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Delayed for 3 years, Covid couldn’t stop it forever! The Tokyo tour is finally here! Read more
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  • TravelerI think I’m turning Japanese
    11
    Day 2

    Forward to Taipei

    April 8, 2023 in Taiwan ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    We left Napier just before 1:30pm on April 7th, weighed down by a few gratis nibbles at Napier Koru, including the shockingly delicious inclusion of cheese rolls!

    Less than an hour later we navigated the wasteland that is Auckland International, killing time until check-in opened for our China Airlines flight to Taipei, via a brief stop in Brisbane. In reality we had to kill 2 hours, and at Auckland International you've exhausted all the options within minutes, so I was boooorrrreeeddd!
    Eventually the clock struck 4:30pm and I sauntered down to the China Airlines Business Class check-in line. CA don't have their own lounge at Auckland, so they share the Strata lounge. This is a 'mixed' experience lounge, part Fawlty Towers customer relations, part communist Russia queue line. Fortunately the food is good, so I wolfed down multiple portions of their chicken curry and fruit friands, washed down by ginger ale. Everything has more flavour when it's free! (I know technically I've paid for it through my ticket, but let me pretend.)

    Around 6:50pm it was time to board the first flight of this trip. The A350-900 is my favourite airplane and China Airlines have a superb business class, which makes flying on it even better. Eagle eyed readers will know that by this stage I had already eaten two meals, however I had pre-selected my meals on all CA flights for this trip. Surprisingly (or not if you know me) I seem to have chosen beef for all of my meals. I had three meals between Auckland and Taipei, two dinners and a breakfast and they were all delicious, especially the dinner between Brisbane and Taipei, which I was eating at 2am New Zealand time, how very continental of me!
    I haven't yet had to request an extension for my seatbelt, but eating at this pace it can't be far away!

    China Airlines fly a great plane, serve delicious food and have young, attractive and attentive hosties. (I'm looking at you Air New Zealand!) It's a winning combo and I'd recommend them to anyone.

    Our flight from Auckland to Brisbane was smooth and uneventful, but flying into Brisbane we witnessed the most incredible lightning storm I've ever seen. Check the attached video. The storm was still cranking 1 hour later when we re-boarded our plane and got the heck out of 'Straya headed for the mysterious East, which confusingly we were headed West to reach.

    I managed to get about two hours sleep between Brisbane and Taipei, when I wasn't eating, or lying cast in my lie-flat bed, and we must have had a tailwind, or the pilot had left his oven on because our 9 hour flight took just 8 hours. This meant our plane touched down at Taoyuan airport Taipei at 5:12am Saturday the 8th.

    The only fly in the ointment with landing this early is that most hotels won't let you check-in until 3pm. I know, it's an international scam. You pay for 24 hours but get just 20! Sign my Change.org petition to give the hotel cabal a kick in the goolies! ;0

    The upshot is that our Uber dropped us off at the hotel about 6:30am. The mathematicians among you will have carefully calculated that this is a deficit between checking in and getting into your room of exactly 'Oh crap, many hours!'

    The solution was to activate 'Operation MRT'. This involved me buying two 72 hour MRT passes and riding the rails like I stole the caboose. Between dropping our bags off and actually getting into the room we visited the National Concert Hall, Chiang Kai Shek memorial hall, Longshan Temple, Taipei 101 and saw approximately 7,452 scooters. It's obvious that your average Taiwaneser (may not be accurate, but sounds good, so we'll stick with it) loves a good scoot, and by god they are everywhere.

    The personal highlight of this purposeful arsing about was visiting Longshan Temple. The Taiwanesers show such reverence when they visit this sacred place, and the love and craftsmanship that has gone into every inch of the temple is utterly beautiful.

    Right now I am in the hotel, finally, and I may collapse either through exhaustion, or a delayed meat coma, so I better end this entry now.

    Tomorrow, more Taipei sightseeing before another glorious China Airlines flight to Tokyo on Monday.
    翻頭見    Read more

  • TravelerI think I’m turning Japanese
    1
    Day 3

    The place is an absolute zoo!

    April 9, 2023 in Taiwan ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    The first day in Taipei yesterday was completed by dining at a traditional Taiwanese restaurant. They serve a range of dishes passed down over generations. From my research in English the name of the restaurant translates as TGI Fridays.

    Today was the first full day in Taipei, so we decided to check out the Maokong Gondola and Taipei Zoo. As an aficionado of gondolas I know a little bit about cable based transport, and the Maokong edition is fairly impressive. It winds its way above what is basically jungle (compared to the endless multi-storey apartment buildings in Taipei that is!) over a winding, climbing 4 kilometres to the village of Maokong.

    I'm not sure what I expected to see at the top, but it didn't involve watching a crowd gathered with excitement around a cat sitting on a scooter. It wasn't even a unique cat wearing a monocle and smoking a cigar, or something cool like that. It was just a cat! The Taiwanese definition of exciting obviously differs from mine.

    After realising we wouldn't cope with the excitement of other cat-based spectacles at Maokong we rode the gondola down to the entrance to Taipei Zoo. Entrance to the zoo costs 60 NT$ per adult. Taking into account the latest exchange rate this works out to the astronomical fee of $3NZ each.

    Judging by New Zealand standards we assumed that for that price we might get a pony painted to look like a zebra and a couple of pigs in top hats.

    Oh how wrong I was! The zoo is vast, which is handy when you're still trying to burn off 100,000 airline calories. I'm always a little conflicted when it comes to zoos, but Taipei certainly does their bit to push the conservation message and educate visitors on endangered species.

    We managed to see the big 5 from Africa, plus a panda, of course! A tiny monkey almost mugged me, and we saw a Rhino take a massive dump. Yes, it was a big day! After 20,000 steps roaming from the African savannah to the tropics we staggered back onto the MRT and rode the 11 stops to Jiannan RD station and our hotel.

    Tomorrow it's Tokyo time. This will of course include a visit to my favourite ever airline lounge, the China Airlines Dynasty lounge at Taoyuan Airport, and even more airborne beef-based calories as we fly on to Tokyo. Until then, zàijiàn from Taipei.    Read more

  • TravelerI think I’m turning Japanese
    Day 5

    Domo arigato Mr Maloney

    April 11, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    Today was going to be a relaxing travel day,. I mean, we only had a three hour flight from Taipei to Tokyo. What could be more restful?

    That's not quite how things played out, which is part of the adventure of travel.

    The day started well, waking early in our beautifully modern Taipei hotel room. I bounded jauntily down to breakfast and restrained myself from consuming mass quantities, apart from a heaped plate of Bread Pudding of course, knowing there were multiple eating options to come, particularly at the opulent China Airlines Business Class lounge at Taipei airport.

    Checking out of the Hotel Indigo North I ordered an Uber to take us the 60km to Taoyuan Airport and was delighted when a Tesla Model 3 arrived. Being China, or Chinese Taipei, naturally the driver had decided Elon hadn't tricked this ride out quite enough, so he had pimped the door handles and added plenty of light up USB connections.

    In 45 minutes we arrived at the airport, checked in, after the attendant had managed to extract the Visit Japan Web QR codes from my phone. (more on that later) we had breezed through customs (take note Auckland!!!) and strolled our way expectantly towards the business lounge. This is when the day took a detour.

    This trip we were flying out of Taoyuan Terminal 2. On our previous Taipei visit we had gone out of Terminal 1. The business class lounges in the two terminals are not the same, in the same way that a Suzkuki Swift and a Lamborghini Aventador are not the same. They are both cars, but..... you get the point. The China Airlines lounge in Terminal 2 is like a bunker. I kept expecting Kim Jong Un to pop up and say 'Hi guy, relax!' It's a long low featureless hall with a sparse food selection and no ambience, and Terry wants his ambience! ;)

    After enduring this lounge disappointment for as long as I could (I know, 1st World problems) I petulantly strutted out and boarded the flight bound for Tokyo. The flight was comfortable and uneventful and I managed to just fit in watching 'The Whale' (okay, but not Oscar-worthy) before we were landing at Narita International in Tokyo.

    Remember that Visit Japan Web QR code I mentioned earlier? I had spent over an hour back in NZ dutifully filling out the forms and checking everything, so I was fully prepared when we arrived at immigration. I had the QR code on my phone screen and was ready to whip it out and gleefully say 'dozo'.

    They didn't even ask for it! What the actual F?!! Come on Japan, stop messing with me. I just know somewhere, behind a screen, there is a little Japanese man laughing his arse off cackling, 'We fooled another one. Stupid gaijin!'

    After clearing immigration, we collected our suitcases and headed into Arrivals to be picked up by the ride I had booked. The driver messaged me with a picture of where to meet. Hilariously, the picture had him at a different terminal. The next 45 minutes had me playing peek-a-boo via messaging to try and have us both at the same location, so he could actually drive us to our Disney hotel.

    Finally he arrived at the correct door and we followed him out to what I expected to be a shuttle van. Boy was I surprised when he ushered us to his Volkswagen Golf.

    Our driver turned out to be a young Chinese guy who is working the driver gig as a second job. We had a great conversation as he drove us the 60+ kms to the Tokyo Disneyland area and our hotel.

    Just after 7pm (after starting our 'relaxed' travel day at 6am) we arrived at the Tokyo DisneySea Hotel Miracosta. This was worth the hassle of today. It is incredibly impressive, in a way only Disney can manage.

    We checked in, which somehow took 20 minutes, and spent the next 15 minutes drooling over all the Disney detailing in our room and the eye-popping view from our window. This hotel is actually inside Tokyo DisneySea, so we look out onto the park. A-maz-ing!

    Tomorrow we are up early to get to the gates of Tokyo Disneyland and make the most of our first Happy Entry. I know how that sounds! :0    Read more

  • TravelerI think I’m turning Japanese
    Day 5

    Open the gates!

    April 11, 2023 in Japan ⋅ 🌬 18 °C

    Let me get this out of the way early, many Disney fans, who have visited multiple parks worldwide, rate Tokyo Disneyland as the best. Based on today's experience I'm likely to agree with them. Read on to discover the scientific formula I used to edge towards this conclusion.

    Today was 3 years in the making, a chance to add another Disney park to the list of Disney parks visited. Now I only have Paris remaining, out of the 6 Disney locations worldwide.

    The day began at 5am, because you don't just turn up at the gates and expect to win. Your Disney game needs to be stronger than that, and my Disney game has been hardened in the furnace of queue-robics, and merchandise combat.

    Staying in a Disney hotel gets you a 'Happy Entry' for your chosen park. This gives you a critical 15 minute head start on the general admission peasants, and you must strategise to make your quarter of an hour count! I already knew that 'Belle's Enchanted Castle' was the ride to start with.

    We left the hotel at 6:30am and used our Suica cards to get us onto the Disney Resort Line monorail. Two stops later and we arrived at the Disneyland park outer entrance and joined our first queue of the day, a holding area for Disney Hotel guests.

    Just after 7am we filed through the metal detectors and walked towards the park entrance proper. Here I had my first taste of Japanese organisation. Almost everyone had a mat that they laid on the ground to then sit on while they waited. Boy, did I feel like an animal just standing there!

    At 8:15 precisely (it's Japan, what else would happen?) we were let through the turnstiles and fast walked towards 'Belle's Enchanted Castle'. Luckily I still possess my incredible natural athleticism and we were almost the first people through the queue line and onto the ride. It retells the story of Beauty and the Beast as you ride a trackless vehicle through rooms recreating scenes from the movie. It's beautifully done and very like Mystic Manor at Hong Kong Disneyland, or Remy's Ratatouille Adventure at Epcot in Florida.

    Next ride was Space Mountain for Jean. To avoid vomiting this early in the campaign I bravely opted out and rode Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters instead.

    Over the next two hours we managed to ride Snow White's Adventures, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin. To keep us fuelled like champions we paused for a few minutes between rides for caramel-apple churros and a frosty frozen treat of indeterminate flavour.

    By lunchtime we needed more calories, so we exited the park for Ikspiari, the Tokyo equivalent of Downtown Disney. Here we perused the many dining options on offer before deciding on The Rainforest Cafe.

    Recharged, and with a steely glint in my eye I surged back into the park to ride The Jungle Cruise and the Mark Twain riverboat, while also catching the 2pm parade. All that was left to do was exit via the giftshop, or giftshops which line the main street.

    By 4pm our first Tokyo Disney day was done (although I did zip back to the park after 7pm to see it at night. and sneak another ride on Big Thunder Mountain).

    So, what makes Tokyo Disney so good? There are lots of intangibles that are hard to put into words, but there are a few reasons I can come up with. Cast members,. They are always smiling, waving and greeting every guest with enthusiasm. They all look great in their tailored uniforms, and I'm yet to spot a morbidly obese one, or even a chubby one. America, I'm looking at you!

    Dress standards. Now this could go either way. Most guests here are very smartly dressed, many women in heels and skirts. However, there are also lots that are dressed in some pretty whacky outfits, including lots of young women dressed as French Maids, or other risqué outfits. Doesn't bother me, but it's an observation.
    Strollers. There aren't many, and the ones there are parked unobtrusively.

    ECVs. Or the lack of. If you're too lazy, or too fat, then you probably don't come to Tokyo Disney, again unlike America. I saw one ECV, and it was driven by an elderly person.

    Bubble wands. I saw one. That's it, one! Again, in the US those things are everywhere.

    That's about it. First park day down, and tomorrow it's the first day at Tokyo DisneySea. Because part of our Disney hotel is actually inside this park we can use a private hotel entrance to get into it. I. Can't. Wait!    Read more

  • TravelerI think I’m turning Japanese
    Day 6

    Oh, it's a sandwich!

    April 12, 2023 in Japan ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    How can I adequately describe Tokyo DisneySea? I agonised over this for minutes, until I realised there is only one way to do it justice. In the immortal words of cultural heavyweight Borat Sagdiyev, DisneySea is 'Wee waa, woo waa!'

    Once again we had an early start, although not as retina searingly early as yesterday. Today's park odyssey kicked off at the gentlemanly hour of 6am.

    At 7:30am we walked the two hundred metres from our hotel to the special hotel queue for my new favourite phrase, 'Happy Entry'. I'm already a master at this, but I think I probably have been for a long time, only we haven't put a title on it before.

    On the stroke of 8:15am the cast members activated the turnstiles to unleash the horde. My research had informed me that Soaring: Fantastic Flight can quickly reach queue levels of 120 minutes plus, so we beelined for that, and once again were in the first boarding group. The ride is the same as in California, Florida and Shanghai, except for the local scenes at the end of the flight naturally. By the time we exited the ride the queue had grown to impressive length, over 80 minutes, so it was a good choice to knock it off early.

    My next must do was Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I love the Indiana Jones ride at Anaheim and had high hopes for the Tokyo iteration. To my relief it lived up to it's namesake, and is possibly even better, so I've ridden it twice today, and will ride it quite a bit more on Friday, now that I've discovered its Single Rider line.

    The following few hours saw me ride all the tentpole attractions at DisneySea, including Raging Spirits, Tower of Terror (twice), Journey to the Centre of the Earth, DisneySea Electric Railway, S.S. Columbia and Toy Story Mania.

    Breaking up this high speed park orbiting ride whirlwind were stops for Churros and the chance to try a Reuben at the New York Deli. This isn't some Puerto Rican dude in hotpants like it sounds, but a really tasty sandwich, which came as a great relief to me!

    To finish off the evening I watched Disney's Light the Night fireworks show, which is small by U.S. standards, but a good way to conclude another great park day.

    Tomorrow it's our second and last day at Tokyo Disneyland. For some reason it opens later tomorrow, but I'm not arguing about the chance for a little extra sleep.    Read more

  • TravelerI think I’m turning Japanese
    Day 7

    My food is looking at me!

    April 13, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    For some reason which I couldn't figure out Tokyo Disneyland didn't open until 9:30 this morning. On the plus side that meant I didn't have to get up at 'Oh my god!' o'clock.

    Even though it was a more relaxed morning we still got to the park in time to take advantage of Happy Entry, but something dodgy happened this morning, because when we got through the gates and fast-walked to the Beauty and Beast ride there was already a queue time of 80 minutes. I first noticed something wasn't quite right when I saw people strolling in the wrong direction. Nobody strolls during Happy Entry. You walk with unwavering purpose towards your ride, stopping for nothing, or you say 'Rules are for suckers!' and you just run. What you don't do is stroll!

    I suspect there is a secret Happier-Happy Entry, which is only available to the 1%, members of the secret underground network that runs the planet. Anti-vaxxers know what I mean, the lizard people and their pets.

    Anyway, I digress, the short version is that Beauty and the Beast at 80 minutes was a hard no from me. My max queue time is about 45 minutes, unless it's a Star Wars ride, so instead, we did a walk-on at Buzz Lightyear.

    Coming off the ride it was about 10am and time to sample some more unique culinary experiences. This time it was Alien Mochi at Plasma Rayz diner. You get three small green mochi. Each one has a different sweet filling, either strawberry, chocolate or custard. How could I choose a favourite when they all look so cute, and were all delicious?

    Refueled and ready to ride the next stop was Big Thunder Mountain. This was quickly backed up by The Haunted Mansion, which is superior to both US versions, then another death-defying encounter with the Pirates of the Caribbean.

    To round off the morning we decided to ride the Tokyo equivalent of the Disneyland Railway, the Western River Railroad. This is a great, relaxing way to see Adventureland and Frontierland, while also taking a break out of the sun and giving your legs some time off.

    Theme parking sure makes you hungry, so I just had to buy a Monsters Inc Melon Bun as a lunch starter before crossing the park to Fantasyland to order my main at La Taverne de Gaston. I wavered throughout the queue line between choosing the filled croissant and the french toast sandwich. Finally when I got to the counter I panicked and ordered the french toast sandwich. Fortunately it was delicious and was probably the better choice. Once again my indecision pays off!

    By now it was 2pm and time for a break, so we headed out of the park to catch the monorail back to the hotel. The plan for later is to have dinner at Ikspiari before surging back into the park to finish off with some marque rides, and maybe a sneaky churro or two. Don't worry, theme park calories are only calculated at twenty cents on the dollar, so you can go nuts.    Read more

  • TravelerI think I’m turning Japanese
    Day 8

    Those are happy tears, right?

    April 14, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Today officially concludes the Disney section of our trip.

    It was our 2nd day at Tokyo DisneySea, and we are nothing if not quick learners, so instead of heading to the gate queue an hour or more before Happy Entry was scheduled. We nonchalantly strutted down there just 15 minutes before the horde was released. This brilliant plan meant we didn't enter the park until a full 30 seconds after the people at the front of the line, but we saved standing in the queue for an extra 45 minutes, so totally worth it.

    Grinning smugly at my own brilliant line hack I headed directly to the popular DisneySea ride I hadn't got to yet, Toy Story Mania. This is a fun interactive ride which is also in California Adventure in Anaheim, but yet again, here in Tokyo, it is longer and somehow even more fun than its American counterpart.

    Exiting Toyville I walked the 50 metres to the Tower of Terror and almost fell over with shock when Jean surpisingly conceded to come on the ride with me. She is NOT a fan of drop rides. I may have said something like I'd do the luxing for a year if she went on it, obviously as a joke. Whether this swung the deal or not, we'll never know. Anyway, without going into the gruesome details, I can say that after what will definitely be her one and ONLY drop ride ever, this has not changed.! In fact, I may have accidentally made her fear worse! I'm not great at reading signals, but the tears when she exited were a clue that even I picked up on.

    When the screaming and sobbing had subsided, (kidding, mostly) we staggered to a more sedate, less threatening ride, the transit steamer. This is a boat that sails through the waterway that divides the lands of the park. It's a great way to see all of the very different lands, take a break, and distract anyone, if you needed to do this for any reason. ;) Heart rates and tear ducts now under control it was time for another spin with Indiana Jones.

    By this time it was just after 11am, and since our hotel checkout time was 12pm we headed back to the Miracosta, packed up our stuff, checked out, stored our bags and headed straight back into DisneySea for a couple of last rides. As we were walking to the next ride we spotted someone coming towards us that we recognised. It was Chris Provost, the host of the Disney-centred YouTube channel Provost Park Pass. Jean knew he was due to be in Tokyo Disney around the same time we were and had been hoping to see him, so she was very excited to bump into him. Coincidentally we had also seen him the last time we were at Disneyland, in October 2022, but that was at Disneyland in California. We had a great chat with Chris, and we look forward to watching his YouTube episodes about Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea

    Around 2pm we bid a fond farewell to Tokyo Disney, collected our luggage and ordered an Uber to take us to our Central Tokyo hotel.

    We are now based near Ginza for the next 6 days and will be trying to cram in as much Japanese goodness as humanly possible. Banzai!

    On a completely unrelated note, can I just say that Japanese TV is absolutely freaking nuts, but a weird part of me actually enjoys it. What can I say, I'm a complex man.    Read more

  • TravelerI think I’m turning Japanese
    1
    Day 9

    Ame ame go away!

    April 15, 2023 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    Today was always going to be a kickback, cruisier kind of day. Time to recover from the constant go, go, go, of Disney.

    The weather was listening and it has been raining since I woke up this morning, which my plan doesn't really allow for, as I had booked the Tokyo Hop on/Hop off bus tour for today.

    That's perfect you'd think, until I tell you that the bus is open topped, and they state you can't use umbrellas on the bus, however, raincoats will be provided.

    This did not reassure me very much, especially when the temperature today is a brisk 13 degrees.

    Well, I've come all this way, and rain won't stop me, so I headed to the nearest JR station and caught the Yamanote line to Tokyo station. From there it was a short walk to the Mitsubishi building (the bank, not the car) where the main depot for the bus is based.

    Upon seeing the bus my concerns were allayed, they have a cover for the top deck. Excellent. In fact, even better, because now it looks like the biggest, tallest convertible in town.

    We rode the Blue Line first, which took about an hour, and passed the national parliament, Imperial Palace, Tokyo Tower, Tsukiji fish market, Ginza and the Ryogoku Kokugikan, which is the home of sumo in Tokyo. We then transferred to the Red Line, which was much more my style. This took in the Tokyo SkyTree, tallest freestanding tower on Earth, Ueno, Asakusa, home to the famous Senso-ji Buddhist temple, and the area I was excited about, Akihabara - Electric town.

    Up until this point the ride was exclusively Hop-On, but when electronics hove into view I couldn't get off that sucker quick enough!

    This tour was just a sighter, so we can identify places we want to visit and spend time at over the next five days, but I had to spend a little time here. It would have been sacrilege not to!

    After a rushed hour of looking through the 8+ floors at Yodobashi Camera, we boarded the Yamanote line and headed on back to our hotel, where I am currently sitting on the window seat in our 36th floor room, looking down on Shimbashi station. Watching the trains go by every couple of minutes is hypnotic. In one pass I counted 6 trains going in various directions, including two Shinkansen.

    Tomorrow the rain is due to stop, then I can really get out and explore. Ikoo!    Read more

  • TravelerI think I’m turning Japanese
    12
    Day 10

    Those crazy kids

    April 16, 2023 in Japan ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    Today was the long awaited visit to the pop-culture capital of Japan, Harajuku.

    I eagerly jumped on the Yamanote line and rode the 13 stops to Harajuka, left the station and beheld Takeshita Street, ground zero of all that is teen culture in these parts. Only problem was that I was so eager to get amongst it that I had arrived a little early, just after 9am, and Takeshita Street was virtually deserted.

    Turns out that the crazyness runs to a strict schedule, after 11am to be exact.

    No problem, part of my scheduled buffet of culture today included a visit to Nezu Museum. This is about 2ks from Harajuku, so by the time I'd walked there the museum was just about to open at 10am.

    Naturally, this being a Japanese facility you needed a reservation if you wanted to get straight in. I didn't have one, but once the people who'd planned ahead had waltzed in they let the walk ups in.

    After an hour of admiring the ancient artworks within the museum I took time to wander the carefully tended gardens, viewing the historical statues and keeping my hands well clear of the ravenous koi in the ponds.

    I left the museum around 11am and headed directly to Takeshita street, which by this time was a much different place. It was heaving, and I could barely get near the puppy cafe, or Strawberry fetish. I was a little disappointed that I didn't see as many crazy, outlandishly dressed fashion crimes, but there some amusing sights nonetheless. It's obvious that there is a unique vibe here, and it was certainly worth a visit.

    Next stop was Shibuya to cross the road. No really, that's the reason I stopped. Shibuya scramble crossing is credited as the busiest pedestrian crossing on the planet, so how could I pass that up. It seemed like the several thousand other people crossing the road with me were also there for the same reason. I swear nobody was there to actually do anything else.

    Road successfully crossed (what an achievement) I headed back to the hotel for a rest before my next mission.

    Around 6pm I hit the Oedo line bound for the famous Tokyo Tower. I love a good tower as much as the next guy, but this visit was strictly to play some games. There is a digital theme park on the 3rd floor of the tower's base building, and there's no way I could pass that up. It is called Red Tokyo Tower and includes lots of VR games with full body rigs and motion and video projections. It's great fun, and recommended, especially if you're here with family or a group of friends.

    Tearing myself away from the gaming (reluctantly) I caught the train back to the hotel for some well-earned food and a good night's sleep.    Read more

  • TravelerI think I’m turning Japanese
    1
    Day 11

    Ueno, you should!

    April 17, 2023 in Japan ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    Even though Sunday was yesterday, today started with a visit to a place of deep religious significance, the Senso-Ji Buddhist temple in Asakusa.

    I'm not personally religious, but I do like the underlying message of Buddhism and I was able to appreciate the tranquility and history behind this shrine, even though it was swarming with selfie-stick toting tourists while I was there. It's a must-do for every Tokyo visitor and worth a visit, even if you're just there for the tacky souvenirs or food stands that line the path to the shrine. Obviously Buddhists are very pragmatic and don't object to their followers being able to indulge in a little capitalism on their way to and from worshipping.

    Next on today's very full list was Ueno, for the impressive park and the collection of incredible museums packed into a small area. Well, the park was lovely, but the museums were all shut today. What the heck?! Did they not know I was coming? Who gave them permission to close when I was here?

    Fortunately my planning skills are more flexible than a Romanian gymnast, so I did a quick online search and learnt that Ameyokocho shopping district which is in the Ueno area, is renowned for its variety of wares and sharp prices.

    After spending a good hour wandering around the Ameyoko area I'd say it's a bit like an Asian version of an English street market, right down to the knock off sports wear. I did enjoy my visit to one of the many video games arcades in the area, and was surprised to learn that virtual horse racing is really popular in the arcades. They even bet on the outcome.

    After a quick scouting mission to the Odaiba area to check out a couple of malls I rode the Asakusa line to the foot of the Tokyo SkyTree. I'm quite the tower aficionado, having visited, climbed or summited them from Sydney to Taipei, Auckland to Las Vegas, and finally I can cross off Tokyo's entrant in this erection competition. It's 634 metres tall at it's peak, and is currently the tallest tower in the world. Personally I prefer Taipei 101, but it was great to jump up and down on the glass at the top of this one and take in the vast sprawl of Tokyo.

    Riding the express elevators down to ground level I just had time to run to the Oshiage JR station, and catch the first train back to Shimbashi, before the madness of rush hour began.

    Tomorrow more cultural explorations await.    Read more

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