deep fried lotus root chips

tako balls (with real pieces of octopus!), egg thingy, corn & butter on a hot sizzling plate

tofu & shrimp, udon with cheese, mochi balls with french vanilla ice cream, strawberry coulis & red bean paste

The verdict? Everything was soooo good! Hank thinks our friends Chris (the food critic) and Janice (the cheese & mochi ball lover) would really like this place too...the alcohol is just a bonus! Too bad we weren't dining together but I made note of the address for you guys! ;)

Harajuku Lovers Indeed

When we got to Harajuku, we made our way to Yoyogi Park and walked thru the gravel road towards one of the most popular temples in Tokyo, Meiji-Jingu. We saw lots of kiddies and some mom's who were dressed in traditional Japanese attire - such an intricate and beautiful outfit for the girls! We later learned that they were part of a traditional wedding ceremony :)


After visiting the temple, we walked back towards the city centre where we could see how Gwen Stanfani was influenced to start her other clothing line - Harajuku Lovers. The teens and young adults who hang out here dress in very funky and unique styles that we could not help but notice...it was like a cross between pop, retro, goth and bohemian styles that were paired with all sorts of accesories and every kind of shoe imaginable! We even saw this older man sporting a mini denim skirt walking down Jungumae street! It was so mesmerizing that we forgot to take out our camera!

The shopping itself is like heaven for a girl. Everything from special boutique clothing stores to ones we commonly see back home are all here...except they're all built on a grander scale. Forever 21 is 5 floors here which even includes a floor for their new men's line. Dior, Bulgari, Prada and whatever brands you find in Holt Renfrew are in ridiculous buildings themselves. Even Audi (yes, the German car company) is in the middle of the shopping district in its own glass building! A very tall one too we should mention - see below!

Our next stop was Shibuya Crossing - the famous streets where people flood across the intersection when they see the walk symbol light up. It's so insane witnessing it in real life! What you see on TV and in movies is real and in no way exaggerated :P

Kampai to Roppongi!

Our first day in Tokyo started super early as we were still running on Vancouver time. We woke up at 6am and figured we should visit the Tsukiji Fish Market. This is where all the restaurants, supermarkets and what nots go to bid and purchase fresh fish and seafood for their businesses.

Intersections were full of trucks of all sizes and what was really neat was seeing the workers drive li'l cylinder-like tonka trucks moving the heavy boxes around. Surely, they would run one over if they were in their way so there was even a big fat sign up that told visitors to watch where they were going! Not to worry, we mastered walking through Shinjuku station, so walking thru this market that stretched about 6 blocks was easy-peasy!



After our quick observation at the fish market, we roamed around the Chinatown-like neighbourhood and had breakfast at one of the many sushi restaurants available. It's a first for both of us to eat raw fish and seafood at 9am in the morning...but it was well worth it and so so good! Hank also had a beer with his meal...who orders beer so early in the morning?! (Well, the table beside us had a group of middle-aged men who were already tanked...but still!)

We later walked across town and found our way to Tokyo Towers. Paid the $8 to go to the observation deck but noticed while we were purchasing our tickets that the cost only included an elevator ride up to the 150m mark. They make you pay an extra $6 to go all the way to the top! How tricky :P While seeing all of Tokyo was pretty cool from just the main deck, the best part about the towers was to check out all the glass look-down windows scattered throughout the floor. (Made Hank nervous but I was brave and walked right across it!)



We decided to go from Roppongi to Harajuku at this point in time so we made our way back to another train line. While crossing the busy street, Hank noticed a silver sedan with cameras mounted on the roof and excitedly screamed out, "It's the Google-maps car!" and waved to it like he knew the guy driving it. Ha, talk about a computer geek :)

First Impressions...

After a 10 hour flight, an hour wait for our train ride and the actual 1.5-hour train ride itself into the city (and not to mention a 17-hour time difference), we finally made it to Tokyo last Sunday! Hank's been to Japan before so he's not as mesmerized by the number of people who saturate this crazy city...but for me on the other hand - I'm completely floored!

We're staying at this beautiful hotel right beside Shinjuku station which is one of the busiest stations ever known to man-kind. Like literally, it seems like every transit line that could pass thru this part of the city does and somehow makes it's way to do so.

The number of people passing through here is astounding. Imagine playing a live game of Frogger from Atari and instead of dodging cars and rivers, you are trying your best to not get run over by people walking at ridiculous speeds of what I think is at least 20km/hour. Ha! I swear I will never complain about the Canada Line EVER again!

So speaking of our hotel, when we arrived, we were greeted by the first available bell boy. He took our luggage while we were checking in and was going to help us bring our 26" suitcase and a carry-on to our room. One of the bestest parts about traveling on our honeymoon is to mention that we are actually on it! The kind front-desk dude was like, "oh you're on your honeymoon? I'll upgrade your room!" We're all..."Ok, that's awesome! Thank you!!"

And so, the following events just happened oh so quickly:

• We crossed paths with our bell boy as we were approaching our room while he was leaving. Of course, out of common courtesy I reached into my pocket and gave him a few bucks and wished him a good night....or so I thought. As we were entering our room, Hank & I were discussing the Japanese yen and coins that we had in our possession. I was so mortified to learn that I didn't give the poor guy a few bucks...I gave him a few cents! 20 to be exact. I really wished at that moment that I didn't give him anything at all! SO embarassing!! As we were digesting all of this and while Hank was laughing his *** off...

• We turned on our room light and was impressed by the size of our room...until we turned the corner and saw the beds! Yes, that's right...plural. 2 twins. I guess honeymoon in Japan means we want to sleep separately...
  

I was so embarrassed from the tipping incident, that I didn't even want to go back to the front desk to switch rooms from an already "upgraded" one!That's ok... It was still a nice room, and way cozier too :)

So talk about 1st impressions eh?

Carebear Countdown!

5 months later...we finally get to go on our honeymoon :) Here's the plan!

• Tokyo, Japan
• Koh Samui, Thailand
• Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
• Nha Trang, Vietnam
• Danang/Hoi An, Vietnam
• Hanoi, Vietnam
• Hong Kong

Thanks to costco's fab 90 day return policy on electronics, we picked up a baby netbook to bring with us to stay in touch! we're so thoughtful to keep you guys posted with pictures and blog posts throughout the next 3 weeks aren't we? :) not to worry...before you know it, we'll be back in town...waiting in the refund/exchange lineup at costco! kehe...